The Fourth Book of Moses: Numbers

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- Kapitel 11 -

Meanwhile, there arose a murmur among the people against the Lord, as if they were grief-stricken because of their labors. And when the Lord had heard it, he was angry. And when the fire of the Lord was enflamed against them, it devoured those who were at the extreme end of the camp.(a)

And when the people had cried out to Moses, Moses prayed to the Lord, and the fire was consumed.

And he called the name of that place, ‘The Burning,’ because the fire of the Lord had burned against them.(b)

So then, the mix of common people, who had ascended with them, were enflamed with desire, and sitting and weeping, with the sons of Israel joining them, they said, “Who will give us flesh to eat?(c)

(d)

We remember the fish that we ate freely in Egypt; we call to mind the cucumbers, and melons, and leeks, and onions, and garlic.

Our life is dry; our eyes look out to see nothing but manna.”

Now the manna was like coriander seed, but with the color of bdellium.(e)

And the people wandered about, gathering it, and they crushed it with a millstone, or ground it with a mortar; then they boiled it in a pot, and made biscuits out of it, with a taste like bread made with oil.

And when the dew descended in the night over the camp, the manna descended together with it.

The Complaint of Moses

And so, Moses heard the people weeping by their families, each one at the door of his tent. And the fury of the Lord was greatly enflamed. And to Moses also the matter seemed intolerable.

And so he said to the Lord: “Why have you afflicted your servant? Why do I not find favor before you? And why have you imposed the weight of this entire people upon me?

Could I have conceived this entire multitude, or have given birth to them, so that you might say to me: Carry them in your bosom, as a nursemaid usually carries a little infant, and bring them into the land, about which you have sworn to their fathers?

From where would I obtain the flesh to give to so great a multitude? They weep against me, saying, ‘Give us flesh, so that we may eat.’

I alone am unable to sustain this entire people, because it is too heavy for me.

But if it seems to you otherwise, I beg you to put me to death, and so may I find grace in your eyes, lest I be afflicted with such evils.”

Seventy Elders Anointed

And the Lord said to Moses: “Gather to me seventy men from the elders of Israel, whom you know to be elders, as well as teachers, of the people. And you shall lead them to the door of the tabernacle of the covenant, and you shall cause them to stand there with you,(f)

so that I may descend and speak to you. And I will take from your spirit, and I will deliver it to them, so that, with you, they may sustain the burden of the people, and so that you will not be weighed down alone.

You shall also say to the people: Be sanctified. Tomorrow you will eat flesh. For I have heard you say: ‘Who will give us flesh to eat? It was well with us in Egypt.’ So then, may the Lord give you flesh. And you will eat,

not for one day, nor for two, nor for five, nor for ten, nor even for twenty,

but for up to a month of days, until it exits from your nostrils, and until it turns into nausea for you, because you have slipped away from the Lord, who is in your midst, and because you have wept before him, saying: ‘Why did we go forth out of Egypt?’ ”

And Moses said: “There are six hundred thousand footmen of this people, and yet you say, ‘I will give them flesh to eat for a whole month.’

Could a multitude of sheep and oxen be slain, so that there would be enough food? Or will the fishes of the sea be gathered together, in order to satisfy them?”

And the Lord answered him: “Can the hand of the Lord be ineffective? Soon now, you shall see whether my word will be fulfilled in this work.”

And so, Moses went and explained the words of the Lord to the people. Gathering together seventy men from the elders of Israel, he caused them to stand around the tabernacle.

And the Lord descended in a cloud, and he spoke to him, taking from the Spirit which was in Moses, and giving to the seventy men. And when the Spirit had rested in them, they prophesied; nor did they cease afterwards.

Now there had remained in the camp two of the men, of whom one was called Eldad, and the other Medad, upon whom the Spirit rested; for they also had been enrolled, but they did not go forth to the tabernacle.

And when they were prophesying in the camp, a boy ran and reported to Moses, saying: “Eldad and Medad prophesy in the camp.”

Promptly, Joshua the son of Nun, the minister of Moses and chosen from many, said: “My lord Moses, prohibit them.”

But he said, “Why are you jealous on my behalf? Who decides that any of the people may prophesy and that God may give to them his Spirit?”

And Moses returned, with those greater by birth of Israel, into the camp.

The Quail and the Plague

Then a wind, going out from the Lord and moving forcefully across the sea, brought quails and cast them into the camp, across a distance of one day’s journey, in every part of the camp all around, and they flew in the air two cubits high above the ground.

Therefore, the people, rising up, gathered quails all that day and night, and the next day; he who did least well gathered ten homers. And they dried them throughout the camp.

The flesh was still between their teeth, neither had this kind of food ceased, and behold, the fury of the Lord was provoked against the people, and he struck them with an exceedingly great scourge.

And that place was called, ‘The Graves of Lust.’ For there, they buried the people who had desired. Then, departing from the Graves of Lust, they arrived in Hazeroth, and they stayed there.(g)

(h)

Fußnoten

(a)11:1 The most faithful were those camped immediately around the Tabernacle. The common people who were mainly non-Hebrew, were at the outer edges of the camp. It is mainly these who were murmuring against the Lord.(Conte)

(b)11:3 The burning:Hebrew, Taberah.(Challoner)

(c)11:4 When the Israelites departed from Egypt, many of the non-Hebrews were so impressed by the signs from God, that they departed with them.(Conte)

(d)11:4 A mixt multitude:These were people that came with them out of Egypt, who were not of the race of Israel; who, by their murmuring, drew also the children of Israel to murmur: this should teach us the danger of associating ourselves with the children of Egypt, that is, with the lovers and admirers of this wicked world.(Challoner)

(e)11:7 Bdellium:Bdellium, according to Pliny, 1.21, c. 9. was of the colour of a man’s nail, white and bright.(Challoner)

(f)11:16 Seventy men:This was the first institution of the council or senate, called the Sanhedrin, consisting of seventy or seventy-two senators or counsellors.(Challoner)

(g)11:34 Other translations incorrectly obscure this reference to the sexual sins of the people. Fasting is opposed to sexual sins. When the people, ate freely, no longer fasting on Manna (similar to bread) and water, they fell into sexual sins. The eating of quails was not sin, but through self-indulgence in what should not have been sinful, they fell into sin, and subsequently into even greater sins.(Conte)

(h)11:34 The graves of lust:Or, the sepulchres of concupiscence: so called from their irregular desire of flesh. In Hebrew, Kibroth. Hattaavah.(Challoner)

The people were complaining in the ears of the LORD. When the LORD heard it, his anger burned; and the LORD’s fire burned among them, and consumed some of the outskirts of the camp.

The people cried to Moses; and Moses prayed to the LORD, and the fire abated.

The name of that place was called Taberah,(a) because the LORD’s fire burned among them.

The mixed multitude that was among them lusted exceedingly; and the children of Israel also wept again, and said, “Who will give us meat to eat?

We remember the fish, which we ate in Egypt for nothing; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlic;

but now we have lost our appetite. There is nothing at all except this manna to look at.”

The manna was like coriander seed, and it looked like bdellium.(b)

The people went around, gathered it, and ground it in mills, or beat it in mortars, and boiled it in pots, and made cakes of it. Its taste was like the taste of fresh oil.

When the dew fell on the camp in the night, the manna fell on it.

The Complaint of Moses

Moses heard the people weeping throughout their families, every man at the door of his tent; and the LORD’s anger burned greatly; and Moses was displeased.

Moses said to the LORD, “Why have you treated your servant so badly? Why haven’t I found favor in your sight, that you lay the burden of all this people on me?

Have I conceived all this people? Have I brought them out, that you should tell me, ‘Carry them in your bosom, as a nurse carries a nursing infant, to the land which you swore to their fathers’?

Where could I get meat to give all these people? For they weep before me, saying, ‘Give us meat, that we may eat.’

I am not able to bear all this people alone, because it is too heavy for me.

If you treat me this way, please kill me right now, if I have found favor in your sight; and don’t let me see my wretchedness.”

Seventy Elders Anointed

The LORD said to Moses, “Gather to me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom you know to be the elders of the people and officers over them; and bring them to the Tent of Meeting, that they may stand there with you.

I will come down and talk with you there. I will take of the Spirit which is on you, and will put it on them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with you, that you don’t bear it yourself alone.

“Say to the people, ‘Sanctify yourselves in preparation for tomorrow, and you will eat meat; for you have wept in the ears of the LORD, saying, “Who will give us meat to eat? For it was well with us in Egypt.” Therefore the LORD will give you meat, and you will eat.

You will not eat just one day, or two days, or five days, or ten days, or twenty days,

but a whole month, until it comes out at your nostrils, and it is loathsome to you; because you have rejected the LORD who is among you, and have wept before him, saying, “Why did we come out of Egypt?”’”

Moses said, “The people, among whom I am, are six hundred thousand men on foot; and you have said, ‘I will give them meat, that they may eat a whole month.’

Shall flocks and herds be slaughtered for them, to be sufficient for them? Shall all the fish of the sea be gathered together for them, to be sufficient for them?”

The LORD said to Moses, “Has the LORD’s hand grown short? Now you will see whether my word will happen to you or not.”

Moses went out, and told the people the LORD’s words; and he gathered seventy men of the elders of the people, and set them around the Tent.

The LORD came down in the cloud, and spoke to him, and took of the Spirit that was on him, and put it on the seventy elders. When the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied, but they did so no more.

But two men remained in the camp. The name of one was Eldad, and the name of the other Medad; and the Spirit rested on them. They were of those who were written, but had not gone out to the Tent; and they prophesied in the camp.

A young man ran, and told Moses, and said, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp!”

Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of Moses, one of his chosen men, answered, “My lord Moses, forbid them!”

Moses said to him, “Are you jealous for my sake? I wish that all the LORD’s people were prophets, that the LORD would put his Spirit on them!”

Moses went into the camp, he and the elders of Israel.

The Quail and the Plague

A wind from the LORD went out and brought quails from the sea, and let them fall by the camp, about a day’s journey on this side, and a day’s journey on the other side, around the camp, and about two cubits(c) above the surface of the earth.

The people rose up all that day, and all of that night, and all the next day, and gathered the quails. He who gathered least gathered ten homers;(d) and they spread them all out for themselves around the camp.

While the meat was still between their teeth, before it was chewed, the LORD’s anger burned against the people, and the LORD struck the people with a very great plague.

The name of that place was called Kibroth Hattaavah,(e) because there they buried the people who lusted.

From Kibroth Hattaavah the people traveled to Hazeroth; and they stayed at Hazeroth.

Fußnoten

(a)11:3 Taberah means “burning”

(b)11:7 Bdellium is a resin extracted from certain African trees.

(c)11:31 A cubit is the length from the tip of the middle finger to the elbow on a man’s arm, or about 18 inches or 46 centimeters.

(d)11:32 1 homer is about 220 liters or 6 bushels

(e)11:34 Kibroth Hattaavah means “graves of lust”