And he gave them their request; but sent leanness into their soul.
Parallel translations
- WEB He gave them their request, but sent leanness into their soul.
- BSB So He granted their request, but sent a wasting disease upon them.
- NKJV And He gave them their request, But sent leanness into their soul.
- NASB So He gave them their request, But sent a wasting disease among them.
- NLT So he gave them what they asked for, but he sent a plague along with it.
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
God granted their request but sent leanness into their soul. It matters because getting what we crave apart from God can bring spiritual ruin.
Overview
In response to their demand, God sent quail but also judgment (Numbers 11:31-34). The 'leanness' or wasting indicates the emptiness and discipline that followed. The verse soberly warns that God may give over the discontented to their desires, to their own harm.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 4
- Num 11:31–34And there went forth a wind from the LORD, and brought quails from the sea, and let them fall by the camp, as it were a day’s journey on this side, and as it were a day’s journey on the other side, round about the camp, and as it were two cubits high upon the face of the earth.
- Isa 10:16Therefore shall the Lord, the Lord of hosts, send among his fat ones leanness; and under his glory he shall kindle a burning like the burning of a fire.
- Ps 78:29–31So they did eat, and were well filled: for he gave them their own desire;
- Isa 24:16From the uttermost part of the earth have we heard songs, even glory to the righteous. But I said, My leanness, my leanness, woe unto me! the treacherous dealers have dealt treacherously; yea, the treacherous dealers have dealt very treacherously.
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Christ at the center
The Psalms are Christ's own prayer book and a gallery of his portraits — the suffering one of Psalm 22, the risen Lord of Psalm 16, the priest-king of Psalm 110, the Son to whom the nations are given.
How Psalms 106:15 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
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