Numbers 11:31-35·~1 min

The Quail and the Plague

A wind from the LORD drives quail around the camp, and the people spend days gathering them in great quantity. While the meat is still in their mouths, the LORD strikes them with plague, and the place is named Kibroth-hattaavah before the camp moves on.

N³¹ow a wind sent by the LORD came up, drove in quail from the sea, and brought them near the camp, about two cubits above the surface of the ground, for a day’s journey in every direction around the camp. ³²All that day and night, and all the next day, the people stayed up gathering the quail. No one gathered less than ten homers, and they spread them out all around the camp. ³³But while the meat was still between their teeth, before it was chewed, the anger of the LORD burned against the people, and the LORD struck them with a severe plague. ³⁴So they called that place Kibroth-hattaavah, because there they buried the people who had craved other food. ³⁵From Kibroth-hattaavah the people moved on to Hazeroth, where they remained for some time.

Verse 31A wind from the LORD drives quail in from the sea and drops them in great abundance all around the camp.

It begins the fulfillment of the LORD's promise of meat.

Verse 32The people spend day, night, and the next day gathering quail in huge amounts and spreading them out around the camp.

It shows the intensity and excess of their response.

Verse 33While the meat is still between their teeth, the LORD's anger burns and he strikes the people with a severe plague.

It turns the longed-for provision into immediate judgment.

Verse 34The place is named Kibroth-hattaavah because there they bury the people who had craved other food.

It interprets the event through a name tied to craving and death.

Verse 35From Kibroth-hattaavah the people travel on to Hazeroth and remain there for a time.

It closes the chapter by moving the camp onward after judgment.

Passage shape

A quiet block diagram: each row is one authored paragraph movement, with verse numbers kept visible for scanning and deeper work.

vv. 31-35
A wind from the LORD drives quail around the camp, and the people spend days gathering them in great quantity. While the meat is still in their mouths, the LORD strikes them with plague, and the place is named Kibroth-hattaavah before the camp moves on.
This paragraph brings the LORD's word to fulfillment and seals the episode with judgment and memory.
31 32 33 34 35

Section summaryThe promised meat arrives in abundance, and the people gather it without restraint. Yet before they can finish eating, the same desire that drove their complaint meets the LORD's anger, and the place is named for buried craving.

Role in the chapterThis final movement completes the chapter's pattern of desire, provision, and judgment. It shows that receiving what was demanded does not soften the deeper offense when the demand itself has rejected the LORD's presence.