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Exodus 14:11
New English Translation
Exodus 14:11
New English Translation
11 and they said to Moses, “Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the desert?[a] What in the world[b] have you done to us by bringing[c] us out of Egypt?
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- Exodus 14:11 sn B. Jacob (Exodus, 396-97) notes how the speech is overly dramatic and came from a people given to using such exaggerations (Num 16:14), even using a double negative. The challenge to Moses brings a double irony. To die in the desert would be without proper burial, but in Egypt there were graves—it was a land of tombs and graves! Gesenius notes that two negatives in the sentence do not nullify each other but make the sentence all the more emphatic: “Is it because there were no graves…?” (GKC 483 §152.y).
- Exodus 14:11 tn The demonstrative pronoun has the enclitic use again, giving a special emphasis to the question (R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 24, §118).
- Exodus 14:11 tn The Hebrew term לְהוֹצִּיאָנוּ (lehotsiʾanu) is the Hiphil infinitive construct with a suffix, “to bring us out.” It is used epexegetically here, explaining the previous question.
Exodus 14:12
New English Translation
Exodus 14:12
New English Translation
12 Isn’t this what we told you[a] in Egypt, ‘Leave us alone so that we can serve the Egyptians,[b] because it is better for us to serve[c] the Egyptians than to die in the desert!’”[d]
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- Exodus 14:12 tn Heb “Is not this the word that we spoke to you.”
- Exodus 14:12 sn U. Cassuto (Exodus, 164) explains this statement by the people as follows: “The question appears surprising at first, for we have not read previously that such words were spoken to Moses. Nor is the purport of the protest of the Israelite foremen (v 21 [5:21]) identical with that of the words uttered now. However, from a psychological standpoint the matter can be easily explained. In the hour of peril the children of Israel remember that remonstrance, and now it seems to them that it was of a sharper character and flowed from their foresight, and that the present situation justifies it, for death awaits them at this moment in the desert.” This declaration that “we told you so,” born of fright, need not have been strictly accurate or logical.
- Exodus 14:12 tn Heb “better for us to serve.”
- Exodus 14:12 tn Since Hebrew does not use quotation marks to indicate the boundaries of quotations, there is uncertainty about whether the Israelites’ statement in Egypt includes the end of v. 12 or consists solely of “leave us alone so that we can serve the Egyptians.” In either case, the command to Moses to leave them alone rested on the assumption, spoken or unspoken, that serving Egypt would be less risky than what Moses was proposing. Now with the Egyptian army on the horizon, the Israelites are sure that their worst predictions are about to take place.
Exodus 16:3
New English Translation
Exodus 16:3
New English Translation
3 The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died[a] by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by[b] the pots of meat, when we ate bread to the full,[c] for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill[d] this whole assembly with hunger!”
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- Exodus 16:3 tn The text reads: מִי־יִתֵּן מוּתֵנוּ (mi yitten mutenu, “who will give our dying”) meaning “If only we had died.” מוּתֵנוּ is the Qal infinitive construct with the suffix. This is one way that Hebrew expresses the optative with an infinitive construct. See R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 91-92, §547.
- Exodus 16:3 tn The form is a Qal infinitive construct used in a temporal clause, and the verb “when we ate” has the same structure.
- Exodus 16:3 sn That the complaint leading up to the manna is unjustified can be seen from the record itself. They left Egypt with flocks and herds and very much cattle, and about 45 days later they are complaining that they are without food. Moses reminded them later that they lacked nothing (Deut 3:7; for the whole sermon on this passage, see 8:1-20). Moreover, the complaint is absurd because the food of work gangs was far more meager than they recall. The complaint was really against Moses. They crave the eating of meat and of bread and so God will meet that need; he will send bread from heaven and quail as well.
- Exodus 16:3 tn לְהָמִית (lehamit) is the Hiphil infinitive construct showing purpose. The people do not trust the intentions or the plan of their leaders and charge Moses with bringing everyone out to kill them.
Exodus 17:3
New English Translation
Exodus 17:3
New English Translation
3 But the people were very thirsty[a] there for water, and they murmured against Moses and said, “Why in the world[b] did you bring us up from Egypt—to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst?”[c]
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- Exodus 17:3 tn The verbs and the pronouns in this verse are in the singular because “the people” is singular in form.
- Exodus 17:3 tn The demonstrative pronoun is used as the enclitic form for special emphasis in the question; it literally says, “why is this you have brought us up?” (R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 24, §118).
- Exodus 17:3 sn Their words deny God the credit for bringing them out of Egypt, impugn the integrity of Moses and God by accusing them of bringing the people out here to die, and show a lack of faith in God’s ability to provide for them.
Numbers 14:2
New English Translation
Numbers 14:2
New English Translation
2 And all the Israelites murmured[a] against Moses and Aaron, and the whole congregation said to them, “If only we had died[b] in the land of Egypt, or if only we had perished[c] in this wilderness!
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- Numbers 14:2 tn The Hebrew verb “to murmur” is לוּן (lun). It is a strong word, signifying far more than complaining or grumbling, as some of the modern translations have it. The word is most often connected to the wilderness experience. It is paralleled in the literature with the word “to rebel.” The murmuring is like a parliamentary vote of no confidence, for they no longer trusted their leaders and wished to choose a new leader and return. This “return to Egypt” becomes a symbol of their lack of faith in the Lord.
- Numbers 14:2 tn The optative is expressed by לוּ (lu) and then the verb, here the perfect tense מַתְנוּ (matnu)—“O that we had died….” Had they wanted to die in Egypt they should not have cried out to the Lord to deliver them from bondage. Here the people became consumed with the fear and worry of what lay ahead, and in their panic they revealed a lack of trust in God.
- Numbers 14:2 tn Heb “died.”
Numbers 14:3
New English Translation
Numbers 14:3
New English Translation
3 Why has the Lord brought us into this land only to be killed by the sword, that our wives and our children should become plunder? Wouldn’t it be better for us to return to Egypt?”
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