Numbers 20:4
2 Now there was no water for the congregation, so they gathered against Moses and Aaron.
3 The people quarreled with Moses and said, “If only we had perished with our brothers before the LORD!
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!”
6 Then Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly to the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. They fell facedown, and the glory of the LORD appeared to them.
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
- Why have you brought the LORD’s assembly into this wilderness for us and our livestock to die here?
- KJV
- And why have ye brought up the congregation of the LORD into this wilderness, that we and our cattle should die there?
- WEB
- Why have you brought the LORD’s assembly into this wilderness, that we should die there, we and our animals?
- ASV
- And why have ye brought the assembly of Jehovah into this wilderness, that we should die there, we and our beasts?
- DARBY
- And why have ye brought the congregation of Jehovah into this wilderness, that we should die there, we and our beasts?
- BLB
- And why have you⁺ brought up the assembly of YHWH into this wilderness to die here—we and our livestock?
- ÅB
- Hvorfor har dere ført Herrens menighet inn i denne ørken, så vi må dø her, både vi og vår buskap?
- OTB
- Hvorfor har du ført Herrens folk inn i denne ørkenen, hvor vi og vårt buskap risikerer å omkomme?
- B1930
- Hvorfor har I ført Herrens menighet inn i denne ørken, så vi må dø her, både vi og vår buskap?
Study notes (Tyndale)
Original text and word study
Cross references
Exodus 17:3
But the people thirsted for water there, and they grumbled against Moses: “Why have you brought us out of Egypt—to make us and our children and livestock die of thirst?”
Read in contextPsalms 106:21
They forgot God their Savior, who did great things in Egypt,
Read in contextExodus 14:11–12
They said to Moses, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us into the wilderness to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt?
Read in contextNumbers 16:41
The next day the whole congregation of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron, saying, “You have killed the LORD’s people!”
Read in contextNumbers 11:5
We remember the fish we ate freely in Egypt, along with the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, and garlic.
Read in contextNumbers 16:13–14
Is it not enough that you have brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey to kill us in the wilderness? Must you also appoint yourself as ruler over us?
Read in contextActs 7:35
This Moses, whom they had rejected with the words, ‘Who made you ruler and judge?’ is the one whom God sent to be their ruler and redeemer through the angel who appeared to him in the bush.
Read in contextExodus 16:3
“If only we had died by the LORD’s hand in the land of Egypt!” they said. “There we sat by pots of meat and ate our fill of bread, but you have brought us into this desert to starve this whole assembly to death!”
Read in context