Exodus 14:11

11 and said to Moses, In hap sepulchres were not in Egypt, therefore thou hast taken us away, that we shall die in wilderness? what wouldest thou do this, that thou leddest us out of Egypt? (and they said to Moses, Perhaps there were no tombs, or no graves, in Egypt, and so thou hast taken us away, so that now we can die here in this wilderness? why hast thou done this, and led us out of Egypt?)

Exodus 14:11 Meaning and Commentary

Exodus 14:11

And they said unto Moses
The Targum of Jonathan is,

``the ungodly of that generation said unto Moses;''

but it seems rather to be understood of the body of the people in general, and is not to be limited to some particular persons of the worse characters among them:

because there were no graves in Egypt;
as if there had been none, when there were so many; the Egyptians being more solicitous about their graves than their houses, as Diodorus Siculus reports ^F21; thus upbraiding Moses in a sarcastic way for what he had done:

hast thou taken us away to die in the wilderness?
that so there might be room and graves enough to bury them in, for nothing but death was before their eyes:

wherefore hast thou dealt thus with us, to carry us forth out of Egypt?
which was very ungrateful and disingenuous.

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FOOTNOTES:

F21 Bibliothec. l. 1. p. 47.

Exodus 14:11 In-Context

9 And when the Egyptians pursued the steps of the sons of Israel before-going, they found them in tents on the sea; (and) all the chivalry, and [the] chariots of Pharaoh, and all the host were in Pihahiroth, against Baalzephon. (And the Egyptians, yea, all the cavalry, and the chariots, and all of Pharaoh's army, pursued the steps of the Israelites who had gone forth before them; and they found them in their tents by the Red Sea, by Pihahiroth, and east of Baalzephon.)

10 And when Pharaoh had nighed, the sons of Israel raised [up] their eyes, and they saw the Egyptians behind them, and they dreaded greatly (and they greatly feared); and they cried to the Lord,

11 and said to Moses, In hap sepulchres were not in Egypt, therefore thou hast taken us away, that we shall die in wilderness? what wouldest thou do this, that thou leddest us out of Egypt? (and they said to Moses, Perhaps there were no tombs, or no graves, in Egypt, and so thou hast taken us away, so that now we can die here in this wilderness? why hast thou done this, and led us out of Egypt?)

12 Whether this is not the word that we spake to thee in Egypt (Was this not what we said to thee in Egypt), saying, Go away from us, (so) that we (can) serve the Egyptians? for it is much better to serve them, than to die in (the) wilderness.

13 And Moses said to the people, Do not ye dread, stand ye, and see the great works of God, which he shall do today; for ye shall no more see the Egyptians, which ye see now, till into without end; (And Moses said to the people, Do not ye fear, stand ye, and see the great works of God, which he shall do today; for the Egyptians, whom ye now see, soon ye shall never see them again;)