New International Version
Numbers 20:4
4Why did you bring the Lord’s community into this wilderness, that we and our livestock should die here?
Numbers 20:4 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)And why have ye brought up the congregation of the Lord into this wilderness, that we and our cattle should die there?
- English Standard Version (ESV)Why have you brought the assembly of the Lord into this wilderness, that we should die here, both we and our cattle?
- New King James Version (NKJV)Why have you brought up the assembly of the Lord into this wilderness, that we and our animals should die here?
- New Living Translation (NLT)Why have you brought the congregation of the Lord’s people into this wilderness to die, along with all our livestock?
Context of Numbers 20:4
2Now there was no water for the community, and the people gathered in opposition to Moses and Aaron. 3They quarreled with Moses and said, “If only we had died when our brothers fell dead before the Lord! Why did you bring the Lord’s community into this wilderness, that we and our livestock should die here? 5Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to this terrible place? It has no grain or figs, grapevines or pomegranates. And there is no water to drink!” 6Moses and Aaron went from the assembly to the entrance to the tent of meeting and fell facedown, and the glory of the Lord appeared to them.
Read all of Numbers 20Numbers 20:4 word by word
וְלָמָ֤ה הֲבֵאתֶם֙ אֶת־קְהַ֣ל יְהוָ֔ה אֶל־הַמִּדְבָּ֖ר הַזֶּ֑ה לָמ֣וּת שָׁ֔ם אֲנַ֖חְנוּ וּבְעִירֵֽנוּ׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Numbers 20:4
- Numbers 11:5We remember the fish we ate in Egypt at no cost—also the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions and garlic.
- Exodus 5:21and they said, “May the Lord look on you and judge you! You have made us obnoxious to Pharaoh and his officials and have put a sword in their hand to kill us.”
- Exodus 17:3But the people were thirsty for water there, and they grumbled against Moses. They said, “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to make us and our children and livestock die of thirst?”
- Psalms 106:21They forgot the God who saved them, who had done great things in Egypt,
- Acts 7:35“This is the same Moses they had rejected with the words, ‘Who made you ruler and judge?’ He was sent to be their ruler and deliverer by God himself, through the angel who appeared to him in the bush.
- Numbers 16:13Isn’t it enough that you have brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey to kill us in the wilderness? And now you also want to lord it over us!
- Exodus 14:11They said to Moses, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt?
- Exodus 16:3The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the Lord’s hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death.”
Commentaries on Numbers 20:4
- 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. 2-13The people of Israel complained again about not having water and food (compare 11:4–35; 21:4–5; Exodus 15:22–25). So, Moses and Aaron disobeyed the Lord. As a result, they lost the privilege of entering the promised land.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 20:4
In the dictionaries
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
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