Exodus 16:2
in Exodus 16And there in the desert they all grumbled against Moses and Aaron.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And the whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron in the wilderness:
KJV
And the whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness:
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This verse in Exodus 16
Commentary
8 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
came unto the wilderness of Sin
on Exodus 16:1-2
Numbers 33:3 dates the departure from Egypt to the fifteenth day of the first month, so the fifteenth of the second month is a month to the day since they walked out. Whatever food came out of Egypt has run out on schedule. This is the third of four complaints in four chapters, after the sea at 14:11 and the bitter water at 15:24, and the fourth comes at Rephidim in 17:2.
The record, by era
The Reformation1 voice
But this is too common with the wicked, (because they do not trust that God is reconciled to them,) to neglect prayer, and to cry out in confusion, to utter their curses, and to rush, like mad dogs, furiously here and there. This was the case of the Israelites in the wilderness of Sin.
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
And the whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured,....
They invidiously charge Moses with a design to starve them when he brought them out of Egypt; whereas what he had done was both by order from God and with a design to promote their welfare. Note, It is no new thing for the greatest kindnesses to be misinterpreted and basely represented as the greatest injuries. The worst colours are sometimes put upon the best actions.
Never was there such an open house kept as God kept in the wilderness for forty years together, nor such free and plentiful entertainment given. The feast which Ahasuerus made, to show the riches of his kingdom, and the honour of his majesty, was nothing to this, Esth. i.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
the whole congregation . . . murmured against Moses and Aaron--Modern travellers through the desert of Sinai are accustomed to take as much as is sufficient for the sustenance of men and beasts during forty days.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
The whole congregation - murmured - This is an additional proof of the degraded state of the minds of this people; See Clarke’s note on Exo 13:17. And this very circumstance affords a convincing argument that a people so stupidly carnal could not have been induced to leave Egypt had they not been persuaded so to do by the most evident and striking miracles. Human nature can never be reduced to a more abject state in this world than that in which the body is enthralled by political slavery, and the soul debased by the influence of sin.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Murmured - The want of food was first felt after six weeks from the time of the departure from Egypt, see Exo 16:1: we have no notice previously of any deficiency of bread.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
They journeyed from Eilim, and the entire community of the B’nei Yisrael came to the desert of Sin, which is between Eilim and Sinai.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 4 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
10 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיִּלּ֜וֹנוּ | vaiyilinu | and they grumbled | H3885 → | 84 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| עֲדַ֧ת | ʾadat | [the] congregation of | H5712 → | 149 times |
| בְּנֵי־ | benei- | [the] people of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵ֛ל | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| מֹשֶׁ֥ה | mosheh | Moses | H4872 → | 765 times |
| וְעַֽל־ | veal- | and on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| אַהֲרֹ֖ן | ʾaharon | Aaron | H175 → | 347 times |
| בַּמִּדְבָּֽר׃ | bamidbar | in the wilderness | H4057 → | 270 times |
וַיִּלּ֜וֹנוּand they grumbled
vaiyilinuH3885 →84 times
כָּל־all
kol-H3605 →5413 times
עֲדַ֧ת[the] congregation of
ʾadatH5712 →149 times
בְּנֵי־[the] people of
benei-H1121 →4930 times
יִשְׂרָאֵ֛לIsrael
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
מֹשֶׁ֥הMoses
moshehH4872 →765 times
וְעַֽל־and on
veal-H5921 →5755 times
אַהֲרֹ֖ןAaron
ʾaharonH175 →347 times
בַּמִּדְבָּֽר׃in the wilderness
bamidbarH4057 →270 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
1 Corinthians 10:10And do not complain, as some of them did, and were killed by the destroying angel.
it leads to
- Numbers 14:2
All the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron, and the whole congregation said to them, “If only we had died in the land of Egypt, or if only we had died in this wilderness!
- Numbers 16:41
The next day the whole congregation of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron, saying, “You have killed the LORD’s people!”
- Numbers 14:37
those men who had brought out the bad report about the land—were struck down by a plague before the LORD.
- Philippians 2:14
Do everything without complaining or arguing,
- 1 Chronicles 21:15
Then God sent an angel to destroy Jerusalem, but as the angel was doing so, the LORD saw it and relented from the calamity, and He said to the angel who was destroying the…
- Numbers 14:2
Through
Exodus 14:11They said to Moses, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us into the wilderness to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt?
it leads to
- Numbers 14:1–4
Then the whole congregation lifted up their voices and cried out, and that night the people wept.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Numbers 14:1–4
Through
Psalms 106:7Our fathers in Egypt did not grasp Your wonders or remember Your abundant kindness; but they rebelled by the sea, there at the Red Sea.
it leads to
- Exodus 14:11–12
They said to Moses, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us into the wilderness to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt?
- Exodus 14:11–12
Through
Exodus 15:24So the people grumbled against Moses, saying, “What are we to drink?”
it leads to
- Numbers 20:2–5
Now there was no water for the congregation, so they gathered against Moses and Aaron.
- Numbers 20:2–5
Where this verse is studied
About Exodus
Who and where
2 names in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Calvin, Commentaries; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.