Bible Strands
Exodus 15:24
So the people grumbled against Moses, saying, “What are we to drink?”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The Israelite congregation confronts Moses at Marah immediately after the Red Sea crossing, demanding water after discovering the local supply undrinkable.
The words — The Hebrew verb וַיִּלֹּנוּ (va.yi.llo.nu) records the people's active grumbling against Moses, while מַה נִּשְׁתֶּה (mah ni.shet.teh) literally frames their complaint as a direct question about their next drink.
The thread — This pattern of wilderness murmuring recurs at Exodus 14:11, Exodus 16:2, and Numbers 20:2, establishing a repeated cycle of crisis and complaint.
Why it lands — The verse requires readers to observe how immediate physical lack triggers rebellion against appointed leadership, demanding honest recognition of human impatience before divine intervention.
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 the people murmured against Moses, saying, What shall we drink?
Cross-references
- Exodus 16:2 And there in the desert the whole congregation of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron.
- 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?
- Numbers 20:2 Now there was no water for the congregation, so they gathered against Moses and Aaron.
- Numbers 14:1 Then the whole congregation lifted up their voices and cried out, and that night the people wept.
- Psalms 78:19 They spoke against God, saying, “Can God really prepare a table in the wilderness?
- Exodus 17:3 But the people thirsted for water there, and they grumbled against Moses: “Why have you brought us out of Egypt—to make us and our children and livestock die of thirst?”
- 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.
- Exodus 16:8 And Moses added, “The LORD will give you meat to eat this evening and bread to fill you in the morning, for He has heard your grumbling against Him. Who are we? Your grumblings are not against us but against the LORD.”
- Numbers 16:11 Therefore, it is you and all your followers who have conspired against the LORD! As for Aaron, who is he that you should grumble against him?”
- Numbers 16:41 The next day the whole congregation of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron, saying, “You have killed the LORD’s people!”