Numbers 11:2

2 Then the people cried to Moses; and Moses prayed to the LORD, and the fire abated.

Numbers 11:2 Meaning and Commentary

Numbers 11:2

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 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.


F18 (eqvt) "sunk down", so Ainsworth; "compressus est", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Drusius; "resedit", Tigurine version.

Numbers 11:2 In-Context

1 And the people complained in the hearing of the LORD about their misfortunes; and when the LORD heard it, his anger was kindled, and the fire of the LORD burned among them, and consumed some outlying parts of the camp.
2 Then the people cried to Moses; and Moses prayed to the LORD, and the fire abated.
3 So the name of that place was called Tab'erah, because the fire of the LORD burned among them.
4 Now the rabble that was among them had a strong craving; and the people of Israel also wept again, and said, "O that we had meat to eat!
5 We remember the fish we ate in Egypt for nothing, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic;
Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1952 [2nd edition, 1971] by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.