Numbers 14:2

2 They complained to Moses and Aaron, "If only we had died in Egypt or this desert!

Numbers 14:2 Meaning and Commentary

Numbers 14:2

And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses, and
against Aaron
They being the instruments of bringing them out of Egypt, and conducting them hither:

and the whole congregation said unto them;
some of them, the rest assenting to it by their cries and tears and gestures;

would God we had died in the land of Egypt;
and then what they left behind they thought might have come into the hands of their children or relations; but now they concluded it would become a prey to the Canaanites:

or would God we had died in this wilderness;
the wilderness of Paran, at Taberah, where many of them had been destroyed by fire, ( Numbers 11:1-3 ) , and now they wish they had perished with them.

Numbers 14:2 In-Context

1 Then all the people in the Israelite community raised their voices and cried out loud all that night.

2 They complained to Moses and Aaron, "If only we had died in Egypt or this desert!

3 Why is the LORD bringing us to this land--just to have us die in battle? Our wives and children will be taken as prisoners of war! Wouldn't it be better for us to go back to Egypt?"

4 They said to each other, "Let's choose a leader and go back to Egypt."

5 Immediately, Moses and Aaron bowed with their faces touching the ground in front of the whole community of Israel assembled there.