Numbers 20:3

Numbers 20:3 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)And the people chode with Moses, and spake, saying, Would God that we had died when our brethren died before the Lord!
• New International Version (NIV)They quarreled with Moses and said, “If only we had died when our brothers fell dead before the Lord!
• English Standard Version (ESV)And the people quarreled with Moses and said, "Would that we had perished when our brothers perished before the Lord!
• New King James Version (NKJV)And the people contended with Moses and spoke, saying: “If only we had died when our brethren died before the Lord!

Context of Numbers 20:3

1Then the sons of Israel, the whole congregation, came to the wilderness of Zin in the first month; and the people stayed at Kadesh. Now Miriam died there and was buried there. 2There was no water for the congregation, and they assembled against Moses and Aaron. Then the people argued with Moses and spoke, saying, “If only we had perished when our brothers perished before the Lord! 4Why then have you brought the Lord’s assembly into this wilderness, for us and our livestock to die here? 5Why did you make us come up from Egypt, to bring us into this wretched place? It is not a place of grain or figs or vines or pomegranates, nor is there water to drink!”

Numbers 20:3 word by word

וַיָּ֥רֶב הָעָ֖ם עִם־מֹשֶׁ֑ה וַיֹּאמְר֣וּ לֵאמֹ֔ר וְל֥וּ גָוַ֛עְנוּ בִּגְוַ֥ע אַחֵ֖ינוּ לִפְנֵ֥י יְהוָֽה׃Read the interlinear

• Then the peopleעַם‛am · peopleH5971
• arguedרִיבrîyb rûb · to contendH7378
• with Mosesמֹשֶׁהmôsheh · MosesH4872
• and spokeאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
• Ifלוּlû' lû' lû · ifH3863
• we had perishedגָּוַעgâva‛ · to dieH1478
• when our brothersאָח'âch · brother: compatriotH251
• beforeפָּנֶהpânîym · face: beforeH6440
• the Lordיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068

Cross-references for Numbers 20:3

• Numbers 14:1Then all the congregation raised their voices and cried out, and the people wept that night.
• Exodus 16:2But the whole congregation of the sons of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness.
• Exodus 17:2So the people quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water so that we may drink!” And Moses said to them, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the Lord?”
• Job 3:10Because it did not shut the opening of my mother’s womb, Or hide trouble from my eyes.
• Numbers 11:1Now the people became like those who complain of adversity in the ears of the Lord; and the Lord heard them and His anger was kindled, and the fire of the Lord burned among them and consumed some at the outskirts of the camp.
• Numbers 14:36As for the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land, and who returned and led all the congregation to grumble against him by bringing a bad report about the land,
• Numbers 16:31And as he finished speaking all these words, the ground that was under them split open;
• Lamentations 4:9Better off are those killed by the sword Than those killed by hunger; For they waste away, stricken By the lack of the produce of the field.

Commentaries on Numbers 20:3

• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 2-6Verses 2-6 The language of the murmurers is noteworthy. It has the air of a traditional remonstrance handed down from the last generation. Compare marginal references.Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 3our brothers: This shows that the Israelites saw themselves as connected to those who had died: Nadab and Abihu (Leviticus 10:1–5), those who died during the first plague after craving meat (Numbers 11:33), the skeptics who died in the wilderness (14:29), the ten unfaithful spies (14:36–37), Korah, Abiram, and Dathan (16:32), the 250 leaders (16:35), and the 14,700 people who died in the second plague (16:49).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 2-132-13. there was no water for the congregation--There was at Kadesh a fountain, En-Mishpat (Ge 14:7), and at the first encampment of the Israelites there was no want of water. It was then either partially dried up by the heat of the season, or had been exhausted by the demands of so vast a multitude.Read the comment

Topics related to Numbers 20:3

• Israel
• Moses
• Murmuring
• Trouble

In the dictionaries

• God
• Moses
• god, false god, goddess, idol, idolater, idolatrous, idolatry
• Exodus
• Meribah
• Refuse
• Aaron
• Agrapha
• Chronicles, Books of
• Chronology of the Old Testament

Commentaries on Numbers 20

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings