Bamidbar 20:5

5 And why have ye made us to come up out of Mitzrayim, to bring us in unto this evil place? It is no place of zera (grain), or of te’enah (fig), or of gefen (grapevine), or of pomegranates; neither is there any mayim to drink.

Bamidbar 20:5 Meaning and Commentary

Numbers 20:5

And wherefore have ye made us to come up out of Egypt
They represent that affair in such a light, as if they were forced out of Egypt by Moses and Aaron against their wills; or at least were overpersuaded by them to do what they had no inclination to, namely, to come out of Egypt; though they were in the utmost bondage and slavery, and their lives were made bitter by it, and they cried by reason of their oppression, and the hardships they endured; but this was all forgot. Aben Ezra says, it is a strange word which is here used, which shows the confusion they were in:

to bring us unto this evil place;
dry and barren, where there were neither food nor drink, as follows:

it is no place of seed;
or fit for sowing, as the Targum of Jonathan, any sort of seed, as wheat, barley, rye, rice

or of figs, or vines, or pomegranates;
it is not a soil fit to plant such trees in, nor would they grow were they planted:

neither is there any water to drink;
for them and their cattle, and therefore must be a miserable place for so large a body of people to subsist in.

Bamidbar 20:5 In-Context

3 And the people contended with Moshe, and spoke, saying, If only we had died when our brethren died before Hashem!
4 And why have ye brought up the Kahal Hashem into this midbar, that we and our livestock should die here?
5 And why have ye made us to come up out of Mitzrayim, to bring us in unto this evil place? It is no place of zera (grain), or of te’enah (fig), or of gefen (grapevine), or of pomegranates; neither is there any mayim to drink.
6 And Moshe and Aharon went from the presence of the Kahal unto the entrance of the Ohel Mo’ed, and they fell upon their faces; and the kavod Hashem appeared unto them.
7 And Hashem spoke unto Moshe, saying,
The Orthodox Jewish Bible fourth edition, OJB. Copyright 2002,2003,2008,2010, 2011 by Artists for Israel International. All rights reserved.