Numbers 11:31
New International Version
Now a wind went out from the LORD and drove quail in from the sea. It scattered them up to two cubits deep all around the camp, as far as a day’s walk in any direction.

New Living Translation
Now the LORD sent a wind that brought quail from the sea and let them fall all around the camp. For miles in every direction there were quail flying about three feet above the ground.

English Standard Version
Then a wind from the LORD sprang up, and it brought quail from the sea and let them fall beside the camp, about a day’s journey on this side and a day’s journey on the other side, around the camp, and about two cubits above the ground.

Berean Standard Bible
Now 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.

King James Bible
And there went forth a wind from the LORD, and brought quails from the sea, and let them fall by the camp, as it were a day's journey on this side, and as it were a day's journey on the other side, round about the camp, and as it were two cubits high upon the face of the earth.

New King James Version
Now a wind went out from the LORD, and it brought quail from the sea and left them fluttering near the camp, about a day’s journey on this side and about a day’s journey on the other side, all around the camp, and about two cubits above the surface of the ground.

New American Standard Bible
Now a wind burst forth from the LORD and it brought quail from the sea, and dropped them beside the camp, about a day’s journey on this side and a day’s journey on the other side all around the camp, and about two cubits deep on the surface of the ground.

NASB 1995
Now there went forth a wind from the LORD and it brought quail from the sea, and let them fall beside the camp, about a day’s journey on this side and a day’s journey on the other side, all around the camp and about two cubits deep on the surface of the ground.

NASB 1977
Now there went forth a wind from the LORD, and it brought quail from the sea, and let them fall beside the camp, about a day’s journey on this side and a day’s journey on the other side, all around the camp, and about two cubits deep on the surface of the ground.

Legacy Standard Bible
Now there went forth a wind from Yahweh, and it brought quail from the sea, and let them fall beside the camp, about a day’s journey on this side and a day’s journey on the other side, all around the camp and about two cubits over the surface of the ground.

Amplified Bible
Now there went forth a wind from the LORD and it brought quails from the sea, and let them fall [so they flew low] beside the camp, about a day’s journey on this side and on the other side, all around the camp, about two cubits (three feet) deep on the surface of the ground.

Christian Standard Bible
A wind sent by the LORD came up and blew quail in from the sea; it dropped them all around the camp. They were flying three feet off the ground for about a day’s journey in every direction.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
A wind sent by the LORD came up and blew quail in from the sea; it dropped them at the camp all around, three feet off the ground, about a day’s journey in every direction.

American Standard Version
And there went forth a wind from Jehovah, and brought quails from the sea, and let them fall by the camp, about a day's journey on this side, and a day's journey on the other side, round about the camp, and about two cubits above the face of the earth.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
And the Spirit moved on from before LORD JEHOVAH and brought up quails from the sea and poured them on the camp a day’s journey here and a day’s journey there around the camp, and there were about two cubits on the face of the ground.

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And there went forth a wind from the Lord, and brought quails over from the sea; and it brought them down upon the camp a day's journey on this side, and a day's journey on that side, round about the camp, as it were two cubits from the earth.

Contemporary English Version
Some time later the LORD sent a strong wind that blew quails in from the sea until Israel's camp was completely surrounded with birds, piled up about a meter high for many kilometers in every direction.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And a wind going out from the Lord, taking quails up beyond the sea brought them, and cast them into the camp for the space of one day's journey, on every side of the camp round about, and they flew in the air two cubits high above the ground.

English Revised Version
And there went forth a wind from the LORD, and brought quails from the sea, and let them fall by the camp, about a day's journey on this side, and a day's journey on the other side, round about the camp, and about two cubits above the face of the earth.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
The LORD sent a wind from the sea that brought quails and dropped them all around the camp. There were quails on the ground about three feet deep as far as you could walk in a day in any direction.

Good News Translation
Suddenly the LORD sent a wind that brought quails from the sea, flying three feet above the ground. They settled on the camp and all around it for miles and miles in every direction.

International Standard Version
Just then, a wind burst forth from the LORD, who brought quails from the sea and spread them all around the camp, about a day's journey in each direction, completely encircling the camp about two cubits deep on top of the ground!

JPS Tanakh 1917
And there went forth a wind from the LORD, and brought across quails from the sea, and let them fall by the camp, about a day's journey on this side, and a day's journey on the other side, round about the camp, and about two cubits above the face of the earth.

Literal Standard Version
And a spirit has journeyed from YHWH, and cuts off quails from the sea, and leaves [them] by the camp, as a day’s journey here and as a day’s journey there, around the camp, and about two cubits above the face of the land.

Majority Standard Bible
Now 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.

New American Bible
There arose a wind from the LORD that drove in quail from the sea and left them all around the camp site, to a distance of a day’s journey and at a depth of two cubits upon the ground.

NET Bible
Now a wind went out from the LORD and brought quail from the sea, and let them fall near the camp, about a day's journey on this side, and about a day's journey on the other side, all around the camp, and about three feet high on the surface of the ground.

New Revised Standard Version
Then a wind went out from the LORD, and it brought quails from the sea and let them fall beside the camp, about a day’s journey on this side and a day’s journey on the other side, all around the camp, about two cubits deep on the ground.

New Heart English Bible
A wind from the LORD went out and brought quails from the sea, and let them fall by the camp, about a day's journey on this side, and a day's journey on the other side, around the camp, and about three feet above the ground.

Webster's Bible Translation
And there went forth a wind from the LORD, and brought quails from the sea, and let them fall by the camp, as it were a day's journey on this side, and as it were a day's journey on the other side, around the camp, and as it were two cubits high upon the face of the earth.

World English Bible
A wind from Yahweh went out and brought quails from the sea, and let them fall by the camp, about a day’s journey on this side, and a day’s journey on the other side, around the camp, and about two cubits above the surface of the earth.

Young's Literal Translation
And a spirit hath journeyed from Jehovah, and cutteth off quails from the sea, and leaveth by the camp, as a day's journey here, and as a day's journey there, round about the camp, and about two cubits, on the face of the land.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
The Quail and the Plague
31Now 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.…

Cross References
Exodus 16:13
That evening quail came and covered the camp, and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp.

Numbers 11:30
Then Moses returned to the camp, along with the elders of Israel.

Psalm 78:26
He stirred the east wind from the heavens and drove the south wind by His might.

Psalm 105:40
They asked, and He brought quail and satisfied them with the bread of heaven.

Psalm 106:15
So He granted their request, but sent a wasting disease upon them.


Treasury of Scripture

And there went forth a wind from the LORD, and brought quails from the sea, and let them fall by the camp, as it were a day's journey on this side, and as it were a day's journey on the other side, round about the camp, and as it were two cubits high on the face of the earth.

a wind

Exodus 10:13,19
And Moses stretched forth his rod over the land of Egypt, and the LORD brought an east wind upon the land all that day, and all that night; and when it was morning, the east wind brought the locusts…

Exodus 15:10
Thou didst blow with thy wind, the sea covered them: they sank as lead in the mighty waters.

Psalm 135:7
He causeth the vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth; he maketh lightnings for the rain; he bringeth the wind out of his treasuries.

and brought

Exodus 16:13
And it came to pass, that at even the quails came up, and covered the camp: and in the morning the dew lay round about the host.

Psalm 78:26-29
He caused an east wind to blow in the heaven: and by his power he brought in the south wind…

Psalm 105:40
The people asked, and he brought quails, and satisfied them with the bread of heaven.

quails.

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Numbers 11
1. The burning at Taberah quenched by Moses' prayer
4. The people crave meat, and loathe manna
10. Moses complains of his charge
16. God promises to divide his burden unto seventy elders,
18. and to give the people meat for a month
21. Moses' faith is staggered
31. Quails are given in wrath at Kibroth Hattaavah














(31) And there went forth a wind.--In Psalm 78:26 we read thus: "He caused an east wind to blow in the heaven: and by his power he brought in the south wind." A south-east wind would bring the quails from the neighbourhood of the Red Sea, where they abound.

And let them fall.--Better, and scattered them (or, spread them out). Comp. 1Samuel 30:16 : "They were spread abroad upon all the earth," or, over all the ground.

Round about.--See Note on Numbers 11:24.

As it were two cubits high upon the face of the earth.--Or, about two cubits over (or, above) the ground. Had the quails lain upon the earth in a heap for any considerable time, life could only have been preserved by miraculous interference with the ordinary laws of nature, and the Israelites were not allowed to eat of that which had died of itself. Quails commonly fly low, and when wearied with a long flight might fly only about breast-high. On the other hand, the more obvious interpretation of the words is that the quails were spread over the ground, and covered it in some places to the height of two cubits. They were probably taken and killed immediately on their descent, as the following verse seems to indicate, and then spread out and dried and hardened in the sun. Some think that the word which is here rendered quails denotes cranes.

Verse 31. - A wind from the Lord. A wind Divinely sent for this purpose. In Psalm 78:26 it is said to have been a wind from the east and south, i.e., a wind blowing up the Red Sea and across the Gulf of Akabah. And brought quails from the sea. On the "quails" (Hebrew, salvim - probably the common quail) see Exodus 16:13. The Septuagint has in both places ἡ ὀρτυγομήτρα, "the quail-mother," the sense of which is uncertain. These birds, which migrate in spring in vast numbers, came from the sea, but it does not follow that the camp was near the sea. They may have been following up the Gulf of Akabah, and been swept far inland by the violence of the gale. Let them fall by the camp. Rather, "threw them down on the camp." יִּטַשׁ עַל הַמַּחֲגֶה. Septuagint, ἐπέβαλεν ἐπὶ τὴν παρεμβολήν. Either the sudden cessation of the gale, or a violent eddying of the wind, threw the exhausted birds in myriads upon the camp (cf. Psalm 78:21, 28). Two cubits high upon the face of the earth. The word "high" is not in the original, but it probably gives the true meaning. The Septuagint, ὡσεὶ δίπηχυ ἀπο τῆς γῆς, is somewhat uncertain. The Targums assert that the quails "flew upon the face of the ground, at a height of two cubits;" and this is followed by the Vulgate ("volabant in acre duobus cubitis altiludine super terram") and by many commentators. This idea, however, although suggested by the actual habits of the bird, and adopted in order to avoid the obvious difficulty of the statement, is inconsistent with the expressions used here and in Psalm 78. If the birds were "thrown" upon the camp, or "rained" upon it like sand, they could not have been flying steadily forward a few feet above the ground. It is certainly impossible to take the statement literally, for such a mass of birds would have been perfectly unmanageable; but if we suppose that they were drifted by the wind into heaps, which in places reached the height of two cubits, that will satisfy the exigencies of the text: anything like a uniform depth would be the last thing to be expected under the circumstances.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
Now a wind
וְר֜וּחַ (wə·rū·aḥ)
Conjunctive waw | Noun - common singular
Strong's 7307: Wind, breath, exhalation, life, anger, unsubstantiality, a region of the sky, spirit

sent by
מִן־ (min-)
Preposition
Strong's 4480: A part of, from, out of

the LORD
יְהוָ֗ה (Yah·weh)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 3068: LORD -- the proper name of the God of Israel

came up,
נָסַ֣ע ׀ (nā·sa‘)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 5265: To pull up, the tent-pins, start on a, journey

drove in
וַיָּ֣גָז (way·yā·ḡāz)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 1468: To shear off, passing rapidly

quail
שַׂלְוִים֮ (śal·wîm)
Noun - feminine plural
Strong's 7958: The quail

from
מֵאֵ֣ת (mê·’êṯ)
Preposition-m | Direct object marker
Strong's 853: Untranslatable mark of the accusative case

the sea,
הַיָּם֒ (hay·yām)
Article | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 3220: A sea, the Mediterranean Sea, large river, an artifical basin

and dropped
וַיִּטֹּ֨שׁ (way·yiṭ·ṭōš)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 5203: To pound, smite, to disperse, to thrust off, down, out, upon

them near
עַל־ (‘al-)
Preposition
Strong's 5921: Above, over, upon, against

the camp,
הַֽמַּחֲנֶ֜ה (ham·ma·ḥă·neh)
Article | Noun - common singular
Strong's 4264: An encampment, an army

about two cubits
וּכְאַמָּתַ֖יִם (ū·ḵə·’am·mā·ṯa·yim)
Conjunctive waw, Preposition-k | Noun - fd
Strong's 520: A mother, a cubit, a door-base

deep
עַל־ (‘al-)
Preposition
Strong's 5921: Above, over, upon, against

for a day’s
י֣וֹם (yō·wm)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 3117: A day

journey
כְּדֶ֧רֶךְ (kə·ḏe·reḵ)
Preposition-k | Noun - common singular construct
Strong's 1870: A road, a course of life, mode of action

in every direction
כֹּ֗ה (kōh)
Adverb
Strong's 3541: Like this, thus, here, now

around
סְבִיב֖וֹת (sə·ḇî·ḇō·wṯ)
Adverb
Strong's 5439: A circle, neighbour, environs, around

the camp.
הַֽמַּחֲנֶ֑ה (ham·ma·ḥă·neh)
Article | Noun - common singular
Strong's 4264: An encampment, an army


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OT Law: Numbers 11:31 There went forth a wind from Yahweh (Nu Num.)
Numbers 11:30
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