Numbers 14:2-4; 16:41; 20:2-5; 21:4-6
Numbers 14:2-4
14:2 And all the Israelites murmured 1 against Moses and Aaron, and the whole congregation said to them, “If only we had died 2 in the land of Egypt, or if only we had perished 3 in this wilderness! 14:3 Why has the Lord brought us into this land only to be killed by the sword, that our wives and our children should become plunder? Wouldn’t it be better for us to return to Egypt?” 14:4 So they said to one another, 4 “Let’s appoint 5 a leader 6 and return 7 to Egypt.”Numbers 16:41
16:41 But on the next day the whole community of Israelites murmured against Moses and Aaron, saying, “You have killed the Lord’s people!” 8Numbers 20:2-5
20:2 And there was no water for the community, and so they gathered themselves together against Moses and Aaron. 20:3 The people contended 9 with Moses, saying, 10 “If only 11 we had died when our brothers died before the Lord! 20:4 Why 12 have you brought up the Lord’s community into this wilderness? So that 13 we and our cattle should die here? 20:5 Why 14 have you brought us up from Egypt only to bring us to 15 this dreadful place? It is no place for grain, or figs, or vines, or pomegranates; nor is there any water to drink!”
Numbers 21:4-6
21:4 Then they traveled from Mount Hor by the road to the Red Sea, 16 to go around the land of Edom, but the people 17 became impatient along the way. 21:5 And the people spoke against God and against Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness, for there is no bread or water, and we 18 detest this worthless 19 food.”
21:6 So the Lord sent poisonous 20 snakes 21 among the people, and they bit the people; many people of Israel died.
1 tn The Hebrew verb “to murmur” is לוּן (lun). It is a strong word, signifying far more than complaining or grumbling, as some of the modern translations have it. The word is most often connected to the wilderness experience. It is paralleled in the literature with the word “to rebel.” The murmuring is like a parliamentary vote of no confidence, for they no longer trusted their leaders and wished to choose a new leader and return. This “return to Egypt” becomes a symbol of their lack of faith in the Lord.
2 tn The optative is expressed by לוּ (lu) and then the verb, here the perfect tense מַתְנוּ (matnu) – “O that we had died….” Had they wanted to die in Egypt they should not have cried out to the Lord to deliver them from bondage. Here the people became consumed with the fear and worry of what lay ahead, and in their panic they revealed a lack of trust in God.
3 tn Heb “died.”
4 tn Heb “a man to his brother.”
5 tn The verb is נָתַן (natan, “to give”), but this verb has quite a wide range of meanings in the Bible. Here it must mean “to make,” “to choose,” “to designate” or the like.
6 tn The word “head” (רֹאשׁ, ro’sh) probably refers to a tribal chief who was capable to judge and to lead to war (see J. R. Bartlett, “The Use of the Word רֹאשׁ as a Title in the Old Testament,” VT 19 [1969]: 1-10).
7 tn The form is a cohortative with a vav (ו) prefixed. After the preceding cohortative this could also be interpreted as a purpose or result clause – in order that we may return.
8 sn The whole congregation here is trying to project its guilt on Moses and Aaron. It was they and their rebellion that brought about the deaths, not Moses and Aaron. The Lord had punished the sinners. The fact that the leaders had organized a rebellion against the Lord was forgotten by these people. The point here is that the Israelites had learned nothing of spiritual value from the event.
9 tn The verb is רִיב (riv); it is often used in the Bible for a legal complaint, a law suit, at least in form. But it can also describe a quarrel, or strife, like that between Abram’s men and Lot’s men in Genesis 13. It will be the main verb behind the commemorative name Meribah, the place where the people strove with God. It is a far more serious thing than grumbling – it is directed, intentional, and well-argued. For further discussion, see J. Limburg, “The Root ‘rib’ and the Prophetic Lawsuit Speeches,” JBL 88 (1969): 291-304.
10 tn Heb “and they said, saying.”
11 tn The particle לוּ (lu) indicates the optative nuance of the line – the wishing or longing for death. It is certainly an absurdity to want to have died, but God took them at their word and they died in the wilderness.
12 tn Heb “and why….” The conjunction seems to be recording another thing that the people said in their complaint against Moses.
13 tn The clause uses the infinitive construct with the lamed (ל) preposition. The clause would be a result clause in this sentence: “Why have you brought us here…with the result that we will all die?”
14 tn Heb “and why.”
15 tn Here also the infinitive construct (Hiphil) forms the subordinate clause of the preceding interrogative clause.
16 tn The “Red Sea” is the general designation for the bodies of water on either side of the Sinai peninsula, even though they are technically gulfs from the Red Sea.
17 tn Heb “the soul of the people,” expressing the innermost being of the people as they became frustrated.
18 tn Heb “our souls.”
19 tn The Israelites’ opinion about the manna was clear enough – “worthless.” The word used is קְלֹקֵל (qÿloqel, “good for nothing, worthless, miserable”).
20 tn Heb “fiery.”
21 tn The designation of the serpents/ snakes is נְחָשִׁים (nÿkhashim), which is similar to the word for “bronze” (נְחֹשֶׁת, nÿkhoshet). This has led some scholars to describe the serpents as bronze in color. The description of them as fiery indicates they were poisonous. Perhaps the snake in question is a species of adder.
