Números 11

ARC · Chapter 11/36

1E aconteceu que, queixando-se o povo, era mal aos ouvidos do Senhor; porque o Senhor ouviu-o, e a sua ira se accendeu, e o fogo do Senhor ardeu entre elles, e consumiu os que estavam na ultima parte do arraial.

2Então o povo clamou a Moysés, e Moysés orou ao Senhor, e o fogo se apagou.

3Pelo que chamou aquelle logar Tabera, porquanto o fogo do Senhor se accendera entre elles.

4E o vulgo, que estava no meio d'elles, veiu a ter grande desejo: pelo que os filhos d'Israel tornaram a chorar, e disseram: Quem nos dará carne a comer?

5Lembramo-nos dos peixes que no Egypto comiamos de graça; e dos pepinos, e dos melões, e dos pórros, e das cebolas, e dos alhos.

6Mas agora a nossa alma se secca; coisa nenhuma ha senão este manná diante dos nossos olhos.

7E era o manná como semente de coentro, e a sua côr como a côr de bedelio.

8Espalhava-se o povo, e o colhia, e em moinhos o moia, ou n'um gral o pizava, e em panellas o cozia, e d'elle fazia bolos: e o seu sabor era como o sabor d'azeite fresco.

9E, quando o orvalho descia de noite sobre o arraial, o manná descia sobre elle.

10Então Moysés ouviu chorar o povo pelas suas familias, cada qual á porta da sua tenda: e a ira do Senhor grandemente se accendeu, e pareceu mal aos olhos de Moysés.

11E disse Moysés ao Senhor: Porque fizeste mal a teu servo, e porque não achei graça aos teus olhos; que pozesses sobre mim o cargo de todo este povo?

12Concebi eu porventura todo este povo? pari-o eu? que me dissesses: leva-o ao teu collo, como o aio leva o que cria, á terra que juraste a seus paes?

13D'onde teria eu carne para dar a todo este povo? porquanto contra mim choram, dizendo: Dá-nos carne a comer:

14Eu só não posso levar a todo este povo, porque muito pesado é para mim.

15E se assim fazes comigo, mata-me eu t'o peço, se tenho achado graça aos teus olhos, e não me deixes ver o meu mal.

16E disse o Senhor a Moysés: Ajunta-me setenta homens dos anciãos d'Israel , de quem sabes que são anciãos do povo, e seus officiaes: e os trarás perante a tenda da congregação, e ali se porão comtigo

17Então eu descerei e ali fallarei comtigo, e tirarei do espirito que está sobre ti, e o porei sobre elles: e comtigo levarão o cargo do povo, para que tu só o não leves.

18E dirás ao povo: Sanctificae-vos para ámanhã, e comereis carne: porquanto chorastes aos ouvidos do Senhor, dizendo: Quem nos dará carne a comer? pois bem nos ia no Egypto: pelo que o Senhor vos dará carne, e comereis:

19Não comereis um dia, nem dois dias, nem cinco dias, nem dez dias, nem vinte dias;

20Até um mez inteiro, até vos sair pelos narizes, até que vos enfastieis d'ella: porquanto rejeitastes ao Senhor, que está no meio de vós, e chorastes diante d'elle, dizendo: Porque saimos do Egypto?

21E disse Moysés: Seiscentos mil homens de pé é este povo, no meio do qual estou: e tu tens dito: Dar-lhes-hei carne, e comerão um mez inteiro.

22Degolar-se-hão para elles ovelhas e vaccas, que lhes bastem? ou ajuntar-se-hão para elles todos os peixes do mar, que lhes bastem?

23Porém o Senhor disse a Moysés: Seria pois encurtada a mão do Senhor? agora verás se a minha palavra te acontecerá ou não.

24E saiu Moysés, e fallou as palavras do Senhor ao povo, e ajuntou setenta homens dos anciãos do povo e os poz de roda da tenda.

25Então o Senhor desceu na nuvem, e lhe fallou; e, tirando do espirito, que estava sobre elle, o poz sobre aquelles setenta anciãos: e aconteceu que, assim como o espirito repousou sobre elles, prophetizaram; mas depois nunca mais.

26Porém no arraial ficaram dois homens; o nome d'um era Eldad, e o nome do outro Medad; e repousou sobre elles o espirito (porquanto estavam entre os escriptos, ainda que não sairam á tenda), e prophetizavam no arraial.

27Então correu um moço, e o annunciou a Moysés, e disse: Eldad e Medad prophetizam no arraial.

28E Josué, filho de Nun, servidor de Moysés, um dos seus mancebos escolhidos, respondeu, e disse: Senhor meu, Moysés, prohibe-lh'o.

29Porém Moysés lhe disse: Tens tu ciumes por mim? Oxalá que todo o povo do Senhor fosse propheta, que o Senhor désse o seu espirito sobre elle!

30Depois Moysés se recolheu ao arraial, elle e os anciãos de Israel.

31Então soprou um vento do Senhor, e trouxe codornizes do mar, e as espalhou pelo arraial quasi caminho d'um dia d'uma banda, e quasi caminho d'um dia da outra banda, á roda do arraial; e estavam quasi dois covados sobre a terra.

32Então o povo se levantou todo aquelle dia e toda aquella noite, e todo o dia seguinte, e colheram as codornizes; o que menos tinha, colhera dez homers; e as estenderam para si ao redor do arraial.

33Quando a carne estava entre os seus dentes, antes que fosse mastigada, se accendeu a ira do Senhor contra o povo, e feriu o Senhor o povo com uma praga mui grande.

34Pelo que o nome d'aquelle logar se chamou Kibroth-hattaava porquanto ali enterraram o povo que teve o desejo.

35De Kibroth-hattaava caminhou o povo para Hazaaroth, e pararam em Hazaaroth.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

The people complain about the food, longing for what they ate in Egypt and tired of the manna. God sends quail in abundance, but also sends a severe plague among those who complained the most. Moses, overwhelmed, receives help from seventy elders who also receive the Spirit.

Explanation

This chapter reveals the recurring pattern of complaint that will mark Israel's entire journey in the wilderness: despite having been miraculously freed, the people idealize their past slavery instead of trusting God's present provision. God's response is twofold: he grants the request (quail) but also disciplines the ingratitude behind it, showing that not every granted desire is a sign of divine approval. The distribution of the Spirit upon the seventy elders, including the two who stayed in the camp (Eldad and Medad), and Moses' generous reaction ('Would that all the LORD's people were prophets') shows a leadership that is not jealous of sharing authority and spiritual gifts.

Fun facts

  • Moses' response to Joshua, who asked him to stop Eldad and Medad from prophesying outside the official tent, shows a remarkable parallel with a similar episode involving Jesus' disciples trying to stop someone from casting out demons in his name (Mark 9:38-39) — in both cases, the leader responds with generosity instead of exclusivity.
  • The site of the event was named Kibroth Hattaavah, meaning 'graves of craving,' a geographic name that served as a permanent reminder of the danger of complaining against God's provision.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Números 11:1The journey has barely begun when the people already complain about something unspecified, and God responds with fire that consumes the edges of the camp — a harsh response right at the start of the journey through the wilderness.
  2. Números 11:2Frightened, the people cry out to Moses for help; he prays to the Lord, and the fire goes out as quickly as it started.
  3. Números 11:3Because of this episode, that place became known as Taberah, a word tied to the idea of fire breaking out among the people.
  4. Números 11:4This time the complaint comes from a group of foreigners who had also come out of Egypt along with Israel, and their craving for different food spreads to the rest of the people, who start weeping for meat again.
  5. Números 11:5After a while eating only manna, the people begin to miss the varied food they had in Egypt, even though they had been slaves there. It is a complaint both exaggerated and human: memory idealizes the past, forgetting the oppression and remembering only the food.
  6. Números 11:6After recalling the food of Egypt in the previous verse, the people complain that now nothing is left but manna, day after day before their eyes.
  7. Números 11:7The text describes manna physically: it looked like a small coriander seed, with a pale color resembling a resin called bdellium.
  8. Números 11:8Here is a description of what manna was actually like: small as coriander seed, it could be ground, boiled, or made into cakes, tasting something like fresh oil. It is one of the few concrete descriptions of how this food actually worked day to day for the people.
  9. Números 11:9Manna fell together with the dew at night, which explains why the people needed to gather it early, in the morning, before it melted.
  10. Números 11:10Moses hears the people weeping family by family, each one at the door of their own tent, and this troubles him just as much as it kindles the Lord’s anger.
  11. Números 11:11Moses pours out his frustration to God, asking why he alone was made to bear the weight of caring for that whole people, as if he had done something wrong to deserve it.
  12. Números 11:12He presses the complaint further with a rhetorical question: did he father this people, that he should have to carry them like a nurse carries a baby all the way to the promised land?
  13. Números 11:13Moses also asks where he would get meat to feed everyone, since the people were weeping and demanding it of him.
  14. Números 11:14He openly admits his limit: alone, he cannot bear the weight of leading that whole people.
  15. Números 11:15At the height of his despair, Moses even asks to die right there, thinking it would be easier than continuing to watch that situation.
  16. Números 11:16God answers with a practical solution: gather seventy elders already recognized as leaders among the people, and bring them to the tent of the congregation.
  17. Números 11:17God promises to come down, take part of the same spirit that was on Moses, and put it on the seventy, so they can share the weight of leading the people with him.
  18. Números 11:18To the people, the order is different: prepare yourselves, because tomorrow you will eat meat, since you complained so much that you said it was better in Egypt.
  19. Números 11:19God makes it clear it would not be just a little meat: not for one day, nor two, nor five, nor ten, nor twenty days.
  20. Números 11:20God answers the complaint for meat by promising too much meat, for a whole month, until the people are utterly sick of it. The wording is harsh on purpose: it shows the problem was not hunger, but the ingratitude of people who already had manna guaranteed every day and still rejected God’s provision.
  21. Números 11:21Moses reacts with practical disbelief: with six hundred thousand men among the people, how does God intend to feed everyone meat for a whole month?
  22. Números 11:22He questions whether they could manage it by slaughtering all the available flocks, or gathering all the fish of the sea, for so great a number of people.
  23. Números 11:23The Lord answers Moses’s doubt with a direct question: is the Lord’s power limited? And He promises that Moses will soon see whether His word comes to pass.
  24. Números 11:24Moses delivers God’s message to the people and gathers the seventy elders around the tent, just as he had been instructed.
  25. Números 11:25To share the weight of leading alone, Moses gathers seventy elders, and God takes part of the same spirit that was on Moses and puts it on them. They prophesy at that moment as a public sign that they now had authority to help lead the people, but this did not happen again afterward.
  26. Números 11:26Curiously, two men who had stayed in the camp, Eldad and Medad, also receive the spirit and begin to prophesy right there, even without having gone to the tent.
  27. Números 11:27A young man runs to tell Moses that Eldad and Medad were prophesying inside the camp itself.
  28. Números 11:28Joshua, Moses’s trusted assistant, reacts by asking him to stop the two from continuing to prophesy outside the official group.
  29. Números 11:29Moses answers with a generous reply, with no jealousy for his own position: he wishes the whole people of the Lord were prophets, if God chose to put His spirit on all of them.
  30. Números 11:30After this episode, Moses returns to the camp together with the elders.
  31. Números 11:31A wind brought a huge number of quail in from the sea and scattered them over the camp, piled up almost a meter off the ground all around the whole camp. It was God’s answer to the demand for meat, but the chapter ends by showing that it also brought a plague among the people, tied to the excess and greed with which they threw themselves at the food.
  32. Números 11:32The people spend the whole day, the night, and the following day gathering quail without stopping; even those who gathered the least still collected a huge amount, spreading it all around the camp.
  33. Números 11:33But before the meat was even well chewed, the Lord’s anger flares up against the people, and a very severe plague strikes those who had greedily thrown themselves at the food.
  34. Números 11:34Because of this, that place became known as Kibrothhattaavah, because there they buried those who had been overcome by that excessive craving.
  35. Números 11:35After this episode, the people travel on from Kibrothhattaavah to Hazeroth, where they camp next.

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