Exodus 15:24

15:24 So the people murmured ¹  against Moses, saying, “What can ²  we drink?”

Exodus 16:2-9

16:2 The entire company ³  of Israelites murmured against Moses and Aaron in the desert. 16:3 The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died ⁴  by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by ⁵  the pots of meat, when we ate bread to the full, ⁶  for you have brought us out into this desert to kill ⁷  this whole assembly with hunger!”

16:4 Then the Lord said to Moses, “I am going to rain ⁸  bread from heaven for you, and the people will go out ⁹  and gather the amount for each day, so that I may test them. ¹⁰  Will they will walk in my law ¹¹  or not? 16:5 On the sixth day ¹²  they will prepare what they bring in, and it will be twice as much as they gather every other day.” ¹³ 

16:6 Moses and Aaron said to all the Israelites, “In the evening ¹⁴  you will know that the Lord has brought you out of the land of Egypt, 16:7 and in the morning you will see ¹⁵  the glory of the Lord, because he has heard ¹⁶  your murmurings against the Lord. As for us, what are we, ¹⁷  that you should murmur against us?”

16:8 Moses said, “You will know this ¹⁸  when the Lord gives you ¹⁹  meat to eat in the evening and bread in the morning to satisfy you, because the Lord has heard your murmurings that you are murmuring against him. As for us, what are we? ²⁰  Your murmurings are not against us, ²¹  but against the Lord.”

16:9 Then Moses said to Aaron, “Tell the whole community ²²  of the Israelites, ‘Come ²³  before the Lord, because he has heard your murmurings.’”

Exodus 17:2-3

17:2 So the people contended ²⁴  with Moses, and they said, “Give us water to drink!” ²⁵  Moses said to them, “Why do you contend ²⁶  with me? Why do you test ²⁷  the Lord?” 17:3 But the people were very thirsty ²⁸  there for water, and they murmured against Moses and said, “Why in the world ²⁹  did you bring us up out of Egypt – to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst?” ³⁰ 

Numbers 14:2

14:2 And all the Israelites murmured ³¹  against Moses and Aaron, and the whole congregation said to them, “If only we had died ³²  in the land of Egypt, or if only we had perished ³³  in this wilderness!

Numbers 14:27-30

14:27 “How long must I bear ³⁴  with this evil congregation ³⁵  that murmurs against me? I have heard the complaints of the Israelites that they murmured against me. 14:28 Say to them, ‘As I live, ³⁶  says ³⁷  the Lord, I will surely do to you just what you have spoken in my hearing. ³⁸  14:29 Your dead bodies ³⁹  will fall in this wilderness – all those of you who were numbered, according to your full number, from twenty years old and upward, who have murmured against me. 14:30 You will by no means enter into the land where ⁴⁰  I swore ⁴¹  to settle ⁴²  you. The only exceptions are Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun.

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!” ⁴³ 

Psalms 106:25

106:25 They grumbled in their tents; ⁴⁴ 

they did not obey ⁴⁵  the Lord.

Philippians 2:14

2:14 Do everything without grumbling or arguing,

Jude 1:16

1:16 These people are grumblers and ⁴⁶  fault-finders who go ⁴⁷  wherever their desires lead them, ⁴⁸  and they give bombastic speeches, ⁴⁹  enchanting folks ⁵⁰  for their own gain. ⁵¹ 

[15:24]  ¹ tn The verb וַיִּלֹנוּ (vayyillonu) from לוּן (lun) is a much stronger word than “to grumble” or “to complain.” It is used almost exclusively in the wilderness wandering stories, to describe the rebellion of the Israelites against God (see also Ps 59:14-15). They were not merely complaining – they were questioning God’s abilities and motives. The action is something like a parliamentary vote of no confidence.

[15:24]  ² tn The imperfect tense here should be given a potential nuance: “What can we drink?” since the previous verse reports that they were not able to drink the water.

[16:2]  ³ tn Or “community” or “assembly.”

[16:3]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ 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.

[16:4]  ⁸ tn The particle הִנְנִי (hinni) before the active participle indicates the imminent future action: “I am about to rain.”

[16:4]  ⁹ tn This verb and the next are the Qal perfect tenses with vav (ו) consecutives; they follow the sequence of the participle, and so are future in orientation. The force here is instruction – “they will go out” or “they are to go out.”

[16:4]  ¹⁰ tn The verb in the purpose/result clause is the Piel imperfect of נָסָה (nasah), אֲנַסֶּנוּ (’anassenu) – “in order that I may prove them [him].” The giving of the manna will be a test of their obedience to the detailed instructions of God as well as being a test of their faith in him (if they believe him they will not gather too much). In chap. 17 the people will test God, showing that they do not trust him.

[16:4]  ¹¹ sn The word “law” here properly means “direction” at this point (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 146), but their obedience here would indicate also whether or not they would be willing to obey when the Law was given at Sinai.

[16:5]  ¹² tn Heb “and it will be on the sixth day.”

[16:5]  ¹³ sn There is a question here concerning the legislation – the people were not told why to gather twice as much on the sixth day. In other words, this instruction seems to presume that they knew about the Sabbath law. That law will be included in this chapter in a number of ways, suggesting to some scholars that this chapter is out of chronological order, placed here for a purpose. Some argue that the manna episode comes after the revelation at Sinai. But it is not necessary to take such a view. God had established the Sabbath in the creation, and if Moses has been expounding the Genesis traditions in his teachings then they would have known about that.

[16:6]  ¹⁴ tn The text simply has “evening, and you will know.” Gesenius notes that the perfect tense with the vav consecutive occurs as the apodosis to temporal clauses or their equivalents. Here the first word implies the idea “[when it becomes] evening” or simply “[in the] evening” (GKC 337-38 §112.oo).

[16:7]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “morning, and you will see.”

[16:7]  ¹⁶ tn The form is a Qal infinitive construct with a preposition and a suffix. It forms an adverbial clause, usually of time, but here a causal clause.

[16:7]  ¹⁷ tn The words “as for us” attempt to convey the force of the Hebrew word order, which puts emphasis on the pronoun: “and we – what?” The implied answer to the question is that Moses and Aaron are nothing, merely the messengers. The next verse repeats the question to further press the seriousness of what the Israelites are doing.

[16:8]  ¹⁸ tn “You will know this” has been added to make the line smooth. Because of the abruptness of the lines in the verse, and the repetition with v. 7, B. S. Childs (Exodus [OTL], 273) thinks that v. 8 is merely a repetition by scribal error – even though the versions render it as the MT has it. But B. Jacob (Exodus, 447) suggests that the contrast with vv. 6 and 7 is important for another reason – there Moses and Aaron speak, and it is smooth and effective, but here only Moses speaks, and it is labored and clumsy. “We should realize that Moses had properly claimed to be no public speaker.”

[16:8]  ¹⁹ tn Here again is an infinitive construct with the preposition forming a temporal clause.

[16:8]  ²⁰ tn The words “as for us” attempt to convey the force of the Hebrew word order, which puts emphasis on the pronoun: “and we – what?” The implied answer to the question is that Moses and Aaron are nothing, merely the messengers.

[16:8]  ²¹ tn The word order is “not against us [are] your murmurings.”

[16:9]  ²² tn Or “congregation” (KJV, ASV, NASB, NRSV); the same word occurs in v. 10.

[16:9]  ²³ tn The verb means “approach, draw near.” It is used in the Torah of drawing near for religious purposes. It is possible that some sacrifice was involved here, but no mention is made of that.

[17:2]  ²⁴ tn The verb וַיָּרֶב (vayyarev) is from the root רִיב (riv); it forms the basis of the name “Meribah.” The word means “strive, quarrel, be in contention” and even “litigation.” A translation “quarrel” does not appear to capture the magnitude of what is being done here. The people have a legal dispute – they are contending with Moses as if bringing a lawsuit.

[17:2]  ²⁵ tn The imperfect tense with the vav (ו) follows the imperative, and so it carries the nuance of the logical sequence, showing purpose or result. This may be expressed in English as “give us water so that we may drink,” but more simply with the English infinitive, “give us water to drink.”

[17:2]  ²⁶ tn In this case and in the next clause the imperfect tenses are to be taken as progressive imperfects – the action is in progress.

[17:2]  ²⁷ tn The verb נָסָה (nasah) means “to test, tempt, try, prove.” It can be used of people simply trying to do something that they are not sure of (such as David trying on Saul’s armor), or of God testing people to see if they will obey (as in testing Abraham, Gen 22:1), or of people challenging others (as in the Queen of Sheba coming to test Solomon), and of the people in the desert in rebellion putting God to the test. By doubting that God was truly in their midst, and demanding that he demonstrate his presence, they tested him to see if he would act. There are times when “proving” God is correct and required, but that is done by faith (as with Gideon); when it is done out of unbelief, then it is an act of disloyalty.

[17:3]  ²⁸ tn The verbs and the pronouns in this verse are in the singular because “the people” is singular in form.

[17:3]  ²⁹ 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]  ³⁰ 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.

[14:2]  ³¹ 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.

[14:2]  ³² 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.

[14:2]  ³³ tn Heb “died.”

[14:27]  ³⁴ tn The figure is aposiopesis, or sudden silence. The main verb is deleted from the line, “how long…this evil community.” The intensity of the emotion is the reason for the ellipsis.

[14:27]  ³⁵ sn It is worth mentioning in passing that this is one of the Rabbinic proof texts for having at least ten men to form a congregation and have prayer. If God called ten men (the bad spies) a “congregation,” then a congregation must have ten men. But here the word “community/congregation” refers in this context to the people of Israel as a whole, not just to the ten spies.

[14:28]  ³⁶ sn Here again is the oath that God swore in his wrath, an oath he swore by himself, that they would not enter the land. “As the Lord lives,” or “by the life of the Lord,” are ways to render it.

[14:28]  ³⁷ tn The word נְאֻם (nÿ’um) is an “oracle.” It is followed by the subjective genitive: “the oracle of the Lord” is equal to saying “the Lord says.”

[14:28]  ³⁸ tn Heb “in my ears.”

[14:29]  ³⁹ tn Or “your corpses” (also in vv. 32, 33).

[14:30]  ⁴⁰ tn The relative pronoun “which” is joined with the resumptive pronoun “in it” to form a smoother reading “where.”

[14:30]  ⁴¹ tn The Hebrew text uses the anthropomorphic expression “I raised my hand” in taking an oath.

[14:30]  ⁴² tn Heb “to cause you to dwell; to cause you to settle.”

[16:41]  ⁴³ 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.

[106:25]  ⁴⁴ sn They grumbled in their tents. See Deut 1:27.

[106:25]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “did not listen to the voice of.”

[1:16]  ⁴⁶ tn “And” is not in Greek, but is supplied for the sake of English style.

[1:16]  ⁴⁷ tn Or “going.” Though the participle is anarthrous, so also is the subject. Thus, the participle could be either adverbial or adjectival.

[1:16]  ⁴⁸ tn Grk “(who go/going) according to their own lusts.”

[1:16]  ⁴⁹ tn Grk “and their mouth speaks bombastic things.”

[1:16]  ⁵⁰ sn Enchanting folks (Grk “awing faces”) refers to the fact that the speeches of these false teachers are powerful and seductive.

[1:16]  ⁵¹ tn Or “to their own advantage.”