Numbers 11:18

“And say thou unto the people, etc.] For what follows respects them, as what goes before regarded himself: sanctify yourselves against tomorrow; or prepare yourselves, as the Targums of Onkelos, and Jonathan, either to receive mercies, or to meet the Lord in the way of his judgments; so Jarchi interprets it, “prepare for punishments,” for what is said should be, and what they had, was not as a blessing, but in a way of punishment: and ye shall eat flesh; which they lusted after, wept for, and could not be easy without: for ye have wept in the ears of the Lord; complaining of him, and which he has taken notice of: saying, who shall give us flesh to eat? for though they so earnestly desired it,…”

“say thou unto the people, Sanctify yourselves against to-morrow, and ye shall eat flesh--that is, "prepare yourselves," by repentance and submission, to receive to-morrow the flesh you clamor for. But it is evident that the tenor of the language implied a severe rebuke and that the blessing promised would prove a curse.”

“Occurrences at Kibroth-hattavah. Numbers 11:4 The mixt multitude - The word in the original resembles our “riff-raff,” and denotes a mob of people scraped together. It refers here to the multitude of strangers (see Exodus 12:38) who had followed the Israelites from Egypt. Numbers 11:5 The natural dainties of Egypt are set forth in this passage with the fullness and relish which bespeak personal experience. Numbers 11:6-7 There is nothing at all ... - literally, “Nought at all have we except that our eyes are unto this manna;” i. e. “Nought else have we to expect beside this manna.” On the manna see Exodus 16:15 note; on bdellium see Genesis 2:12 note. Numbers 11:10 The weeping was general;…”

“Sanctify themselves - Prepare to meet thy God, O Israel, in the way of his judgments. Prepare yourselves by true repentance, that you may either obtain some mitigation of the plague, or, whilst your bodies are destroyed by the flesh you desire and eat, your souls may be saved from the wrath of God. Sanctifying is often used for preparing, as Jer 6:4, Jer 12:3. In the ears of the Lord - Not secretly in your closets, but openly and impudently in the doors of your tents, calling heaven and earth to witness. Numbers 11:20”

“Sanctify: Gen 35:2; Exo 19:10, Exo 19:15; Jos 7:13 ye have wept: Num 11:1, Num 11:4-6; Exo 16:3-7; Jdg 21:2 it was well: Num 11:4, Num 11:5, Num 14:2, Num 14:3; Act 7:39 Numbers 11:19”

“Jehovah would also relieve the complaining of the people, and that in such a way that the murmurers should experience at the same time the holiness of His judgments. The people were to sanctify themselves for the next day, and were then to eat flesh (receive flesh to eat). התקדּשׁ (as in Exo 19:10), to prepare themselves by purifications for the revelation of the glory of God in the miraculous gift of flesh. Jehovah would give them flesh, so that they should eat it not one day, or two, or five, or ten, or twenty, but a whole month long (of "days," as in Gen 29:14; Gen 41:1), "till it come out of your nostrils, and become loathsome unto you," as a punishment for having despised Jehovah in the…”