What is the meaning of Numbers 11:15?

If this is how You are going to treat me

• Moses speaks in raw honesty after hearing Israel’s grumbling about manna (Numbers 11:1–10).

• He feels overwhelmed by a burden God never asked him to shoulder alone (compare Exodus 18:17–18).

• His lament echoes earlier prophets who voiced despair when ministry felt impossible—Jeremiah 20:7–9; Jonah 4:1–3.

• The verse shows God permits transparent lament; He records it faithfully without rebuke at this moment (Psalm 62:8).

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please kill me right now

• Moses dramatizes his exhaustion with a request for death, recalling Elijah’s plea in 1 Kings 19:4 after spiritual victory turned to crisis.

• The statement is not suicidal rebellion but a surrender of life to the One who gave it (Job 6:8–9).

• It underscores that spiritual leaders can reach breaking points; God’s solution will be shared leadership, not condemnation (Numbers 11:16-17).

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if I have found favor in Your eyes

• Moses knows he stands under God’s grace (Exodus 33:17). His appeal is grounded in relationship, not entitlement.

• He trusts that the same God who showed favor at the burning bush and at Sinai will respond compassionately now (Psalm 30:7).

• This clause reveals that candid prayer can coexist with deep confidence in divine goodness (Hebrews 4:16).

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and let me not see my own wretchedness

• “Wretchedness” points to the crushing awareness of inadequacy when comparing personal strength to the task (2 Corinthians 3:5).

• Moses would rather die than witness continued personal failure in leading a complaining people—paralleling Paul’s groan in Romans 7:24.

• God answers by lifting, not eliminating, Moses’ calling: seventy elders share the Spirit, reducing the sense of wretched isolation (Numbers 11:24-29).

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summary

Numbers 11:15 captures a pivotal moment when Moses, fatigued and frustrated, pours out a desperate plea. His words teach that God welcomes honest lament; leaders can confess limits; grace remains the basis of every appeal; and the Lord’s answer is not death but provision—distributing the load so His servant can continue faithfully.