Numbers 14:2

KJV1611 – Modern English

And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron: and the whole congregation said to them, Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! or would that we had died in this wilderness!

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

וַיִּלֹּ֙נוּ֙ עַל־מֹשֶׁ֣ה וְעַֽל־אַהֲרֹ֔ן כֹּ֖ל בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל וַֽיֹּאמְר֨וּ אֲלֵהֶ֜ם כָּל־הָעֵדָ֗ה לוּ־מַ֙תְנוּ֙ בְּאֶ֣רֶץ מִצְרַ֔יִם א֛וֹ בַּמִּדְבָּ֥ר הַזֶּ֖ה לוּ־מָֽתְנוּ׃

Transliteration

And wayyillōnû against mōšeh and against ʾahărōn all bĕnê yiśrāʾēl and wayyōʾmĕrû to them all the hāʿēdâ if only matnû in ʾereṣ miṣrayim or in the miḏbār the this if only mātnû.

Grammar Details

• *wayyillōnû*: niphal imperfect consecutive, 3rd plural - and they murmured/grumbled
• *mōšeh*: proper noun - Moses
• *ʾahărōn*: proper noun - Aaron
• *bĕnê*: masculine plural construct - sons of
• *yiśrāʾēl*: proper noun - Israel
• *wayyōʾmĕrû*: qal imperfect consecutive, 3rd plural - and they said
• *hāʿēdâ*: feminine singular noun with definite article - the congregation
• *matnû*: qal perfect, 1st plural - we had died
• *ʾereṣ*: feminine singular construct - land of
• *miṣrayim*: proper noun - Egypt
• *miḏbār*: masculine singular noun with definite article - the wilderness
• *mātnû*: qal perfect, 1st plural - we had died

Word Meanings

• *wayyillōnû*: murmured/grumbled/complained
• *bĕnê*: sons/children/descendants
• *hāʿēdâ*: congregation/assembly/community
• *matnû*: died/perished
• *ʾereṣ*: land/country/territory
• *miḏbār*: wilderness/desert/uncultivated land

Other Translations

• Linguistic Bible Translation from Source Texts

  All the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron, and the whole community said to them, "If only we had died in Egypt or in this wilderness!

• King James Version 1769 (Standard Version)

  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!

• American Standard Version with Strong's Numbers

  And all the children{H1121} of Israel{H3478} murmured{H3885} against Moses{H4872} and against Aaron:{H175} and the whole congregation{H5712} said{H559} unto them, Would{H3863} that we had died{H4191} in the land{H776} of Egypt!{H4714} or would{H3863} that we had died{H4191} in this wilderness!{H4057}

• King James Version with Strong's Numbers

  And all the children{H1121} of Israel{H3478} murmured{H3885}{(H8735)} against Moses{H4872} and against Aaron{H175}: and the whole congregation{H5712} said{H559}{(H8799)} unto them, Would God{H3863} that we had died{H4191}{(H8804)} in the land{H776} of Egypt{H4714}! or would God{H3863} we had died{H4191}{(H8804)} in this wilderness{H4057}!

• Tyndale Bible (1526/1534)

  and all the childern of Ysrael murmured agenst Moses and Aaron. And the hole congregacion sayed vnto them: wolde god that we had dyed in the lond of Egipte ether we wolde that we had dyed in thys wildernesse.

• Coverdale Bible (1535)

  And all the childre of Israel murmured agaynst Moses and Aaron, and the whole congregacion sayde vnto them: Oh that we had dyed in the lande of Egipte, or that we might dye yet in this wyldernesse.

• Geneva Bible (1560)

  And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron: and the whole assemblie said vnto them, Would God we had died in the land of Egypt, or in this wildernesse: would God we were dead.

• Bishops' Bible (1568)

  And all the chyldren of Israel murmured agaynst Moyses and Aaron, and the whole congregation sayde vnto them: Woulde God that we had dyed in the lande of Egypt, either that we had dyed in this wyldernesse.

• Authorized King James Version (1611)

  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!

• Webster's Bible (1833)

  All the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron: and the whole congregation said to them, Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! or would that we had died in this wilderness!

• Young's Literal Translation (1862/1898)

  and all the sons of Israel murmur against Moses, and against Aaron, and all the company say unto them, `O that we had died in the land of Egypt, or in this wilderness, O that we had died!

• American Standard Version (1901)

  And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron: and the whole congregation said unto them, Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! or would that we had died in this wilderness!

• American Standard Version (1901)

  And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron: and the whole congregation said unto them, Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! or would that we had died in this wilderness!

• Bible in Basic English (1941)

  And all the children of Israel, crying out against Moses and Aaron, said, If only we had come to our death in the land of Egypt, or even in this waste land!

• World English Bible (2000)

  All the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron: and the whole congregation said to them, "Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! or would that we had died in this wilderness!

• NET Bible® (New English Translation)

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

Referenced Verses

• Num 16:41 : 41 But on the next day all the congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron, saying, You have killed the people of the LORD.
• Exod 15:24 : 24 And the people murmured against Moses, saying, What shall we drink?
• 1 Cor 10:10 : 10 Do not complain, as some of them also complained, and were destroyed by the destroyer.
• Phil 2:14-15 : 14 Do all things without complaining and disputing: 15 That you may be blameless and harmless, children of God, without fault, in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world;
• Jude 1:16 : 16 These are grumblers, complainers, walking according to their own lusts; and they mouth great swelling words, flattering people to gain advantage.
• Ps 106:24 : 24 Yes, they despised the pleasant land, they did not believe his word.
• Exod 17:3 : 3 And the people were thirsty there for water; and the people grumbled against Moses, and said, Why have you brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst?
• Num 11:1 : 1 And when the people complained, it displeased the LORD; and the LORD heard it; and His anger was kindled, and the fire of the LORD burned among them, and consumed those who were in the outermost parts of the camp.
• Num 11:15 : 15 And if You deal thus with me, kill me, I pray You, out of hand, if I have found favor in Your sight; and let me not see my wretchedness.
• Num 14:27-29 : 27 How long shall I bear with this evil congregation, which murmurs against me? I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel, which they murmur against me. 28 Say to them, As truly as I live, says the LORD, as you have spoken in my ears, so will I do to you: 29 Your carcasses shall fall in this wilderness; and all that were numbered of you, according to your whole number, from twenty years old and upward, who have murmured against me,
• Deut 1:27 : 27 And you murmured in your tents, and said, Because the LORD hates us, He has brought us out of the land of Egypt, to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us.
• 1 Kgs 19:4 : 4 But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree, and he requested for himself that he might die, and said, It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life, for I am not better than my ancestors.
• Job 3:11 : 11 Why did I not die from the womb? Why did I not expire when I came out of the belly?
• Job 7:15-16 : 15 so that my soul chooses strangling, and death rather than my life. 16 I loathe it; I would not live forever. Leave me alone, for my days are vanity.
• Ps 106:45 : 45 And he remembered for them his covenant, and relented according to the multitude of his mercies.
• Jonah 4:3 : 3 Therefore now, O LORD, take, I beg you, my life from me; for it is better for me to die than to live.
• Jonah 4:8 : 8 And it happened, when the sun arose, that God prepared a scorching east wind; and the sun beat upon the head of Jonah, so that he fainted and wished to die, and said, It is better for me to die than to live.
• Exod 16:2-3 : 2 And the whole congregation of the children of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. 3 And the children of Israel said to them, If only we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pots of meat, and when we ate bread to the full; for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.