Bilangan 14:14

14:14 then they will tell it to the inhabitants ¹  of this land. They have heard that you, Lord, are among this people, that you, Lord, are seen face to face, ²  that your cloud stands over them, and that you go before them by day in a pillar of cloud and in a pillar of fire by night.

Bilangan 11:31

Provision of Quail

11:31 Now a wind ³  went out ⁴  from the Lord and brought quail ⁵  from the sea, and let them fall ⁶  near the camp, about a day’s journey on this side, and about a day’s journey on the other side, all around the camp, and about three feet ⁷  high on the surface of the ground.

[14:14]  ¹ tn The singular participle is to be taken here as a collective, representing all the inhabitants of the land.

[14:14]  ² tn “Face to face” is literally “eye to eye.” It only occurs elsewhere in Isa 52:8. This expresses the closest communication possible.

[11:31]  ³ sn The irony in this chapter is expressed in part by the use of the word רוּחַ (ruakh). In the last episode it clearly meant the Spirit of the Lord that empowered the men for their spiritual service. But here the word is “wind.” Both the spiritual service and the judgment come from God.

[11:31]  ⁴ tn The verb means “burst forth” or “sprang up.” See the ways it is used in Gen 33:12, Judg 16:3, 14; Isa 33:20.

[11:31]  ⁵ sn The “quail” ordinarily cross the Sinai at various times of the year, but what is described here is not the natural phenomenon. Biblical scholars looking for natural explanations usually note that these birds fly at a low height and can be swatted down easily. But the description here is more of a supernatural supply and provision. See J. Gray, “The Desert Sojourn of the Hebrews and the Sinai Horeb Tradition,” VT 4 (1954): 148-54.

[11:31]  ⁶ tn Or “left them fluttering.”

[11:31]  ⁷ tn Heb “two cubits.” The standard cubit in the OT is assumed by most authorities to be about eighteen inches (45 cm) in length.