Bible Strands
Numbers 11:23
The LORD answered Moses, “Is the LORD’s arm too short? Now you will see whether or not My word will come to pass.”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Yahweh speaks to Moses in direct reply to Moses' rhetorical question (v.22) about whether enough food exists to feed the craving crowd.
The words — תִּקְצָר (tik.tzar, "is it short") from the root קצר, "to be cut off, to be insufficient," applied to יד (yad, "hand"), the standard Hebrew metonym for power or capacity.
The thread — Isaiah 59:1 and Isaiah 50:2 reuse the identical "arm/hand too short" idiom; Genesis 18:14 poses the same rhetorical structure ("Is anything too difficult for the LORD?") in a different context.
Why it lands — The verse converts a logistics problem into a question about divine sufficiency, forcing the reader to name which of their own "impossibles" are really tests of whether they believe God can act.
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 the Lord said unto Moses, Is the Lord’s hand waxed short? thou shalt see now whether my word shall come to pass unto thee or not.
Cross-references
- Isaiah 59:1 Surely the arm of the LORD is not too short to save, nor His ear too dull to hear.
- Genesis 18:14 Is anything too difficult for the LORD? At the appointed time I will return to you—in about a year—and Sarah will have a son.”
- Isaiah 50:2 Why was no one there when I arrived? Why did no one answer when I called? Is My hand too short to redeem you? Or do I lack the strength to deliver you? Behold, My rebuke dries up the sea; I turn the rivers into a desert; the fish rot for lack of water and die of thirst.
- Luke 1:37 For no word from God will ever fail.”
- Numbers 23:19 God is not a man, that He should lie, or a son of man, that He should change His mind. Does He speak and not act? Does He promise and not fulfill?
- Matthew 19:26 Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
- Ezekiel 12:25 because I, the LORD, will speak whatever word I speak, and it will be fulfilled without delay. For in your days, O rebellious house, I will speak a message and bring it to pass, declares the Lord GOD.’”
- Ezekiel 24:14 I, the LORD, have spoken; the time is coming, and I will act. I will not refrain or show pity, nor will I relent. I will judge you according to your ways and deeds,’ declares the Lord GOD.”
- Matthew 24:35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away.
- Micah 2:7 Should it be said, O house of Jacob, “Is the Spirit of the LORD impatient? Are these the things He does?” Do not My words bring good to him who walks uprightly?