Numbers 11:14 Study Bible: I am not able to bear all this people alone, because it is too heavy for me.

◄ Numbers 11:14 ►

I cannot carry all these people by myself; it is too burdensome for me.

I am not able to carry all these people
In this phrase, Moses expresses his overwhelming burden as the leader of the Israelites. The Hebrew word for "carry" is "nasa," which means to lift, bear, or carry a load. This reflects the physical and emotional weight Moses feels. Historically, Moses was tasked with leading a large, often rebellious group through the wilderness, a task that was humanly impossible without divine assistance. This phrase highlights the human limitations of even the most faithful leaders and the necessity of relying on God's strength.

by myself
The phrase "by myself" underscores Moses' sense of isolation in his leadership role. The Hebrew word "bad" can mean alone or apart. Moses feels the crushing solitude of leadership, a common experience for those in positions of authority. This reflects the biblical principle that leadership is not meant to be a solitary endeavor. In the broader scriptural context, God often provides support through others, as seen later when He appoints seventy elders to assist Moses (Numbers 11:16-17).

because it is too burdensome for me
Here, Moses acknowledges the "burdensome" nature of his task. The Hebrew word "kaved" means heavy or weighty, indicating the immense pressure and responsibility he feels. This confession of inadequacy is a pivotal moment of humility and honesty before God. It serves as a reminder that acknowledging our limitations is not a sign of weakness but a step toward seeking God's provision and strength. Historically, this moment precedes God's provision of help, illustrating His faithfulness in responding to the needs of His people.

Persons / Places / Events

1. Moses
The central figure in this passage, Moses is the leader of the Israelites, chosen by God to lead His people out of Egypt and through the wilderness. Here, he expresses his overwhelming burden in leading the people.

2. The Israelites
The people whom Moses is leading. They are in the wilderness after being freed from slavery in Egypt, and they frequently complain and rebel against Moses and God.

3. The Wilderness
The setting of this event, where the Israelites are journeying towards the Promised Land. It is a place of testing and reliance on God.

4. God
The ultimate authority and provider, who hears Moses' plea and responds to his needs.

5. The Tent of Meeting
Although not directly mentioned in this verse, it is a significant place where Moses often meets with God to seek guidance and support.

Teaching Points

The Weight of Leadership
Leadership often comes with heavy burdens that can feel overwhelming. Moses' honest expression of his limitations teaches us the importance of acknowledging our need for help.

The Importance of Delegation
Just as Moses needed assistance, we too should seek to delegate responsibilities and share burdens with others, recognizing that we are not meant to carry everything alone.

Seeking God's Help
Moses' plea is a reminder to turn to God in times of distress. We are encouraged to bring our burdens to God, trusting in His provision and guidance.

Community Support
The body of Christ is designed to support one another. We should actively seek to help others with their burdens and be open to receiving help ourselves.

Recognizing Human Limitations
Understanding our limitations is crucial. It is not a sign of weakness but of wisdom to seek help and rely on God's strength and the support of others.

Bible Study Questions

1. How does Moses' expression of his burden in Numbers 11:14 reflect the challenges of leadership in your own life or community?

2. In what ways can you apply the principle of delegation, as seen in Moses' account, to your personal or professional life?

3. How can you actively seek God's help when you feel overwhelmed by your responsibilities?

4. What practical steps can you take to bear one another's burdens within your church or community, as instructed in Galatians 6:2?

5. Reflect on a time when you recognized your limitations and sought help. How did that experience shape your understanding of reliance on God and community?

Connections to Other Scriptures

Exodus 18
Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, advises him to delegate responsibilities to capable men to help bear the burden of leadership, which parallels Moses' plea for help in Numbers 11:14.

Matthew 11:28-30
Jesus invites those who are weary and burdened to come to Him for rest, offering a spiritual solution to the burdens we carry, similar to Moses seeking God's help.

Galatians 6:2
Paul instructs believers to bear one another's burdens, reflecting the communal support Moses needed and highlighting the importance of shared responsibility in the body of Christ.

Sermons

The Complainers, and How God Made Answer to Their Complaints	W. Binnie	Numbers 11:4-15; 31-35
Affliction Preferable to Sin	Spurgeon, Charles Haddon	Numbers 11:10-15
Afflictions May be Full of Mercies	T. L. Cuyler.	Numbers 11:10-15
Seeing Afflictions from God's Standpoin	Spurgeon, Charles Haddon	Numbers 11:10-15
The Burdens of Leadership	W. Jones.	Numbers 11:10-15
The Expostulation of Moses	D. Young	Numbers 11:10-15
The Sufferings of the Good in the Path of Duty	W. Jones.	Numbers 11:10-15
The Sin of Despondency, in a Servant of God	E.S. Prout	Numbers 11:11-15

People

Eldad, Israelites, Joshua, Medad, Moses, Nun

Places

Egypt, Hazeroth, Kibroth-hattaavah, Paran, Taberah

Topics

Able, Alone, Bear, Burden, Burdensome, Carry, Heavy, Myself, Strength, Weight

Dictionary of Bible Themes

Numbers 11:14

5559 stress
5901 loneliness

Numbers 11:4-34

8614 prayer, answers

Numbers 11:11-15

5265 complaints

Numbers 11:14-15

5938 sadness
8358 weakness, physical

Library

April 12. "They were as it Were, Complainers" (Num. xi. 1).
"They were as it were, complainers" (Num. xi. 1). There is a very remarkable phrase in the book of Numbers, in the account of the murmuring of the children of Israel in the wilderness. It reads like this: "When the people, as it were, murmured." Like most marginal readings it is better than the text, and a great world of suggestive truth lies back of that little sentence. In the distance we may see many a vivid picture rise before our imagination of people who do not dare to sin openly and unequivocally, …
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth

Exposition of Chap. Iii. (ii. 28-32. )
Ver. 1. "And it shall come to pass, afterwards, I will pour out My Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy; your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions." The communication of the Spirit of God was the constant prerogative of the Covenant-people. Indeed, the very idea of such a people necessarily requires it. For the Spirit of God is the only inward bond betwixt Him and that which is created; a Covenant-people, therefore, without such an inward …
Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg—Christology of the Old Testament

The Deaf Stammerer Healed and Four Thousand Fed.
^A Matt. XV. 30-39; ^B Mark VII. 32-VIII. 9. ^b 32 And they bring unto him one that was deaf, and had an impediment in his speech [The man had evidently learned to speak before he lost his hearing. Some think that defective hearing had caused the impediment in his speech, but verse 35 suggests that he was tongue-tied]; and they beseech him to put his hand upon him. 33 And he took him aside from the multitude privately, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spat, and touched his tongue [He separated …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

The Baptist's Testimony.
"There came a man, sent from God, whose name was John. The same came for witness, that he might bear witness of the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came that he might bear witness of the light.... John beareth witness of Him, and crieth, saying, This was He of whom I said, He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for He was before me. For of His fulness we all received, and grace for grace. For the law was given by Moses; grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. …
Marcus Dods—The Expositor's Bible: The Gospel of St. John, Vol. I

Third Sunday after Epiphany
Text: Romans 12, 16-21. 16 Be not wise in your own conceits. 17 Render to no man evil for evil. Take thought for things honorable in the sight of all men. 18 If it be possible, as much as in you lieth, be at peace with all men. 19 Avenge not yourselves, beloved, but give place unto the wrath of God: for it is written, Vengeance belongeth unto me; I will recompense, saith the Lord. 20 But if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him to drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire …
Martin Luther—Epistle Sermons, Vol. II

False Ambition Versus Childlikeness.
(Capernaum, Autumn, a.d. 29.) ^A Matt. XVIII. 1-14; ^B Mark IX. 33-50; ^C Luke IX. 46-50. ^c 46 And there arose a reasoning among them, which of them was the greatest. ^b 33 And he came to Capernaum: ^c 47 But when Jesus saw the reasoning of their heart, ^b and when he was in the house [probably Simon Peter's house] he asked them, What were ye reasoning on the way? 34 But they held their peace: for they had disputed one with another on the way, who was the greatest. [The Lord with his disciples was …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

The Outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
"The Holy Spirit was not yet given because that Jesus was not yet glorified."--John vii. 39. We have come to the most difficult part in the discussion of the work of the Holy Spirit, viz., the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the tenth day after the ascension. In the treatment of this subject it is not our aim to create a new interest in the celebration of Pentecost. We consider this almost impossible. Man's nature is too unspiritual for this. But we shall reverently endeavor to give a clearer insight …
Abraham Kuyper—The Work of the Holy Spirit

Third Sunday Before Lent
Text: First Corinthians 9, 24-27; 10, 1-5. 24 Know ye not that they that run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? Even so run; that ye may attain. 25 And every man that striveth in the games exerciseth self-control in all things. Now they do it to receive a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible. 26 I therefore so run, as not uncertainly; so fight I, as not beating the air: 27 but I buffet my body, and bring it into bondage: lest by any means, after that I have preached to others, …
Martin Luther—Epistle Sermons, Vol. II

Eastern Wise-Men, or Magi, visit Jesus, the New-Born King.
(Jerusalem and Bethlehem, b.c. 4.) ^A Matt. II. 1-12. ^a 1 Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem [It lies five miles south by west of Jerusalem, a little to the east of the road to Hebron. It occupies part of the summit and sides of a narrow limestone ridge which shoots out eastward from the central chains of the Judæan mountains, and breaks down abruptly into deep valleys on the north, south, and east. Its old name, Ephrath, meant "the fruitful." Bethlehem means "house of bread." Its modern …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

Messiah's Easy Yoke
Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. T hough the influence of education and example, may dispose us to acknowledge the Gospel to be a revelation from God; it can only be rightly understood, or duly prized, by those persons who feel themselves in the circumstances of distress, which it is designed to relieve. No Israelite would think of fleeing to a city of refuge (Joshua 20:2. …
John Newton—Messiah Vol. 1

Of Immediate Revelation.
Of Immediate Revelation. [29] Seeing no man knoweth the Father but the Son, and he to whom the Son revealeth him; and seeing the revelation of the Son is in and by the Spirit; therefore the testimony of the Spirit is that alone by which the true knowledge of God hath been, is, and can be only revealed; who as, by the moving of his own Spirit, he disposed the chaos of this world into that wonderful order in which it was in the beginning, and created man a living soul, to rule and govern it, so by …
Robert Barclay—Theses Theologicae and An Apology for the True Christian Divinity

Blasphemous Accusations of the Jews.
(Galilee.) ^A Matt. XII. 22-37; ^B Mark III. 19-30; ^C Luke XI. 14-23. ^b 19 And he cometh into a house. [Whose house is not stated.] 20 And the multitude cometh together again [as on a previous occasion--Mark ii. 1], so that they could not so much as eat bread. [They could not sit down to a regular meal. A wonderful picture of the intense importunity of people and the corresponding eagerness of Jesus, who was as willing to do as they were to have done.] 21 And when his friends heard it, they went …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

Appendix ii. Philo of Alexandria and Rabbinic Theology.
(Ad. vol. i. p. 42, note 4.) In comparing the allegorical Canons of Philo with those of Jewish traditionalism, we think first of all of the seven exegetical canons which are ascribed to Hillel. These bear chiefly the character of logical deductions, and as such were largely applied in the Halakhah. These seven canons were next expanded by R. Ishmael (in the first century) into thirteen, by the analysis of one of them (the 5th) into six, and the addition of this sound exegetical rule, that where two …
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah

Numbers
Like the last part of Exodus, and the whole of Leviticus, the first part of Numbers, i.-x. 28--so called,[1] rather inappropriately, from the census in i., iii., (iv.), xxvi.--is unmistakably priestly in its interests and language. Beginning with a census of the men of war (i.) and the order of the camp (ii.), it devotes specific attention to the Levites, their numbers and duties (iii., iv.). Then follow laws for the exclusion of the unclean, v. 1-4, for determining the manner and amount of restitution …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

Links

Numbers 11:14 NIV
Numbers 11:14 NLT
Numbers 11:14 ESV
Numbers 11:14 NASB
Numbers 11:14 KJV

Numbers 11:14 Commentaries

Bible Hub