Numbers 11:21

Easy-to-Read Version

Moses said, "There are 600,000 soldiers here, and you say, ‘I will give them enough meat to eat for a whole month!'

Parallel Translations

Hebrew Names Version
Moshe said, The people, among whom I am, are six hundred thousand footmen; and you have said, I will give them flesh, that they may eat a whole month.

King James Version
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.

Lexham English Bible
But Moses said, "There are six hundred thousand on foot, among whom I am in the midst, and you yourself said, ‘I will give meat to them, and they will eat for a whole month.'

New Century Version
Moses said, " Lord , here are six hundred thousand people standing around me, and you say, ‘I will give them enough meat to eat for a month!'

New English Translation
Moses said, "The people around me are 600,000 on foot; but you say, ‘I will give them meat, that they may eat for a whole month.'

Amplified Bible
But Moses said, "The people, among whom I am, are 600,000 [fighting men] on foot [besides all the women and children]; yet You have said, 'I will give them meat, so that they may eat it for a whole month!'

New American Standard Bible
But Moses said, "The people, among whom I am included, are six hundred thousand on foot! Yet You have said, 'I will give them meat, so that they may eat for a whole month.'

Geneva Bible (1587)
And Moses saide, Six hundreth thousande footemen are there of the people, among whom I am: and thou saiest, I will giue them flesh, that they may eate a moneth long.

Legacy Standard Bible
But Moses said, "The people, among whom I am, are 600,000 on foot; yet You have said, ‘I will give them meat, so that they may eat for a whole month.'

Contemporary English Version
Moses replied, "At least six hundred thousand grown men are here with me. How can you say there will be enough meat to feed them and their families for a whole month?

Complete Jewish Bible
But Moshe said, "Here I am with six hundred thousand men on foot, and yet you say, ‘I will give them meat to eat for a whole month!'

Darby Translation
And Moses said, The people in whose midst I am are six hundred thousand footmen; and thou sayest, I will give them flesh that they may eat a whole month.

English Standard Version
But Moses said, "The people among whom I am number six hundred thousand on foot, and you have said, ‘I will give them meat, that they may eat a whole month!'

George Lamsa Translation
Then Moses said before the LORD, The people, among whom I am, are six hundred thousand footmen, and thou hast said, I will give them meat, that they may eat a whole month.

Good News Translation
Moses said to the Lord , "Here I am leading 600,000 people, and you say that you will give them enough meat for a month?

Christian Standard Bible®
But Moses replied, “I’m in the middle of a people with six hundred thousand foot soldiers, yet you say, ‘I will give them meat, and they will eat for a month.’

Literal Translation
And Moses said, The people in whose midst I am are six hundred thousand footmen; and You, You have said, I shall give flesh to them, and they shall eat a month of days.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
And Moses sayde: Sixe hundreth thousande fote men are there of the people amoge whom I am, and thou sayest: I wyll geue you flesh to eate a moneth loge.

American Standard Version
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.

Bible in Basic English
Then Moses said, The people, among whom I am, are six hundred thousand men on foot; and you have said, I will give them flesh to be their food for a month.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
And Moyses sayde: Sixe hundred thousand footemen are there of the people, among which I am: And thou hast sayd, I wyll geue them flesh, that they may eate a moneth long.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
And Moses said: 'The people, among whom I am, are six hundred thousand men on foot; and yet Thou hast said: I will give them flesh, that they may eat a whole month!

King James Version (1611)
And Moses said, The people amongst whome I am, are sixe hundred thousand footmen, and thou hast said, I will giue them flesh, that they may eate a whole moneth.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And Moses said, The people among whom I am are six hundred thousand footmen; and thou saidst, I will give them flesh to eat, and they shall eat a whole month.

English Revised Version
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.

Berean Standard Bible
But Moses replied, "Here I am among 600,000 men on foot, yet You say, 'I will give them meat, and they will eat for a month.'

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And Moises seide to the Lord, Sixe hundrid thousynde of foot men ben of this puple, and thou seist, Y schal yyue to hem `mete of fleischis an hool monethe.

Young's Literal Translation
And Moses saith, `Six hundred thousand footmen [are] the people in whose midst I [am]; and Thou, Thou hast said, Flesh I give to them, and they have eaten, a month of days!

Update Bible Version
And Moses said, The people, among whom I am, are six hundred thousand footmen; and you have said, I will give them flesh, that they may eat a whole month.

Webster's Bible Translation
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.

World English Bible
Moses said, The people, among whom I am, are six hundred thousand footmen; and you have said, I will give them flesh, that they may eat a whole month.

New King James Version
And Moses said, "The people whom I am among are six hundred thousand men on foot; yet You have said, "I will give them meat, that they may eat for a whole month.'

New Living Translation
But Moses responded to the Lord , "There are 600,000 foot soldiers here with me, and yet you say, ‘I will give them meat for a whole month!'

New Life Bible
But Moses said, "The people whom I am among are 600,000 on foot. And You have said, ‘I will give them meat so they may eat for a whole month.'

New Revised Standard
But Moses said, "The people I am with number six hundred thousand on foot; and you say, ‘I will give them meat, that they may eat for a whole month'!

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And Moses said, Six hundred thousand footmen, are the people in whose midst am, I, yet thou hast said - Flesh, will I give unto them, a and they shall eat for a month of days.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And Moses said: There are six hundred thousand footmen of this people, and sayest thou: I will give them flesh to eat a whole month?

Revised Standard Version
But Moses said, "The people among whom I am number six hundred thousand on foot; and thou hast said, 'I will give them meat, that they may eat a whole month!'

THE MESSAGE
Moses said, "I'm standing here surrounded by 600,000 men on foot and you say, ‘I'll give them meat, meat every day for a month.' So where's it coming from? Even if all the flocks and herds were butchered, would that be enough? Even if all the fish in the sea were caught, would that be enough?"

New American Standard Bible (1995)
But Moses said, "The people, among whom I am, are 600,000 on foot; yet You have said, 'I will give them meat, so that they may eat for a whole month.'

Contextual Overview

¹⁶ The Lord said to Moses, "Bring to me 70 of the elders of Israel. These men are the leaders among the people. Bring them to the Meeting Tent. Let them stand there with you. ¹⁷ Then I will come down and speak with you there. The Spirit is on you now. But I will also give some of that Spirit to them. Then they will help you take care of the people. In this way you will not have to be responsible for these people alone. ¹⁸ "Tell the people this: Make yourselves ready for tomorrow. Tomorrow you will eat meat. The Lord heard you when you cried out and said, ‘We need meat to eat! It was better for us in Egypt!' So now the Lord will give you meat. And you will eat it. ¹⁹ You will eat it for more than one, or two, or five, or ten, or even twenty days! ²⁰ You will eat that meat for a whole month until you are sick of it. This will happen to you because you complained against the Lord . He lives among you and knows what you need, but you cried and complained to him! You said, ‘Why did we ever leave Egypt?'" ²¹ Moses said, "There are 600,000 soldiers here, and you say, ‘I will give them enough meat to eat for a whole month!' ²² If we were to kill all the sheep and cattle, that would still not be enough to feed this many people for a month. And if we caught all the fish in the sea, it would not be enough for them!" ²³ But the Lord said to Moses, "Don't limit my power! You will see that I can do what I say I can do."

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Numbers 1:46, Numbers 2:32, Genesis 12:2, Exodus 12:37, Exodus 38:26

Reciprocal: Numbers 20:12 - Because ye believed 2 Kings 7:2 - if the Lord Psalms 78:20 - can he give Matthew 14:17 - General Matthew 15:33 - Whence Mark 6:37 - Shall Mark 8:4 - From Mark 10:27 - With men Luke 1:18 - for Luke 9:13 - have John 6:7 - Two

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And Moses said,.... By way of objection to what God had promised, distrusting his power to perform:

the people amongst whom I [am]; among whom he dwelt, of whom he was a part, and over whom he was a ruler:

[are] six hundred thousand footmen; that were able to travel on foot, and were fit for war: this was the number of them when they came out of Egypt, Exodus 12:37; they amounted in their last numbering to 3,550 more, which lesser number is here omitted, as Aben Ezra and Jarchi observe, and only the round number given: some say that all above the six hundred thousand were destroyed by the fire at Taberah, Numbers 11:1;

and thou hast said, one will give them flesh, that they may eat a whole month; this Moses could not tell how to credit.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

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 all ... - literally, “Nought at all have we except that our eyes are unto this manna;” i. e. “Nought else have we to expect beside this manna.” On the manna see Exodus 16:15 note; on bdellium see Genesis 2:12 note.

Numbers 11:10

The weeping was general; every family wept (compare Zechariah 12:12), and in a manner public and unconcealed.

Numbers 11:11-15

The complaint and remonstrance of Moses may be compared with that in 1 Kings 19:4 ff; Jonah 4:1-3, and contrasted with the language of Abraham (Genesis 18:23 ff) The meekness of Moses (compare Numbers 12:3) sank under vexation into despair. His language shows us how imperfect and prone to degeneracy are the best saints on earth.

Numbers 11:16

Seventy men of the elders of Israel - Seventy elders had also gone up with Moses to the Lord in the mount Exodus 24:1, Exodus 24:9. Seventy is accordingly the number of colleagues assigned to Moses to share his burden with him. To it, the Jews trace the origin of the Sanhedrim. Subsequent notices Numbers 16:25; Joshua 7:6; Joshua 8:10, Joshua 8:33; Joshua 9:11; Joshua 23:2; Joshua 24:1, Joshua 24:31 so connect the elders with the government of Israel as to point to the fact that the appointment now made was not a merely temporary one, though it would seem to have soon fallen into desuetude. We find no traces of it in the days of the Judges and the Kings.

Elders of the people, and officers over them - In English idiom, “elders and officers of the people.” Both elders and officers appear in Egypt (Exodus 3:16; Exodus 5:6 ff): the former had headed the nation in its efforts after freedom; the latter were the subordinate, though unwilling, agents of Egyptian tyranny. The two classes no doubt were working together; and from those who belonged to either, perhaps from those who were both eiders and officers, the council of Seventy was to be selected.

Numbers 11:17

I will take of the spirit which is upon thee - Render rather separate from the spirit, etc.; i. e. they shall have their portion in the same divine gift which thou hast.

Numbers 11:25

They prophesied - i. e. under the extraordinary impulse of the Holy Spirit they uttered forth the praises of God, or declared His will. Compare the marginal references.

And did not cease - Rather, and added not, i. e. they prophesied at this time only and not afterward. The sign was granted on the occasion of their appointment to accredit them in their office; it was not continued, because their proper function was to be that of governing not prophesying.

Numbers 11:26

Of them that were written - i. e. enrolled among the Seventy. The expression points to a regular appointment duly recorded and permanent.

Numbers 11:29

Enviest thou for my sake? - (Compare Mark 9:38 ff) The other members of the Seventy had been with Moses (compare Numbers 6:16, Numbers 6:24-25) when the gift of prophecy was bestowed on them. They received “of the spirit that was upon him,” and exercised their office visibly through and for him. Eldad and Medad prophesying in the camp seemed to Joshua to be acting independently, and so establishing a separate center of authority.

Numbers 11:31

The southeast wind, which blew from the neighboring Elanitic gulf of the Red Sea, brought the quails Exodus 16:13.

Two cubits high - Better, “two cubits above the face of the ground:” i. e. the quails, wearied with their long flight, flew about breast high, and were easily secured by the people, who spread them all abroad for themselves Numbers 11:32, in order to salt and dry them. The quail habitually flies with the wind, and low.

Numbers 11:32

Ten homers - About 55 bushels. Compare Leviticus 27:16.

Numbers 11:33

Ere it was chewed - Better, ere it was consumed. See Numbers 11:19-20. The surfeit in which the people indulged, as described in Numbers 11:32, disposed them to sickness. God’s wrath, visiting the gluttonous through their gluttony, aggravated natural consequences into a supernatural visitation.

Numbers 11:34, Numbers 11:35

(Kibroth-hattaavah has been identified by Palmer with the extensive remains, graves, etc., at Erweis El Ebeirig, and Hazeroth “enclosures” with Ain Hadherah.)