Taberah, Kibroth-hattaavah, and Hazeroth
The Book of Numbers is better understood in terms of its name in Hebrew: Bemidbar, “in the wilderness,” for it described Israel’s preparations to depart from Mount Horeb/Sinai and their wanderings in the wilderness afterward. The events described therein would have taken place sometime around either 1450-1410 or 1250 BCE, depending on one’s view of the Exodus; Moses would have written the original text while in the land of Moab across the Jordan River from Jericho.
In Numbers 1:1-10:10, the Israelites faithfully followed all YHWH commanded in organizing the people and consecrating the Tabernacle and the Levites. Everything was thus prepared for YHWH to lead Israel directly into Canaan and fulfill all He had promised to their fathers.
Ultimately, Israel would enter Canaan, and YHWH would fulfill all He had promised to their fathers. Yet, as the narrative would unfold in Numbers 10:11-25:18, it would not happen for the generation which had seen the mighty works of YHWH in Egypt and the wilderness. All but Caleb and Joshua would fall dead in the wilderness because of their persistent rebellion. The climax of this rebellion would come in Numbers 13:1-14:45 with the spies, their report, and Israel’s response; nevertheless, as the events described in Numbers 10:11-12:16 will make manifest, not all was well in Israel beforehand.
Israel set off from Horeb/Sinai toward the Wilderness of Paran, following the cloud of the Presence and in appropriate formation (Numbers 10:12-28). Curiously, Moses then asked Hobab son of Reuel the Midianite, his father-in-law, to come with him and the Israelites; when Hobab protested, Moses insisted, wanting to make sure he and Israel had access to his understanding of the wilderness and places to camp (Numbers 10:29-32). Details about Hobab prove challenging: as Reuel’s son, Hobab would be Moses’ brother-in-law, ostensibly brother of Zipporah, and a Midianite; in Judges 1:16, 4:11, Hobab was identified as Moses’ father-in-law and as a Kenite. In Exodus 18:1-27, Moses’ father-in-law was identified as Jethro, and as departing for his home after speaking with Moses. While Moses’ father-in-law was also named Jethro in Exodus 3:1, he was named as Reuel in Exodus 2:15-22. Beyond all this, soon after Aaron and Miriam will speak against Moses on account of the Kushite woman he had married in Numbers 12:1, leading us to wonder what has happened to Zipporah. We can make some sense of all of this by suggesting Jethro and Reuel are alternative names for the same person, Hobab was his son and we have a form of textual corruption in Judges 1:16, and Kenites might be a subset of Midianites; perhaps Moses has taken a second Kushite wife, or perhaps Zipporah passed away previously.
We can make decent sense of the text in context as a way of communicating how Moses welcomed some non-Israelites into the Israelite coalition; as Judges 1:6, 4:11 attest, some of the Kenites at least took up Moses’ offer and shared in the blessings of the land of Israel. Nevertheless, Moses’ specific reason for wanting Hobab around betrays, at some level, some lack of complete confidence in YHWH: was not YHWH directing Israel where to go and where to camp, as demonstrated in Numbers 9:15-23? Our most charitable understanding of Moses would suggest he was not yet fully aware of how YHWH would lead them further into the wilderness, and thus it made sense in his mind to want Hobab around to be a guide. Yet we may not be wise in thus giving Moses the benefit of the doubt in light of all which will soon happen. In this way even Moses himself was most likely not displaying complete confidence in YHWH regarding all which Israel was about to experience.
We are not told whether Hobab took up Moses’ offer; perhaps the Judges testimony should suggest at least some members of his family went with Israel. The narrative would continue: YHWH led Israel out three days into the wilderness, and Moses related what he would say when the Ark of the Covenant would begin traveling, and what he would say when it came to rest (Numbers 10:33-36). This place would be known as Taberah, burning, because fire came out from YHWH and burned parts of the camp because the people had begun complaining (Numbers 11:1-3).
For at least the period described in Numbers 1:1-10:11, Israel had proven fully faithful to YHWH; almost as soon as they depart from Horeb/Sinai, their rebellious tendencies again become manifest. At this location or somewhere nearby, the people of Israel complain about the food: they craved meat above and beyond the daily manna which had been sustaining them for some time (Numbers 11:4, 6-9). They spoke of all the bounty of Egypt; while all the foods they mention were plentiful in Egypt, we cannot imagine they would have been welcomed to share in it as slaves (Numbers 11:5).
Upon hearing these complaints, YHWH’s anger was kindled, but so also was Moses’ (Numbers 11:10). Moses no longer advocated for the people; instead, Moses unloaded on YHWH: he had not created this people; he had no idea how he could provide meat for all the people; he would rather die than to keep leading Israel in this condition (Numbers 11:11-15).
YHWH would take care of Moses and Israel in that order. He first commanded Moses to collect seventy of the elders of Israel to place part of His Spirit on them to help him bear the burden of the people, very much reminiscent of and duplicating Jethro’s advice in Exodus 18:1-27 (Numbers 11:16-17). Israel was to prepare itself to get stuffed with meat to the point of being sick of it on account of their grumbling (Numbers 11:18-20). Moses cast doubt on YHWH’s plan: how could YHWH provide meat for so many hundreds of thousands of people (Numbers 11:21-22)? YHWH slapped back: was His hand shortened (Numbers 11:23)?
Moses did what was commanded: he brought seventy elders to himself and prepared the people (Numbers 11:24). The Spirit of YHWH came upon the elders, and they prophesied once (Numbers 11:25). Yet two men who remained in the camp, Eldad and Medad, also had the Spirit of YHWH come upon them, and they prophesied in the camp (Numbers 11:26). Moses was told of it; we are introduced to Joshua ben Nun, Moses’ servant, who told Moses to stop Eldad and Medad (Numbers 11:27). Moses asked if Joshua were jealous for him; Moses would rather YHWH’s Spirit come upon all Israelites, so all might prophesy (Numbers 11:29-30). Much speculation attends to the significance and substance of Eldad and Medad: they prophesied within the camp, thus among the people; many rabbinic sources suggested Eldad and Medad were prophesying about how Moses would not lead Israel into Canaan, which would go a long way to explain why Joshua felt they should be stopped. But we cannot know for certain what Eldad and Medad were prophesying, or even whether the substance of their prophecy was related to Moses and Joshua. But we can see how Moses’ aspirations would be fulfilled in what God would accomplish in Christ through the gift of the Holy Spirit given to all who believe and obey (Acts 2:38-39, 5:32).
That night a wind came up and brought innumerable quail from the sea, likely from the Gulf of Aqaba, and with easy access for the Israelites; they each gathered no less than two thousand liters’ worth of quail (Numbers 11:31-32). A lot of birds migrate through that particular corridor, and it would not be unimaginable for a huge flock to get caught up in a wind storm and compelled to land in the wilderness. Nevertheless, while the flesh of the quail was in their mouths, YHWH sent a plague through Israel, killing many; the place would be named Kibroth-hattaavah, graves of those who craved, since they buried there so many who craved meat (Numbers 11:33-34).
The people then traveled to Hazeroth (Numbers 11:35). There Aaron and Miriam, Moses’ siblings, complained against him on account of his Kushite wife (Numbers 12:1). While many have tried to associate “Kushite” with somewhere in the desert areas to associate her with Zipporah, the natural understanding is for a Kushite to be a woman from Nubia, modern-day southern Egypt and northern Sudan. As indicated, we do not know what has happened with Zipporah. Clearly something about Moses’ marriage to the Kushite woman, whether in the marriage itself or in the conduct of Moses’ wife, led Aaron and Miriam to feel slighted or made insecure about their position. Their presumption was laid out in Numbers 12:2: had YHWH not spoken and worked through them as well?
YHWH would not countenance this: Moses was the most meek and humble of men, somewhat well exemplified in his response to Eldad and Medad and their prophesying (Numbers 12:3). YHWH called Moses, Aaron, and Miriam together at the tent of meeting (Numbers 12:4). YHWH called Aaron and Miriam to Him, and laid it out: YHWH would speak through prophets, but Moses was different, faithful in YHWH’s house, with whom YHWH spoke face to face and clearly, not in riddles (Numbers 12:5-7).
It was not wise or smart for Aaron and Miriam to speak against Moses, and the anger of YHWH burned against them: after He departed, Miriam displayed a skin condition which led to her having skin “like snow,” perhaps white or wet or both, and unclean (Numbers 12:8-10). Aaron begged Moses to not hold their sin against them and have Miriam be like a stillbirth displaying abnormalities, which would attest to a fairly significant case of skin disease; Moses cried to YHWH for her healing (Numbers 12:11-13). YHWH responded by suggesting she would have suffered disgrace for seven days if her father had spat in her face, and so she should be shut out of the camp for seven days and could then be brought back (Numbers 12:14). Thus Miriam was shut out for seven days, and Israel remained at Hazeroth throughout that time; ostensibly she was healed and brought back in, and Israel would set out again for the Wilderness of Paran (Numbers 12:15).
Some have wondered if the fact Miriam was afflicted with the skin disease meant it was mostly Miriam who was casting aspersions about Moses, with Aaron acting only as an accessory. Such is possible, but it would have been beyond scandalous for the High Priest to experience a skin condition, so perhaps YHWH was unwilling to punish Aaron similarly even though he was equally worthy of it. Miriam being attacked with a skin disease to make her skin white might be imagined in contrast with the blackness of Moses’ Kushite wife, especially if Miriam’s hostility was somehow related to ethnic difference; yet all such thoughts remain speculative.
Thus Moses had doubts about what God might do and proved exasperated with the people; thus the people rebelled against God; thus Aaron and Miriam proved presumptuous. The presentation of the narratives in Numbers 10:11-11:35, at least, seem to reverse mirror the narratives of Exodus 16:1-18:27: the people cry out for food; Moses spoke with his father-in-law; and Moses is overwhelmed and needs assistance by means of officials. But Israel is not the same after Sinai as they were before it. Before Sinai they were a motley crew, a mixed multitude; their basic needs were imperiled, and Moses was inexperienced. Since Sinai YHWH has organized them; Moses has gained in experience and understanding. The people are no longer begging for any kind of food; now they take the manna for granted, and despise it in their lust for meat. Moses should know better, but was still overwhelmed and needed assistance. Moses once stood between God and the people to defend the people; now he wants God to kill him because of how exasperated he is by the people.
In this way the events to be narrated in Numbers 13:1-14:45 should prove less surprising, even if no less distressing. The Israelites did not fully trust in God; they would all pursue their craving to some degree or another, and fall prey to presumption in their own ways. Yet Moses remained faithful in God’s house; yet he and all Israel would look forward to the day in which the Son would arrive and fulfill all God had promised and hoped for in Israel (cf. Hebrews 3:1-6). May we faithfully serve God in Christ through the Spirit and find life in Him!
Ethan R. Longhenry
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