Exodus 16:3

“And the children of Israel said unto them, etc.] They not only inwardly murmured, and privately complained among themselves, but they spoke out their complaints, and that in a very extravagant manner: would to God we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt; by one of the plagues, or some such like plague as were inflicted on the Egyptians, which killed many of them, and particularly the hailstorm and plague on the firstborn; suggesting that death, even by the hand of the Lord, whether in an ordinary or extraordinary way, was more eligible than their present circumstances: when we sat by the fleshpots, and when we did eat bread to the full; which is an exaggeration of their…”

“Would to God we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt--How unreasonable and absurd the charge against Moses and Aaron! how ungrateful and impious against God! After all their experience of the divine wisdom, goodness, and power, we pause and wonder over the sacred narrative of their hardness and unbelief. But the expression of feeling is contagious in so vast a multitude, and there is a feeling of solitude and despondency in the desert which numbers cannot dispel; and besides, we must remember that they were men engrossed with the present--that the Comforter was not then given--and that they were destitute of all visible means of sustenance and cut off from every visible…”

“By the hand of the Lord - This evidently refers to the plagues, especially the last, in Egypt: the death which befell the Egyptians appeared to the people preferable to the sufferings of famine. Flesh pots, and ... bread - These expressions prove that the servile labors to which they had been subjected did not involve privations: they were fed abundantly, either by the officials of Pharaoh, or more probably by the produce of their own fertile district. return to 'Top of Page'”

“They so undervalue their deliverance, that they wish, they had died in Egypt, nay, and died by the hand of the Lord too. That is, by some of the plagues which cut off the Egyptians; as if it were not the hand of the Lord, but of Moses only, that brought them into this wilderness. 'Tis common for people to say of that pain, or sickness, which they see not second causes of, It is what pleaseth God, as if that were not so likewise which comes by the hand of man, or some visible accident. We cannot suppose they had any great plenty in Egypt, how largely soever they now talk of the flesh - pots, nor could they fear dying for want in the wilderness while they had their flocks and herds with them;…”

“16:3 all the bread we wanted: The Israelites had been oppressed slaves in Egypt! One of the great dangers of complaining is that it blinds us to reality. Faith is grateful for what is, and believes the best is yet to come. Complaining focuses on what is wrong with the present and glorifies an unreal past.”

“Would: Num 20:3-5; Deu 28:67; Jos 7:7; Sa2 18:33; Lam 4:9; Act 26:29; Co1 4:8; Co2 11:1 we had: Num 11:15, Num 14:2; Job 3:1, Job 3:10, Job 3:20; Jer 20:14-18; Jon 4:8, Jon 4:9 flesh: Exo 2:23; Num 11:4, Num 11:5 to kill: Exo 5:21, Exo 17:3; Num 16:13, Num 16:41 hunger: Deu 8:3; Jer 2:6; Lam 4:9 Exodus 16:4”