Bible Strands
Numbers 11:21
But Moses replied, “Here I am among 600,000 men on foot, yet You say, ‘I will give them meat, and they will eat for a month.’
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Moses addresses God in the wilderness immediately after the divine declaration that He will supply meat for the Israelites for a full month. He speaks from within the camp, standing before the 600,000 foot soldiers of the congregation.
The words — The text centers on שֵׁשׁ־מֵא֥וֹת אֶ֙לֶף (shesh-me'ot elef), literally “six hundred thousand,” denoting the exact count of men on foot. This precise number grounds Moses’ response in the tangible scale of the people he leads.
The thread — The same headcount appears in Exodus 12:37 and Numbers 1:46, which document the exodus population and the wilderness census. This numerical continuity fulfills the Abrahamic covenant in Genesis 12:2 to establish a great nation.
Why it lands — The passage requires a reader to weigh divine promise against human logistics without softening either reality. It asks whether one will accept supernatural provision or remain bound by empirical calculation.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And Moses said, The people, among whom I am, are six hundred thousand footmen; and thou hast said, I will give them flesh, that they may eat a whole month.
Cross-references
- Exodus 12:37 The Israelites journeyed from Rameses to Succoth with about 600,000 men on foot, besides women and children.
- Numbers 1:46 And all those counted totaled 603,550.
- Genesis 12:2 I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.
- Exodus 38:26 a beka per person, that is, half a shekel, according to the sanctuary shekel, from everyone twenty years of age or older who had crossed over to be numbered, a total of 603,550 men.
- Numbers 2:32 These are the Israelites, numbered according to their families. The total of those counted in the camps, by their divisions, was 603,550.