Numbers 11:22
in Numbers 11If all our flocks and herds were slaughtered for them, would they have enough? Or if all the fish in the sea were caught for them, would they have enough?”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Shall flocks and herds be slain for them, to suffice them? or shall all the fish of the sea be gathered together for them, to suffice them?
KJV
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?
⋯
This verse in Numbers 11
Commentary
6 notes on this verseShall the flocks and the herds be slain - There is certainly a considerable measure of weakness and unbelief manifested in the complaints and questions of Moses on this occasion; but his conduct appears at the same time so very simple, honest, and affectionate, that we cannot but admire it, while we wonder that he had not stronger confidence in that God whose miracles he had so often witnessed in Egypt.
This site's exposition
Here I am among 600,000 men on foot
on Numbers 11:21-23
Moses sets “600,000 men on foot” against a month of meat, a doubt Jamieson, Fausset and Brown read as a passing feeling spoken in private. God answers, “Is the LORD’s arm too short?”, a line Isaiah 50:2 and 59:1 take up.
This site's exposition
If all our flocks and herds were slaughtered for them
Israel had brought large flocks and herds out of Egypt at Exodus 12:38, so Moses counts the one supply he can see. Spurgeon adds that killing them all would leave no cattle to stock the promised land. Matthew Henry hears the disciples' question at Mark 8:4 in it.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
It is an objection like that which the disciples made, Mark viii. 4 , Whence can a man satisfy these men? Some excuse Moses here, and construe what he says as only a modest enquiry which way the supply must be expected; but it savours too much of diffidence and distrust of God to be justified.
Shall the flocks and the herds be slain for them, to suffice them?....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
But it is probable that it was only a feeling of the moment--at all events, the incredulous doubt was uttered only to himself--and not, as afterwards, publicly and to the scandal of the people.
The words behind it
15 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| הֲצֹ֧אן | hatzon | ¿ a flock | H6629 → | 274 times |
| וּבָקָ֛ר | uvakar | and a herd | H1241 → | 183 times |
| יִשָּׁחֵ֥ט | yishachet | will it be slaughtered | H7819 → | 81 times |
| לָהֶ֖ם | lahem | for <the> them | ||
| וּמָצָ֣א | umatza' | and someone will find | H4672 → | 455 times |
| לָהֶ֑ם | lahem | for <the> them | ||
| אִ֣ם | ʾim | or? | H518 → | 1069 times |
| אֶֽת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| דְּגֵ֥י | degei | [the] fish of | H1709 → | |
| הַיָּ֛ם | haiyam | the sea | H3220 → | 396 times |
| יֵאָסֵ֥ף | yeasef | will it be gathered | H622 → | 200 times |
| לָהֶ֖ם | lahem | for <the> them | ||
| וּמָצָ֥א | umatza' | and someone will find | H4672 → | 455 times |
| לָהֶֽם׃ פ | lahem | for <the> them |
הֲצֹ֧אן¿ a flock
hatzonH6629 →274 times
וּבָקָ֛רand a herd
uvakarH1241 →183 times
יִשָּׁחֵ֥טwill it be slaughtered
yishachetH7819 →81 times
לָהֶ֖םfor <the> them
lahem
וּמָצָ֣אand someone will find
umatza'H4672 →455 times
לָהֶ֑םfor <the> them
lahem
אִ֣םor?
ʾimH518 →1069 times
אֶֽת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
כָּל־all
kol-H3605 →5413 times
דְּגֵ֥י[the] fish of
degeiH1709 →
הַיָּ֛םthe sea
haiyamH3220 →396 times
יֵאָסֵ֥ףwill it be gathered
yeasefH622 →200 times
לָהֶ֖םfor <the> them
lahem
וּמָצָ֥אand someone will find
umatza'H4672 →455 times
לָהֶֽם׃ פfor <the> them
lahem
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
Mark 6:37But Jesus told them, “You give them something to eat.” They asked Him, “Should we go out and spend two hundred denarii to give all of them bread to eat?”
it leads to
- 2 Kings 4:42–44
Now a man from Baal-shalishah came to the man of God with a sack of twenty loaves of barley bread from the first ripe grain. “Give it to the people to eat,” said Elisha.
- Matthew 14:16
“They do not need to go away,” Jesus replied. “You give them something to eat.”
- Mark 8:2–3
“I have compassion for this crowd, because they have already been with Me three days and have nothing to eat.
- 2 Kings 4:42–44
Through
2 Kings 7:2But the officer on whose arm the king leaned answered the man of God, “Look, even if the LORD were to make windows in heaven, could this really happen?” “You will see it with…
it leads to
- Malachi 3:10
Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house. Test Me in this,” says the LORD of Hosts. “See if I will not open the windows of…
- Genesis 7:11
In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, on the seventeenth day of the second month, all the fountains of the great deep burst forth, and the floodgates of the heavens were opened.
- Genesis 18:12–14
So she laughed to herself, saying, “After I am worn out and my master is old, will I now have this pleasure?”
- Romans 3:3
What if some did not have faith? Will their lack of faith nullify God’s faithfulness?
- Psalms 78:41
Again and again they tested God and provoked the Holy One of Israel.
- Malachi 3:10
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies13
About Numbers
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon 363, The Glorious Right Hand Of The Lord; Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 363; 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.