Exodus 14:12

14:12 Isn’t this what we told you ¹  in Egypt, ‘Leave us alone so that we can serve the Egyptians, ²  because it is better for us to serve ³  the Egyptians than to die in the desert!’” ⁴ 

Exodus 16:3

16:3 The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died ⁵  by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by ⁶  the pots of meat, when we ate bread to the full, ⁷  for you have brought us out into this desert to kill ⁸  this whole assembly with hunger!”

Exodus 17:3

17:3 But the people were very thirsty ⁹  there for water, and they murmured against Moses and said, “Why in the world ¹⁰  did you bring us up out of Egypt – to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst?” ¹¹ 

[14:12]  ¹ tn Heb “Is not this the word that we spoke to you.”

[14:12]  ² sn U. Cassuto (Exodus, 164) explains this statement by the people as follows: “The question appears surprising at first, for we have not read previously that such words were spoken to Moses. Nor is the purport of the protest of the Israelite foremen (v 21 [5:21]) identical with that of the words uttered now. However, from a psychological standpoint the matter can be easily explained. In the hour of peril the children of Israel remember that remonstrance, and now it seems to them that it was of a sharper character and flowed from their foresight, and that the present situation justifies it, for death awaits them at this moment in the desert.” This declaration that “we told you so,” born of fright, need not have been strictly accurate or logical.

[14:12]  ³ tn Heb “better for us to serve.”

[14:12]  ⁴ tn Since Hebrew does not use quotation marks to indicate the boundaries of quotations, there is uncertainty about whether the Israelites’ statement in Egypt includes the end of v. 12 or consists solely of “leave us alone so that we can serve the Egyptians.” In either case, the command to Moses to leave them alone rested on the assumption, spoken or unspoken, that serving Egypt would be less risky than what Moses was proposing. Now with the Egyptian army on the horizon, the Israelites are sure that their worst predictions are about to take place.

[16:3]  ⁵ tn The text reads: מִי־יִתֵּן מוּתֵנוּ (mi-yitten mutenu, “who will give our dying”) meaning “If only we had died.” מוּתֵנוּ is the Qal infinitive construct with the suffix. This is one way that Hebrew expresses the optative with an infinitive construct. See R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 91-92, §547.

[16:3]  ⁶ tn The form is a Qal infinitive construct used in a temporal clause, and the verb “when we ate” has the same structure.

[16:3]  ⁷ sn That the complaint leading up to the manna is unjustified can be seen from the record itself. They left Egypt with flocks and herds and very much cattle, and about 45 days later they are complaining that they are without food. Moses reminded them later that they lacked nothing (Deut 3:7; for the whole sermon on this passage, see 8:1-20). Moreover, the complaint is absurd because the food of work gangs was far more meager than they recall. The complaint was really against Moses. They crave the eating of meat and of bread and so God will meet that need; he will send bread from heaven and quail as well.

[16:3]  ⁸ tn לְהָמִית (lÿhamit) is the Hiphil infinitive construct showing purpose. The people do not trust the intentions or the plan of their leaders and charge Moses with bringing everyone out to kill them.

[17:3]  ⁹ tn The verbs and the pronouns in this verse are in the singular because “the people” is singular in form.

[17:3]  ¹⁰ tn The demonstrative pronoun is used as the enclitic form for special emphasis in the question; it literally says, “why is this you have brought us up?” (R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 24, §118).

[17:3]  ¹¹ sn Their words deny God the credit for bringing them out of Egypt, impugn the integrity of Moses and God by accusing them of bringing the people out here to die, and show a lack of faith in God’s ability to provide for them.