Bible Strands
Exodus 14:11
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?
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The Israelites speak to Moses as Pharaoh’s army approaches and they face imminent death in the wilderness. Their complaint arises immediately after they cry out to the LORD in terror.
The words — קְבָרִים (ke.va.Rim) means “graves,” and לְקַחְתָּ֖/נוּ (le.kach.Ta./nu) means “you brought us.” The phrasing literally asks if the lack of burial sites in Egypt motivated the exodus.
The thread — The same pattern of wilderness complaint appears in Numbers 14:1 and Psalms 106:7, while Exodus 15:23 records a subsequent test with bitter water. These references track the recurring cycle of crisis and doubt.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition that fear can distort past deliverance into present blame. It asks the reader to confront how immediate threat overrides remembered provision.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And they said unto Moses, Because there were no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken us away to die in the wilderness? wherefore hast thou dealt thus with us, to carry us forth out of Egypt?
Cross-references
- Numbers 14:1 Then the whole congregation lifted up their voices and cried out, and that night the people wept.
- Psalms 106:7 Our fathers in Egypt did not grasp Your wonders or remember Your abundant kindness; but they rebelled by the sea, there at the Red Sea.
- Exodus 15:23 And when they came to Marah, they could not drink the water there because it was bitter. (That is why it was named Marah.)
- Exodus 16:2 And there in the desert the whole congregation of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron.
- Exodus 17:2 So the people contended with Moses, “Give us water to drink.” “Why do you contend with me?” Moses replied. “Why do you test the LORD?”
- Numbers 11:1 Soon the people began to complain about their hardship in the hearing of the LORD, and when He heard them, His anger was kindled, and fire from the LORD blazed among them and consumed the outskirts of the camp.
- Numbers 11:15 If this is how You are going to treat me, please kill me right now—if I have found favor in Your eyes—and let me not see my own wretchedness.”
- Exodus 5:22 So Moses returned to the LORD and asked, “Lord, why have You brought trouble upon this people? Is this why You sent me?
- Numbers 16:41 The next day the whole congregation of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron, saying, “You have killed the LORD’s people!”
- Genesis 43:6 “Why did you bring this trouble upon me?” Israel asked. “Why did you tell the man you had another brother?”