Commentaire sur Les Nombres 11:1

ויהי העם כמתאננים AND THE PEOPLE WERE COMPLAINING — The term העם “the people” always denotes wicked men. Similarly it states, (Exodus 17:4) “what shall I do unto this people (לעם הזה)? [yet a little and they will stone me]”, and it further states, ( 13:10) “This evil people [which refuses to hear my words]”. But when they are worthy men who are spoken of they are called עמי “My people”, as it is said, (Exodus 5:1) “Let My people go”; (Micah 6:3) “O My people, what have I done unto thee” (Sifrei Bamidbar 85).

AND THE PEOPLE WERE ‘K’MITHON’NIM.’ Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra commented that [the word k’mithon’nim is] “of the root aven (wickedness); similarly, the thoughts of ‘oneich’ (thy evil thoughts),¹⁴⁹Jeremiah 4:14. for they spoke words of wickedness.” But this is not correct, for why would Scripture have concealed their sin, and not stated [clearly what it was], as it does in all other places! The correct interpretation appears to me to be that as they got further away from Mount Sinai, which was near an inhabitable settlement, and entered the great and dreadful wilderness¹⁵⁰Deuteronomy 1:19. in their first journey, they became upset and said: “What shall we do? How shall we live in this wilderness? What shall we eat and what shall we drink? How shall we endure the trouble and the suffering, and when shall we come out of here?” The word k’mithon’nim is thus related to the expression, Wherefore doth a living man ‘yithonein’ (complain), a strong man because of his sins?¹⁵¹Lamentations 3:39. which is an expression indicating pain, and feeling sorry for oneself. Similarly, ben oni¹⁵²Genesis 35:18. means “the son of my sorrow; “‘v’anu hadayagim’ (and the fishers shall lament) and all they that cast angle into the Nile shall mourn.¹⁵³Isaiah 19:8. Thus when Scripture states that they felt anxious and upset, it has thereby already mentioned and told [the nature of] their sin. It states that they were k’mithon’nim (‘as’ murmurers), meaning that they spoke in the bitterness of their soul as do people who suffer pain, and this was evil in the sight of the Eternal, since they should have followed Him with joyfnlness, and with gladness of heart by reason of the abundance of all good things¹⁵⁴Deuteronomy 28:47. which He gave them, but they behaved like people acting under duress and compulsion, murmuring and complaining about their condition. It is for this reason that He states with regard to the second [sin, or punishment], and the children of Israel also wept ‘again,’¹⁵⁵Verse 4. meaning that their first sin consisted of complaining about their lack of comforts in the wilderness, and now they again did a similar thing, and they did not receive correction¹⁵⁶Jeremiah 7:28. from the fire of G-d which devoured them.¹⁵⁷As stated in the verse before us.

כמתאוננים, on account of the difficulties of the journey. They did not actually complain in their hearts as they had nothing to complain about. They only voiced complaints as a form of testing G’d.

כמתאוננים, experiencing the frustrations connected with the tedious journey.

ויהי העם כמתאוננים, “It happened when the people were in a frustrated mood looking for things to complain about;” Nachmanides, quoting Ibn Ezra who considers that the root of the word מתאוננים is און, (as in Job 15,35) does not agree, saying that there is no reason why the Torah should gloss over the people’s sinful behaviour by being so oblique. We have no other instance where the Torah downplays the people’s errant conduct. Nachmanides therefore believes that the correct interpretation is that when the people now faced the terrible desert, they became full of misgivings and fear as to how they would fare on the journey ahead of them. He therefore understands the word מתאוננים as in Lamentations 3,39 מה יתאונן אדם חי גבר על חטאיו?, “Of what shall a living man complain? Each one of his own sins.” Such a negative attitude by a nation that should have looked forward with joyful anticipation to coming ever closer to the promised land, was considered as sinful by Hashem. He had shown them ample proof of making their lives tolerable even in the desert, and they had no reason to be despondent. When we view matters from this perspective we can understand why the Torah writes in verse 4 וישובו ויבכו גם בני ישראל, that the Children of Israel wept a second time, etc.” The first time had been what we read about in verse 1. The people had not learned a lesson from the heavenly fire that had claimed many lives among the people.

ויהי העם כמתאוננים, “The people were as if looking for a pretext to complain.” The word מתאונן occurs in Lamentations 3,39 where it means “complain.” As the people entered the desert they experienced a variety of uncomfortable sensations. These complaints were very displeasing in the ears of the Lord, seeing they were caused by the fact that instead of marching joyfully towards their destiny and the Holy Land, the people marched only grudgingly. The reason the word מתאוננים is spelled with the prefix כ i.e. a preposition describing something in relative terms, i.e. “as if,” is because at that stage they did not yet dare verbalize their feelings of discontent. They did not want Moses to hear their complaint. This is why the Torah describes G’d as “hearing” unspoken complaints by the people. Moses had not heard these complaints.

“The People” refers only to the wicked. You might ask: Do we not [also] find “the people” referring to the righteous, as it says “all of the people together answered and said: All that Hashem says we shall do and we shall hear” (Shemos 19:8). The answer is that when they are wicked the only name that they are given is “the people.”

Kap. 11. V. 1. Während Mosche die Führungen Gottes, selbst durch Wüsten und Einöden, jetzt und in alle Zukunft in völlig selbstloser Hingebung, in heiterem Aufgehen in den göttlichen Willen freudig begrüßte und damit nichts anderes, als die gotterfüllte Lebensanschanung und Gesinnung bekundete, die Gemeingut des ganzen Volkes in allen seinen Gliedern sein sollte, war das Volk noch weit entfernt von solcher geistig sittlichen Vollendung. Das "Volk" — im Gegensatz zu Mosche — war כמתאננים! (siehe zu Bereschit 35, 18). Das Volk war, als ob sie über sich selbst trauerten, sie sahen sich wie bereits gestorben an und hielten gleichsam Trauer über sich. Gottes Wolke über ihnen, Gottes Bundeslade vor ihnen her, ließ sie nichts als ihre völlige Abgeschiedenheit von der ganzen übrigen Welt und deren Lebensbedingungen und Äußerungen fühlen, und die ganz einzige Verbindung mit Gott, die sie dafür erhielten, die Gottesnähe, das Gottesheiligtum in ihrer Mitte, der Gottesberuf, die Gottesbestimmung, der sie entgegenzogen, bot ihnen keinen Ersatz, war ihnen wert- und bedeutungslos geblieben, war ihnen noch nicht zu einem weit höheren, seligeren Leben geworden — sie fühlten sich eingesargt und trauerten über sich selber. Sie waren רע, sie waren "schlecht", sie waren in gegensätzlicher Ferne zu der ihrer Gottesbestimmung entsprechenden Gesinnung, und sie waren nicht רע בעיני ד, sie waren רע באזני ד, sie hatten das Bewusstsein, dass Gott die Stimme ihrer Herzen vernehme, und sie richteten sie gegen Ihn, sie klagten Ihn an, dass Er sie ihres Lebenswertes und ihrer Lebensbedeutung verlustig sein lasse. — ותבער בם וגו׳: die drohende Vernichtung machte sie doch ihres Daseins und des Wertes ihres Daseins inne. Sie hatten noch kein Recht über sich zu trauern. — בקצה המחנה es brach nicht in der Mitte, auch nicht an verschiedenen Stellen aus, sondern es begann an einem Ende des Lagers und drohte so fortschreitend das ganze Lager zu verzehren.

ויהי העם כמתאוננים, “the people were like murmurers;” the people were already mourning the potential casualties they would incur when going into battle against the Canaanites in order to conquer their land. They were lacking in faith and dreading warfare.

כמתאוננים, “as murmurers;” the word is related to און and עמל, “as in Jeremiah 4,14: מחשבות אונך, “your evil designs.”

כמתאננים — The term מתאננים denotes [people who seek] “a pretext” — they seek a pretext how to separate themselves from following the Omnipresent. Similarly is stated in the narrative of Samson, (Judges 14:4) “for he sought a pretext (תואנה) [against the Philistines]” (Sifrei Bamidbar 85).

Righteous, they are called “My people.” You might ask: Do we not find “my people” referring to them when they are wicked, as it says “my people do not consider” (Yeshayah 1:3). The answer is that the verse means that beforehand they were my people, but now “they do not consider.”

'וישמע ה, “the Lord heard;” He heard that they uttered complaints and dissatisfaction., “your evil designs.”

רע באזני ה׳ means a pretext that was evil in the ears of the Lord, i.e., that they intended that it should reach His ears and that He might show annoyance. They said: “Woe unto us! How weary we have become on this journey: it is now three days that we have had no rest from the wearisomeness of the march!”

How we have toiled. לבטנו means “we have toiled.”

ותבער בהם אש, “and the Lord’s fire raged among them;” this was a punishment fitting the crime, as they had dared to look at the glory of the Lord which is also known as fire, i.e. אש אוכלת, Exodus 24,17. They had already been warned not to do this in Exodus chapter 24. Rashi explained this in connection with Exodus 24,10.

ויחר אפו AND HIS WRATH GLOWED — He said in anger: How ungrateful you are, “I meant it for your good — that you might immediately come into the land”.

The distinguished among them. You might ask: Rashi explained above that “the people” refers only to the wicked, while here he explains that it refers to the distinguished and the great ones. One cannot say that when he says “the distinguished … the great ones” he is referring to the wealthy ones among the wicked, who are thus termed “great,” because further on Rashi asks (v.16) “where were the original elders…?” He answers that they died at the fire of Taveirah, implying that those [who died] were the elders who were in Egypt — but these elders were righteous and leaders of the generation. The answer is that when the Torah writes “the people were … and the fire of Hashem burned among them” it refers to the wicked, “the people” written above. However, when the fire burned among them, it also burned among those who were not complaining. Thus when it writes “consumed some of the outcasts (lit. edge) of the camp” it refers to the distinguished and the great ones among them. Rashi is referring to these righteous ones when he comments later “in the fire of Taveirah they died.”

ותאכל בקצה המחנה, “and it devoured at the outer edges of the camp.

בקצה המחנה [AND THE FIRE … DESTROYED THEM THAT WERE] IN THE EXTREMITY OF THE CAMP — i.e. those amongst them who were extreme in baseness — these were “the mixed multitude”. But R. Simeon the son of Manassia said: it means that the fire consumed the most distinguished and prominent ones among them (cf. Sifrei Bamidbar 85 and Rashi’s two explanations of ומקצה אחיו on Genesis 47:2).