Numbers 11:11

11 And he said to the Lord, Why hast thou tormented thy servant? why find I not grace before thee? and why hast thou put the burden of all this people onto me? (And he said to the Lord, Why hast thou so tormented thy servant? why do I not find grace before thee? and why hast thou put the burden of all of these people onto me?)

Numbers 11:11 Meaning and Commentary

Numbers 11:11

And Moses said unto the Lord, wherefore hast thou afflicted
thy servant?
&c.] Or "done evil" ^F13 to him, that which was distressing to him, and gave him trouble; namely, setting him at the head of the people of Israel, and laying the government of them on his shoulders; which surely was doing him honour, though that is not to be expected without care and trouble; Moses does not seem to be in a good frame of spirit throughout the whole of this discourse with the Lord: the best of men are not always alike in their frames, and sometimes act contrary to that for which they are the most eminent, as Moses was for his, meekness and humility:

and wherefore have I not found favour in thy sight;
he had found much favour in the sight of God, to have so many wonderful things done by him in Egypt, to be the instrument of the deliverance of Israel from thence, to be the leader of them through the Red sea, to be taken up to the mount with God, and receive the law from him to give to that people; but the favour he complains of that was denied him, is, his not being excused, when he desired it, from taking on him the office he was called unto, of being the deliverer and ruler of the people, ( Exodus 4:10-13 ) ;

that thou layest the burden of all this people upon me?
with respect to matters heavier and more difficult; for as to lighter and lesser things, be was assisted and relieved by the officers placed over the various divisions of the people at the advice of Jethro, ( Exodus 18:21 Exodus 18:22 ) ; government is a burdensome thing, and especially when a people are prone to mutiny and rebellion, as the people of Israel were.

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FOOTNOTES:

F13 (terh) "malefecisti", Pagninus, Montanus, Drusius.

Numbers 11:11 In-Context

9 And when [the] dew came down in the night upon the tents, also manna came down together therewith.

10 Then Moses heard the people weeping by families, and each of them by the doors of their tents; and the strong vengeance of the Lord was wroth greatly, but also the grouching was seen (as) unsufferable to Moses. (And Moses heard all the people crying with their families, by the entrances to their tents; and the Lord was greatly angered, and provoked to take strong vengeance, and Moses also thought that the grumbling was insufferable.)

11 And he said to the Lord, Why hast thou tormented thy servant? why find I not grace before thee? and why hast thou put the burden of all this people onto me? (And he said to the Lord, Why hast thou so tormented thy servant? why do I not find grace before thee? and why hast thou put the burden of all of these people onto me?)

12 whether I have conceived all this multitude, either have begotten it, that thou say to me, Bear thou them in thy bosom, as a nurse is wont to bear a little young child, and bear thou this people into the land for the which thou swore to their fathers? (have I conceived all this multitude, or have I begotten them, so that now thou can say to me, Carry thou them in thy bosom, like a nurse is wont to carry about a young child, and carry thou these people into the land for which thou swore to their fathers?)

13 whereof be meats to me, that I feed so great a multitude? They weep before me, and say, Give us flesh, that we eat; (where shall I find enough meat, so that I can feed so great a multitude? They weep before me, and say to me, Give us flesh, so that we can eat it;)