Numbers 11:1

And [when] the people complained,.... Or "were as complainers" (p); not merely like to such, but were truly and really complainers, the כ, "caph", here being not a note of similitude, but of truth and reality, as in Hosea 5:10.

And when the people complained, it displeased the LORD: and the LORD heard it; and his anger was kindled; and the fire of the LORD burnt among them, and consumed them that were in the uttermost parts of the camp.

NUMBERS CHAPTER 11 The murmuring of the people, for which the fire breaketh in upon them, . Moses prayeth to God; the fire is quenched, . The name of the place, and why called, . The people murmur again, and lust after flesh, . Manna described, . Moses’ s complaint and prayer, . God commandeth him to gather seventy of the elders of Israel to help him, ,17; promising them flesh to eat, . Moses’ unbelief, ,22. God is angry with him, . Moses having gathered seventy of the elders of Israel together, rehearseth the words of the Lord to them, . God coming down in a cloud, taketh of Moses’ s spirit and giveth to the seventy; the effects thereof, . Eldad and Medad prophesy in the camp, . God giveth them quails to eat, ; and smiteth the people with a very great plague, ,34. Complained, or, murmured; the occasion whereof seems to be their last three days’ journey in a vast howling wilderness, without any benefit; and thereupon the remembrance of their long abode in the wilderness, and the prospect and fear of many other tedious, and fruitless, and dangerous journeys, whereby they were like to be long delayed from coming to that rest, that land of milk and honey, which God had promised them, and which they thirsted after. The fire of the Lord, i.e. a fire sent from God in an extraordinary manner, possibly from the pillar of cloud and fire, or from heaven, as . In the uttermost parts of the camp; either because the sin began there among the mixt multitude, who probably had their place there; or amongst those who were feeble and weary with their last journey, and therefore hindmost in the march; or in mercy to the people, whom he would rather awaken to repentance than utterly destroy, and therefore he sent it into the skirts, and not the heart and midst of the camp.

Numbers 11:1 And [when] the people complained, it displeased the LORD: and the LORD heard [it]; and his anger was kindled; and the fire of the LORD burnt among them, and consumed [them that were] in the uttermost parts of the camp.Ver. 1. And when the people complained.] Or, Were as it were complainers: they did inwardly and secretly repine and mutter at their three days’ march, without intermission; like those horses that digest their choler by biting their bridle. Consumed them that were in the uttermost parts.] There, it seems, the sin began amongst those that were faint and weary with travel, as Deuteronomy 25:18.

XI.(1) And when the people complained . . . —Better, And the people were as those who complained (or murmured), (which was) evil in the ears of the Lord. The LXX. has, “And the people murmured sinfully before the Lord.” Comp. 1 Corinthians 10:10 : “Neither murmur ye as some of them also murmured.” And consumed them that were in the uttermost parts of the camp.-Better, and devoured at the extremity of the camp. Most commentators have remarked, and justly, upon the great severity of the Divine judgments which were inflicted after the giving of the Law, as compared with those which were inflicted before it. Reference may be made in illustration of this point to Exodus 14:11-14; Exodus 15:24-25; Exodus 16:2-8; Exodus 17:3-7. The writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews argues from the just recompense of reward which every transgression and disobedience received under the Law, the impossibility of the escape of those who neglect the great salvation of the Gospel. See Hebrews 2:2-3. Comp. also Hebrews 10:28-29; Hebrews 12:25.

CHAPTER XI The people complain, the Lord is displeased, and many of them are consumed by fire, 1. Moses intercedes for them, and the fire is quenched, 2. The place is called Taberah, 3. The mixed multitude long for flesh, and murmur, 4-6. The manna described, 7-9. The people weep in their tents, and the Lord is displeased, 10. Moses deplores his lot in being obliged to hear and bear with all their murmurings, 11-15. He is commanded to bring seventy of the elders to God that he may endue them with the same spirit, and cause them to divide the burden with him, 16, 17. He is also commanded to inform the people that they shall have flesh for a whole month, 18-20. Moses expresses his doubt of the possibility of this, 21, 22. The Lord confirms his promise, 23. The seventy men are brought to the tabernacle, 24; and the spirit of prophecy rests upon them, 25. Eldad and Medad stay in the camp and prophesy, 26, 27. Joshua beseeches Moses to forbid them, 28. Moses refuses, 29, 30. A wind from the Lord brings quails to the camp, 31, 32. While feeding on the flesh, a plague from the Lord falls upon them, and many of them die, 33. The place is called Kibroth-hattaavah, or the graves of lust, 34. They journey to Hazeroth, 35. NOTES ON CHAP. XI Verse 1. And when the people complained] What the cause of this complaining was, we know not. The conjecture of St. Jerome is probable; they complained because of the length of the way. But surely no people had ever less cause for murmuring; they had God among them, and miracles of goodness were continually wrought in their behalf. It displeased the Lord] For his extraordinary kindness was lost on such an ungrateful and rebellious people. And his anger was kindled - Divine justice was necessarily incensed against such inexcusable conduct. And the fire of the Lord burnt among them] Either a supernatural fire was sent for this occasion, or the lightning was commissioned against them, or God smote them with one of those hot suffocating winds which are very common in those countries. And consumed - in the uttermost parts of the camp.] It pervaded the whole camp, from the centre to the circumference, carrying death with it to all the murmurers; for we are not to suppose that it was confined to the uttermost parts of the camp, unless we could imagine that there were none culpable any where else. If this were the same with the case mentioned Numbers 11:4, then, as it is possible that the mixed multitude occupied the outermost parts of the camp, consequently the burning might have been confined to them.

1–3. Taberah. This narrative should perhaps be ascribed to E . No mention is made of the reason for the murmuring of the people. But it is possible that they murmured because they were tired of the manna and wanted flesh. If so, this may have been E’s account, parallel to that of J in the verses which follow. In P’s itinerary (Numbers 33:16) Taberah is not included; Kibroth-hattaavah is given as the first stopping place after Sinai. D, who had both the narratives J and E before him, mentions both Taberah and Kibroth-hattaavah (in conjunction with Massah) in Deuteronomy 9:22.

See the marginal rendering. They murmured against the privations of the march. The fire of the Lord - Probably lightning; compare Psalms 78:21. In the uttermost parts - Rather, in the end.

THE AND THE BURNING, Numbers 11:1-3. 1. Complained — Hebrew, were as those who made themselves sad; R.V., “were as murmurers speaking evil in the ears of the Lord.” The whole clause is thus rendered