Numbers 11:21

21 And Moses said, "The people among whom I am are six hundred thousand footmen; and Thou hast said, `I will give them flesh, that they may eat a whole month.'

Numbers 11:21 Meaning and Commentary

Numbers 11:21

And Moses said
By way of objection to what God had promised, distrusting his power to perform:

the people amongst whom I [am];
among whom he dwelt, of whom he was a part, and over whom he was a ruler:

[are] six hundred thousand footmen;
that were able to travel on foot, and were fit for war: this was the number of them when they came out of Egypt, ( Exodus 12:37 ) ; they amounted in their last numbering to 3,550 more, which lesser number is here omitted, as Aben Ezra and Jarchi observe, and only the round number given: some say that all above the six hundred thousand were destroyed by the fire at Taberah, ( Numbers 11:1 ) ;

and thou hast said, one will give them flesh, that they may eat a
whole month;
this Moses could not tell how to credit.

Numbers 11:21 In-Context

19 Ye shall not eat one day, nor two days, nor five days, neither ten days, nor twenty days,

20 but even a whole month, until it come out at your nostrils and it be loathsome unto you, because ye have despised the LORD who is among you, and have wept before Him, saying, "Why came we forth out of Egypt?"'"

21 And Moses said, "The people among whom I am are six hundred thousand footmen; and Thou hast said, `I will give them flesh, that they may eat a whole month.'

22 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?"

23 And the LORD said unto Moses, "Has the LORD'S hand waxed short? Thou shalt see now whether My word shall come to pass unto thee or not."