Commentary for Numbers 11:18
וְאֶל־הָעָ֨ם תֹּאמַ֜ר הִתְקַדְּשׁ֣וּ לְמָחָר֮ וַאֲכַלְתֶּ֣ם בָּשָׂר֒ כִּ֡י בְּכִיתֶם֩ בְּאָזְנֵ֨י יְהוָ֜ה לֵאמֹ֗ר מִ֤י יַאֲכִלֵ֙נוּ֙ בָּשָׂ֔ר כִּי־ט֥וֹב לָ֖נוּ בְּמִצְרָ֑יִם וְנָתַ֨ן יְהוָ֥ה לָכֶ֛ם בָּשָׂ֖ר וַאֲכַלְתֶּֽם׃
And say thou unto the people: Sanctify yourselves against to-morrow, and ye shall eat flesh; for ye have wept in the ears of the LORD, saying: Would that we were given flesh to eat! for it was well with us in Egypt; therefore the LORD will give you flesh, and ye shall eat.
Rashi on Numbers
התקדשו means, prepare yourselves to receive punishment. Similarly it states, (Jeremiah 12:3) “and prepare them (והקדשם) for the day of slaughter” (Sifrei Bamidbar 94; cf. Rashi on Exodus 19:10).
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Or HaChaim on Numbers
התקדשו למחר, "sanctify yourselves against to-morrow, etc." According to Sifri on our verse the reason why G'd did not provide the meat until the following day was that they saw in the word התקדשו a warning of approaching disaster. This is how the Sifri words this. G'd said: "prepare yourselves for disaster." G'd wanted to issue a warning that the very fact that He granted their request for meat was some kind of disaster. He gave them a period of time to desist from their urge to eat meat. If they would repent G'd would relent from His intention to bring disaster upon them.
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Rabbeinu Bahya
ואל העם תאמר התקדשו למחר, “and tell the people: ‘sanctify yourselves for tomorrow.’” According to Nachmanides, from the fact that G’d told Moses to tell the people to sanctify themselves without telling them what this sanctification was for (as he had done at Mount Sinai, or when the manna was about to descend), Moses understood that G’d was not going to provide meat by means of a miracle but by natural means.
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