John Gill Commentary Numbers 11

And [when] the people complained
Or "were as complainers" {p}; not merely like to such, but were truly and really complainers, the (k), "caph", here being not a note of similitude, but of truth and reality, as in (Hosea 5:10). This Hebraism is frequent in the New Testament, (Matthew 14:5) (John 1:14) (Philippians 2:7). What they complained of is not said, it being that for which there was no foundation; it is generally supposed to be of their journey; but if they were come but eight miles, as observed on (Numbers 10:33); they could not be very weary; and especially as they were marching towards the land of Canaan, it might be thought they would be fond and eager of their journey. Some think it was for want of flesh, being weary of manna, and that this was only the beginning of their complaints on that head, which opened more afterwards; but if that is the case, one would think that the fire, which consumed many of them, would have put a stop to that.

Jarchi says, the word signifies taking an occasion, and that the sense is, that these men sought an occasion how to separate from the Lord; they wanted to return to Egypt again, that was what they were meditating and contriving; so the Targum of Jonathan, ``and the ungodly of the people were in distress, and intended and meditated evil before the Lord:''

it displeased the Lord
a murmuring complaining spirit is always displeasing to him, when a thankful heart for mercies received is an acceptable sacrifice; murmurers and complainers God will judge at the great day, (Jude 1:14–16);

and the Lord heard [it]
though it was an inward secret complaint, or an evil scheme formed in their minds; at most but a muttering, and what Moses had not heard, or had any knowledge of; but God, that knows the secrets of all hearts, and every word in the tongue before it is well formed or pronounced, he heard what they complained of, and what they whispered and muttered to one another about:

and his anger was kindled, and the fire of the Lord burnt among them
from the pillar of fire, or from heaven, such as destroyed Nadab and Abihu, (Leviticus 10:1Leviticus 10:2); the two hundred fifty men that had censers in Korah's company, (Numbers 16:35); and the captains of fifties that came to take Elijah, (2 Kings 1:14); and might be lightning from heaven, or a burning wind sent by the Lord, such as is frequent in the eastern countries. Thevenot ^F17 speaks of one in 1658, which destroyed at once twenty thousand men:

and consumed [them that were] in the uttermost parts of the camp
who very likely were the principal aggressors; or it began to arouse and terrify the body of the people, and bring them to repentance, who might fear it would proceed and go through the whole camp, the hinder part or rearward of which was the camp of Dan; and so the Targum of Jonathan.

FOOTNOTES:

• F17: Travels, par. 1. l. 2. c. 34.

And the people cried unto Moses
And entreated him to pray for them, being frightened at the fire which consumed many of them, lest it should spread and become general among them:

and when Moses prayed unto the Lord ;
as he did, in which he was a type of Christ, the mediator between God and man, the advocate of his people, an intercessor for transgressors:

the fire was quenched ;
it stopped and proceeded no further; as through Christ's mediation God is pacified with his people for all that they have done, and his wrath, and all the effects of it, are turned away from them, and entirely cease with respect to them; or it "sunk down"

FOOTNOTES:

• F18: F18 (eqvt) "sunk down", so Ainsworth; "compressus est", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Drusius; "resedit", Tigurine version. into its place, as the Targum of Jonathan, as if it rose out of the earth. This may serve to confirm the notion of its being a burning wind, to which the idea of sinking down and subsiding well agrees.

And he called the name of the place Taberah
That is, "burning": Moses called it so; or it may be rendered impersonally, it was called ^F19 so in later times by the people:

because the fire of the Lord burnt among them ;
to perpetuate the memory of this kind of punishment for their sins, that it might be a terror and warning to others; and this history is indeed recorded for our caution in these last days, that we murmur not as these Israelites did, and were destroyed of the destroyer, (1 Corinthians 10:10 1 Corinthians 10:11) .

FOOTNOTES:

• F19: (arqyw) "et vocatum est", Tigurine version, Fagius, Piscator.

And the mixed multitude that [was] among them fell a lusting ,
&c.] These came out of Egypt with them, (Exodus 12:38) ; having either contracted affinity with them, or such intimacy of conversation, that they could not part, or being proselyted to the Jewish religion, at least in pretence; these were not only Egyptians, but a mixture of divers people, who having heard or seen the wonderful things done for Israel, joined them in hopes of sharing the blessings of divine goodness with them; so the Targum of Jonathan calls them proselytes, that were gathered among them: these "lusted a lusting" ^F20 , as the words may be rendered; not after women, as some Jewish writers ^F21 think, even after such that were near akin to them, with whom they were forbidden to marry, and therefore desired to have those laws dissolved; but they lusted after eating flesh taken in a proper sense, as the latter part of the verse and the whole context show:

and the children of Israel also wept again; they lusted after flesh likewise, following the example of the mixed multitude; thus evil communication corrupts good manners, (1 Corinthians 15:33) ; and a little leaven leavens the whole lamp, (1 Corinthians 5:6) (Galatians 5:9) ; wicked men prove great snares to, and do much mischief among good men, when they get into their societies, (Jeremiah 5:26) :

and because the Israelites could not have what they would to gratify their lusts, they wept as children do, when they cannot have what they are desirous of; and they wept "again", for it seems they had wept before, either when they complained, (Numbers 11:1) ; or at Rephidim, where they wanted water, (Exodus 17:1) , as here flesh, or before that when they wanted bread, (Exodus 16:3) ;

and said, who shall give us flesh to eat ?
shall Moses, or even the Lord himself? from lusting they fell to unbelief and distrust of the power and providence of God; for so the Psalmist interprets this saying of theirs, (Psalms 78:19Psalms 78:20) .

FOOTNOTES:

• F20: (xwat wwath) "concupiverunt concupiscentiam", Pagninus: Montanus, Drusius.
• F21: Bemidbar Rabba, sect. 15. fol. 219. 1.

We remember the fish which we ate in Egypt freely
Fish was food the Egyptians much lived upon; for though Herodotus says the priests might not taste of fish, the common people ate much; yes, he himself says that some lived upon nothing but fish gutted and dried in the sun; and he observes that the kings of Egypt had a great revenue from this^F23; the river Nile, as Diodorus Siculus^F24 says, abounded with all kinds of fish, and with an incredible number, so that there was plenty of them, and could be bought cheaply; and so Aben Ezra and Ben Gersom interpret the word freely, of a small price, as if they had them for almost nothing; but surely they forgot how dearly they paid for their fish, by their hard toil, labor, and service. Now this, with what follows, they call to mind, to increase their lust and aggravate their present condition and circumstances:

the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the
garlic ;
In the Hebrew language, the word for "cucumbers" signifies hardness, because they are hard to digest. In the Talmud^F25 they are so called because they are as harmful to the body as swords; though it is said in the same text that Antoninus always had them at his table; and Suetonius^F26 and Pliny^F1 say that they were in great esteem with the emperors Augustus and Tiberias; though some think what they call cucumbers were melons. We are told that the Egyptian cucumbers are very different from our European ones, which in eastern countries serve only to feed hogs, not men; but the Egyptian cucumber, called "chate," differs from the common one in size, color, and softness; and not only its leaves but its fruit are different from ours, being sweeter to the taste, of more easy digestion, and reckoned very wholesome to the bodies of men: and so their "melons" are different from ours, which they call "abdellavi" to distinguish them from others called "chajar," which are of little use for food, not pleasant, more insipid, and of a softer pulp.

As for the "leeks, onions, and garlic," that these were commonly and in great plenty eaten by the Egyptians appears from the vast sums of money spent on the men who worked in building one of the pyramids, on radishes, onions, and garlic only, which Herodotus^F4, Diodorus Siculus^F5, and Pliny^F6 mention. Indeed, in later times these were worshipped as gods and not allowed to be eaten, as Pliny^F7 and Juvenal^F8 inform us; but there is little reason to believe that this kind of idolatry obtained as early as the time of Israel's being in Egypt; though some have thought that these were cheaper because of that, and so the Israelites could more easily get them; but if that had been the case, it is more reasonable to believe that the Egyptians would not have allowed them to eat them at all; however, these are still in great plenty and much used in Egypt to this day, as Vansleb^F9 relates, who says that for desserts they have fruits such as onions, dried dates, rotten olives, melons, cucumbers, pompions, or such like fruits as are in season:

Thus carnal men prefer their sensual lusts and pleasures, and self-righteous men their righteousness, to Christ, the heavenly manna, his grace and righteousness.

FOOTNOTES:

• F23: Euterpe, sive, l. 2. c. 37, 92, 149.
• F24: Bibliothec. l. 1. p. 32.
• F25: T. Bab. Avodah Zarah, fol. 11. 1.
• F26: In Vit. August. c. 77.
• F1: Nat. Hist. l. 19. c. 5.
• F2: Alpinus de Plant. Aegypt. l. 1. p. 114. apud Scheuchzer. Physic. Saer. vol. 3. p. 369.
• F3: Alpinus ib.
• F4: Ut supra, (Euterpe, sive, l. 2.) c. 125.
• F5: Ut supra. (Bibliothec. l. 1. p. 58.)
• F6: Nat. Hist. l. 36. c. 12.
• F7: lb. l. 19. c. 6.
• F8: "Porrum et coepe nefas violare" Satyr. 15.
• F9: Relation of a Voyage to Egypt, p. 186.