Exodus 7:24

7:24 All the Egyptians dug around the Nile for water to drink, ¹  because they could not drink the water of the Nile.

Numbers 11:20

11:20 but a whole month, ²  until it comes out your nostrils and makes you sick, ³  because you have despised ⁴  the Lord who is among you and have wept before him, saying, “Why ⁵  did we ever come out of Egypt?”’”

Numbers 21:5

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 ⁶  detest this worthless ⁷  food.”

¹ sn The text stresses that the water in the Nile, and Nile water that had been diverted or collected for use, was polluted and undrinkable. Water underground also was from the Nile, but it had not been contaminated, certainly not with dead fish, and so would be drinkable.

² tn Heb “a month of days.” So also in v. 21.

³ tn The expression לְזָרָה (lÿzarah) has been translated “ill” or “loathsome.” It occurs only here in the Hebrew Bible. The Greek text interprets it as “sickness.” It could be nausea or vomiting (so G. B. Gray, Numbers [ICC], 112) from overeating.

⁴ sn The explanation is the interpretation of their behavior – it is in reality what they have done, even though they would not say they despised the Lord. They had complained and shown a lack of faith and a contempt for the program, which was in essence despising the Lord.

⁵ tn The use of the demonstrative pronoun here (“why is this we went out …”) is enclitic, providing emphasis to the sentence: “Why in the world did we ever leave Egypt?”

⁶ tn Heb “our souls.”

⁷ tn The Israelites’ opinion about the manna was clear enough – “worthless.” The word used is קְלֹקֵל (qÿloqel, “good for nothing, worthless, miserable”).