Numbers 17:12

12 And the children of Israel spoke to Moses, saying, Behold, we are cut off, we are destroyed, we are consumed.

Numbers 17:12 Meaning and Commentary

Numbers 17:12

And the children of Israel spake unto Moses
The princes of the tribes, who had seen the miracle of the rod, and knew that it was laid up in the most holy place, and for what purpose, which gave them a sensible concern: these, and as many as were acquainted with it, addressed Moses upon it, as follows:

saying, behold, we die, we perish, we all perish;
which being expressed without the copulative, and in different words, show that they were spoken quick and in haste, and discover the passion of mind and distress they were in, and the sense they had of their sin and danger, fearing they should all die and perish, as many had already; it has respect, as some think, to punishments past and future, so the Targum of Jonathan,

``some of us have been consumed by flaming fire, and others of us have been swallowed up in the earth and are lost, and, lo, we are accounted as if all of us would perish.''

Numbers 17:12 In-Context

10 And the Lord said to Moses, Lay up the rod of Aaron before the testimonies to be kept as a sign for the children of the disobedient; and let their murmuring cease from me, and they shall not die.
11 And Moses and Aaron did as the Lord commanded Moses, so did they.
12 And the children of Israel spoke to Moses, saying, Behold, we are cut off, we are destroyed, we are consumed.
13 Every one that touches the tabernacle of the Lord, dies: shall we die utterly?

The Brenton translation of the Septuagint is in the public domain.