Exodus 16:3

King James Version with Strong's Numbers

And the children of Israel said unto them, Would to God we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh pots, and when we did eat bread to the full; for ye have brought us forth into this wilderness, to kill this whole assembly with hunger.

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

וַיֹּאמְר֨וּ אֲלֵהֶ֜ם בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֗ל מִֽי־יִתֵּ֨ן מוּתֵ֤נוּ בְיַד־יְהוָה֙ בְּאֶ֣רֶץ מִצְרַ֔יִם בְּשִׁבְתֵּ֙נוּ֙ עַל־סִ֣יר הַבָּשָׂ֔ר בְּאָכְלֵ֥נוּ לֶ֖חֶם לָשֹׂ֑בַע כִּֽי־הוֹצֵאתֶ֤ם אֹתָ֙נוּ֙ אֶל־הַמִּדְבָּ֣ר הַזֶּ֔ה לְהָמִ֛ית אֶת־כָּל־הַקָּהָ֥ל הַזֶּ֖ה בָּרָעָֽב

Transliteration

wə-yōʾmərû to-them bənê yiśrāʾēl mî-yittēn mûtēnû by-hand-of-YHWH in-ʾereṣ miṣrayim in-šibtēnû by-sîr ha-bāśār in-ʾoklēnû leḥem lāśōba' for-hôṣēʾtem us to-the-midbār the-this to-hāmît all-the-qāhāl the-this in-the-rā'āb

Grammar Details

• *wə-yōʾmərû*: waw consecutive + qal imperfect 3rd masculine plural - and they said
• *mî-yittēn*: interrogative pronoun + qal imperfect 3rd masculine singular - who would give/if only
• *mûtēnû*: qal infinitive construct + 1st plural suffix - our dying
• *šibtēnû*: qal infinitive construct + 1st plural suffix - our sitting
• *ʾoklēnû*: qal infinitive construct + 1st plural suffix - our eating
• *hôṣēʾtem*: hiphil perfect 2nd masculine plural - you have brought out
• *hāmît*: hiphil infinitive construct - to cause to die/to kill
• *rā'āb*: masculine singular - hunger/famine

Word Meanings

• *mî-yittēn*: who would give/if only/would that
• *sîr ha-bāśār*: pot of meat/flesh pot
• *leḥem*: bread/food
• *lāśōba'*: to satisfaction/to fullness
• *hôṣēʾtem*: you brought out/led out
• *hāmît*: to kill/to cause to die
• *qāhāl*: assembly/congregation/community
• *rā'āb*: hunger/famine/starvation

Referenced Verses

• Lam 4:9 : 9 They that be slain with the sword are better than they that be slain with hunger: for these pine away, stricken through for want of the fruits of the field.
• Exod 17:3 : 3 And the people thirsted there for water; and the people murmured against Moses, and said, Wherefore is this that thou hast brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst?
• Num 11:4-5 : 4 And the mixt multitude that was among them fell a lusting: and the children of Israel also wept again, and said, Who shall give us flesh to eat? 5 We remember the fish, which we did eat in Egypt freely; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlick:
• Num 20:3-5 : 3 And the people chode with Moses, and spake, saying, Would God that we had died when our brethren died before the LORD! 4 And why have ye brought up the congregation of the LORD into this wilderness, that we and our cattle should die there? 5 And wherefore have ye made us to come up out of Egypt, to bring us in unto this evil place? it is no place of seed, or of figs, or of vines, or of pomegranates; neither is there any water to drink.
• Num 14:2 : 2 And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron: and the whole congregation said unto them, Would God that we had died in the land of Egypt! or would God we had died in this wilderness!
• Num 16:13 : 13 Is it a small thing that thou hast brought us up out of a land that floweth with milk and honey, to kill us in the wilderness, except thou make thyself altogether a prince over us?
• Num 16:41 : 41 But on the morrow all the congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron, saying, Ye have killed the people of the LORD.
• Deut 8:3 : 3 And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live.
• Deut 28:67 : 67 In the morning thou shalt say, Would God it were even! and at even thou shalt say, Would God it were morning! for the fear of thine heart wherewith thou shalt fear, and for the sight of thine eyes which thou shalt see.
• Josh 7:7 : 7 And Joshua said, Alas, O Lord GOD, wherefore hast thou at all brought this people over Jordan, to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us? would to God we had been content, and dwelt on the other side Jordan!
• 2 Sam 18:33 : 33 And the king was much moved, and went up to the chamber over the gate, and wept: and as he went, thus he said, O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! would God I had died for thee, O Absalom, my son, my son!
• Job 3:1 : 1 After this opened Job his mouth, and cursed his day.
• Job 3:10 : 10 Because it shut not up the doors of my mother's womb, nor hid sorrow from mine eyes.
• Job 3:20 : 20 Wherefore is light given to him that is in misery, and life unto the bitter in soul;
• Jer 2:6 : 6 Neither said they, Where is the LORD that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, that led us through the wilderness, through a land of deserts and of pits, through a land of drought, and of the shadow of death, through a land that no man passed through, and where no man dwelt?
• Jer 20:14-18 : 14 Cursed be the day wherein I was born: let not the day wherein my mother bare me be blessed. 15 Cursed be the man who brought tidings to my father, saying, A man child is born unto thee; making him very glad. 16 And let that man be as the cities which the LORD overthrew, and repented not: and let him hear the cry in the morning, and the shouting at noontide; 17 Because he slew me not from the womb; or that my mother might have been my grave, and her womb to be always great with me. 18 Wherefore came I forth out of the womb to see labour and sorrow, that my days should be consumed with shame?
• Num 11:15 : 15 And if thou deal thus with me, kill me, I pray thee, out of hand, if I have found favour in thy sight; and let me not see my wretchedness.
• Exod 2:23 : 23 And it came to pass in process of time, that the king of Egypt died: and the children of Israel sighed by reason of the bondage, and they cried, and their cry came up unto God by reason of the bondage.
• Exod 5:21 : 21 And they said unto them, The LORD look upon you, and judge; because ye have made our savour to be abhorred in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to slay us.
• Jonah 4:8-9 : 8 And it came to pass, when the sun did arise, that God prepared a vehement east wind; and the sun beat upon the head of Jonah, that he fainted, and wished in himself to die, and said, It is better for me to die than to live. 9 And God said to Jonah, Doest thou well to be angry for the gourd? And he said, I do well to be angry, even unto death.
• Acts 26:29 : 29 And Paul said, I would to God, that not only thou, but also all that hear me this day, were both almost, and altogether such as I am, except these bonds.
• 1 Cor 4:8 : 8 Now ye are full, now ye are rich, ye have reigned as kings without us: and I would to God ye did reign, that we also might reign with you.
• 2 Cor 11:1 : 1 Would to God ye could bear with me a little in my folly: and indeed bear with me.