Numbers 11:31

"And there went forth a wind from Jehovah, and brought quails from the sea, and let them fall by the camp, about a day's journey on this side, and a day's journey on the other side, round about the camp, and about two cubits above the face of the earth. And the people rose up all that day, and all that night, and all the next day, and gathered the quaffs: he that gathered least gathered ten homers: and they spread them all abroad for themselves round about the camp. While the flesh was yet between their teeth, ere it was chewed, the anger of Jehovah was kindled against the people, and Jehovah smote the people with a very great plague. And the name of that place was called Kibroth-hattaavah, because there they buried the people that lusted. From Kibrothhattaavah the people journeyed unto Hazeroth; and they abode at Hazeroth."

"Two cubits above the face of the earth ..." (Numbers 11:31). "If we suppose that they were drifted by the wind into heaps, which in places reached the height of two cubits, that would satisfy the exigencies of the text."[24] The exact meaning of the text here is somewhat uncertain, and Cook thought that the reference to two cubits described the height "at which the birds, exhausted from long flight, flew above the ground."[25]

"Ten homers ..." (Numbers 11:32). The exact size of this measure is not known. Whitelaw gave it as 5 1/2 bushels, Plaut as 10 bushels, and others as "a donkey's load." The meaning is clear that they had more than enough!

"Ere it was chewed ..." (Numbers 11:33). As noted above, this paragraph is of uncertain meaning in places, and since this verse seems to be opposed to the promise of God that the people would "eat the flesh" for a whole month, it is best to take the meaning here as that given by Gray: "Ere it ran short ..."[26] with the meaning, "before their supply ran short, or before they ran out of quails."

"There went forth a wind from Jehovah ..." (Numbers 11:31). Because the natural agency that the Lord used in this wonder is here stated, some are unwilling to see anything miraculous in this whole event, but the supernatural element surely appears in the timing and the extent of this fantastic number of quails, and also in the divine judgment that resulted in the death of a great many of the lustful people.

"Kibroth-hattaavah" means "graves of lust,"[27] the same being the name which the people gave to this encampment. There seems to have been a propensity in Israel to perpetuate their unpleasant memories, as it will also be remembered that they christened Marah (which meant bitter) after the bitter waters they found there, despite the fact that the Lord sweetened those waters. Could they not have named some such place, "God's Answer to Prayer" or some other more appropriate name? The underlying theme of all these chapters is the utter unwillingness, or inability, of Israel to accept inconvenience and hardship and to manifest an attitude of happiness in the service of God. Alas, there are some people still like that today.