Numbers 11:34

And he called the name of that place Kibrothhattaavah: because there they buried the people that lusted.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(34) Kibroth-hattaavah—i.e., the graves of lust ‘or, desire). In Numbers 33:16, Kibroth-hattaavah is mentioned as the first station after the departure from Sinai, whereas it is obvious that there must have been an encampment at Taberah. Taberah may have been the name given to a part of Kibroth-hattaavah, or the two names may have belonged to the same place.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

11:31-35 God performed his promise to the people, in giving them flesh. How much more diligent men are in collecting the meat that perishes, than in labouring for meat which endures to everlasting life! We are quick-sighted in the affairs of time; but stupidity blinds us as to the concerns of eternity. To pursue worldly advantages, we need no arguments; but when we are to secure the true riches, then we are all forgetfulness. Those who are under the power of a carnal mind, will have their lusts fulfilled, though it be to the certain damage and ruin of their precious souls. They paid dearly for their feasts. God often grants the desires of sinners in wrath, while he denies the desires of his own people in love. What we unduly desire, if we obtain it, we have reason to fear, will be some way or other a grief and cross to us. And what multitudes there are in all places, who shorten their lives by excess of one kind or other! Let us seek for those pleasures which satisfy, but never surfeit; and which will endure for evermore.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

(Kibroth-hattaavah has been identified by Palmer with the extensive remains, graves, etc., at Erweis El Ebeirig, and Hazeroth "enclosures" with Ain Hadherah.)

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

34. called the name of that place Kibrothhattaavah—literally, "The graves of lust," or "Those that lusted"; so that the name of the place proves that the mortality was confined to those who had indulged inordinately.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Kibroth-hattaavah, Heb. The graves of lust, i.e. of the men that lusted, as it here follows. The abstract for the concrete, which is frequent; as poverty, 2 Kings 24:14, pride, Psalm 36:11, deceit, sins, Proverbs 13:6, &c., dreams, Jeremiah 27:9, are put for men who are poor, or proud, or deceitful, or sinful, or dreamers. And it notes that this plague did not seize upon all that did eat of the quails, for then all had been destroyed, but only upon those who were inordinate both in the desire and use of them.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And he called the name of that place Kibrothhattaavah,.... That is, Moses called it so, or it was called by the children of Israel, and by others in later times, by this name, which signifies "the graves of lust"; dug by lust, or which lust was the cause and occasion of, and where those that indulged it were buried, as follows:

because there they buried the people that lusted; not all that lusted, for the lusting was pretty general; but all that died through their gluttony and intemperance, and the judgment of God on them; or who were the most inordinate in their lust, and encouraged others in it, and were the ringleaders in the murmur and mutiny.

Geneva Study Bible

And he called the name of that place Kibrothhattaavah: because there they buried the people that lusted.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 34. - Kibroth-Hattaavah. The graves of greediness. Septuagint, Μνήματα τῆς ἐπιθυμίας. This name, like Tabeerah, was given to the place by the Israelites themselves in connection with their own history; the name, therefore, like the sad memory it enshrined, lived only in the sacred record. It is utterly uncertain where it lay, except that it was apparently the terminus of a three days' journey from Sinai, and in the desert of Paran. How long they stayed at Kibroth-Hattaavah is also quite uncertain. If the plague followed hard upon the coming of the quails, a few days would suffice for all the events recorded in this chapter, and we may well believe that the people would be only too glad to receive the signal of departure as soon as they had buried their unhappy brethren. Numbers 11:34

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

From this judgment the place of encampment received the name Kibroth-hattaavah, i.e., graves of greediness, because there the people found their graves while giving vent to their greedy desires.