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Numbers 20:3

Moses
Discouragement and depressionDoubt

1 In the first month, the whole congregation of Israel entered the Wilderness of Zin and stayed in Kadesh. There Miriam died and was buried.

2 Now there was no water for the congregation, so they gathered against Moses and Aaron.

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

4 Why have you brought the LORD’s assembly into this wilderness for us and our livestock to die here?

5 Why have you led us up out of Egypt to bring us to this wretched place? It is not a place of grain, figs, vines, or pomegranates—and there is no water to drink!”

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Here the Bible tells a story about someone else. Ask yourself what it can say to us today. Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.

Compare

BSB
The people quarreled with Moses and said, “If only we had perished with our brothers before the LORD!
KJV
And the people chode with Moses, and spake, saying, Would God that we had died when our brethren died before the LORD!
WEB
The people quarreled with Moses, and spoke, saying, “We wish that we had died when our brothers died before the LORD!
ASV
And the people strove with Moses, and spake, saying, Would that we had died when our brethren died before Jehovah!
DARBY
And the people contended with Moses, and spoke, saying, Would that we had died when our brethren died before Jehovah!
BLB
And the people contended with Moses and spoke, saying, “And if only we had utterly perished [with] our brothers before the face of YHWH!
ÅB
Og folket kivedes med Moses og sa: Å, at vi var omkommet dengang våre brødre omkom for Herrens åsyn!
OTB
Folket trettet med Moses og sa: “Om vi bare hadde omkommet da våre brødre omkom for Herrens åsyn!
B1930
Og folket kivedes med Moses og sa: Å, at vi var omkommet dengang våre brødre omkom for Herrens åsyn!

Study notes (Tyndale)

Original text and word study

Cross references

  • 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?”

    Read in context

  • Numbers 16:31–35

    As soon as Moses had finished saying all this, the ground beneath them split open,

    Read in context

  • Numbers 14:1–2

    Then the whole congregation lifted up their voices and cried out, and that night the people wept.

    Read in context

  • Exodus 16:2–3

    And there in the desert they all grumbled against Moses and Aaron.

    Read in context

  • 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.

    Read in context

  • Numbers 16:49

    But those who died from the plague numbered 14,700, in addition to those who had died on account of Korah.

    Read in context

  • 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.

    Read in context

  • Job 3:10–11

    For that night did not shut the doors of the womb to hide the sorrow from my eyes.

    Read in context