Exodus 16:3
ESV
and the people of Israel said to them, "Would that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the meat pots and ate bread to the full, for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger."
NIV
The 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."
NASB
The sons of Israel said to them, 'If only we had died by the Lord’S hand in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pots of meat, when we ate bread until we were full; for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this entire assembly with hunger!'
CSB
The Israelites said to them, "If only we had died by the Lord’s hand in the land of Egypt, when we sat by pots of meat and ate all the bread we wanted. Instead, you brought us into this wilderness to make this whole assembly die of hunger!"
NLT
If only the Lord had killed us back in Egypt,' they moaned. 'There we sat around pots filled with meat and ate all the bread we wanted. But now you have brought us into this wilderness to starve us all to death.'
KJV
And the children of Israel said unto them, Would to God we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh pots, and when we did eat bread to the full; for ye have brought us forth into this wilderness, to kill this whole assembly with hunger.
NKJV
And the children of Israel said to them, “Oh, that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pots of meat and when we ate bread to the full! For you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.”
What does Exodus 16:3 mean?
Israel was freed from Egypt by spectacular miracles (Exodus 3:19–20). But when an Egyptian army pursued, the people became bitter and fatalistic (Exodus 14:11–12). God then rescued with an even more amazing miracle (Exodus 14:21–28). He even turned bitter water into something they could drink (Exodus 15:22–25). Yet, once again, the people seem to forget recent events. They are griping to, and against, Moses and Aaron because of food (Exodus 16:1–2).The complaint recorded here is cutting and almost mocking. It would have been better, they say, to remain slaves with abundant food than for Moses to lead them out to starve to death. This is not unlike a child who tells their parent, "you're trying to kill me!" or "you hate me!" when things don't go their way. This is not to say that the people were not in need—they were indeed hungry. But rather than seeking God in faith (Exodus 15:26), they moaned and despaired.
