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.#1: The people bitched, and it pissed off the Lord. "... 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." (Not sure why the people on the outskirts got the old theo-thermal treatment — is that where the gripers hung out, like the cut-ups in the back of a schoolroom?)
2 And the people cried unto Moses; and when Moses prayed unto the LORD, the fire was quenched.
3 And he called the name of the place Taberah: because the fire of the LORD burnt among them.
4 And the mixt multitude that was among them fell a lusting: and the children of Israel also wept again, and said, Who shall give us flesh to eat?
5 We remember the fish, which we did eat in Egypt freely; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlick:
6 But now our soul is dried away: there is nothing at all, beside this manna, before our eyes.
7 And the manna was as coriander seed, and the colour thereof as the colour of bdellium.
8 And the people went about, and gathered it, and ground it in mills, or beat it in a mortar, and baked it in pans, and made cakes of it: and the taste of it was as the taste of fresh oil.
9 And when the dew fell upon the camp in the night, the manna fell upon it.
10 Then Moses heard the people weep throughout their families, every man in the door of his tent: and the anger of the LORD was kindled greatly; Moses also was displeased.
11 And Moses said unto the LORD, Wherefore hast thou afflicted thy servant? and wherefore have I not found favour in thy sight, that thou layest the burden of all this people upon me?
12 Have I conceived all this people? have I begotten them, that thou shouldest say unto me, Carry them in thy bosom, as a nursing father beareth the sucking child, unto the land which thou swarest unto their fathers?
13 Whence should I have flesh to give unto all this people? for they weep unto me, saying, Give us flesh, that we may eat.
14 I am not able to bear all this people alone, because it is too heavy for me.
15 And if thou deal thus with me, kill me, I pray thee, out of hand, if I have found favour in thy sight; and let me not see my wretchedness.
16 And the LORD said unto Moses, Gather unto me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom thou knowest to be the elders of the people, and officers over them; and bring them unto the tabernacle of the congregation, that they may stand there with thee.
17 And I will come down and talk with thee there: and I will take of the spirit which is upon thee, and will put it upon them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with thee, that thou bear it not thyself alone.
18 And say thou unto the people, Sanctify yourselves against to morrow, and ye shall eat flesh: for ye have wept in the ears of the LORD, saying, Who shall give us flesh to eat? for it was well with us in Egypt: therefore the LORD will give you flesh, and ye shall eat.
19 Ye shall not eat one day, nor two days, nor five days, neither ten days, nor twenty days;
20 But even a whole month, until it come out at your nostrils, and it be loathsome unto you: because that ye have despised the LORD which is among you, and have wept before him, saying, Why came we forth out of Egypt?
21 And Moses said, The people, among whom I am, are six hundred thousand footmen; and thou hast said, I will give them flesh, that they may eat a whole month.
22 Shall the flocks and the herds be slain for them, to suffice them? or shall all the fish of the sea be gathered together for them, to suffice them?
23 And the LORD said unto Moses, Is the LORD's hand waxed short? thou shalt see now whether my word shall come to pass unto thee or not.
24 And Moses went out, and told the people the words of the LORD, and gathered the seventy men of the elders of the people, and set them round about the tabernacle.
25 And the LORD came down in a cloud, and spake unto him, and took of the spirit that was upon him, and gave it unto the seventy elders: and it came to pass, that, when the spirit rested upon them, they prophesied, and did not cease.
26 But there remained two of the men in the camp, the name of the one was Eldad, and the name of the other Medad: and the spirit rested upon them; and they were of them that were written, but went not out unto the tabernacle: and they prophesied in the camp.
27 And there ran a young man, and told Moses, and said, Eldad and Medad do prophesy in the camp.
28 And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of Moses, one of his young men, answered and said, My lord Moses, forbid them.
29 And Moses said unto him, Enviest thou for my sake? would God that all the LORD's people were prophets, and that the LORD would put his spirit upon them!
30 And Moses gat him into the camp, he and the elders of Israel.
31 And there went forth a wind from the LORD, and brought quails from the sea, and let them fall by the camp, as it were a day's journey on this side, and as it were a day's journey on the other side, round about the camp, and as it were two cubits high upon the face of the earth.
32 And the people stood up all that day, and all that night, and all the next day, and they gathered the quails: he that gathered least gathered ten homers: and they spread them all abroad for themselves round about the camp.
33 And while the flesh was yet between their teeth, ere it was chewed, the wrath of the LORD was kindled against the people, and the LORD smote the people with a very great plague.
34 And he called the name of that place Kibrothhattaavah: because there they buried the people that lusted.
35 And the people journeyed from Kibrothhattaavah unto Hazeroth; and abode at Hazeroth.
#2: "And the people cried unto Moses; and when Moses prayed unto the LORD, the fire was quenched." (It's a merciful God. He might have toasted more of 'em for bellyaching about the burning).
#3: God (at least I think that's the "he" in this context) "called the name of the place Taberah: because the fire of the LORD burnt among them." (Parents could use this uplifting little lesson: "Quiet down, you kids, or we'll take you to Taberah — where they burn complainers." I am so learning about love, compassion, and forgiveness from this book!)
#4: The motley crew started "lusting" and weeping for some meat.
#5: They remembered the good eatin' to be had in Egypt: fish, cukes, melons, leeks, onions, and garlic.
#6: "But now our soul is dried away: there is nothing at all, beside this manna, before our eyes." (With the smell of God-smoked Israelites still in the air, do they really want to go there?)
#7: "And the manna was as coriander seed, and the colour thereof as the colour of bdellium." (Is this part of the complaint? "I won't eat this crap — it's the color of bdellium!")
#8: The people went about gathering it and making mannacakes, which tasted like "fresh oil." (Delish!)
#9: And the manna fell from the dew. (Where is the dew when this happens?)
#10: Yahweh was furious about the weeping of the meat-lusters, and "Moses also was displeased."
#11: Moses gripes to God, "Wherefore hast thou afflicted thy servant? and wherefore have I not found favour in thy sight, that thou layest the burden of all this people upon me?"
#12: Moe turns the drama-queen thing up to 11: "Have I conceived all this people? have I begotten them, that thou shouldest say unto me, Carry them in thy bosom, as a nursing father beareth the sucking child, unto the land which thou swarest unto their fathers?" (Nursing father? Hang on, I gotta go check something in my biology textbook....)
#13: When, Moses asks, will he have the meat to feed these whiny people? (When he stops ritually slaughtering livestock, perhaps?)
#14: God's assistant is reaching the breaking point: "I am not able to bear all this people alone, because it is too heavy for me."
#15: Just shoot me, sez Moses.
#16: The Lord tells Moses to round up 70 elders, and bring 'em to the tabernacle.
#17: He'll talk with them there, and he'll shift the burden to those dudes.
#18: YHWH also tells Moses to advise the people to "Sanctify yourselves against to morrow, and ye shall eat flesh: for ye have wept in the ears of the LORD, saying, Who shall give us flesh to eat? for it was well with us in Egypt: therefore the LORD will give you flesh, and ye shall eat." (So, this time the squeaky wheel got the grease instead of the lighter fluid. Not sure what the difference was, other than Moses interceding on behalf of the Gloomy Guses. In any case, God is generous. Hooray!)
#19: He says they'll have meat for more than 1, 2, 5, 10, or 20 days. (Hooray!)
#20: It will be for "a whole month, until it come out at their nostrils, and it be loathsome unto you: because that ye have despised the LORD which is among you, and have wept before him, saying, Why came we forth out of Egypt?" (Oops! What's Hebrew for "Be careful what you wish for"?)
#21: Moses points out that his army consists of "six hundred thousand footmen."
#22: He asks if he should slaughter the "flocks and the herds" or gather "all the fish of the sea" to handle this massive deli order.
#23: Yahweh gets sarcastic: "Is the LORD's hand waxed short? thou shalt see now whether my word shall come to pass unto thee or not."
#24: Moses tells the people what the Lord said (including the part about the nostrils?), and he brought together the 70 elders at the tabernacle.
#25: YHWH swings by in a cloud, and he turned Moses' spirit into what smells like 70 old guys with team spirit.
#26: Two elders, Eldad (excellent name for an elder) and Medad (not too bad, either) didn't go to the tabernacle, but "the spirit rested upon them," too. "They prophesied in the camp." (Not sure how to take that last bit. Were they prophets already? Did the "spirit" make them so? And why didn't they show up at the tabernacle... because they already knew what would happen?)
#27: "And there ran a young man, and told Moses, and said, Eldad and Medad do prophesy in the camp." (I guess Moses doesn't need to be prophetic if deus ex machina characters rush in and tell him what's what.)
#28: Joshua, Moses's Ephraimite servent said "My lord Moses, forbid them."
#29: But Moses asks why Josh is envious on his behalf. Moe wishes that all of the chosen people were prophets filled with God's spirit.
#30: Moses and the elders returned to the camp (Apparently, the area around the tabernacle isn't considered part of the camp).
#31: A wind arose, bringing quails from the sea into the camp. They were piled two-cubits high for as long as one could walk on a day, all around the camp.
#32: The people gathered up some birds.
#33: While the people prepared to chew on the poultry, Yahweh suddenly got furious again and "smote the people with a very great plague." (Apparently, 30 days of meat coming out of their nostrils wasn't tough love enough for the kvetching Israelites.)
#34: "And he called the name of that place Kibrothhattaavah: because there they buried the people that lusted." (So how many of "the people" did he smite?" Is that what he "chose" these people for?)
#35: "And the people journeyed from Kibrothhattaavah unto Hazeroth; and abode at Hazeroth." (If I were them, I would definitely look up what Hazeroth means.)
2 comments:
So, the first thing to say, so that the rest of this makes sense, is that this chapter is a spliced mixture of the Jahwist and Elohist text. The second thing to say is that you should remind yourself of Exodus 16. The third thing to say is that the Elohist was last seen in Exodus 24, with Moses collecting the stone tablets with the words of the Covenant Code on them.
Here its best to start with the Jahwist bits. The account of the Quail here is from the Jahwist. When the Priestly Source wrote their "replacement" for the Jahwist-Elohist text, they rewrote the Quail story as what has now become part of Exodus 16. The Elohist doesn't mention quail at all; presumably they realised that 2 million people with masses of livestock would be able to feed themselves easily without divine assistance.
Bdellium is a species of tree, related to myrhh. Its very black with bright pale blue leaves; quite distinctive and beautiful. However, manna was really honeydew (aphid secretions, which desert dwellers consume, as do ants, who "farm" aphids for this purpose in the same way that humans farm cows for milk); honey dew is a clear droplet which becomes pale white, and opaque, over a short period of time. Honeydew is mainly sugar - very very bad as a long term diet, but good for an emergency food-energy supply.
The reason in the Kibroth-Hattavaah story is verse 18-20; after the people complain, God gets pissed off and tells moses he will feed them until they stuff themselves so full that they hate food. The reason the connection between these passages is the fact that verses 16-17 and 24-30 had been spliced in much later.
The Kibroth-Hattavaah story is aetiological - that is, its a "just so" story - a folk tale invented to explain an apparent name. Ludgate, a street/hill in London, is a good example of this - the folk tale connects it to a king named Lud, said to have been buried there, but really Lud is Lludd Llaw Eraint, a figure of celtic mythology, ultimately the deity Nodens; ie. Lud wasn't really buried under ludgate, and so the folk explanation for the name is a fiction. So it is with the bible - there's an (ultimately fictional) folk tale about how the place got its name. The tale itself is older than the Jahwist text, and probably didn't originally involve the Israelites, but it was slotted into the narrative here simply because the route from Egypt to Canaan via Sinai happened to pass through it.
The Taberah story is from the Elohist text. Doesn't it look ever so similar to the Kibroth-Hattavaah story. In fact its the same story, its just in disguise. If you look at the words "Hattavaah" and "Taberah" in Hebrew, they look very similar (the shape of the letters are very similar - like how "lym" and "Ijnn" look very similar with english letters); they only appear to be different because of typos. One is the Elohist version, the other is from the Jahwist. Later on in numbers there's a "complete" list of all the places visited during the Israelite's exodus, you'll notice that that list never mentions Taberah.
The real explanation behind the name of the place is thought to be that there was some kind of megalithic thing there - a stone circle, stone tomb, or "mosquito" (a megalithic construction unique to the very small area mid-south from Canaan); these are the "graves".
Also from the Elohist are the two segments about Eldad and Medad and the 70 elders. Remember Jethro? Well, if you recollect the passages not long before these ones (from the point of view of the Elohist text - ie. the passages now actually quite some way back in Exodus), you'll notice that Jethro recommends assistants are appointed, hence the 70 elders.
This passage has a political purpose - its supportive of the prophets (who become significant in several books time), and (more significantly) constitutes an attack on the view that priests have any exclusive claim to having insight from God, or being exclusive intermediaries between man and God; with this it very strongly contradicts the Aaronid view that they have exclusivity, a view which you've seen littering the previous several chapters from the Priestly Source. The detail the text here emphasises is that they were NOT among the elders, they did NOT get the spirit by visiting the tabernacle, and that this was a GOOD thing.
One interesting detail is Eldad and Medad themselves. They are named specifically rather than just being "two people who happened to prohecy", and seem to have been more significant in Israelite history than is explained in the surviving bible. Their names aren't Hebrew although there are a number of fundamentalists who produce increadibly contrived Hebrew explanations for them; if Hebrew, Eldad would be something like "God/El is my father's brother", which is a completely bizarre thing to say.
They are really Akkadian, and refer to Hadad (aka Ba'al) - known as Adad in Akkadian - with "Eldad" meaning "El is Hadad" or "Hadad is God" and "Medad" meaning "of Hadad" (ie. Hadad-ian, like Christ-ian, but following the religion of Hadad). To put it bluntly they were prophets of Hadad, and so, if the story was originally in a similar form to how it is now, the "moral of the story" would have been that divine revelation isn't exclusive to the Israelite religion; a bit of liberal multiculturalism, if you will.
By the way, "Hazeroth" means "yards" - not in any way interesting or prophetic.
Yes, I did notice that Jethraguel seems to be the patron saint of delegation.
And good to know that "Hazeroth" doesn't mean "place where God sticks a dagger through your windpipe" or something.
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