Numbers 11:13

KJV

Whence should I have flesh to give unto all this people? for they weep unto me, saying, Give us flesh, that we may eat.

KJV (with Strong's)

Whence {H370} should I have flesh {H1320} to give {H5414} unto all this people {H5971}? for they weep {H1058} unto me, saying {H559}, Give {H5414} us flesh {H1320}, that we may eat {H398}.

Complete Jewish Bible

Where am I going to get meat to give to this entire people? - because they keep bothering me with their crying and saying, 'Give us meat to eat!'

Berean Standard Bible

Where can I get meat for all these people? For they keep crying out to me, ‘Give us meat to eat!’

American Standard Version

Whence should I have flesh to give unto all this people? for they weep unto me, saying, Give us flesh, that we may eat.

Commentary

### SUMMARY
Numbers 11:13 powerfully encapsulates Moses' profound anguish and exasperation as he confronts the relentless demands of the Israelite people in the wilderness. Despite God's miraculous deliverance from Egypt and His daily provision of manna, the Israelites lament and clamor for meat, pushing their divinely appointed leader to the brink of despair and questioning his capacity to meet such an overwhelming physical need.

### CONTEXT
* **Literary Context:** This verse is a direct, desperate cry from Moses to Yahweh, uttered in response to the Israelites' escalating discontent and insatiable craving for meat. It follows immediately after the "mixed multitude" among the Israelites began to "lust" for other foods, despising the manna they had received daily for over a year ([Numbers 11:4-6](/numbers/11-4 "Numbers 11:4-6 - The People's Craving and Discontent")). Their loud weeping and demands for flesh (explicitly mentioned in [Numbers 11:10](/numbers/11-10 "Numbers 11:10 - The People's Weeping")) pushed Moses to his breaking point, leading him to pour out his heart to God in the verses that follow ([Numbers 11:11-15](/numbers/11-11 "Numbers 11:11-15 - Moses' Complaint to God")). This lament sets the stage for God's compassionate, yet also corrective, response to Moses by sharing the leadership burden with seventy elders ([Numbers 11:16-17](/numbers/11-16 "Numbers 11:16-17 - God Shares Moses' Burden")) and His provision of quail, which ultimately leads to a plague due to the people's greed ([Numbers 11:31-34](/numbers/11-31 "Numbers 11:31-34 - The Quail and the Plague at Kibroth-hattaavah")).
* **Historical & Cultural Context:** The Israelites were in the wilderness, approximately one year after their exodus from Egypt, encamped at Taberah, then Kibroth-hattaavah. Their diet had consisted solely of manna, a miraculous provision from God, for an extended period ([Exodus 16:35](/exodus/16-35 "Exodus 16:35 - Manna Provided for Forty Years")). The memory of Egypt, with its diverse culinary options (fish, cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, garlic, [Numbers 11:5](/numbers/11-5 "Numbers 11:5 - Remembering Egypt's Food")), contrasted sharply with their current monotonous diet. This longing for the "good old days" in Egypt, despite their slavery there, reveals a common human tendency to romanticize the past and forget the pain of oppression when present comforts are lacking. Moses, as the sole human leader, bore the immense responsibility for a nation numbering perhaps two million people, a burden that was culturally understood to be an immense weight for any single individual.
* **Key Themes:** This verse contributes significantly to several overarching themes in the book of Numbers and the Pentateuch. It vividly illustrates **Moses' Overwhelming Burden**, portraying the immense pressure and feeling of inadequacy he experienced in leading a vast, often ungrateful, and faithless nation. His rhetorical question underscores the theme of **Human Limitation vs. Divine Power**, highlighting the vast chasm between what a human leader can provide and God's infinite capacity to sustain His people. Furthermore, the people's "weeping" for flesh reinforces the recurring theme of **Israel's Ungrateful Complaining and Faithlessness**, a pattern seen throughout their wilderness journey (e.g., [Exodus 15:24](/exodus/15-24 "Exodus 15:24 - Complaint at Marah"), [Exodus 17:3](/exodus/17-3 "Exodus 17:3 - Complaint at Rephidim"), [Numbers 14:2](/numbers/14-2 "Numbers 14:2 - Complaint after the Spies' Report")). This cycle of divine provision followed by human discontent serves as a stark warning against spiritual immaturity and a lack of trust in God's goodness.

### EXPOSITION AND ANALYSIS

#### Key Word Analysis
* **Whence (אֵי מִזֶּה, _'ei mizzeh'_):** This interrogative phrase literally means "from where?" or "from what source?" It is a rhetorical question that expresses Moses' utter bewilderment and the perceived impossibility of the situation from a human perspective. It conveys not just a lack of resources, but a complete absence of any conceivable means to fulfill the people's demand. Moses is not asking for information, but expressing the depth of his despair and the unreasonableness of the people's expectation that *he* should provide.
* **Flesh (בָּשָׂר, _basar'_):** While literally meaning "meat," in this context, "flesh" represents the Israelites' carnal desires and their longing for the material comforts of Egypt over the spiritual sustenance and miraculous provision of God (manna). It signifies a demand driven by appetite rather than need, highlighting their spiritual immaturity and their focus on earthly gratification.
* **Weep (בָּכָה, _bakah'_):** This verb describes a deep, emotional expression of sorrow, lament, or distress. Here, it characterizes the Israelites' complaining as not merely grumbling, but a loud, persistent, and manipulative wailing. This "weeping" is not born of genuine suffering or repentance, but of discontent and a demanding spirit, designed to pressure Moses and, by extension, God, into fulfilling their desires.

#### Verse Breakdown
* **"Whence should I have flesh to give unto all this people?"**: This is Moses' anguished rhetorical question directed at God. It conveys his feeling of being utterly overwhelmed and inadequate to meet the colossal demands of the vast Israelite population. He is expressing the profound human limitation in the face of an impossible task, implicitly asking God how *He* expects Moses to accomplish such a feat. It underscores the weight of leadership and the burden of a people who look to him for everything, even that which only God can provide.
* **"for they weep unto me, saying, Give us flesh, that we may eat."**: This clause provides the immediate justification and cause for Moses' despair. The people's persistent, emotional, and demanding cries for meat have pushed him to his breaking point. Their direct command, "Give us flesh," highlights their entitlement and lack of faith, treating Moses not as God's appointed mediator, but as a mere purveyor of their desires. This reveals the people's spiritual state: focused on immediate gratification and physical appetite rather than trusting in God's ongoing, albeit monotonous, provision.

#### Literary Devices
The verse employs several potent literary devices to convey its meaning. The most prominent is **Rhetorical Question** ("Whence should I have flesh...?"), which Moses uses not to elicit an answer, but to emphasize the sheer impossibility of the task from his human perspective and to express his profound frustration and despair to God. The people's "weeping" and demanding tone illustrate **Pathos**, evoking sympathy for Moses' overwhelming burden and highlighting the emotional manipulation inherent in the Israelites' complaints. There is also an element of **Hyperbole** in Moses' implied inability to feed "all this people," underscoring the magnitude of the challenge and the vastness of the multitude, which only God could truly satisfy.

### THEOLOGICAL AND THEMATIC CONNECTIONS
Numbers 11:13 serves as a poignant illustration of the immense burden of leadership, particularly spiritual leadership, and the inherent limitations of human capacity in the face of divine tasks. Moses' despair mirrors the struggles of many leaders throughout biblical history who found themselves overwhelmed by the demands of their people or the weight of their calling. It highlights the critical theological truth that true provision and ultimate satisfaction come from God alone, not from human effort or resources. The people's ungrateful weeping also connects to the broader biblical theme of humanity's fallen nature, prone to discontent, idolatry of desire, and a failure to trust in God's perfect wisdom and provision. Their craving for "flesh" over the miraculous manna symbolizes a spiritual blindness that prefers fleeting earthly pleasures to enduring divine sustenance.

* [Exodus 16:3](/exodus/16-3 "Exodus 16:3 - Israel's Complaint for Egyptian Food")
* [Psalm 78:18-31](/psalms/78-18 "Psalm 78:18-31 - Israel's Lust and God's Provision of Quail")
* [Philippians 4:19](/philippians/4-19 "Philippians 4:19 - God Will Supply All Your Needs")

### REFLECTION AND APPLICATION
Moses' cry in Numbers 11:13 resonates deeply with anyone who has felt overwhelmed by responsibilities, especially those in leadership positions. It reminds us that even the most faithful and divinely appointed leaders have moments of profound weakness, doubt, and despair. This verse grants us permission to acknowledge our limitations and to bring our honest, raw frustrations before God, just as Moses did. It is a powerful call to humility, recognizing that our strength and resources are finite, but God's are not. For the believer, it serves as a stark warning against the insidious nature of discontent and complaining. The Israelites, despite daily miracles, fixated on what they lacked, rather than gratefully embracing what God had abundantly provided. This challenges us to cultivate a spirit of gratitude in all circumstances, to trust God's provision even when it doesn't match our desires, and to remember that true satisfaction is found not in fleeting physical comforts, but in His presence and His will.

#### Questions for Reflection
* **In what areas of your life do you feel overwhelmed, and how do you tend to respond to those feelings?**
* **How does Moses' honest lament encourage you to bring your own frustrations and limitations before God?**
* **What "manna" has God provided in your life that you might be overlooking or taking for granted, perhaps longing for "flesh" instead?**
* **How can you cultivate a deeper sense of gratitude for God's provision, even when it doesn't perfectly align with your desires?**

### FAQ
**Why were the Israelites complaining about the manna God provided?**

Answer: The Israelites complained about the manna because they had grown tired of its monotony and longed for the variety of foods they remembered from Egypt, such as fish, cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, and garlic ([Numbers 11:5-6](/numbers/11-5 "Numbers 11:5-6 - Remembering Egypt's Food")). While manna was a miraculous and consistent provision, sustaining them daily in the wilderness, their spiritual immaturity and lack of faith led them to despise it. They focused on their physical appetites and nostalgic memories of a past, even one of slavery, rather than recognizing God's faithfulness and the miraculous nature of His daily provision. Their discontent stemmed from a deeper spiritual issue: a lack of trust in God's goodness and a preference for immediate gratification over patient reliance on Him.

**Did God punish the Israelites for their complaining and craving for flesh?**

Answer: Yes, God did respond with judgment to the Israelites' intense craving and complaining. While He initially provided the quail as they desired, He also sent a severe plague among them because of their greed and gluttony. [Numbers 11:33](/numbers/11-33 "Numbers 11:33 - The Plague at Kibroth-hattaavah") states, "While the meat was still between their teeth, before it was chewed, the anger of the Lord burned against them, and he struck them with a severe plague." This event, which occurred at a place named Kibroth-hattaavah, meaning "graves of craving" or "graves of lust," served as a stark consequence for their ungrateful and demanding spirit, demonstrating that God provides for needs but also judges sinful desires.

### CHRIST-CENTERED FULFILLMENT
Numbers 11:13, with Moses' despairing cry, powerfully foreshadows the ultimate and perfect provision found in Jesus Christ. Moses, as a type of mediator and leader, was utterly incapable of satisfying the people's carnal desires from his own resources, highlighting the limitations of human leadership and the Old Covenant. He could not conjure flesh for millions, nor could he truly satisfy their deepest spiritual hunger. However, Jesus Christ presents Himself as the true and ultimate provider, the "bread of life" who came down from heaven, superior to the manna that nourished Israel in the wilderness ([John 6:32-35](/john/6-32 "John 6:32-35 - Jesus, the Bread of Life")). Unlike Moses, who was overwhelmed by the people's demands, Jesus willingly bore the ultimate burden of humanity's sin and spiritual hunger, offering Himself as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world ([John 1:29](/john/1-29 "John 1:29 - Jesus, the Lamb of God")). He not only provides for physical needs but, more importantly, offers eternal life and spiritual satisfaction that the "flesh" of this world can never give ([John 6:51](/john/6-51 "John 6:51 - Jesus Gives His Flesh for the Life of the World")). Where Moses was limited and frustrated, Christ is limitless in His power and perfect in His compassionate leadership, fully able to meet every genuine need and satisfy every longing of the human heart, not with temporary meat, but with everlasting life.

Note: Commentary is generated by AI with a directive for Biblical fidelity. Always rely on the Holy Spirit for discernment. The Scripture text and cross-references are from verified, non-AI sources.

Cross-References

Mark 8:4

And his disciples answered him, From whence can a man satisfy these [men] with bread here in the wilderness?

Matthew 15:33

And his disciples say unto him, Whence should we have so much bread in the wilderness, as to fill so great a multitude?

Mark 9:23

Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things [are] possible to him that believeth.

John 6:5

When Jesus then lifted up [his] eyes, and saw a great company come unto him, he saith unto Philip, Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat?

John 6:9

There is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes: but what are they among so many?