🔢WEB · Numbers 11:13
What does Numbers 11:13 mean?
"Where could I get meat to give all these people? For they weep before me, saying, ‘Give us meat, that we may eat.’"
— Numbers 11:13 (World English Bible)
Surrounding context
Moses heard the people weeping throughout their families, every man at the door of his tent; and Yahweh’s anger burned greatly; and Moses was displeased.
Moses said to Yahweh, “Why have you treated your servant so badly? Why haven’t I found favor in your sight, that you lay the burden of all this people on me?
Have I conceived all this people? Have I brought them out, that you should tell me, ‘Carry them in your bosom, as a nurse carries a nursing infant, to the land which you swore to their fathers?’
Where could I get meat to give all these people? For they weep before me, saying, ‘Give us meat, that we may eat.’
I am not able to bear all this people alone, because it is too heavy for me.
If you treat me this way, please kill me right now, if I have found favor in your sight; and don’t let me see my wretchedness.”
Yahweh said to Moses, “Gather to me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom you know to be the elders of the people, and officers over them; and bring them to the Tent of Meeting, that they may stand there with you.
Explanation
Numbers 11:13 captures Moses at a breaking point, crying out to God in the middle of a leadership crisis. In plain language, Moses is asking, "Where am I supposed to find meat for two million-plus complaining people?" The people are weeping and demanding meat, and Moses feels the full weight of an impossible request landing squarely on his shoulders.
The context is essential to understanding the verse. Israel is in the wilderness following the Exodus, being sustained by manna, the bread God provides each morning. Despite this daily miracle, the people grow restless and begin longing nostalgically for the food of their slavery in Egypt—fish, cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, and garlic (Numbers 11:4-6). Their weeping and grumbling is
Compare translations
Go deeper with ScriptureCompanion AI
Ask questions about any verse, follow reading plans, write personal prayers, and track your daily habit — all grounded in verified scripture text.