Numbers 11

The word is Tabrerah. It’s Hebrew for “burning.”[1]

The Hebrew word is man, pronounced “MAWN.” It’s a good journalism word because it can mean: How? Why? Who? What? What is it? (16:15). Some scholars say a fair English translation of the word might be “whatchamacallit.” Or maybe “whatever.” As in, the Israelites had that “whatever” for breakfast every morning.

Coriander seeds are small, roughly 2-3 millimeters in diameter, about an eighth of an inch. They’re edible and often used as spice. Some say it has a nutty citrus taste of lemon or orange.

Exodus offers a similar description: “The people of Israel called the bread ‘manna.’ It looked like white coriander seeds, and tasted like honey wafers” (Exodus 16:31).

The description sounds like a modern version of booing.

Some scholars say the Hebrew word nābā’ should be translated as “prophesied.” Others say this one-time event sounds more like a prophetic seizure—a moment of great wonder, and possibly with them speaking words that didn’t make sense to those listening. Perhaps a bit like we might hear today in Pentecostal churches when some stand and speak in what the Apostle Paul called “the heavenly language of tongues” (1 Corinthians 14:2). Paul used the Greek word glossa, often translated as “language” or “tongues.” Many Bible experts say that Paul seemed to be referring to a spiritual language that can sound to others like gibberish. Many early Christians, including Paul and Christians in Corinth, seemed to believe that the Holy Spirit allowed some people to speak in a language that makes no sense to most people who hear it. But Paul says it’s a language that can and should be translated if someone speaks it during a worship service (1 Corinthians 14:28).

Quail migrated northward out of Africa every spring and returned each fall. They are heavy birds, easily exhausted. By the time they stopped to rest, they were sometimes too exhausted to flee from predators. Ancient Egyptian artists created pictures of Egyptians picking exhausted quail off the ground.

About one meter.

The Hebrew measure is 10 “homers.” That’s 500 one-gallon-buckets of quail, which is about 50 bushels. That’s also about 2,200 one-liter buckets. It’s a lot of quail. Some say the numbers are an exaggerated way of saying the Israelites had more than enough to eat.

The Hebrew name was Kibroth-hattaavah. Bible versions offer different but similar English translations, including “graves” of: craving, gluttony, wanting. The idea is that people got greedy. They horded. Then they ate too much and died too soon. A modern take on the story is to speculate that the plague was more likely food poisoning from eating spoiled meat. To properly smoke quail, we need a sustained temperature that’s more than double the Sinai temperature. The temperature needs maintained for 3-4 hours, until the temperature of the meat inside is 165 F or 74 C. Otherwise the meat goes bad, the stomach goes sour, and everything inside starts hunting for the nearest exit.

Location uncertain. It’s presumed to have been north of Mount Sinai. One theory is it was at Ain el-Hudhera, about 40 miles (64 km) northeast of Mount Sinai. But that location doesn’t seem to get much support from scholars.