The psalm before us is an accounting of historical soul-searching: Asaph lays out the chain of miracles that the Holy One, blessed be He, performed for Israel, set against the chain of rebellions and defiance with which Israel responded. In this section, we stand at the episode of the quail - the demand for meat in the wilderness, and all that unfolded in its wake: the clarification of the true depth of the sin, the punishment, and the subsequent "teshuvah" that was not wholehearted - from which emerges a profound lesson regarding the power of even the slightest repentance.
וַיַּפֵּל בְּקֶרֶב מַחֲנֵהוּ סָבִיב לְמִשְׁכְּנֹתָיו׃ - And He let it fall in the midst of their camp, round about their dwelling places.
Radak explains: "And He let it fall in the midst of their camp" - just as it is written in the Torah, "and let them fall about the camp"; "round about their dwelling places" - like "round about the camp." Metzudat David adds that this repetition is not superfluous: Scripture comes to teach that He did not bring the quail from afar, forcing them to go out and search for it in the fields. Rather, He brought it directly to them - right to their plates - "in the midst of their camp, round about their dwelling places."
The Malbim adds that there is another miracle here, so that one should not say this occurred naturally: after all, it is the nature of birds to stay far away from human beings, yet here the birds fell right around their dwellings. And note carefully: not on the dwellings - so as not to cause damage - but around the dwellings, in a spot easily accessible to them.
וַיֹּאכְלוּ וַיִּשְׂבְּעוּ מְאֹד וְתַאֲוָתָם יָבִא לָהֶם׃ לֹא זָרוּ מִתַּאֲוָתָם עוֹד אׇכְלָם בְּפִיהֶם׃ - So they ate and were well sated, and He gave them what they craved. They had not yet turned away from their craving, while their food was still in their mouths.
"And they were well sated" - Radak explains - means far too much, a satiety that becomes repulsive, as Scripture puts it: "until it comes out of your nostrils." And the Malbim explains (having already explained this in his work Artzot HaShalom) that in these verses, the Holy One, blessed be He, provided Israel with conclusive proof that their entire demand for meat did not stem from physical need or bodily desire, but from defiance.
This is the proof: When a person sins out of physical desire, once the desire is satiated, the sin ceases. A person who is gripped by an urge to eat forbidden food eats until he is full; why would he eat beyond that point? After all, he has already satisfied his craving. But one who eats spitefully specifically continues to eat even when he no longer wants to. "What, am I eating for my own pleasure? I am doing this purely out of spite!" - and this continuation beyond any real need is itself the proof that the motive was not lust, but rebellion.
Therefore, the Malbim says, consider: their craving for meat stemmed from heresy and denial. They regretted the Exodus from Egypt, regretted accepting upon themselves the yoke of the mitzvot, and spurned the commandments of Hashem. The entire matter of the meat was merely a pretext. Likewise, Chazal expounded on the verse, "and the people wept throughout their families" - that the true underlying cause was "family matters": because forbidden relations and incestuous unions were now forbidden to them. Look at Moshe Rabbeinu - his own father had married his aunt, and now the Torah was given, declaring this forbidden and that forbidden, requiring families to separate. Thus, the entire complaint was merely a cover story; the real issue was the desire to rebel against Hashem and return to Egypt, since "one prefers lawlessness" (behefkeira nicha lei) - we do not want the yoke of the Kingdom of Heaven.
According to this, we can understand the verse: "You shall not eat one day, nor two days... but a whole month, until it comes out of your nostrils and becomes loathsome to you" - this was not merely a curse, but the Holy One, blessed be He, saying to them, as it were: Here will be the undeniable proof that you are doing this out of spite. You will see that you continue eating even when it becomes loathsome to you, even when you have no remaining appetite, and you still will not regret your actions - which is a clear sign that you are not seeking meat out of bodily desire, but out of heresy. And this is the meaning of: "Because you have rejected Hashem Who is among you, and have wept before Him, saying, 'Why did we ever come out of Egypt?'" - the essence of their weeping was their regret over leaving Egypt.
And this is what Scripture says: "So they ate and were well sated, and He gave them what they craved" - in terms of fulfilling their physical appetite, it was more than enough; like someone sitting in a restaurant ordering dish after dish, until the waiter asks, "Anything else?" and he replies, "No, I am bursting." Yet here - "they were not estranged from their lust": zaru (estranged) is from the root denoting alienation, meaning the food did not become repulsive or alien to them; rather, "while their food was still in their mouths" - they kept right on eating. Why? Because the issue was never appetite, but rebellion and the desire to cast off the yoke of Torah and mitzvot. From this, the Malbim concludes, their sin was born of defiance and malice.
וְאַף אֱלֹהִים עָלָה בָהֶם וַיַּהֲרֹג בְּמִשְׁמַנֵּיהֶם וּבַחוּרֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל הִכְרִיעַ׃ - And the wrath of God rose against them, and slew the stoutest among them, and laid low the chosen youths of Israel.
And since such was their sin - "the wrath of God rose against them." And do not say that they died of natural causes, that the meat was hard to digest for people who had not eaten meat for many days and that they died because of that. Regarding this, the verse says, "and slew the stoutest among them" - meaning, as Radak explains, healthy and robust men, as in the phrase "every fat [stout] man, and every valiant man" (Shoftim 3:29). (In the language of the sacred texts, "fat" means healthy; today someone who is obese might be considered unhealthy, but in their time, when they wanted to describe a healthy, robust person, they said "a fat person.") Now, heavy food can kill the elderly and those of weak constitution - but healthy men and the chosen youths of Israel are not supposed to die from meat that is hard to digest. From here we have proof that their death was directly at the hand of Hashem: "and the wrath of God rose against them." Radak also cites the verse, "While the meat was still between their teeth, the wrath of the Lord burned against the people" (Bamidbar 11:33). And "rose" (alah) - is like "smoke rose in His nostril" (Tehillim 18:9), for smoke rises from the nose in fury.
"And the chosen youths of Israel" - the select among them. For the "riffraff" (asafsuf) were, according to Rashi, the elders about whom it is said, "Gather to Me seventy men from the elders of Israel" (esfah-li), whereas in contrast, "the chosen youths of Israel" are the elite of Israel. And "laid low" (hikhria) - Metzudat Tzion explains: an expression of falling to one's knees. A beautiful insight: when we say "hikhrati oto" (I decided / defeated him), its original meaning is - I brought him to his knees, I caused him to kneel (likhroa). Today the word is used in a broader sense (as in: two opinions and I do not know how to decide / le-hakhria), but its root is kneeling on the knees.
בְּכׇל־זֹאת חָטְאוּ עוֹד וְלֹא הֶאֱמִינוּ בְּנִפְלְאוֹתָיו׃ - For all this they sinned still, and believed not in His wondrous works.
Metzudat David explains: Even after they saw that the Holy One, blessed be He, brings retribution, that He punishes for evil deeds - they did not desist and continued to sin. Radak specifies: in the matter of the spies, in the matter of Korach, and in the matter of Mei Merivah (the waters of strife). "And believed not in His wondrous works" - in the wonders He had already performed for them; they did not believe that the One who performed those wonders for them would continue to do so in the future and bring them into the Land. Is this any way to speak - "Why is Hashem bringing us to this land to fall by the sword, that our wives and our children should become plunder?" (Bamidbar 14:3). After all, up until today Hashem has performed wonders for you! Rather, they did not believe that He had the power to continue doing so.
And the Malbim adds: They had a doubt - can Hashem also provide meat? He showed them that He could, and the doubt was resolved. And even so - "they believed not in His wondrous works" - they did not believe He could conquer the land of the seven nations before them.
וַיְכַל בַּהֶבֶל יְמֵיהֶם וּשְׁנוֹתָם בַּבֶּהָלָה׃ - Therefore their days He consumed in vanity, and their years in terror.
"Therefore their days He consumed in vanity" - this refers to what He told them: "you shall bear your iniquities forty years" (Bamidbar 14:34), for they would die each and every year until they had all died, from age twenty to sixty. And note the precision: it does not say simply "be-vehalah" (in terror), but "ba-behalah" with the definite article (the patach under the beit) - in that very terror in which the spies died, who died suddenly in a plague. So too did He consume them suddenly, in a single moment: every Tisha B'Av they dug graves for themselves, lay down in them, and in one moment they died.
And the Malbim explains: "Therefore their days He consumed in vanity" - corresponds to what was said, "And your children shall wander in the wilderness forty years, and bear your strayings" (Bamidbar 14:33); "and their years in terror" - corresponds to "As for you, your carcasses shall fall in this wilderness" (ibid. 14:32). And thus He consumed their years, so that they died there in the wilderness.
אִם־הֲרָגָם וּדְרָשׁוּהוּ וְשָׁבוּ וְשִׁחֲרוּ־אֵל׃ - If He slew them, then they sought Him; and they returned and searched diligently for God.
Notice the vocalization: "Uderashuhu" - the sheva is quiescent (nach) due to the shuruk on the vav. And the verse is very difficult: After He slew them, now they seek Hashem? Surely a dead person no longer seeks anything!
Rather, all the commentators - Ibn Ezra, Radak, and others - explain first of all that "im" here does not denote a condition ("if"), since history is known to us and He indeed slew them; rather, "im" is in the sense of "when", as in the phrase "Ve'im yihyeh hayovel" ("And when the Jubilee year shall be") - for is there any doubt about the matter? Surely there is a Yovel once every fifty years! Rather, "ve'im" means "when". According to this: When He slew these people, then they sought Him - meaning those who remained. They saw the death of their fellows, understood that they had sinned, and repented - "and they sought God." For it is impossible to explain that those who were killed themselves sought Him; rather, those who remained learned a lesson from the dead and returned to seek God.
And another explanation: When He intended to slay them - immediately they sought Him. That is, according to this, "He slew them" does not refer to actual killing, but to the decree of death. As soon as the decree was issued, they said: "Here we are, and we will go up to the place of which Hashem spoke, for we have sinned" - suddenly they remembered and repented, "and they returned and sought God."
And what is the meaning of "veshicharu-El"? Ibn Ezra explains: They prayed to God. Why is it called this? After the morning prayer, where before one attends to his personal needs, he turns to Hashem. "Shicharu" comes from the root shachar (dawn) - early in the morning; similarly in the expression "ashachreka" ("I seek You early") and the like. That is to say: they prayed to God early, just as a person prays at dawn.
And Rashi explains that even this seeking was not sincere, but was flattering with their mouths and lying with their tongues, as the following verses immediately continue. In other words, do not think that "they sought Him" here was a wholehearted seeking - rather, it was merely paying lip service, while in their hearts they did not truly seek Him.
וַיִּזְכְּרוּ כִּי־אֱלֹהִים צוּרָם וְאֵל עֶלְיוֹן גֹּאֲלָם׃ - And they remembered that God was their Rock, and the Most High God their Redeemer.
"Tzur" (rock) connotes strength and fortitude, as in the phrase "tzur ma'oz" (a rock of strength). Until now, after all, they had asked: Who will redeem us? Who will bring us into the Land? Who will fight against the seven nations? - they failed to grasp that Hashem is a Rock. But here they remembered "that God was their Rock"; and the name Elohim denotes the Omnipotent Ruler and Master of all forces - that all power is in His hands, and we have in Him a stronghold and a refuge.
"And the Most High God their Redeemer" - this corresponds to what we saw earlier, when they doubted whether our God is indeed the Most High God (El Elyon) or perhaps merely one of the appointed officers of nature. That was why they tested Him so: Can He hold three keys in His hand, or must He return one key - which would imply that He is not the Most High God? For if He is the Most High God, everything is in His hands. Here they remembered that He is the Prime Cause, the God of gods, and not one of the subordinate agents who receive power from others.
וַיְפַתּוּהוּ בְּפִיהֶם וּבִלְשׁוֹנָם יְכַזְּבוּ־לוֹ׃ וְלִבָּם לֹא־נָכוֹן עִמּוֹ וְלֹא נֶאֶמְנוּ בִּבְרִיתוֹ׃ - Yet they enticed Him with their mouth, and lied to Him with their tongue. For their heart was not steadfast with Him, nor were they faithful to His covenant.
Can one really entice the Holy One, blessed be He? A human being can be enticed, for he does not know what is in another's heart - but before the Holy One, blessed be He, Who knows what is in the heart? Radak explains: "They enticed Him with their mouth" - according to their own thoughts. In his imagination, the sinner thinks he fooled the Holy One, blessed be He, that he enticed Him with his mouth and succeeded in concealing his inner thoughts; but He, blessed be He, is not enticed, and He knew their hearts.
And despite all this, there is a tremendous wonder here. Radak writes: in His attribute of mercy, He grants atonement to "those who display teshuvah." He does not forgive them entirely, just as they do not repent with a whole heart, but rather He visits their iniquity without destroying everything, turns away His wrath from them, and does not stir up all His anger, but only a portion of it - because their teshuvah is not complete, their forgiveness is not complete. If someone were to treat us in the manner of "they enticed Him with their mouth and lied to Him with their tongue," we would throw him down the stairs! Yet with the Holy One, blessed be He, it is not so: even though He knows they entice Him with their mouth and lie with their tongue, ultimately they are displaying teshuvah; they made some movement, some shift toward repentance - and that is enough for Him to grant them atonement, even if only partially. If the teshuvah were complete, everything would be forgiven; when it is incomplete, it is partially forgiven. But you are not thrown down the stairs. This is a wonderful insight and immense encouragement: do not say that partial teshuvah is worthless.
A story was told of someone who went to comfort a mourner sitting shiva for his brother. That brother had passed away in his seventies, childless, following an illness, after lying in a nursing home in grave condition. The brother who was ill had told him: "I did a lot of foolish things in my life." The comforter said to him: "A person does foolish things, but there is still time - now you can do teshuvah." He replied: "No, it is not easy to do teshuvah; how does one do teshuvah?" The comforter reflected: it is well known that when a person hardens his heart, the window does not remain open forever. As Scripture states, and as is often discussed: "I opened for my beloved - but my beloved had turned and was gone; my soul departed when he spoke" - and it was already too late. When a person is given opportunities and does not rise in time, see how it ends: he has no desires left, he has no this-world left, lying alone in his final days - and still he says, "It is not easy to do teshuvah." And what was really required of him? To say, "Chatasi, aviti, pashati" (I have sinned, iniquitous, rebelled), to confess and regret. But Heaven does not always wait: the Holy One, blessed be He, says: When I wanted, you did not want; now that you want, I do not want.
And nevertheless, we should know that when a person does teshuvah - even if slight, even if in the manner of "they enticed Him with their mouth" - in His attribute of mercy, He grants atonement to those who display teshuvah. The Chofetz Chaim gave a parable for this: In their time, the government required every resident to clear the snow in front of his home. People were lazy, for it was cold and unpleasant. But when word spread that the inspector was approaching, everyone suddenly rushed outside, shovel in hand, acting as if they were hard at work clearing the snow; as soon as the inspector passed, they all went back inside, dropping the pretense. There was one person who did nothing at all. When the inspector came to issue him a fine, he protested: "Why single me out? They also only started because you were coming, and as soon as you leave they will go right back inside!" The inspector replied: "True, but they showed some willingness to start something, whereas you showed no willingness at all - you deserve the fine." Furthermore, consider: for those who cleared a little - true, it was only because the inspector was there, and true, it was very little - the ground is now genuinely cleaner. This is what Radak means by "He atones for those who display teshuvah." Even if it is only a display of teshuvah, only because the inspector is here, only because Elul has arrived, only because the Yamim Noraim are upon us - even that small movement is precious and valued before Hashem. But for one to whom none of this matters at all and who remains entirely indifferent - there the strict accountability is far greater.
The Malbim explains: "They enticed Him with their mouth" - everything they said, that "God was their rock, and the Most High God their redeemer," was said with their mouth alone, and only because "when He slew them, they sought Him," under duress. But "with their tongue they lied to Him." The Malbim has already explained in several places that the mouth represents the external, whereas the tongue represents the internal: the mouth is the outer organ, while the tongue is internal; the mouth denotes outward speech, whereas the tongue represents internal, intellectual contemplation. Therefore, "and with their tongue they lied to Him" - in their internal inquiries they spoke falsehood, engaging in philosophical speculations to deny the Holy One, blessed be He. All that they expressed outwardly - that Hashem is God, our Rock, the Most High God our Redeemer - was merely an enticement of the mouth; internally, however, there was heresy against Hashem, blessed be He. This is why the verse concludes: "For their heart was not steadfast with Him, nor were they faithful to His covenant."
In these verses, the psalm reveals the root of the sin of the crave-seekers: it was not a physical craving for meat, but heresy and rebellion. The proof is that they continued eating even when it had become loathsome to them, for one who sins out of appetite stops when his desire is sated, while one who sins out of defiance continues to eat. Therefore, the punishment was also not natural, as specifically the stout, healthy, and chosen young men of Israel died. Even after all this, they continued to sin with the Spies, and Hashem consumed their days in the wilderness. And when they came to seek Hashem, it was merely an enticement of the mouth, while their heart was not steadfast with Him. Yet despite all this, Radak teaches a major principle: in His attribute of mercy, the Holy One, blessed be He, grants atonement even to "those who display teshuvah" - not complete atonement, yet atonement nonetheless. From this comes great encouragement never to belittle even a small movement toward repentance, provided we do not become like those to whom the matter is of no concern at all.