And the LORD said unto Moses, Is the LORD'S hand waxed short? thou shalt see now whether my word shall come to pass unto thee or not.

NUMBERS 11:23KJV
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Numbers 11:23 (KJV)

What does Numbers 11:23 mean?

Numbers 11:23 is God’s answer to Moses’ doubt about how the people could be given meat in the wilderness. God says that his ability is not limited by the size of the task, and that Moses will soon see whether his promise comes true.

The question about the LORD’s “hand” uses a picture of someone reaching out to act. After Moses asks where enough meat could come from, God turns his attention from the size of the crowd to the promise God has made.

The Hebrew behind Numbers 11:23

  • “hand” — יָד (yad): The word means “hand” and can also picture the power to act. Here, it makes God’s ability vivid through the image of a hand reaching out.
  • “short” — קָצַר (qatsar): The word carries the sense of being short or shortened. Paired with “hand,” it pictures an arm unable to reach far enough to do what is needed.

Why Numbers 11:23 matters

  • The question expects a negative answer: the LORD’s hand has not “waxed short,” or become too short. God treats the apparent lack of a way to provide meat as a question about his own ability.
  • The outcome is something Moses is told he will witness. “Thou shalt see now” points ahead to the meat brought by a wind in Numbers 11:31.
  • The promise concerns meat, but the wider story also records a severe plague among the people who gathered it. Numbers 11:33 shows that receiving what they had demanded was not the whole outcome.

Where else these words appear

“pass” Hebrew H7136 · used in 27 verses

  • Genesis 24:12 And he said, O LORD God of my master Abraham, I pray thee, send me good speed this day, and shew kindness unto my master Abraham.
  • Numbers 23:16 And the LORD met Balaam, and put a word in his mouth, and said, Go again unto Balak, and say thus.
  • Nehemiah 3:6 Moreover the old gate repaired Jehoiada the son of Paseah, and Meshullam the son of Besodeiah; they laid the beams thereof, and set up the doors thereof, and the locks thereof, and the bars thereof.

“short” Hebrew H7114 · used in 46 verses

  • Leviticus 19:9 And when ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not wholly reap the corners of thy field, neither shalt thou gather the gleanings of thy harvest.
  • Ruth 2:14 And Boaz said unto her, At mealtime come thou hither, and eat of the bread, and dip thy morsel in the vinegar. And she sat beside the reapers: and he reached her parched corn, and she did eat, and was sufficed, and left.
  • Isaiah 17:5 And it shall be as when the harvestman gathereth the corn, and reapeth the ears with his arm; and it shall be as he that gathereth ears in the valley of Rephaim.