Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Numbers 11:5
We remember the fish, which we did eat in Egypt freely; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlic:
5. the fish ] These were very plentiful in Egypt. See Exo 7:21, Isa 19:8.
the leeks, and the onions ] ‘Herod. (ii. 125), speaking of the pyramid, says that on it was declared “how much was spent on radishes and onions and leeks for the workmen” ’ (Gray). The verse accurately summarises the principal articles of diet of the lower classes in Egypt. See Lane, Modern Egyptians (ch. vii).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Num 11:5-6
There is nothing at all, beside this manna.
The manna despised
I. The complaining of the Israelites in this case was very reprehensible, as it manifested a state of aggravated neglect of the peculiar circumstances in which the despised manna was provided for them. Their soul had been dying away for want of it, were we to believe their complaint, and now their soul was dying away when it was possessed. The manna seemed everything when they first beheld it strewn all around the camp, and now it was as nothing at all in their eyes. Nevertheless, it was of such value in the eyes of God, that a pot of it was kept in the ark of the covenant as a memorial of His kindness in providing it for the rebels. The children He feeds may forget the token of His goodness, but He does not forget the emanations of His bounty, or reckon anything small in the blessings He confers.
II. The complaining of the Israelites in this care was all the more sinful, inasmuch as the manna so despised was both sufficient and agreeable food–was all that they stood in need of in their journey, and more than they deserved.
III. The complaining of the Israelites was all the more sinful, inasmuch as the manna they so despised was provided for them without cost or labour. And it is for a like reason that all despising of the bread of life will be accounted the greater transgression, for it is freely offered–without money and without price. No one is required to pay anything for it in silver or in gold–in bodily labour or mental suffering, or in any gift of worldly substance. No equivalent is looked for it in any sacrifice whatever that man can make.
IV. The complaining of the Israelites was the more aggravated, as it involved a very sinful disregard of the miraculous manner in which the manna was daily supplied for their use. Alas! multitudes are as blind to the wonderful character of the spiritual or hidden manna, as were the Jeers in the instance here recorded, as to the manna provided for them. All the more that the miraculous character of the wonderful provision God has made for the salvation of the soul is overlooked or despised, all the more of blind infatuation and sin are involved. It cannot be safe to speak slightingly of an interposition, in providing for the life of immortal souls, into which, it is said, the angels desire to look. (J. Allan.)
Speaking against God
These verses represent things sadly unhinged and out of order in Israel. Both the people and the prince uneasy.
I. Here is the people fretting and speaking against God himself (as it is interpreted, Psa 78:19), notwithstanding His glorious appearances both to them and for them.
1. Observe who were the criminals.
(1) The mixed multitude began, They felt a lusting (Num 11:4). These were the scabbed sheep that infected the flock, the leaven that leavened the whole lump. Note, a few factious, discontented, ill-natured people, may do a great deal of mischief in the best societies if great care be not taken to discountenance them. Such as these are an untoward generation, from which it is our wisdom to save ourselves (Act 2:40).
(2) Even the children of Israel took the infection, so it follows (Num 11:4). The holy seed joined themselves to the people of these abominations. This mixed multitude was not numbered with the children of Israel, but were set aside as people God made no account of. And yet the children of Israel, forgetting their own character and distinction, herded themselves with them, and learned their way; as if the scum and outcast of the camp were to be the privy councillors of it. The children of Israel, a people near to God, and highly privileged, yet drawn into a rebellion against Him! Oh, how little honour hath God in the world, when even that people which He formed for Himself to show forth His praise were so much a dishonour to Him! Therefore let none think that their external professions and privileges will be their security either against Satans temptations to sin, or against Gods judgments for sin (1Co 10:1-2; 1Co 10:12).
2. What was the crime? They lusted and murmured. Though they were newly corrected for this sin, and many of them overthrown for it, as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and the smell of the fire was still in their nostrils, yet they returned to it (Pro 27:22). We should not indulge ourselves in any desire which we cannot in faith turn into prayer, as we cannot, when we ask meat for our lust (Psa 78:18). For this sin the anger of the Lord was kindled greatly against them; which is written for our admonition, that we should not lust after evil things, as they lusted (1Co 10:10). Flesh is good food, and may lawfully be eaten; yet they are said to lust after evil things. What is lawful in itself becomes evil to us when it is what God doth not allot to us, and yet we eagerly desire it.
II. Moses himself, though so meek and good a man, is uneasy upon this occasion. Moses also was displeased. Now–
1. It must be confessed that the provocation was very great.
2. Yet Moses expressed himself otherwise than became him upon this provocation, and came short of his duty both to God and Israel in these expostulations.
(1) He undervalues the honour God had put upon him in making him the illustrious minister of His power and grace in the deliverance and conduct of that peculiar people, which might have been sufficient to balance the burden.
(2) He complains too much of a sensible grievance, and lays too near his heart a little noise and fatigue. If he could not bear the toil of government, which was but running with the footmen, how would he bear the terrors of war, which was contending with horses? He might easily have furnished himself with considerations enough to enable him to slight their clamours and make nothing of them.
(3) He magnifies his own performances, that all the burdens of the people lay upon him, whereas God Himself did, in effect, ease him of all the burden.
(4) He is not so sensible as he ought to be of the obligation he lay under from the Divine commission and command, to do the utmost he could for this people, when he suggests, that because they were not the children of his body begotten, therefore he was not concerned to take a fatherly care of them, though God Himself, who might employ him as He pleased, had appointed him to be a father to them.
(5) He takes too much to himself when he asks, Whence should I have flesh to give them? (Num 11:13), as if he were the housekeeper, and not God. Moses gave them not the bread (Joh 6:34). Nor was it expected that he should give them the flesh, but as an instrument in Gods hand; and having assistants appointed him, who should be, as the apostle speaks (1Co 12:28), helps, governments, i.e., helps in government, not at all to lessen or eclipse his honour, but to make the work more easy to him, and to bear the burden of the people with him. And that this provision might be both agreeable and really serviceable–
(a) Moses is directed to nominate the persons (Num 11:16). The people were too hot, and heady, and tumultuous, to be entrusted with the election. Moses must please himself in the choice, that he may not afterwards complain.
(b) God promiseth to qualify them. If they were not found fit for the employ, they should be made fit, else they might prove more a hindrance than a help to Moses (Num 11:17). Though Moses had talked too boldly with God, yet God doth not therefore break off communion with him; He bears a great deal with us, and we must with one another. I will come down (saith God) and talk with thee, when thou art more calm and composed; and I will take of the same spirit of wisdom, and piety, and courage that is upon thee, and put it upon them. Not that Moses had the less of the spirit for their sharing, nor that they were hereby made equal with him. Moses was still a nonsuch (Deu 34:10). But they were clothed with a spirit of government proportionable to their place, and with a spirit of prophecy to evidence their Divine call to it, the government being a theocracy.
Note–
1. Those whom God employs in any service He qualifies for it; and those that are not in some measure qualified cannot think themselves duly called.
2. All good qualifications are from God; every perfect gift is from the Father of lights. Even the humour of the discontented people shall be gratified too, that every mouth may be stopped. They are bid to sanctify themselves (Num 11:18), i.e., to put themselves into a posture to receive such a proof of Gods power as should be a token both of mercy and judgment. Prepare to meet thy God, O Israel (Amo 4:12).
(1) God promiseth (shall I say?) He threatens rather, that they should have their belly-full of flesh. See here–
(a) The vanity of all the delights of sense; they will cloy, but not satisfy. Spiritual pleasures are the contrary. As the world passes away, so do the lusts of it (1Jn 2:17). What was greedily coveted, in a little time comes to be nauseated.
(b) What brutish sins (and worse than brutish) gluttony and drunkenness are. They put a force upon nature, and make that the sickness of the body which should be its health; they are sins that are their own punishments, and yet not the worst that attend them.
(c) What a righteous thing it is with God to make that loathsome to men which they have inordinately lusted after. God could make them despise flesh as much as they had despised manna.
(2) Moses objects the improbability of making good this word (Num 11:21-22). It is an objection like that which the disciples made (Mar 8:4). He objects the number of the people, as if He that provided bread for them all could not by the same unlimited power provide flesh too. He reckons it must be the flesh either of beasts or fishes, because of them are the most bulky animals, little thinking that the flesh of birds, little birds, should serve the purpose. God sees not as men sees, but His thoughts are above ours. He objects the greediness of the peoples desires in that word to suffice them. Note, even true and great believers sometimes find it hard to trust God under the discouragement of second causes, and against hope to believe in hope. Moses himself can scarce forbear saying, Can God furnish a table in the wilderness? when this was become the common cry. No doubt this was his infirmity.
(3) God gives a short but sufficient answer to the objection in that question, Is the Lords band waxed short? (Num 11:23). If Moses had remembered the years of the right hand of the Most High, he had not started all these difficulties. Therefore God minds him of them, intimating that this objection reflected upon the Divine power which he had been so often not only the witness, but the instrument of. Whatever our unbelieving hearts may suggest to the contrary, it is certain–
(a) That Gods hand is not short. His power cannot be restrained in the exerting of itself by anything but His own will; with Him nothing is impossible. That hand is not short which measures the waters, metes out the heavens (Isa 40:12), and grasps the winds (Pro 30:4).
(b) That it is not waxed short. He is as strong as ever He was; fainteth not, neither is weary. And this is sufficient to silence all our distrusts, when means fail us. Is anything too bard for the Lord? God here brings Moses to this first principle; sets him back in his lesson to learn the ancient name of God, the Lord God Almighty; and put the proof upon the issue, Thou shalt see whether My word shall come to pass or not. This magnifies Gods word above all His name, that His works never came short of it. If He speaks, it is done. (Matthew Henry, D. D.)
Grumbling over spiritual food
The ancient Jews were, by no means, the only people who grumbled at the provision set before them. The Bread of Life, provided in the various ordinances of the gospel, for the strengthening of our souls, is not always received with thankfulness. Whatever rank we may choose to assign to preaching, among the other agencies for good, none can deny that it has its place, and an important one; and, yet, how many who listen to it, actuated by the complaining spirit of Gods ancient people, presumptuously exclaim, Our soul loatheth this light bread! The manner of Gods servant, and the message which he delivers, are both brought to the test of the most unsparing criticism. Imagine a prisoner, condemned to die, awaiting the day of his execution, when the door of the cell opens, and the governors deputy appears, bringing a pardon for him. The prisoner is overjoyed at this, but, instead of availing himself of the permission to depart, he stops to criticise the manner in which the deputy has discharged his duty. Why did not the governor send a man of more ability? he impatiently asks. How can he expect me to listen to a message delivered in tones so harsh and discordant? Has this pardoned criminal any just appreciation of the favour shown him? Very humble men, so far as worldly wisdom is concerned, often accomplish more, in teaching people the good and the right way, than those who are learned in the schools. One who had been listening to the preaching of such a servant of God, asked, in surprise, How is it that he always has something new to tell us? The answer was, Why, he lives so near the gates of heaven, that he hears a great many things which we who remain afar off know nothing about! It is not the musical sound of the bell which assembles the large flocks of pigeons at noonday in the square of Old St. Marks in Venice, but the liberal scattering of food. The complaint of the text is most often made with reference to what is called doctrine preaching, and even those who enjoy sermons of another sort are ready to say, when matters of this kind are dwelt upon, Our soul loatheth this light bread. Gods truth, in the hands of the Holy Spirit (Eph 1:17), is the great instrument for the worlds sanctification. It is obvious, however, that this truth must take the shape of definite doctrine, and be expressed in becoming language, before it can accomplish this purpose. The Church and her ministers deal fairly with you; but are you dealing fairly with yourselves? You listen to preaching; but is it with the sincere desire that you may grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour? (J. N. Norton, D. D.)
Vehement longings wrongly indulged
But may not a good child of God, either in sickness or in health, lust for some meat more than another without offending God? Yes, indeed, for it is not the thing but the manner here that so much offended God; not the lusting, say again, but the fashion and circumstances of it. To wit, their presumptous crossing the Lords will when He appointed them manna from heaven to be their meat, for what He would they would not, and this was not fit. Again, this was not coldly done of them, but with heat and vehemency, giving as it were the reins to their lust, let God think what He would. Here was ingratitude for the Lords gracious care of them, and most ungrateful speeches. Here was preferring onions and leeks and garlic, and such mean meats before the Lords bounty and mercy from heaven, feeding them as never people were fed, with such other circumstances of very sinful and ill-behaviour. This is that offended God, which if we make use of we shall do well; for surely, though not altogether in like sort, yet much after this fashion, it is to be feared we provoke the Lord. Such meat as God sendeth us, being far better than we deserve, we cannot eat, but prefer that which is far worse before it, not without some proud and unthankful check to Gods gracious providence and mercy for us and to us, giving us that which thousands as dearly bought with His Sons blood as we, and serving more than we, do want. And this not in any weakness of nature acknowledging gratefully the goodness of God set before us, but in very wantonness and delicacy, not once seeing or thinking of the bounty of God in giving us that we have. This if we do, it cannot be excused, but must needs be to God very displeasing, and to us very dangerous. Besides meat, how do many in other things tempt the Lord; as if God in mercy and most gracious care of them that they may be saved, and kept from the infections of this world, have given them a learned and painful pastor, that spendeth the Sabbath in holy exercises of his ministry, forenoon and afternoon, with the elders, with the children and servants. How doth this dislike many, and how lust they for worse things, breaking out in wicked speech: Oh, that we might have piping and dancing, quaffings and drinkings, church-ales and wakes, and such like as other parishes have! We are cloyed with this manna, give us mirth and let them have manna that like it, &c. Do you not shrink to think what will be the end of this murmuring, and the punishment of this lusting? Certainly it is fearful, and I pray God Christian people may have the feeling of it before it be too late. (Bp. Babington.)
Grievances regarded more than mercies
When we enjoy good things, we look at the grievances which are mingled with the good, and forget the good; which when it is gone then we remember. The Israelites could remember their onions and garlic and forget their slavery. So because manna was present, they despised manna, and that upon one inconvenience it had; it was ordinary with them. (R. Sibbes.)
Murmuring a waste of time
Oh, the precious time that is buried in the grave of murmuring! When the murmurer should be praying, he is murmuring against the Lord; when he should be hearing, he is murmuring against Divine providences; when he should be reading, he is murmuring against instruments; and in these and a thousand other ways do murmurers expend their precious time which some would redeem with a world. (T. Brooks.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 5. We remember, c.] The choice aliments which those murmurers complained of having lost by their leaving Egypt, were the following: fish, cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, and garlic. A European may smile at such delicacies but delicacies they were in that country. Their fish is excellent; their cucumbers and water melons highly salubrious and refreshing; and their onions, garlic, &c., exquisitely flavoured, differing as much from vegetables of the same species in these northern climes as a bad turnip does from a good apple. In short, this enumeration takes in almost all the commonly attainable delicacies in those countries.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Freely; either without price, for fish was very plentiful, and fishing was there free; or with a very small price; for nothing is sometimes put for a little, as Joh 18:20; Act 27:33; and none for few, as Jer 8:6; 1Co 2:8. And this is the more probable, because the Egyptians might not taste of fish, nor of the leeks and onions, which they worshipped for gods, and therefore the Israelites, who speak these words, might have them there upon cheaper terms.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
5. We remember the fish, which wedid eat in Egypt freely(See on Ex7:17). The people of Egypt are accustomed to an almost exclusivediet of fish, either fresh or sun-dried, during the hot season inApril and Maythe very season when the Israelites were travellingin this desert. Lower Egypt, where were the brick-kilns in which theywere employed, afforded great facilities for obtaining fish in theMediterranean, the lakes, and the canals of the Nile.
cucumbersThe Egyptianspecies is smooth, of a cylindrical form, and about a foot in length.It is highly esteemed by the natives and when in season is liberallypartaken of, being greatly mellowed by the influence of the sun.
melonsThe watermelonsare meant, which grow on the deep, loamy soil after the subsidence ofthe Nile; and as they afford a juicy and cooling fruit, all classesmake use of them for food, drink, and medicine.
leeksby some said tobe a species of grass cresses, which is much relished as a kind ofseasoning.
onionsthe same asours; but instead of being nauseous and affecting the eyes, they aresweet to the taste, good for the stomach, and form to a large extentthe aliment of the laboring classes.
garlicis now nearly ifnot altogether extinct in Egypt although it seems to have grownanciently in great abundance. The herbs now mentioned form a dietvery grateful in warm countries where vegetables and other fruits ofthe season are much used. We can scarcely wonder that both theEgyptian hangers-on and the general body of the Israelites, incitedby their clamors, complained bitterly of the want of the refreshingviands in their toilsome wanderings. But after all their experienceof the bounty and care of God, their vehement longing for theluxuries of Egypt was an impeachment of the divine arrangements; andif it was the sin that beset them in the desert, it became them morestrenuously to repress a rebellious spirit, as dishonoring to God andunbecoming their relation to Him as a chosen people.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
We remember the fish which we did eat in Egypt freely,…. Fish was food the Egyptians much lived upon; for though Herodotus says the priests might not taste of fish, the common people ate much; yea, he himself says that some lived upon nothing else but fish gutted and dried in the sun; and he observes, that the kings of Egypt had a great revenue from hence w; the river Nile, as Diodorus Siculus x says, abounded with all kind of fish, and with an incredible number, so that there was a plenty of them, and to be bought cheap; and so Aben Ezra and Ben Gersom interpret the word freely, of a small price, as if they had them for nothing almost; but surely they forgot how dear they paid for their fish, by their hard toil, labour, and service. Now this, with what follows, they call to mind, to increase their lust, and aggravate their present condition and circumstances:
the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlic; in the Hebrew language, the word for “cucumbers” has the signification of hardness, because they are hard of digestion In the Talmud y they are so called, because they are as harmful to the body as swords; though it is said in the same, that Antoninus always had them at his table; and Suetonius z and Pliny a say, that they were in great esteem with the emperors Augustus and Tiberias; though some think what they call cucumbers were melons. We are told b, that the Egyptian cucumbers are very different from our European ones, which in the eastern countries serve only to feed hogs with, and not men; but the Egyptian cucumber, called “chate”, differs from the common one in size, colour, and softness; and not only its leaves, but its fruit, are different from ours, being sweeter to the taste, and of more easy digestion, and reckoned to be very wholesome to the bodies of men: and so their “melons” are different from ours, which they call “abdellavi”, to distinguish them from others called “chajar”, which are of little use for food, and not pleasant, and more insipid, and of a softer pulp c: as for the “leeks, onions, and garlic”, that these were commonly and in great plenty eaten of by the Egyptians appears from the vast sums of money spent upon the men that worked in building one of the pyramids, in radishes, onions, and garlic only, which Herodotus d, Diodorus Siculus e, and Pliny f make mention of. Indeed, in later times these were worshipped as gods, and not suffered to be eaten, as Pliny g and Juvenal h inform us; but there is little reason to believe that this kind of idolatry obtained so early as the time of Israel’s being in Egypt; though some have thought that these were cheaper because of that, and so the Israelites could more easily come at them; but if that had been the case, it is more reasonable to believe that the Egyptians would not have allowed them to have eat of them at all: however, these are still in great plenty, and much used in Egypt to this day, as Vansleb i relates, who says, for desserts they have fruits, as onions, dried dates, rotten olives, melons, or cucumbers, or pompions, or such like fruits as are in season: thus carnal men prefer their sensual lusts and pleasures, and self-righteous men their righteousness, to Christ, the heavenly manna, his grace and righteousness.
w Euterpe, sive, l. 2. c. 37, 92, 149. x Bibliothec. l. 1. p. 32. y T. Bab. Avodah Zarah, fol. 11. 1. z In Vit. August. c. 77. a Nat. Hist. l. 19. c. 5. b Alpinus de Plant. Aegypt. l. 1. p. 114. apud Scheuchzer. Physic. Saer. vol. 3. p. 369. c Alpinus ib. d Ut supra, (Euterpe, sive, l. 2.) c. 125. e Ut supra. (Bibliothec. l. 1. p. 58.) f Nat. Hist. l. 36. c. 12. g lb. l. 19. c. 6. h “Porrum et coepe nefas violare”, &c. Satyr. 15. i Relation of a Voyage to Egypt, p. 186.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
5. We remember the fish which we did eat in Egypt. By this comparison with the former mode of living, they depreciate the present grace of God: and yet they enumerate no delicacies, when they speak of leeks, and onions, and garlic. Some, therefore, thus explain it, When such great abundance and variety was commonly to be met with, how painful and grievous must it be to us to be deprived of greater delicacies! My own opinion is, that these lowly people, who had been used to live on humble fare, praised their accustomed food, as if they had been the greatest luxuries. Surely rustics and artisans value as much their pork and beef, their cheese and curds, their onions and cabbage, as most of the rich do their sumptuous fare. Scornfully, therefore, do the Israelites magnify things which, in themselves, are but of little value, in order the more to stimulate their depraved appetite, already sufficiently excited. Still there is no doubt but that those who had been accustomed to a diet of herbs and fish, would think themselves happy with that kind of food. Moreover, to make the matter more invidious, they say in general, that they ate gratis (15) of that, which cost them but little: although such a phrase is common in all languages. For even profane writers testify that all that sea-shore abounds with fish. (16) The fisheries of the Nile also are very productive, and a part: of the wealth of Egypt: whilst the country is so well watered, that it produces abundance of vegetables and fruits. (17)
(15) A. V., “freely.” Ainsworth, “for nought;” this (he adds) may be referred to the fish which they had for nought, without price, getting them out of the rivers freely; or for nought, that is, for very little, very cheap. It may also have reference to the former, We remember for nought, i.e., in vain; so the Hebrew Chinnam, and the Greek δωρεὰν, sometimes signifieth a thing done or spoken in vain, and without effect; as Pro 1:17; Eze 6:10; Gal 2:21.” Geneva Version, “for nought, i.e., for a small price, or good cheep.”
(16) Herod., 2:93, describes the abundance of the fish in Egypt, and their migrations for the deposition of their spawn: and states that the inhabitants of the marshes, some of them, “live on nothing but fish.” — Ibid. 92.
(17) Raphelius has a striking note on this passage from Herod. “The herbs (onions and garlic) were ordinarily given to laborers in Egypt. Whence also this was the food of the Israelites, whose labors the Egyptians used, or rather abused, in making bricks. Herod. 2:125. “It is declared by certain Egyptian inscriptions on the Pyramid itself, how much was paid to the workmen, ἔς τε συρμαίην, καὶ κρόμμυα καὶ σκόροδα, for radishes, onions, and garlic.” — Raphel., in loco.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(5) We remember the fish . . . Classical writers and modern travellers agree in bearing testimony to the abundance of the fish in the Nile and in the neighbouring canals and reservoirs. The cucumbers in Egypt are of great size and finely flavoured. The watermelons serve to moderate the internal heat which the climate produces. (See The Land and the Book, p. 508.) The word rendered leeks (in Psa. 104:14, grass for cattle) is supposed by some to denote a species of clover which is peculiar to Egypt, and of which the young and fresh shoots are said to be used as food and to be an excellent stomachic. The onions of Egypt are said to be the sweetest in the world, and they constitute the common food of the lowest class of the people. Garlic is still much used by the modern Arabs. It is only the fish, which was probably equally within the reach of all, of which the Israelites are said to have eaten freely, i.e., not abundantly, but gratuitously. It is probable, however, that many of them cultivated the land to a greater or lesser degree, and so procured vegetables for themselves.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
5. The fish freely Hebrew, for nothing. So abundant were the fish in the Nile that they were very cheap. Herodotus repeatedly speaks of the great use of fish as an article of food in Egypt. Not only man, but myriads of waterfowl, which swarm in Lower Egypt more than in any other country in the world, depend on fish, and yet the supply is as inexhaustible as ever. They were eaten either dried in the sun or salted.
The Egyptians are the first people mentioned in history as curing any kind of meat with salt.
Cucumbers These differ from the ordinary kind both in size, colour, softness, and sweetness of flavour. They are described by Forskal as “the most common of all the fruits in Egypt, being planted in whole fields.” Enormous quantities of them are eaten in the East. They are eaten with the rind on, without any condiment. They are the commonest and cheapest summer vegetable, and are never complained of as indigestible. “I remember seeing dinner served out to an Arab school in Jerusalem, which consisted of a thin barley-cake, and a raw cucumber to each boy.” Tristram.
Melons These are mentioned nowhere else in the Bible. In modern Egypt water-melons in immense numbers are sold so cheaply that the poor share their cooling properties. The very Hebrew name is retained slightly changed. “A traveller in the East who recollects the intense gratitude which the gift of a slice of melon inspired while journeying over the hot and dry plains, or one who remembers the consciousness of wealth and security which he derived from the possession of a melon while preparing for a day’s journey over the same plains he will readily comprehend the regret with which the Hebrews in the Arabian desert looked back upon the melons of Egypt.” “Nothing could be more regretted in the burning desert than these delicious melons, whose exuberant juice is so refreshing to the thirsty pilgrim.” W.M. Thomson.
Leeks The Hebrew word occurs twenty-two times, once rendered court, seventeen times grass, once herb, twice hay, and once leek. It is evident that leek, which is found only here, is a mistaken translation for grass. Hengstenberg and Kitto strongly contend for grass as the correct rendering. Says the latter, “Among the wonders of the natural history of Egypt, it is mentioned by travelers that the common people there eat with special relish a kind of grass similar to clover.” Mayer says of this plant, whose scientific name is Trigonella foenum Graecum, that its leaves are more pointed than clover, and that great quantities of it are eaten by the people. In Cairo it is a garden-plant called halbeh. In November it is sold in large bunches in the streets, and is eaten with incredible greediness without any kind of seasoning. The Targum of Onkelos for leeks has “cresses,” one species of which is the pepper-grass. But all the old versions and commentators insist that leeks is the proper translation. They were a favourite vegetable with the Egyptians indeed they were reverenced by them as sacred. Hence a Roman satirist ridicules the Egyptians for growing their gods in their gardens. Onions of a mild and pleasant taste flourish in Egypt better than elsewhere. According to Herodotus they were the ordinary food of the workmen at the pyramids. They are still almost the only food of the poor, eaten roasted, cut into four pieces, with some bits of meat. With this dish the Turks in Egypt are so delighted that they wish they may enjoy it in paradise. Garlic is the Allium sativum of Linnaeus, which abounds in Egypt, and is akin to the onion. Herodotus states that the allowance of this vegetable to the workman was inscribed on the great pyramid. Not one of all these refreshing vegetables could be found in the desert, and yet they are those after which there would be the most intense craving under the wilting heat of the desert. There was therefore some ground for the complaint of the people. But their culpability lay in their forgetfulness of the providential compensations: manna, emancipation from servitude, the written law of God, Jehovah visibly guiding them, and the inspiring hope of a home in Canaan. All the miseries of Egypt, the toil, the taskmaster, the contumely, and the degradation of bondage are forgotten in the discomforts of the present moment, and only the gross animal pleasures now come into mind. “Thus when once the heart loses its freshness in the divine life, and heavenly things begin to lose their savour, and first love declines, and Christ ceases to be a satisfying and altogether precious portion, and the Bible and communion with God lose their charm, and become dull and mechanical; then the eye wanders back to the world, the heart follows the eye, and the feet follow the heart. We forget, at such moments, what the world was to us when we were in it and of it.”
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Num 11:5. We remember the fish, &c. The author of the observations remarks, that the fish of Egypt are eaten, in common, with pleasure by the inhabitants of that country; but that in April and May, which is the hot season there, they scarce eat any thing else but fish, with pulse and herbs; the great heat taking away their appetite for all sorts of meat. This is Bishop Pococke’s account, vol. 1 p. 182 with whom other travellers agree. Whence some have thought, that this complaint of the Israelites arose from the peculiar sultriness of the weather, and their being accustomed, in these hot seasons, to eat fish, and refreshing vegetables. But it is evident from the text, that the complaint of Israel proceeded from a wayward and perverse kind of luxuriousness; and for that reason drew down such a severe animadversion from heaven. De Vitriacho tells us, that some of the more delicate Egyptians pined to death when Damiata was besieged (anno Dom. 1218.) though they had a sufficiency of corn, for want of the food they were used to; pompions, garlick, onions, fish, birds, fruit, herbs, &c. It appears, at least, very clear from ch. Num 10:11 that the Israelites did not arrive at this station till the latter end of May, if before June; and it seems to have been some time after their arrival that this murmuring arose; (Num 11:4.) so that either the hot south winds do not blow at the same time in the desart, as they are wont to do in Egypt, or this complaint did not arise from that cause.
The cucumbers, &c. Those who are inclined to enter into a minute account of these plants, will find their curiosity gratified, by referring to the third volume of Scheuchzer’s learned and laborious Physique Sacree. He translates the words rendered cucumbers and melons, by melons et citrouilles, melons and gourds; and he observes, that the ancients called all the fruits of that species cucumbers and melons. The word which we render leeks, he takes to signify a plant of the lotus kind, which grew in the low lands of Egypt; and which, he says, was of a very delicate taste, and held in great estimation. Homer says, that the lotus is the first of the plants which grew for the pleasure of the gods, Iliad 22. See Alpinus de plant. Egypt. p. 103. With respect to the onions and garlick, Scheuchzer further observes, upon the credit of the best travellers, that they are far better, and of a much sweeter taste in the east, than in our parts of the world. The Jews, and the Orientals in general, are to the present time very fond of them: and Calmet well remarks, that garlick was in so much request among the ancients, that Homer makes it a part of the entertainment which Nestor serves up to his guest Machaon. Iliad 11.
Honey new prest, the sacred flour of wheat, And wholesome garlick, crown’d the sav’ry treat. POPE.
Juvenal observes, at the beginning of his 15th Satire,
How Egypt, mad with superstition grown, Makes gods of monsters but too well is known
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
‘Tis mortal sin an onion to devour; Each clove of garlick is a sacred pow’r. Religious nations sure, and blest abodes, Where every garden is o’er-run with gods! DRYDEN.
Upon which Calmet and others have started a question, How the Israelites durst venture to violate the national worship, by eating those sacred plants? To which it may be replied, in the first place, that whatever might be the case with the Egyptians in later ages, it is not probable that they were arrived at such a pitch of superstition in Moses’s time; for we find no footsteps thereof in the time of Herodotus, the most ancient of the Greek historians. 2nd, Juvenal, and the other writers who speak of this superstition, appear to be mistaken, in imagining those herbs to have been really the objects of religious worship. The priests, indeed, abstained from the use of them, and of several other vegetables: and this might give rise to the opinion of their being reverenced as divinities; but they were not prohibited to the people, as is plain from the testimonies of ancient writers; particularly Diodorus, lib. 1: p. 80.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Observe, to what a desperate state of daring impiety the soul may be led, when no longer under the restraints of grace. See an awful instance in the case of Jonah, Num 4:8-9 . How could Israel be so lost, as to talk of their pleasures and enjoyments in Egypt, when they had so long groaned under their oppressive bondage? Exo 1:8-14 . The melons were probably the same fruit which the Arabians call Baltechim. They grow on the banks of the Nile, in the rich clayey earth. The Egyptians found this fruit useful, both for meat, drink, and medicine.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Num 11:5 We remember the fish, which we did eat in Egypt freely; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlick:
Ver. 5. We remember the fish. ] They forgat their servitude. Discontent is ever harping upon wants, and enjoys nothing: no more than Haman did his honour, or Ahab his kingdom, when he longed for a salad out of Naboth’s garden.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
the fish. Six items given of Egypt’s food: seven of Canaan’s, in Deu 8:8. See App-10.
freely = gratuitously.
and. Note Figure of speech Polysyndeton in this verse (App-6), to emphasize the six items. See Num 11:8.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
the fish: Exo 16:3, Psa 17:14, Phi 3:19
the cucumbers: In Hebrew, kishshuim, in Arabic, kiththa, Chaldee, keta, and Syriac, kati, a species of cucumber peculiar to Egypt, smooth, of a longish cylindrical shape, and about a foot long. Prosper Alpinus says that it differs from the common sort by its size, colour, and softness; that its leaves are smaller, whiter, softer, and rounder; its fruit larger, greener, smoother, softer, sweeter, and more easy of digestion than ours. Hasselquist describes it in the same manner; and adds, that it is very little watery, but firm like a melon, sweet and cool to the taste, but not so cold as the watermelon, which is meant by the avutichim of the text.
Reciprocal: Num 11:18 – it was well Num 16:13 – out of a Num 20:4 – why Num 20:15 – vexed us 2Sa 23:15 – longed 1Ch 11:17 – longed Isa 19:8 – General Jer 42:14 – nor hear Jer 44:18 – we have Act 7:39 – and in
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Num 11:5-6. The fish which we did eat freely Either without price, for fish was very plentiful, and fishing there free, or at a very small price. Our soul Either our life, as the term signifies, Gen 9:5, or our body, which is often intended by the word soul. Dried-away Is withered, and pines away, which possibly might be true, through their envy, discontent, and inordinate appetite. The expression seems to be of the same purport with that of the psalmist, Psa 102:4, My heart is withered like grass.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
11:5 We remember the fish, which we did eat in Egypt {c} freely; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlick:
(c) For a final price, or good cheap.