Encyclopedia entry
Kibroth-hattaavah
The graves of the longing or of lust, one of the stations of the Israelites in the wilderness. It was probably in the Wady Murrah, and has been identified with the Erweis el-Ebeirig, where the remains of an ancient encampment have been found, about 30 miles north-east of Sinai, and exactly a day’s journey from ‘Ain Hudherah.
Read full account →↑
“Here began the troubles of the journey. First, complaints broke out among the people, probably at the heat, the toil, and the privations of the march; and then God at once punished them by lightning, which fell on the hinder part of the camp, and killed many persons, but ceased at the intercession of Moses (Num. 11:1, 2). Then a disgust fell on the multitude at having nothing to eat but the manna day after day, no change, no flesh, no fish, no high-flavoured vegetables, no luscious fruits...The people loathed the ‘light food,’ and cried out to Moses, ‘Give us flesh, give us flesh, that we may eat.’” In this emergency Moses, in despair, cried unto God. An answer came. God sent “a prodigious flight of quails, on which the people satiated their gluttonous appetite for a full month. Then punishment fell on them: they loathed the food which they had desired; it bred disease in them; the divine anger aggravated the disease into a plague, and a heavy mortality was the consequence. The dead were buried without the camp; and in memory of man’s sin and of the divine wrath this name, Kibroth-hattaavah, the Graves of Lust, was given to the place of their sepulchre” (Num. 11:34, 35; 33:16, 17; Deut. 9:22; comp. Ps. 78:30, 31)., Rawlinson’s Moses, p. 175. From this encampment they journeyed in a north-eastern direction to Hazeroth.
In the Bible
5
Verses where Kibroth-hattaavah is named. Berean Standard Bible (public domain).
- Deuteronomy 9:22
You continued to provoke the LORD at Taberah, at Massah, and at Kibroth-hattaavah.
- Numbers 11:34
So they called that place Kibroth-hattaavah, because there they buried the people who had craved other food.
- Numbers 11:35
From Kibroth-hattaavah the people moved on to Hazeroth, where they remained for some time.
- Numbers 33:16
They set out from the Wilderness of Sinai and camped at Kibroth-hattaavah.
- Numbers 33:17
They set out from Kibroth-hattaavah and camped at Hazeroth.
Scripture on Kibroth-hattaavah
4
Sources · Hitchcock's Bible Names (1869) · Easton's Bible Dictionary (1897)
Public-domain text. Modernized only where archaic spelling impedes reading; original facts preserved. Verify against an authoritative modern reference before quoting.