קִבְרוֹת הַתַּאֲוָה

From the study of Numbers 11:35

Range of meaning

A compound place name: qivrot is the plural of qever ("grave, burial place") in its "graves of…" form, and ta'avah (H8378) is "desire, longing, appetite". Ta'avah can be good ("the desire of the righteous will be granted", Prov 10:24; "desire fulfilled is sweet", Prov 13:19) or bad when it becomes greedy, unrestrained appetite (Ps 78:29–30; 106:14). The related verb hit'avvah, "to crave", appears in Num 11:4 and 11:34 ("the people who craved").

Against the English

Modern translations simply transliterate the name, so readers miss its meaning unless a footnote explains it. The KJV's margin, and many older Bible dictionaries that follow it, explain it as "the graves of lust".

How it drifted

In 1611 "lust" meant any strong desire or appetite, so the KJV also says the people "fell a lusting" for meat (11:4). In modern English "lust" means mainly sexual desire, which the episode has nothing to do with.

Used elsewhere in the period

The name recurs as a memory of rebellion in Num 33:16–17 and Deut 9:22. Psalm 78:18–31 and 106:14–15 retell the episode with the same root ("they craved a craving in the wilderness… he sent leanness into their soul"). The Greek Septuagint translates the name rather than transliterating it, with words meaning "graves of the desire" (Mnēmata tēs epithymias), and the Latin Vulgate does the same (sepulchra concupiscentiae). Paul's warning "that we should not desire evil things as they desired" (1 Cor 10:6) uses the same Greek word family and most likely alludes to this event.