What Does Numbers 11:18 Mean?
And say to the people, Set yourselves apart for tomorrow, and you will eat flesh; for you have wept in the ears of the LORD, saying, "Who will make us eat flesh?" For it was good for us in Egypt. Therefore the LORD will give you flesh, and you will eat.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
And say thou unto the people, Sanctify yourselves against to morrow, and ye shall eat flesh: for ye have wept in the ears of the LORD, saying, Who shall give us flesh to eat? for it was well with us in Egypt: therefore the LORD will give you flesh, and ye shall eat.THE KEY
A craving makes Egypt sound like home by keeping the meat in memory and leaving the narrowness out.
THE MEANING
Longing can make constriction sound like well-being: Egypt is remembered through its meat, while its name carries the narrowness the memory leaves out. The LORD gives the requested flesh, but receiving what appetite demands does not make the place it misses whole.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The food I miss proves the place I left was good to me.
THE ROOT
בָּשָׂר
basar
GROWS FROM
ב־ש־ר
b-s-r
Flesh, bodily substance; these same consonants also form a verb for announcing tidings.
“flesh” in this verse is basar. The verse repeats בשר as the desired food, while the same three consonants also appear in a word for bringing good tidings. The remembered meal becomes part of the report that makes Egypt sound good.
ALSO GROWS
basar: Flesh, body
בָּשָׂר
This noun is repeated as the desired food, giving the memory of Egypt a bodily center.
mevaser: One who brings tidings or good news
מְבַשֵּׂר
This verbal form shares the three consonants, linking the desired flesh with the report that shapes what is remembered as good.
הִתְקַדְּשׁוּ
hitqaddeshu
GROWS FROM
ק־ד־ש
q-d-sh
Set apart; reserve as distinct.
“Set yourselves apart” in this verse is hitqaddeshu. The verse places a command of setting apart beside the promised meat. The same root names what is reserved as a sanctuary, so appetite appears in the language of consecration.
ALSO GROWS
qadosh: Set apart, dedicated
קָדוֹשׁ
It names the quality expressed by the command to set themselves apart.
miqdash: Sanctuary, a set-apart place
מִקְדָּשׁ
It carries the same root from a people set apart to a place reserved as distinct.
THE PATTERN
Present hunger compresses memory around remembered provision and makes return seem like relief.
And the children of Israel said to them, Would that we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh pots and ate bread until we were filled. For you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron, and all the assembly said to them, If only we had died in the land of Egypt, or if only we had died in this wilderness!And when he came back to himself, he said, "How many of my father's hired hands overflow with bread, and I perish here with hunger!"THE THREAD
How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of the one who brings good news, who makes wholeness heard, who brings good news of good, who makes deliverance heard, who says to Zion, Your God governs.Isaiah uses the verb from בשר for the one who brings good tidings, sharing the consonants that name the flesh desired here. The remembered flesh becomes part of the report that makes Egypt sound good.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us