Numbers 11:28

Num 11:28 And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of Moses, [one] of his young men, answered and said, My lord Moses, forbid them.

Ver. 28. My lord Moses, forbid.] Thus, "the spirit that is in us lusteth to envy." {Jas 4:5} Nero omnium erat aemulus, qui quoquo mode animum vulgi moverint, Nero envied every man that excelled.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

11:28-29 Joshua’s zealous protest was prompted by his jealousy in a worthy but immature desire to safeguard his master’s status. Moses was humble (Num 12:3) and was not threatened by Eldad and Medad’s prophecy. Instead, he was magnanimous about sharing the spotlight and happy to learn that God was working through others in such special ways. Moses had leadership qualities that the younger Joshua had not yet acquired (cp. Mark 9:38-40).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Or, a young man whom he had chosen from his youth.

Such blind zeal was in the Apostles, Mark 9:38; Luke 9:44.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Verse 28. My lord Moses, forbid them.]

How often have I blindly done

What zealous Joshua did,

Impatient to the rulers run,

And cried, "My lords, forbid!

Silence the schismatics, constrain

Their thoughts with ours t' agree,

And sacrifice the souls of men

To idol UNITY!"

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(28) My lord Moses, forbid them.—The motive which prompted Joshua in making this request appears to have been similar to that which led St. John to forbid the man to cast out devils who did not follow with the Apostles (Mar_9:38-39; Luk_9:49-50). But as the man did not cast out devils in his own name, but in that of Christ, so in this case Eldad and Medad prophesied in virtue of the spirit which rested upon them from above, of which the Holy Ghost, not Moses, was the giver. The motives which deterred Eldad and Medad from going to the tent of meeting are unknown. The history teaches the freeness and the sovereignty of the Holy Spirit’s influences, as afterwards did that of Cornelius, when the Holy Ghost fell upon him and upon those who were with him, previously to the reception of baptism, and they spoke with tongues and magnified God (Act_10:44-48).

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

28. Joshua was not one of the seventy, but was attached to the sacred Tent as its aedituus or caretaker. Cf. Exo_33:11.

one of his chosen men] R.V. marg. is probably right—from his youth. But Joshua was still in his youth (Exo_33:11). The narrator, writing long after the event, adds parenthetically a general description of Joshua, not merely a description of what he had been at the moment.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of Moses,.... That waited upon him, and ministered to him, and executed his orders, especially in civil things, and was to be his successor:

one of his young men; not that Joshua was a young man in age, for he must be now between fifty and sixty years of age; see Gill on Exo 33:11; nor does the word necessarily suppose that those men were young among whom Joshua was; but choice excellent persons, the principal servants of Moses, at the head of whom Joshua was being his prime minister: the Targum of Onkelos and the Syriac version render it, "from his youth", joining it with the word servant, as if he was the servant of Moses from his youth, or ever since he was a young man; but Moses had not been out of Midian but about two years, where he had kept his father's sheep; however, he

answered and said, my lord Moses, forbid them; prophesying, restrain them from it, suffer them not to go on in it; he would have him exert his authority as the chief magistrate, which he thought was affected by their prophesying without his knowledge and consent; and because a word from the root here used signifies a prison, some here interpret it,"put them in prison,''which is a sense Jarchi mentions; but it can hardly be thought that Joshua meant that such rigorous measures should be taken, only that they should be rebuked for what they had done, and be charged for the future to be silent.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Chosen among the seventy, and designed, from his youth, to be the general, and successor of Moses; the Hebrew may be understood in all these senses. See Exodus xvii. 10. (Calmet) --- Josue was afraid lest they had assumed this air of authority in opposition to Moses. St. John addressed our Saviour, under the same impressions of zeal, Luke ix. 49.

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

One of his young men, or one of his choice ministers, a chosen or excellent person; which may be emphatically added, to note that even great and good men may mistake and misjudge about the works of God. Or, from his youth, as the words will bear, and the Chaldee, Syriac, &c. render it. So it may be added as a reason why Joshua above others were concerned for Moses’s honour and authority. He feared either schism or sedition, or that by their usurpation of authority independently upon Moses, and separately from him, his power and esteem might be lessened, as the next words show.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

28. Joshua — See Exo_17:9, and the Introduction to the Book of Joshua, page 7.

My lord — This title of respect is applied to Moses by Aaron in Num_12:11, and by the people in Num_32:25.

Forbid them — This is the beginning of religious intolerance for nonconformity in worship.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Joshua the son of Nun. See on Exo_17:9. As before, he is called Joshua by anticipation. One of his young men. This implies that there were others who to some extent shared his duties towards Moses; but that Joshua stood in a peculiar relation to his master is evident from Exo_24:13 Exo_32:17, as well as from this passage itself. My lord Moses, forbid them. Probably he did not know that they had been enrolled, and he was naturally jealous for the honour of Moses a jealousy which was not at all unnecessary, as the events of the next chapter proved. The prophesying of Eldad and Medad in the camp might well seem like the setting up of an independent authority, not in harmony with that of Moses.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

One of his young men - Or, one of his choice ministers, which may be emphatically added, to note that even great and good men may mistake about the works of God. Forbid them - He feared either schism, or sedition, or that by their usurpation of authority, independently upon Moses, his power and esteem might be lessened.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

stop them

"tell them to stop prophesying"

Are you jealous for my sake?

Moses uses this question to rebuke Joshua. It can be translated as a statement, if necessary. AT: "You should not be jealous for my sake." (See: Rhetorical Question)

Are you jealous for my sake?

What Joshua might have been jealous about can be stated clearly if needed. AT: "Are you concerned that they might be taking away something that belongs to me?" or "Are you concerned that people will not respect my authority?" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)

that he would put his Spirit on them all

Moses speaks of God's Spirit giving people power as if God were to put his Spirit on them. AT: "that God's Spirit would give them all power" (See: Metaphor)

translationWords

Joshua

lord

jealous

Israel

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

כלאם — (This is taken as the equivalent of כַּלֵּם, “destroy them”, “make an end of them”; cf. Rashi on Exodus 17:9) — He meant: cast upon them the responsibility for public affairs and they will of themselves soon come to an end (through the worry and anxiety this entails). — Another explanation is: that the word means put them into prison (כלא). He said this because they were prophesying, “Moses will die and Joshua will bring Israel into the Land” (cf. Sifrei Bamidbar 96; Sanhedrin 17a).

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

MY LORD MOSES, ‘K’LA’EIM’ (SHUT THEM IN). The meaning of this is that Moses had told the people the words of G-d, that He would take of the spirit which was upon him and put it upon those that will stand with him in the Tent of Meeting. Now those that did not go to the Tent [i.e., Eldad and Medad who had also been designated for that honor], and yet held themselves to be among those upon whom Moses’ spirit had been put [by prophesying in the camp, as Eldad and Medad did], were as rebels against Moses’ words. Therefore Joshua said to Moses, “Shut them in, for perhaps it is a lying spirit in their mouths, or it is an evil spirit that terrifies them, and thus they must be put in a prison like a man that is mad, and maketh himself like a prophet.” But Moses in his humility answered: “Would that all the people of the Eternal were prophets, that the Eternal would give His spirit upon them! — for G-d put His spirit directly upon them without taking of the spirit which was upon me, and would that this would happen to all the people.”However, from the words of our Rabbis it appears that the custom in Israel was that no one would prophesy about future events in the presence of a prophet who is greater than him, but they would follow him as his disciples, and these were the sons of the prophets. as “those who sought the prophetic gift. And although they directed their minds towards it, the Divine Spirit might or might not rest upon them” (Hilchoth Yesodei Hatorah 7:5). Thus the Rabbis have said in Tractate Sanhedrin [with reference to the prophecy of Eldad and Medad]: “We can well understand according to that Sage who said that [Eldad and Medad prophesied that] ‘Moses will die [before entering the Land],’ that Joshua therefore said, My lord Moses, shut them in [since he wished to save Moses from grief]. But according to the Sage who said that [they prophesied] about the quails [that they would come from the sea], why should they be shut in [and not prophesy]? It is because the case resembled that of a pupil who renders a decision in the presence of his master.” Similarly [this was the reason why they were forbidden to prophesy] according to the Sage who says that they prophesied about Gog and Magog. And the Rabbis have mentioned a similar case in Tractate Megillah in the matter of Deborah. But Moses said that he, being the master, foregoes the honor due to him [and the law is that a Rabbi is able to renounce the honor due to him], and he desires and is happy [that they prophesy]. And I have seen that the Targum Yerushalmi rendered: “k’la’eim — withhold from them the Holy Spirit.” The Targum thus understood the word k’la’eim to be like the expressions: Behold, ‘lo echla’ (I did not refrain) my lips; ‘lo thichla’ (Thou wilt not withhold) Thy compassions from me., Verse 12.Now the reason for this matter is that Joshua thought that [Eldad and Medad] were prophesying because they were of them that were recorded [among the prescribed number of seventy men that were to join Moses], because the spirit of Moses was transmitted to all that were recorded, for he intended that all [seventy of them should become prophets]. Therefore Joshua said to Moses: “It is not fitting that they [Eldad and Medad] should prophesy in the camp, since they did not fulfill the word of G-d who commanded: and thou [Moses] shalt bring them unto the Tent of Meeting, that they may stand there with thee, and thus it might appear that not all of them prophesied through His putting of the spirit which was upon you [on them]. It is therefore fitting for my lord to direct your mind towards the spirit of G-d [which is upon you] and to bring it [completely] back to you, so that it should not be taken from you except for those who stand before you in accordance with the word of G-d. For it was because you intended at first that all who were recorded [should be prophets] that some of your glory came upon them, and if you will now intend to withdraw it from them, it will come to rest only upon those who stand before you in accordance with the word of G-d.” But Moses answered [Joshua by saying] that he should not be zealous for his sake, for he wishes that they prophesy whether in his presence or outside it, since G-d had put His spirit upon them — either by transmission from Moses or [directly from G-d] without such a transmission.

Ramban (Nachmanides) on the Tanakh — English translation: “Commentary on the Torah by Ramban (Nachmanides). Translated and annotated by Charles B. Chavel. New York, Shilo Pub. House, 1971-1976” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.