Psalms 106:14 · Bible study
Psalms 106:14 Commentary: Craving and Testing God in the Desert
Hebrew · 9 what the commentators say
Meaning in one sentence
Study Psalm 106:14: why Israel craved and tested God after miracles. Hebrew cognate accusative, historical context, and pastoral lessons.
Research Summary
- Meaning: Israel craved intensely and put God to the test in the wilderness, rejecting His provision and questioning His power.
- Key words: ta’avah (craving, often sinful lust); nasah (to test, try, prove); yeshimon (wasteland, desolate place).
- Main debate: Whether the craving was a natural hunger or a sinful, excessive lust. Gill argues the latter; others see it as legitimate need expressed rebelliously.
- Theological theme: Human forgetfulness and ingratitude versus God’s patience and provision; the danger of amnesia after deliverance.
- Best use: A warning against discontentment and a call to remember God’s faithfulness, especially in seasons of waiting.
Translation Comparison
BSB Berean Standard Bible 2020
They craved intensely in the wilderness and tested God in the desert.
WEB World English Bible 2000
but gave in to craving in the desert, and tested God in the wasteland.
KJV King James Version 1769
But lusted exceedingly in the wilderness, and tempted God in the desert.
ASV American Standard Version 1901
But lusted exceedingly in the wilderness, And tempted God in the desert.
YLT Young's Literal Translation 1898
And they lust greatly in a wilderness, And try God in a desert.
Darby Darby Bible 1890
And they lusted exceedingly in the wilderness, and tempted God in the desert.
Douay-Rheims Douay-Rheims Bible 1899
And he brought them out of darkness, and the shadow of death; and broke their bonds in sunder.
Translations in other languages (10 available)
Y desearon con ansia en el desierto; y tentaron á Dios en la soledad.
Mas foram levados pelo mau desejo no deserto, e tentaram a Deus no lugar desabitado.
Ils furent saisis de convoitise dans le désert,
Und sie wurden lüstern in der Wüste und versuchten Gott in der Einöde.
Maar zij werden belust met lust in de woestijn, en zij verzochten God in de wildernis.
ma si accesero di cupidigia nel deserto, e tentarono Dio nella solitudine.
Ale zdjęci będąc chciwością na puszczy, kusili Boga na pustyniach.
вывел их из тьмы и тени смертной, и расторгнул узы их.
反倒在曠野 大起 慾心，在荒地 試探 神。
They gave way to their evil desires in the waste land, and put God to the test in the dry places.
Verse in Context
Original Language (Biblical Hebrew)
Old Testament · Biblical Hebrew · Psalms 106:14
Source: STEPBible TAGNT/TEHB (CC-BY 4.0). Click or tap a morphology code to see the full parsing.
Scholars' Consensus
Commentators agree that this verse draws on two wilderness incidents: the craving for meat described in Numbers 11:4 and the testing at Massah in Exodus 17:2. The Hebrew phrase vayyit’avvu ta’avah (they lusted a lust) uses a cognate accusative to heighten the intensity of the desire, not a passing wish but an obsessive, ungrateful longing. Gill notes that this was not a natural hunger but a “voluptuous lust,” as Paul later interprets it in 1 Corinthians 10:6. The second verb, vaynasu (they tested), carries the same force as “tempted” in the KJV, putting God to the proof, questioning whether He could provide. Barnes and the Cambridge Bible point to Psalm 78:18, 20 as a parallel text. The poet’s point is clear: after spectacular deliverance, Israel still refused to trust God’s power and timing.
How settled is the interpretation?
Interpretive difficulty: Low
What is clear: The verse describes two historical sins — craving for food and testing God’s power — that arose from forgetting God’s works, and it stands as a warning against ingratitude and distrust.
What Scholars Agree and Debate
| Topic | Agreed | Debated |
|---|---|---|
| What specific incident does the verse refer to? | All commentators point to Numbers 11:4 (craving for meat) and Exodus 17:2 (testing for water) as the background. | Some (e.g., Calvin) emphasize the broader pattern of rebellion; others (e.g., Keil & Delitzsch) see the craving as distinct from the testing, while Barnes treats them as part of the same continuum. |
| Was the craving sinful? | All agree the craving was illegitimate, it rejected God’s provision. | Gill argues it was a “voluptuous lust,” not a natural appetite. The Cambridge Bible is more neutral, simply noting it was “a craving for better food.” The degree of moral weight divides interpreters. |
| What does it mean to ‘test God’? | Testing God means putting Him to the proof, questioning His power or presence (Exodus 17:7; Psalm 78:18). | Some see testing as inherently sinful (it violates Deuteronomy 6:16). Others note that God Himself invites testing in some contexts (Malachi 3:10), so the sin is the rebellious heart, not the act of asking. |
| Why does the poet emphasize the desert? | The desert context highlights Israel’s dependence on God and the irony of their distrust. | Calvin sees the desert as showing God’s ongoing care; Lange emphasizes the harshness of the place, making the sin more egregious. The varied emphasis is pastoral rather than doctrinal. |
Historical & Cultural Context
Psalm 106 is a national confession of sin, recounting Israel’s rebellions from the Exodus onward. Verse 13 sets the stage: “They soon forgot his works. They didn’t wait for his counsel.” Verse 14 then names the first two sins that followed: craving and testing.
The craving references Numbers 11:4, where the “mixed multitude” and the Israelites wept for meat, despising the manna. They longed for the fish, cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, and garlic of Egypt, a willful amnesia of their slavery. The place was the wilderness (midbar), where God had just given water and bread from heaven. The Hebrew intensifier ta’avah (desire, often in a negative sense) underscores that this was not a legitimate need but a rebellious appetite.
The testing recalls Exodus 17:2, 7 at Rephidim, where the people quarreled with Moses for water and asked, “Is Yahweh among us or not?” The verb nasah (to test, prove) is the same used in Deuteronomy 6:16: “You shall not test Yahweh your God.” The location “wasteland” (yeshimon) amplifies the irony: in a place of utter dependence on God, they demanded He prove Himself.
Culturally, desert journeys were vulnerable and disorienting. Yet the Israelites had seen the plagues, the Red Sea crossing, and daily manna. The poet contrasts God’s faithful provision with Israel’s immediate distrust. The sin lies in demanding signs instead of trusting what God has already done.
Textual Notes
The supplied sources note no significant textual variants for Psalm 106:14. The Hebrew text is stable, with the cognate accusative construction vayyit’avvu ta’avah consistently rendered across manuscripts and versions. The difference between “lusted” (KJV, ASV, YLT) and “gave in to craving” (WEB) reflects translation choice, not a textual issue.
Reception History
Psalm 106 has been used in both Jewish and Christian liturgical contexts as a penitential psalm, recalling Israel’s failures to prompt confession. Early church fathers, following the New Testament’s use of the wilderness narratives (1 Corinthians 10), saw in verse 14 a warning against grumbling and idolatry. Augustine linked the “craving” (concupiscentia) to the fallen human appetite that resists God’s order. The verse also appears in medieval and Reformation commentaries as an example of how quickly grace is forgotten, a caution for every generation. In modern devotional reading, it often serves as a mirror for examining the heart’s desires when they drift from trust.
Preaching This Verse
Three-point outline
- The Danger of Discontentment. Israel had enough, manna, water, God’s presence, but they craved more. Craving became a form of idolatry, replacing trust with demand. (Numbers 11:4, 6)
- The Sin of Demanding Proof. They tested God not by asking in faith but by questioning His ability. Testing God is the opposite of trusting Him; it demands that He jump through our hoops. (Exodus 17:2)
- The Place of Grace Becomes a Place of Failure. The desert, where God had shown power and provision, became the stage for Israel’s worst rebellion. Our greatest temptations often come after our greatest deliverances.
Five-point outline
- Forgetting God’s works (v. 13) leads to craving.
- Craving becomes obsessive (Hebrew cognate accusative: “lusted a lust”).
- Craving leads to testing: putting God on trial.
- Testing is a radical departure from faith, it questions God’s goodness and power.
- The context of wilderness highlights the absurdity: they are completely dependent on God yet act as if He owes them.
Illustration hooks
- A child who receives a gift but immediately asks for a better one, missing the love in the gift already given.
- The story of the Israelites as a mirror: we pray for deliverance, then complain about the means of provision.
- Modern “testing”, demanding that God answer a specific prayer before we trust Him, rather than trusting based on what He has done.
Questions your congregation is asking
- Why do I still doubt God after seeing Him work in my life?
- Is it wrong to ask God for signs, or does that count as testing Him?
- How can I distinguish between a legitimate need and a craving that comes from discontentment?
Leading a Discussion
This verse shows a pattern that repeats in every generation: we receive grace, then forget it, then crave what we think we lack. The Israelites had just been saved from Egypt, yet they lusted after Egyptian food and dared God to prove Himself. This passage invites us to examine our own hearts, where do we trade trust for testing?
Discussion questions
- Read verse 13. Why is “forgetting God’s works” the root of the sins that follow?
- What specific incident does the craving refer to? (See Numbers 11:4, 6.) Why was it so offensive to God?
- The Hebrew says they “lusted a lust”, why does the repetition matter?
- How does testing God differ from asking God for something in faith?
- Why does the Psalmist emphasize that this happened in the desert? What makes that location significant?
- In what ways do Christians today “test” God, perhaps without realizing it?
- What practices help us remember God’s works and wait for His counsel instead of giving in to craving?
Word Study
The key original-language words in this verse. Select any word for its full lexicon entry — meaning, every occurrence in Scripture, and related words.
Cross-References
Source: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (TSK, public domain)
| Exodus 17:2 | Therefore the people quarreled with Moses, and said, “Give us water to drink.” Moses said to them, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test Yahweh?” |
| Numbers 11:4 | The mixed multitude that was among them lusted exceedingly; and the children of Israel also wept again, and said, “Who will give us meat to eat? |
| Numbers 11:33 | While the meat was still between their teeth, before it was chewed, Yahweh’s anger burned against the people, and Yahweh struck the people with a very great plague. |
| Numbers 11:34 | The name of that place was called Kibroth Hattaavah, because there they buried the people who lusted. |
| Numbers 14:22 | because all those men who have seen my glory and my signs, which I worked in Egypt and in the wilderness, yet have tempted me these ten times, and have not listened to my voice; |
| Deuteronomy 9:22 | At Taberah, at Massah, and at Kibroth Hattaavah you provoked Yahweh to wrath. |
| Psalms 78:18 | They tempted God in their heart by asking food according to their desire. |
| Psalms 78:20 | Behold, he struck the rock, so that waters gushed out, and streams overflowed. Can he give bread also? Will he provide meat for his people?” |
Interlinear and lexical data from STEPBible (CC BY 4.0). Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0). Commentaries are public domain.
For personal reflection
Read the devotional page — prayer, application, and "for families"
What the Commentators Say
7 public-domain commentaries, condensed into plain language.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible Protestant 1832
Barnes highlights that the people's sin had two layers: they craved food with intense, misplaced desire and then put God to the test, doubting whether He could provide for them. Their craving was not just dissatisfaction but a deliberate challenge to God's power.
Calvin's Commentaries Reformed 1564
Calvin observes that Psalm 106 is not primarily a reproof or complaint against Israel, but a confession of sins aimed at obtaining pardon. The psalm begins with praise to encourage hope, then acknowledges that God's people repeatedly abused his kindness, making them unworthy of continued blessing—so the writer asks forgiveness.
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges Anglican 1880
The Cambridge Bible School editors explain that "they tempted God" here means they tested Him by doubting both His willingness and His power to provide for them. Their craving for meat was not merely a physical desire but a challenge to God's character and care, as seen in Numbers 11 and echoed in Psalm 78.
Geneva Bible Notes Reformed 1599
The Geneva note points out that Israel's sin in the wilderness was not ordinary craving but deliberate, strong lust, and that this amounted to actively testing God. Their unrestrained desire became a challenge to His power and patience.
Gill's Exposition of the Bible Baptist 1748
Gill emphasizes that Israel's sin was not ordinary hunger but a willful, voluptuous craving for forbidden things, which made it a lust after evil. He stresses that tempting God in the wilderness was a daring impiety, made worse by the fact that they were utterly dependent on him there and had already received so much from his hand.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Commentary Protestant 1871
JFB draws a distinction between two stages of Israel's rebellion: earlier they grumbled about basic needs, but here they actively crave something more. The Hebrew phrase "lusted a lust" signals a deliberate, intense desire that goes beyond mere complaint into willful craving.
Keil & Delitzsch OT Commentary Protestant 1876
Keil-Delitzsch traces Israel's wilderness sins back to one root: they abandoned faith in God's promise, forgot His confirming works, and refused to wait for His plan to unfold. The commentator interprets the judgment at Kibroth-hattaavah as a wasting disease sent because the people greedily gorged on meat rather than trusting God's timing.