Numbers 11:18

Numbers 11:18 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)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.
• New International Version (NIV)“Tell the people: ‘Consecrate yourselves in preparation for tomorrow, when you will eat meat. The Lord heard you when you wailed, “If only we had meat to eat! We were better off in Egypt!” Now the Lord will give you meat, and you will eat it.
• English Standard Version (ESV)And say to the people, 'Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow, and you shall eat meat, for you have wept in the hearing of the Lord, saying, "Who will give us meat to eat? For it was better for us in Egypt." Therefore the Lord will give you meat, and you shall eat.
• New King James Version (NKJV)Then you shall say to the people, ‘Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow, and you shall eat meat; for you have wept in the hearing 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 shall eat.

Context of Numbers 11:18

16So the Lord said to Moses, ‘Choose 70 leaders of the Israelites and bring them to the Tent of Meeting. You must know that they are leaders and officers that the people respect. Bring them to stand there with you. 17Then I will come down and I will speak with you there. I will take some of the authority of my Spirit that I gave to you. I will share it with them. Then they will help you to lead the people. So you will not be the only man who is doing that job. Then say to the people, “The Lord heard you when you were weeping. You said, ‘We want someone to give us meat to eat! Life was better when we were in Egypt.’ So the Lord will give you meat and you will eat it. So make yourselves clean for tomorrow, and then you will eat meat. 19You will not eat it only for one day, or two days, or five days, or ten days, or 20 days. 20You will eat it every day for a whole month! You will hate the smell of it and it will seem disgusting to you. This is because you have turned against the Lord. He is near to you and you have wept in front of him. You have said, ‘We should never have left Egypt.’ ” ’

Numbers 11:18 word by word

וְאֶל־הָעָ֨ם תֹּאמַ֜ר הִתְקַדְּשׁ֣וּ לְמָחָר֮ וַאֲכַלְתֶּ֣ם בָּשָׂר֒ כִּ֡י בְּכִיתֶם֩ בְּאָזְנֵ֨י יְהוָ֜ה לֵאמֹ֗ר מִ֤י יַאֲכִלֵ֙נוּ֙ בָּשָׂ֔ר כִּי־ט֥וֹב לָ֖נוּ בְּמִצְרָ֑יִם וְנָתַ֨ן יְהוָ֥ה לָכֶ֛ם בָּשָׂ֖ר וַאֲכַלְתֶּֽם׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• And sayאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
• thou unto the peopleעַם‛am · peopleH5971
• Sanctifyקָדַשׁqâdash · to consecrate: consecateH6942
• yourselves against to morrowמָחָרmâchâr · tomorrowH4279
• and ye shall eatאָכַל'âkal · to eatH398
• fleshבָּשָׂרbâώâr · fleshH1320
• for ye have weptבָּכָהbâkâh · to weepH1058
• in the earsאֹ֫זֶן'ôzen · ear: hearingH241
• of the Lordיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068
• wellטוֹבţôb · be pleasingH2895
• with us in Egyptמִצְרַ֫יִםmitsrayim · EgyptH4714
• will giveנָתַןnâthan · to give: giveH5414

Cross-references for Numbers 11:18

• Genesis 35:2So Jacob told the people in his house and everyone who was with him, ‘Throw out all the foreign idols that you have with you. Wash your body very well and put on clean clothes.
• Exodus 19:10Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Go to the people. Make them ready to meet with me. Today and tomorrow they must wash their clothes.
• Joshua 7:13So stand up now! Tell the people to make themselves clean. Make yourselves ready! Tomorrow you will come to stand in front of me. I, the Lord God of Israel tell you, “Israelite people, you have kept some of the things that I told you to destroy. You will not win against your enemies until you have removed those things!”
• Numbers 11:1But the people started to complain about their problems. The Lord heard them and he became very angry. He sent fire. The Lord sent his fire to burn among them. It destroyed some parts of the camp at the edge.
• Exodus 16:3The Israelites said to them, ‘It would have been better if the Lord had killed us in Egypt! There, we sat round pots with plenty of meat. We ate all the food that we wanted. But now you have brought us into this desert. We are so hungry that we will soon die!’
• Judges 21:2After the war against Benjamin's army, the people went to Bethel to meet with God. They sat there until evening. They could not stop weeping loudly.
• Numbers 11:4Some foreign people were travelling with the Israelites. Those people wanted very much to eat better food. So the Israelites wept again. They said, ‘We want meat to eat!
• Numbers 14:2All the Israelites spoke bad words against Moses and Aaron. All the people said to them, ‘We would rather have died in Egypt, or even in this desert!
• Acts 7:39But our ancestors would not obey Moses. They did not accept him as their leader. They wanted to go back to Egypt.

Commentaries on Numbers 11:18

• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 4-35Verses 4-35 Occurrences at Kibroth-hattavah. Numbers 11:4 The mixt multitude - The word in the original resembles our “riff-raff,” and denotes a mob of people scraped together. It refers here to the multitude of strangers (see Exodus 12:38) who had followed the Israelites from Egypt. Numbers 11:5 The natural dainties of Egypt are set forth in this passage with the fullness and relish which bespeak personal experience. Numbers 11:6-7 There is nothing at…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 16-23Verses 16-23 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…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 16-30Jethro suggested that Moses should have different levels of judges (Exodus 18:13–26). He focused on practical issues like the tribal leaders who helped Moses with the registration (Numbers 1:5–15). In contrast, the group of 70 elders would give Israel spiritual guidance. They needed a share of God's Spirit. Moses already had this, and it made him the Lord's special spokesman. Their ability to lead depended on God's Spirit being with them (compare 1 Samuel…Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 18-2018-20. say thou unto the people, Sanctify yourselves against to-morrow, and ye shall eat flesh--that is, "prepare yourselves," by repentance and submission, to receive to-morrow the flesh you clamor for. But it is evident that the tenor of the language implied a severe rebuke and that the blessing promised would prove a curse.Read the comment

Topics related to Numbers 11:18

• Government
• Inspiration
• Moses
• Prayer
• Sanitation
• Trouble

In the dictionaries

• Egypt
• Egypt, Egyptian
• Complain
• Cry
• Exodus
• Fall
• Prophet
• Sinai
• Talk
• Weep

Commentaries on Numbers 11

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings