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Psalms 78:29

in Psalms 78

So they ate and were well filled, for He gave them what they craved.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

So they did eat, and were well filled; And he gave them their own desire.

KJV

So they did eat, and were well filled: for he gave them their own desire;

This verse in Psalms 78

Commentary

8 notes on this verse

This site's exposition

He commanded the clouds above

on Psalms 78:23-29

The doubt is answered with the gift, manna rained down, grain from heaven, the bread of angels. An east wind and a south wind brought meat like dust and birds like the sand of the sea. They ate and were filled with what they craved.

This site's exposition

He gave them what they craved

The verse sounds like a blessing until verse 30. Henry said they were filled yet never satisfied, for desire is content with nothing. Spurgeon asked God to deny his urgent prayers sooner than give what he craved in anger.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers1 voice

A commentator

Augustine of Hippo

Exposition on Psalm 78 · Written in the 5th century.

proposed

Lastly, when both these things have been briefly touched, afterwards he is evidently following out the order of the narrative. "Because they believed not in God, nor hoped in His saving health." For when he had told why fire was lighted in Jacob, and anger went up upon Israel, that is to say, "because they believed not in God, nor hoped in His saving health:" immediately subjoining the evident blessings for which they were ungrateful, he saith, "and He commanded the clouds above, and opened the doors of Heaven." "And He rained upon them manna to eat, and gave them bread of Heaven." "Bread of angels man did eat: dainties He sent them in abundance." "He brought over the South Wind from Heaven, and in His virtue He led in the South West Wind." "And He rained upon them fleshes like dust, and winged fowls like the sand of the sea." "And they fell in the midst of their camp, around their tabernacles." "And they ate and were filled exceedingly; and their desire He brought to them: they were not deprived of their desire." Behold why He had delayed. But what He had delayed let us hear. "Yet the morsel was in their mouths, and the anger of God came down upon them." Behold what He had delayed. For before "He delayed:" and afterwards, "fire was lighted in Jacob and anger went up upon Israel." He had delayed therefore in order that He might first do what they had believed that He could not do, and then might bring upon them what they deserved to suffer. For if they placed their hope in God, not only would their desires of the flesh but also those of the spirit have been fulfilled. […]

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

); their appetite was insatiable; they were well filled and yet they were not satisfied; for they knew not what they would have. Such is the nature of lust; it is content with nothing, and the more it is humoured the more humoursome it grows.

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens

So they did eat, and were well filled,.....

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

A commentator

Charles Spurgeon

1834–1892

The Treasury of David, Vol. 3 (1872)

proposed

So they did eat, and were well filled. They greedily devoured the birds, even to repletion. The Lord shewed them that he could "provide flesh for his people, "even enough and to spare. He also shewed them that when lust wins its desire it is disappointed, and by the way of satiety arrive at distaste. First the food satiates, then it nauseates. For he gave them their own desire. They were filled with their own ways. The flesh meat was unhealthy for them, but as they cried for it they had it, and a curse with it. O my God, deny me my most urgent prayers sooner than answer them in displeasure. Better hunger and thirst after righteousness than to be well filled with sin's dainties.

A commentator

Charles Spurgeon

1834–1892

The Treasury of David, Vol. 3 (1872)

proposed

So they did eat, and were well filled. They greedily devoured the birds, even to repletion. The Lord shewed them that he could "provide flesh for his people, "even enough and to spare. He also shewed them that when lust wins its desire it is disappointed, and by the way of satiety arrive at distaste. First the food satiates, then it nauseates. For he gave them their own desire. They were filled with their own ways. The flesh meat was unhealthy for them, but as they cried for it they had it, and a curse with it.
1 more voice on this verse

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

So they did eat, and were well filled - The word rendered “well” here is intensive. It means that they were abundantly satisfied; that there was no lack; that they had the most ample supply. For he gave them their own desire - He gave them exactly what they asked. He gave them flesh to eat as they had demanded; and he gave it to them in such quantities that no one could say that he had not enough.

The words behind it

6 Hebrew words

Every 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.

  • וַיֹּאכְל֣וּand they ate

    vaiyokheluH398 →810 times

  • וַיִּשְׂבְּע֣וּand they were satisfied

    vaiyisbeuH7646 →97 times

  • מְאֹ֑דexceedingly

    meodH3966 →300 times

  • וְ֝תַֽאֲוָתָ֗םand desire their

    vetaavatamH8378 →20 times

  • יָבִ֥אhe brought

    yavi'H935 →2568 times

  • לָהֶֽם׃to them

    lahem

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

The walk

4 stops

Each 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

    Psalms 106:15

    So He granted their request, but sent a wasting disease upon them.

    it leads to

    • Numbers 11:31–34

      Now a wind sent by the LORD came up, drove in quail from the sea, and brought them near the camp, about two cubits above the surface of the ground, for a day’s journey…

    • Isaiah 10:16

      Therefore the Lord GOD of Hosts will send a wasting disease among Assyria’s stout warriors, and under his pomp will be kindled a fire like a burning flame.

    • Psalms 78:29–31

      So they ate and were well filled, for He gave them what they craved.

    • Isaiah 24:16

      From the ends of the earth we hear singing: “Glory to the Righteous One.” But I said, “I am wasting away! I am wasting away! Woe is me.” The treacherous betray; the treacherous deal…

Where this verse is studied

About Psalms

A Storm in the Rocky Mountains, Mt. Rosalie. Albert Bierstadt, 1866. Wikimedia Commons. Public domain.
A Storm in the Rocky Mountains, Mt. Rosalie. Albert Bierstadt, 1866. Wikimedia Commons. Public domain.

This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Augustine of Hippo, Exposition on Psalm 78; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 3; Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Psalms; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.