Biblical Parallels Index – Bemidbar 11/0

Biblical Parallels Index – Bemidbar 11

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Overview

This index is meant to help the reader explore Biblical parallels, be they two accounts of the same event or law, stories with similar motifs and themes, or units of text which are linguistically similar and perhaps alluding one to the other. The page includes links to tools that aid in comparison, primary sources that touch upon the parallels, and summaries of and links to articles which analyze them in depth.

Complaints in the Wilderness

Bemidbar 11 is one of a series of Israelite complaints in the desert which began already in Shemot 14 and continue throughout Sefer Bemidbar. In particular, there is a parallel between the demand for meat in Shemot 16 and in Bemidbar 11:4. Comparing the two narratives, however, highlights that there is a much harsher and more negative evaluation of the nation in Bemidbar than in Shemot.

Tools

• Use Makbilot Bamikra to find links to the many verses which speak of the nation's various complaints, including Shemot 14:10-14, Shemot 15:22-25, Shemot 16:2-4, Shemot 17:1-7, Bemidbar 14:2-3, Bemidbar 20:1-6, and Bemidbar 21:4-7.

Sources

• Several exegetes attempt to explain the difference in reaction to the complaints of Shemot and Bemidbar. 
• Ramban Devarim 9:8 suggest that after the revelation at Sinai, the people were held more responsible for their deeds.
• Rashi maintains that God had already set a harsh decree upon the people after the sin of the golden calf, but this was suspended. When they repeated their rebellious acts in Bemidbar, "violating probation", the punishment went into effect.

Articles

• Listen to Sefer Bemidbar: From Doubt to Debate, by Atara Snowbell, for a  close reading and analysis of the evolution of the Israelites’ complaints from Shemot 15 through Bemidbar 21, reflecting their increasing faith and independence. 
• See מסע בעקבות תלונות עם ישראל במדבר, by Dr. Brachi Elitzur, for a nuanced comparison and contrast of the complaints in the desert along six different parameters: the situation that prompted the complaint, the way that the Torah describes the people and their complaint, the content of their request, the way that the nation relates to Egypt, and the consequences of the complaint.
• Listen to Of Lusts and Laments, by R. Chanoch Waxman, for discussion of why Moshe responds with such despair to the nation’s complaints in Sefer Bemidbar in contrast to Sefer Shemot.  He suggests that the short narrative of Moshe’s conversation with Chovav (Bemidbar 10) is key to understanding Moshe's frustration and disappointment. The narrative illustrates the historic and religious significance of this juncture in the Israelites’ journey, where the people, like Chovav, are given an opportunity to choose "the good" that Hashem proffers,¹ yet they reject it, capable of seeing only bad.²
• See פרשת יתרו, by R. Yaakov Medan, for analysis of the rejection of the Torah’s lessons and values that is embodied in the demand for meat in Bemidbar, and the reason that Moshe’s response to the people is so much harsher and more despairing here than in Sefer Shemot.  
  See Beha’alotecha: Flesh or Spirit?, by R. Alex Israel, for discussion of what the people’s request represents and why it is judged by Hashem and Moshe to be such a failure in light of the experiences of the nation and the lessons they were meant to have learned since Shemot 16. He notes the chapter's play between the words "flesh" and "spirit", suggesting that the people' lusting after meat is antithetical to Torah values, which instead puts precedence on  the spiritual.

¹ In the three verses of the story, the variations of the word "טוב" recur five times!

² Immediately following the story of Chovav we hear that the nation were "כְּמִתְאֹנְנִים רַע".