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So that place was named Taberah, because the fire of the Lord burned among them.
Numbers 11:3 · New American Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB The name of that place was called Taberah, because Yahweh’s fire burned among them.
  • KJV And he called the name of the place Taberah: because the fire of the LORD burnt among them.
  • BSB So that place was called Taberah, because the fire of the LORD had burned among them.
  • NKJV So he called the name of the place Taberah, because the fire of the Lord had burned among them.
  • NLT After that, the area was known as Taberah (which means “the place of burning”), because fire from the Lord had burned among them there.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

The place is named Taberah ("burning") to memorialize the fire of judgment. Naming the site fixes the lesson in Israel's memory.

Overview

Israel marks the location with a name recalling the LORD's burning anger. Such commemorative names throughout the wilderness journey preserve a tangible record of God's dealings, both in mercy and in judgment. The name itself becomes a standing warning against complaint.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 1

  • Deut 9:22At Taberah, and at Massah, and at Kibroth Hattaavah, you provoked Yahweh to wrath.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (3)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Numbers videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Numbers 11:3YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on NumbersMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

In the wilderness Christ is the water from the rock, the bronze serpent lifted up that the dying might look and live (John 3:14), and the star and scepter that Balaam saw rising out of Jacob.

How Numbers 11:3 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.