Numbers 11:20

20 but till to a month of days, till it go out by your nostrils, and turn into loathing; for by your grouching ye have put away the Lord, which is in the midst of you, and ye wept before him, and said, Why went we out of Egypt? (but for a whole month of days, until it go out of your nostrils, and it turn loathsome to you; for by your grumbling ye have rejected the Lord, who is in the midst of you, and ye have cried before him, and have said, Why did we go out of Egypt?)

Numbers 11:20 Meaning and Commentary

Numbers 11:20

[But] even a whole month
So long the Israelites continued at Taberah or Kibrothhattaavah, as the Jews ^F15 conclude from this clause:

until it come out at your nostrils;
being vomited up, through a nausea of it, the stomach being overfilled and glutted with it; in which case, it will make its way through the nostrils, as well as out of the mouth:

and it be loathsome unto you;
being surfeited with it; or it shall be for "dispersion" ^F16, scattered about from the mouth and nostrils:

because that ye have despised the Lord which [is] among you;
who dwelt in the tabernacle that was in the midst of them, whom they despised by treating the manna with contempt he so plentifully spread about their camp, and by distrusting his power to give them flesh, and by murmuring and complaining against him on the account of their having none: the Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan are,

``because ye have loathed the Word of the Lord, whose Shechinah (or the glory of whose Shechinah, as Jonathan) dwelleth among you;''

the essential Word, and who was figured by the manna they tasted and despised:

and have wept before him;
complaining of him, and murmuring against him:

saying, why came we forth out of Egypt?
suggesting it would have been better for them if they had stayed there; thus reflecting on the wisdom, power, and goodness of God, displayed in the deliverance of them, and for which they had the utmost reason to be thankful.

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FOOTNOTES:

F15 Seder Olam Rabba, c. 8. p. 24.
F16 (arzl) "in dispersionem", Munster, Fagius, Montanus: so R. Joseph Kimchi, apud Kimchi Sepher Shorash rad. (hrz) "et Aben dana".

Numbers 11:20 In-Context

18 And thou shalt say to the people, Be ye hallowed; tomorrow ye shall eat flesh; for I heard you say, Who shall give us the meats of flesh? it was well to us in Egypt; that the Lord give you flesh, (And thou shalt say to the people, Be ye purified; for tomorrow ye shall eat some flesh; for I heard you say, Who shall give us flesh to eat? yea, it was well with us in Egypt; and so the Lord shall give you flesh to eat,)

19 and ye (shall) eat (it) not only one day, either twain, either five, either ten, soothly neither twenty days,

20 but till to a month of days, till it go out by your nostrils, and turn into loathing; for by your grouching ye have put away the Lord, which is in the midst of you, and ye wept before him, and said, Why went we out of Egypt? (but for a whole month of days, until it go out of your nostrils, and it turn loathsome to you; for by your grumbling ye have rejected the Lord, who is in the midst of you, and ye have cried before him, and have said, Why did we go out of Egypt?)

21 And Moses said to the Lord, Six hundred thousand of footmen be of this people, and thou sayest, I shall give them to eat flesh an whole month. (And Moses said to the Lord, Six hundred thousand footmen be among these people, and thou sayest, I shall give all of them flesh to eat for a whole month?)

22 Whether the multitude of sheep and of oxen shall be able to be slain, that it may suffice (to) this people to meat (that it can suffice for enough food for these people), either whether all the fishes of the sea shall be gathered together, that those [ful]fill them?