Or HaChaim on Numbers 11:23/אור החיים על במדבר י״א:כ״ג

1 היד ה׳ תקצר,….היקרך דברי, "Is the hand of G'd inadequate?….if My word is precious, etc." This verse also lends itself to interpretations in line with the two approaches we have described. According to our first approach any category of meat would not be sufficient to satisfy the various tastes of the Israelites. As a result they would still continue to complain. G'd answered that He was able to supply a category of meat which would satisfy the cravings of all the Israelites. This is what G'd meant when He said היד ה׳ תקצר. G'd added that Moses was about to see that G'd would perform a single act, i.e. issue a directive which would meet all the demands of the Jewish people. He would provide a kind of meat which comprised the combined advantages of all the other existing categories. The meaning of the word יקרך is that Moses was going to experience how precious such a command of G'd would be. He would appreciate the value of G'd's directive. Another meaning of that word could be that G'd told Moses that his own stature as a prophet would be enhanced among the people when they experienced what G'd would provide.

2According to the second approach we suggested, Moses' surprise was based on his assumption that when G'd was talking about the meat the Israelites would eat, He meant that this meat would be supplied from the existing flocks and herds of the Israelites; he was quite unwilling to believe that G'd would perform a miracle to satisfy an unjustified craving by the Israelites to eat meat. This is why He, G'd, stressed that Moses would see if G'd's hand would be inadequate, i.e. He would perform a miracle. G'd meant that He had to perform the miracle so that He would not be perceived amongst the Israelites as unable to perform such a miracle. In other words, though the Israelites did not deserve a miracle, He, G'd must not be the cause of His name being desecrated by their belief that He was powerless to meet their cravings. When G'd said עתה תראה, "now you will see," He told Moses that he would now receive a lesson in G'd's preparedness to perform miracles לשקר, to prevent the Israelites to lie about His abilities. This caused our sages in Kidushin 40 to say that when it comes to desecration of His Holy Name, i.e. His image, G'd is extremely punctilious. [The story in the Talmud there illustrates how G'd performed miracles to save great scholars from having to either martyr themselves or engage in sexual relations with prominent Gentiles to save themselves from death. Ed.]