Numbers 11:1
in Numbers 11Soon the people began to complain about their hardship in the hearing of the LORD, and when He heard them, His anger was kindled, and fire from the LORD blazed among them and consumed the outskirts of the camp.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And the people were as murmurers, speaking evil in the ears of Jehovah: and when Jehovah heard it, his anger was kindled; and the fire of Jehovah burnt among them, and devoured in the uttermost part of the camp.
KJV
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.
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This verse in Numbers 11
Commentary
8 notes on this verseAnd when the people complained,.... Or "were as complainers" (p); not merely like to such, but were truly and really complainers, the כ, "caph", here being not a note of similitude, but of truth and reality, as in Hos 5:10. This Hebraism is frequent in the New Testament, Mat 14:
This site's exposition
And when the people complained
on Numbers 11:1-2
In Exodus a complaint of this kind was answered with water at Marah, bread in the wilderness of Sin, and water out of the rock at Rephidim. Here the people complain, the LORD hears it, and fire burns in the uttermost parts of the camp, which is the change that governs the rest of the book. The text records no grievance and no demand, only that they complained and that he heard. Moses prays, the fire sinks, and 1 Corinthians 10:10 names murmuring among the things written for the warning of later readers.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
2 ), yet he is justly provoked, and takes it very ill, if we complain of him when there is no cause: such conduct in our inferiors provokes us. The judgment wherewith God chastised them for this sin: The fire of the Lord burnt among them, such flashes of fire from the cloud as had consumed Nadab and Abihu.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-citation-number+unbalanced-parens
No sooner was the fire of judgment quenched than the fire of sin breaks out again, and God takes occasion from it to magnify both his mercy and his justice.
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
See the marginal rendering. They murmured against the privations of the march. The fire of the Lord - Probably lightning; compare Psa 78:21. In the uttermost parts - Rather, in the end. The fire did not reach far into the camp. It was quickly quenched at the intercession of Moses.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
At the intercession of Moses, the appalling judgment ceased [Nu 11:2], and the name given to the place, "Taberah" (a burning), remained ever after a monument of national sin and punishment.
And when the people complained - What the cause of this complaining was, we know not. The conjecture of St. Jerome is probable; they complained because of the length of the way. But surely no people had ever less cause for murmuring; they had God among them, and miracles of goodness were continually wrought in their behalf. It displeased the Lord - For his extraordinary kindness was lost on such an ungrateful and rebellious people. And his anger was kindled - Divine justice was necessarily incensed against such inexcusable conduct. And the fire of the Lord burnt among them - Either a supernatural fire was sent for this occasion, or the lightning was commissioned against them, or God smote them with one of those hot suffocating winds which are very common in those countries. And consumed - in the uttermost parts of the camp - It pervaded the whole camp, from the center to the circumference, carrying death with it to all the murmurers; for we are not to suppose that it was confined to the uttermost parts of the camp, unless we could imagine that there were none culpable any where else. If this were the same with the case mentioned Num 11:4, then, as it is possible that the mixed multitude occupied the outermost parts of the camp, consequently the burning might have been confined to them.
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
See the marginal rendering. They murmured against the privations of the march. The fire of the Lord - Probably lightning; compare Psa 78:21. In the uttermost parts - Rather, in the end. The fire did not reach far into the camp. It was quickly quenched at the intercession of Moses.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
AND THE PEOPLE WERE ‘K’MITHON’NIM.’ Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra commented that [the word k’mithon’nim is] “of the root aven (wickedness); similarly, the thoughts of ‘oneich’ ( thy evil thoughts ), 149 Jeremiah:14. for they spoke words of wickedness.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
The people were like complainers; [it was] wicked in the ears of [ before ] Adonoy.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 6 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
17 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיְהִ֤י | vayhi | and it was | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| הָעָם֙ | haam | the people | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| כְּמִתְאֹ֣נְנִ֔ים | kemitonenim | like [those who] complain | H596 → | |
| רַ֖ע | ra' | trouble | H7451 → | 662 times |
| בְּאָזְנֵ֣י | beazenei | in [the] ears of | H241 → | 187 times |
| יְהוָ֑ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| וַיִּשְׁמַ֤ע | vaiyishma' | and he heard | H8085 → | 1159 times |
| יְהוָה֙ | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| וַיִּ֣חַר | vaiyichar | and it burned | H2734 → | 91 times |
| אַפּ֔וֹ | ʾapo | anger his | H639 → | 276 times |
| וַתִּבְעַר־ | vativar- | and it burned | H1197 → | 94 times |
| בָּם֙ | bam | among <the> them | ||
| אֵ֣שׁ | ʾesh | [the] fire of | H784 → | 378 times |
| יְהוָ֔ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| וַתֹּ֖אכַל | vatokhal | and it consumed | H398 → | 810 times |
| בִּקְצֵ֥ה | biktzeh | in [the] outskirt[s] of | H7097 → | 97 times |
| הַֽמַּחֲנֶֽה׃ | hamachaneh | the camp | H4264 → | 215 times |
וַיְהִ֤יand it was
vayhiH1961 →3559 times
הָעָם֙the people
haamH5971 →1873 times
כְּמִתְאֹ֣נְנִ֔יםlike [those who] complain
kemitonenimH596 →
רַ֖עtrouble
ra'H7451 →662 times
בְּאָזְנֵ֣יin [the] ears of
beazeneiH241 →187 times
יְהוָ֑הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
וַיִּשְׁמַ֤עand he heard
vaiyishma'H8085 →1159 times
יְהוָה֙Yahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
וַיִּ֣חַרand it burned
vaiyicharH2734 →91 times
אַפּ֔וֹanger his
ʾapoH639 →276 times
וַתִּבְעַר־and it burned
vativar-H1197 →94 times
בָּם֙among <the> them
bam
אֵ֣שׁ[the] fire of
ʾeshH784 →378 times
יְהוָ֔הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
וַתֹּ֖אכַלand it consumed
vatokhalH398 →810 times
בִּקְצֵ֥הin [the] outskirt[s] of
biktzehH7097 →97 times
הַֽמַּחֲנֶֽה׃the camp
hamachanehH4264 →215 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
1 Corinthians 10:10And do not complain, as some of them did, and were killed by the destroying angel.
it leads to
- Numbers 16:41
The next day the whole congregation of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron, saying, “You have killed the LORD’s people!”
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Numbers 14:2
All the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron, and the whole congregation said to them, “If only we had died in the land of Egypt, or if only we had died in this wilderness!
- Numbers 14:37
those men who had brought out the bad report about the land—were struck down by a plague before the LORD.
- Philippians 2:14
Do everything without complaining or arguing,
- 1 Chronicles 21:15
Then God sent an angel to destroy Jerusalem, but as the angel was doing so, the LORD saw it and relented from the calamity, and He said to the angel who was destroying the…
- Numbers 16:41
Through
Numbers 16:35And fire came forth from the LORD and consumed the 250 men who were offering the incense.
it leads to
- Numbers 26:10
And the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them along with Korah, whose followers died when the fire consumed 250 men. They serve as a warning sign.
- Leviticus 10:2
So fire came out from the presence of the LORD and consumed them, and they died in the presence of the LORD.
- Numbers 26:10
Through
Numbers 21:5and spoke against God and against Moses: “Why have you led us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is no bread or water, and we detest this wretched food!”
it leads to
- Psalms 78:19
They spoke against God, saying, “Can God really prepare a table in the wilderness?
- Psalms 78:19
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Numbers
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.