Numbers 20:3

Translations

Modern

The people quarreled with Moses and said, “If only we had perished with our brothers before the LORD!

Traditional

And the people chode with Moses, and spake, saying, Would God that we had died when our brethren died before the Lord!

Literal

And the people contended with Moses and spoke, saying, “And if only we had utterly perished with our brothers before the face of YHWH!

Latin

…et versi in seditionem, dixerunt: Utinam periissemus inter fratres nostros coram Domino.

Original

Hebrew

English

The people quarreled with Moses and said, “If only we had perished with our brothers before the LORD!

Notes

Numbers 20:3

our brothers: This shows that the Israelites saw themselves as connected to those who had died:

Nadab and Abihu (Leviticus 10:1–5),
those who died during the first plague after craving meat (Numbers 11:33),
the skeptics who died in the wilderness (14:29),
the ten unfaithful spies (14:36–37),
Korah, Abiram, and Dathan (16:32),
the 250 leaders (16:35), and
the 14,700 people who died in the second plague (16:49).

Numbers 20:2–13

The people of Israel complained again about not having water and food (compare 11:4–35; 21:4–5; Exodus 15:22–25). So, Moses and Aaron disobeyed the Lord. As a result, they lost the privilege of entering the promised land.

Theme notes and profiles

Aaron Eleazar Moses

Related verses

Exodus 17:2
So the people contended with Moses, “Give us water to drink.” “Why do you contend with me?” Moses replied. “Why do you test the LORD?”
Numbers 16:31–35
As soon as Moses had finished saying all this, the ground beneath them split open,
Numbers 14:1–2
Then the whole congregation lifted up their voices and cried out, and that night the people wept.
Numbers 11:1
Soon the people began to complain about their hardship in the hearing of the LORD, and when He heard them, His anger was kindled, and fire from the LORD blazed among them and consumed the outskirts of the camp.
Numbers 16:49
But those who died from the plague numbered 14,700, in addition to those who had died on account of Korah.
Exodus 16:2–3
And there in the desert the whole congregation of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron.
Numbers 11:33–34
But while the meat was still between their teeth, before it was chewed, the anger of the LORD burned against the people, and the LORD struck them with a severe plague.
Lamentations 4:9
Those slain by the sword are better off than those who die of hunger, who waste away, pierced with pain because the fields lack produce.
Numbers 14:36–37
So the men Moses had sent to spy out the land, who had returned and made the whole congregation grumble against him by bringing out a bad report about the land—
Job 3:10–11
For that night did not shut the doors of the womb to hide the sorrow from my eyes.

Parallels

Exodus 17:1–7

People

Moses: Prophet who led Israel out of Egypt

Glossary

Aaron Deuteronomy, Book of Kadesh, Kadesh-Barnea Numbers, Book of Wilderness of Zin Wilderness Wanderings

Topics

Israel: Complain for Lack of Water in Meribah; the Rock is Struck Journey of Israel Through The Desert: To Kadesh in the Wilderness of Zin: Second Murmuring for Water Moses: People Complain Against Moses and Aaron Murmuring of Israelites Against Moses Murmuring: Israelites Rebellion Against God: Exhibited in Murmuring Against Him Rocks: Meribah in Kadesh Trouble: About Water

Numbers 20:3

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