Numbers 11:4

Summary

The verse describes a mixed group among the Israelites, called the asafsuf ("rabble," H0628), who develop an intense craving for food. Their reaction spreads to the Israelites themselves, who weep and voice a wish for meat, phrased as a rhetorical question.

Key words

• asafsuf ("rabble", H0628) — a rare collective noun designating a non-uniform group ("mixed multitude") distinct from bene Yisra'el ("sons of Israel", H1121G) named later in the verse.
• hit'avvu ("they craved", H0183) — hithpael perfect, a reflexive/intensive stem indicating the craving is self-generated or intensely felt, not merely stated.
• ta'avah ("a craving", H8378) — a noun sharing the same root as hit'avvu, forming a cognate accusative ("they craved a craving"), a construction that reinforces the intensity of the verb by pairing it with its own noun form.
• yashuvu ("they returned", H7725J) — qal narrative form of "to return," used here before "and they wept," producing a sequence "they returned and wept."
• ya'akhilenu ("will he cause us to eat", H0398) — hiphil (causative) imperfect, meaning "to cause to eat" rather than simply "to eat," attached to a first-person plural suffix ("us").

What the text says

The sentence opens by identifying the subject as ha-asafsuf ("the rabble," H0628) qualified by a relative clause, asher be-qirbo ("which [was] in its midst," H0834A + H7130G + H9023), locating this group within the larger camp. The verbal action attached to this subject is the cognate-accusative pair hit'avvu ta'avah ("they craved a craving"), a Hebrew construction that uses a noun derived from the same root as the verb to intensify the meaning — the effect is closer to "they craved intensely" than a simple statement of desire.

The narrative then shifts with two narrative-vav verbs, yashuvu ("they returned," H7725J) and yivku ("they wept," H1058), both qal forms marking sequential past action. The verb yashuvu ("returned") here functions before "wept," producing the sequence "and they returned and they wept" — a construction that in Hebrew narrative style often indicates repetition or resumption of an action rather than physical movement back to a location. The clause continues, specifying that gam bene Yisra'el ("also the sons of Israel," H1571 + H1121G + H3478) joined in weeping, distinguishing them from the asafsuf mentioned initially.

The closing question, mi ya'akhilenu basar ("who will cause us to eat meat," H4310 + H0398 + H1320), uses a hiphil (causative) form of "to eat" rather than a simple qal form, framing the request as "who will provide/cause us to eat" rather than "who will give us to eat," a nuance the causative stem contributes but which is often flattened in translation to "who will give/feed us meat."

Differences between versions

The Hebrew verb yashuvu ("they returned," H7725J) preceding "they wept" is rendered in the LXX as καθίσαντες ("sitting") and in the Vulgate as sedens ("sitting"), rather than as a verb of returning. The Spanish (SBLIBRE) and English (BSB) translations instead interpret the Hebrew sequence as "wept again," treating yashuvu as an auxiliary marking repetition rather than physical or literal "return," which differs from the LXX/Vulgate's "sitting" rendering.