🔢WEB · Numbers 21:5
What does Numbers 21:5 mean?
"The people spoke against God, and against Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no bread, and there is no water; and our soul loathes this disgusting bread.”"
— Numbers 21:5 (World English Bible)
Surrounding context
Israel vowed a vow to Yahweh, and said, “If you will indeed deliver this people into my hand, then I will utterly destroy their cities.”
Yahweh listened to the voice of Israel, and delivered up the Canaanites; and they utterly destroyed them and their cities. The name of the place was called Hormah.
They traveled from Mount Hor by the way to the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom The soul of the people was very discouraged because of the journey.
The people spoke against God, and against Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no bread, and there is no water; and our soul loathes this disgusting bread.”
Yahweh sent venomous snakes among the people, and they bit the people. Many people of Israel died.
The people came to Moses, and said, “We have sinned, because we have spoken against Yahweh, and against you. Pray to Yahweh, that he take away the serpents from us.” Moses prayed for the people.
Yahweh said to Moses, “Make a venomous snake, and set it on a pole. It shall happen, that everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.”
Explanation
Numbers 21:5 records a moment of open complaint from the Israelites during their long journey through the wilderness. In plain language, the people are voicing frustration and despair, accusing God and Moses of dragging them out of Egypt only to let them die in the desert. They complain about having no bread and no water, and they express disgust with the food they do have, which most interpreters understand to be the manna God had been providing them daily since shortly after the exodus.
The context matters a great deal here. Moses wrote this book, and it recounts the experience of the Israelites during their forty years of wandering after leaving Egypt. By this point in Numbers, the generation that left Egypt has grown weary. They had already complained multiple times throughout Exodus and Numbers about food, water, and the hardships of wilderness life. This particular episode comes as they attempt to travel around the territory of Edom, having been refused passage through it, which added to the length and difficulty of their journey. Their frustration boils over into open rebellion against both their divine and human leadership, echoing a pattern seen repeatedly throughout their wilderness experience.
Theologically, this verse highlights the recurring problem of unbelief and ingratitude even among a people who had witnessed extraordinary acts of God, including their deliverance from slavery, the parting of the Red Sea, and God's continual provision of food and water in a barren land. Their complaint reveals a deeper spiritual issue: rather than trusting God's care and provision, they interpret their hardship as divine abandonment or cruelty. The phrase "loathes
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