Julia Evelina Smith Parker (1876)

1And the people shall be as complainers, and it was evil in the ears of Jehovah; and Jehovah will hear, and his anger will kindle, and the fire of Jehovah will burn among them and will consume in the extremity of the camp. 2And the people will cry to Moses and Moses will pray to Jehovah, and the fire will subside. 3And he will call the name of that place Taberah, for the fire of Jehovah burnt among them. 4And the scraped together which in its midst will long a longing; and the sons of Israel also will turn back and weep, and they will say, Who will feed us with flesh? 5We remembered the fish which we ate in Egypt gratuitously; the cucumbers and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlics. 6And now our soul shall be dried up; not any thing but to the manna our eyes. 7And the manna it as the seed of coriander, and its eye as the eye of bdellium. 8The people went to and fro, and gathered and ground in the mill, or crushed in the mortar, and boiled in the pot, and made it cakes; and its taste was as the taste of a sweet cake of oil. 9And in the descending of the dew upon the camp by night the manna descended upon it 10And Moses will hear the people weeping to their families, each at the door of his tent: and the wrath of Jehovah was kindled greatly; and it was evil in the eyes of Moses. 11And Moses will say to Jehovah, For what hest thou done evil to thy servant? and for what did I not find grace in thine eyes, to put the debt of all this people upon me? 12Did I form all this people? did I beget them? for thou wilt say to me, Lift them up into thy bosom, as a nurse will lift up the sucking child upon the land which thou swarest to their fathers. 13Whence to me flesh to give to all this people? for they weep upon me, saying, Thou shalt give to us flesh and we shall eat 14I shall not be able to lift up alone all this people, for it is heavy for me. 15And if so thou doest to me, killing, kill me now, if I found grace in thine eyes; and I shall not look upon my evil 16And Jehovah will say to Moses, Gather to me seventy men of the old men of Israel, whom thou knewest that they were old men of the people, and their scribes; and take them to the tent of appointment, and they shall stand there with thee. 17And I came down and I spake with thee there; and I took from the spirit which is upon thee, and I put upon them, and they lifted up with thee in the debt of the people, and thou shalt not lift it up thyself alone. 18And thou shalt say to the people, Be ye consecrated for the morrow, and ye ate flesh: for ye wept in the ears of Jehovah, saying, Who shall feed us with flesh? for it was good to us in Egypt; and Jehovah gave to you flesh, and ye ate. 19Not one day shall ye eat, and not two days, and not five days, and not ten days, and not twenty days; 20Even to a month of days, till when it shall come out from your nostrils, and it shall be to you for loathsomeness, because that ye rejected Jehovah who is in the midst of you, and ye shall weep before him, saying, Wherefore came we out of Egypt? 21And Moses will say, Six hundred thousand of foot the people which I am in the midst of them: and thou saidst, I will give flesh to them, and they shall eat a month of days. 22Shall the sheep and the oxen be slaughtered for them and suffice for them? and if he shall gather all the fish of the sea to them, and it suffice for them? 23And Jehovah will say to Moses, Shall the hand of Jehovah be cut off? Now shalt thou see my word shall be precious to thee or not 24And Moses will go forth, and will speak to the people the words of Jehovah; and he will gather the seventy men, of the old men of the people, and he will cause them to stand round about the tent 25And Jehovah will come down in the cloud, and will speak to him, and he will take from the spirit which is upon him, and will give upon the seventy men, the old men: and it shall be in the resting of the spirit upon them, and they shall prophesy, and they shall not cease. 26And two men remained in the camp, the name of the one Eldad, and the name of the second, Medad: and the spirit will encamp upon them; and they among those being written, and they will not go forth to the tent, and they will prophesy in the camp. 27And a young man will run and announce to Moses, and he will say, Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp. 28And Joshua, son of Nun, serving Moses from his chosen, will answer and say, My lord Moses, restrain them. 29And Moses will say to him, Thou envying for me; and who will give all the people of Jehovah prophets? when Jehovah will give his spirit upon them. 30And Moses will take himself into the camp, he and the old men of Israel.  31And a spirit removed from Jehovah and it will divide out the quails from the sea, and will cast upon the camp, as the way of a day hither, and the way of a day thither, round about the camp, and as two cubits upon the face of the earth. 32And the people will rise up all that day and all the night, and all the day of the morrow, and will gather the quails: the few gathered ten homers; and they will spread for themselves a spreading round about the camp. 33And the flesh yet between their teeth, before it shall be withdrawn and the anger of Jehovah was kindled against the people, and Jehovah will smite upon them an exceeding great blow. 34And he will call the name of that place, The Graves of Longings, for there they buried the people longing. 35From the Graves of Longings the people removed to the enclosures, and they shall be in the enclosures.


Matthew Henry - Concise Commentary
 1   Here is the people's sin; they complained. See the sinfulness of sin, which takes occasion from the commandment to be provoking. The weakness of the law discovered sin, but could not destroy it; checked, but could not conquer it. They complained. Those who are of a discontented spirit, will always find something to quarrel or fret about, though the circumstances of their outward condition be ever so favourable. The Lord heard it, though Moses did not. God knows the secret frettings and murmurings of the heart, though concealed from men. What he noticed, he was much displeased with, and he chastised them for this sin. The fire of their wrath against God burned in their minds; justly did the fire of God's wrath fasten on their bodies; but God's judgments came on them gradually, that they might take warning. It appeared that God delights not in punishing; when he begins, he is soon prevailed with to let it fall.

 4   Man, having forsaken his proper rest, feels uneasy and wretched, though prosperous. They were weary of the provision God had made for them, although wholesome food and nourishing. It cost no money or care, and the labour of gathering it was very little indeed; yet they talked of Egypt's cheapness, and the fish they ate there freely; as if that cost them nothing, when they paid dearly for it with hard service! While they lived on manna, they seemed exempt from the curse sin has brought on man, that in the sweat of his face he should eat bread; yet they speak of it with scorn. Peevish, discontented minds will find fault with that which has no fault in it, but that it is too good for them. Those who might be happy, often make themselves miserable by discontent. They could not be satisfied unless they had flesh to eat. It is evidence of the dominion of the carnal mind, when we want to have the delights and satisfaction of sense. We should not indulge in any desire which we cannot in faith turn into prayer, as we cannot when we ask meat for our lust. What is lawful of itself becomes evil, when God does not allot it to us, yet we desire it.

 10   The provocation was very great; yet Moses expressed himself otherwise than became him. He undervalued the honour God had put upon him. He magnified his own performances, while he had the Divine wisdom to direct him, and Almighty power to dispense rewards and punishments. He speaks distrustfully of the Divine grace. Had the work been much less he could not have gone through it in his own strength; but had it been much greater, through God strengthening him, he might have done it. Let us pray, Lord, lead us not into temptation.

 16   Moses is to choose such as he knew to be elders, that is, wise and experienced men. God promises to qualify them. If they were not found fit for the employ, they should be made fit. Even the discontented people shall be gratified too, that every mouth may be stopped. See here, I. The vanity of all the delights of sense; they will cloy, but they will not satisfy. Spiritual pleasures alone will satisfy and last. As the world passes away, so do the lusts of it. 2. What brutish sins gluttony and drunkenness are! they make that to hurt the body which should be its health. Moses objects. Even true and great believers sometimes find it hard to trust God under the discouragements of second causes, and against hope to believe in hope. God here brings Moses to this point, The Lord God is Almighty; and puts the proof upon the issue, Thou shalt see whether my word shall come to pass or not. If he speaks, it is done.

 24   We have here the fulfilment of God's word to Moses, that he should have help in the government of Israel. He gave of his Spirit to the seventy elders. They discoursed to the people of the things of God, so that all who heard them might say, that God was with them of a truth. Two of the elders, Eldad and Medad, went not out unto the tabernacle, as the rest, being sensible of their own weakness and unworthiness. But the Spirit of God found them in the camp, and there they exercised their gift of praying, preaching, and praising God; they spake as moved by the Holy Ghost. The Spirit of God is not confined to the tabernacle, but, like the wind, blows where He listeth. And they that humble themselves shall be exalted; and those who are most fit for government, are least ambitious of it. Joshua does not desire that they should be punished, but only restrained for the future. This motion he made out of zeal for what he thought to be the unity of the church. He would have them silenced, lest they should occasion a schism, or should rival Moses; but Moses was not afraid of any such effects from that Spirit which God had put upon them. Shall we reject those whom Christ has owned, or restrain any from doing good, because they are not in every thing of our mind? Moses wishes all the Lord's people were prophets, that he would put his Spirit upon all of them. Let the testimony of Moses be believed by those who desire to be in power; that government is a burden. It is a burden of care and trouble to those who make conscience of the duty of it; and to those who do not, it will prove a heavier burden in the day of account. Let the example of Moses be followed by those in power; let them not despise the advice and assistance of others, but desire it, and be thankful for it. If all the present number of the Lord's people were rendered prophets, or ministers, by the Spirit of Christ, though not all agreed in outward matters, there is work enough for all, in calling sinners to repentance, and faith in our Lord Jesus.

 31   God performed his promise to the people, in giving them flesh. How much more diligent men are in collecting the meat that perishes, than in labouring for meat which endures to everlasting life! We are quick-sighted in the affairs of time; but stupidity blinds us as to the concerns of eternity. To pursue worldly advantages, we need no arguments; but when we are to secure the true riches, then we are all forgetfulness. Those who are under the power of a carnal mind, will have their lusts fulfilled, though it be to the certain damage and ruin of their precious souls. They paid dearly for their feasts. God often grants the desires of sinners in wrath, while he denies the desires of his own people in love. What we unduly desire, if we obtain it, we have reason to fear, will be some way or other a grief and cross to us. And what multitudes there are in all places, who shorten their lives by excess of one kind or other! Let us seek for those pleasures which satisfy, but never surfeit; and which will endure for evermore.