Exodus 15:24 kjv
And the people murmured against Moses, saying, What shall we drink?
Exodus 15:24 nkjv
And the people complained against Moses, saying, "What shall we drink?"
Exodus 15:24 niv
So the people grumbled against Moses, saying, "What are we to drink?"
Exodus 15:24 esv
And the people grumbled against Moses, saying, "What shall we drink?"
Exodus 15:24 nlt
Then the people complained and turned against Moses. "What are we going to drink?" they demanded.
Exodus 15 24 Cross References
| Verse | Text | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Exod 16:2-3 | ...whole congregation of the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness... Oh that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt... | Grumbling for food in the wilderness. |
| Exod 17:3 | ...people grumbled against Moses and said, "Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?" | Grumbling for water at Rephidim. |
| Num 11:1 | ...people complained in the hearing of the Lord about their misfortunes... | General discontent, consumed by fire. |
| Num 14:27 | "How long shall this wicked congregation grumble against me? I have heard the grumblings of the people of Israel, which they grumble against me." | God addresses the widespread grumbling. |
| Num 14:29 | ...your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness, and of all your number... from twenty years old and upward, who have grumbled against me. | Consequence of persistent grumbling. |
| Num 16:41 | ...next day all the congregation of the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron, saying, "You have killed the people of the Lord." | Grumbling after Korah's rebellion. |
| Num 20:2-5 | Now there was no water for the congregation. And they assembled themselves against Moses and Aaron... | Later instance of grumbling for water. |
| Deut 8:2-3 | "And you shall remember the whole way that the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not. And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna..." | God's purpose in allowing hardship (testing faith). |
| Ps 78:17-19 | Yet they sinned still more against him, rebelling against the Most High in the desert. They tested God in their heart by demanding the food they craved... | Remembers Israel's sin in the wilderness. |
| Ps 106:13-14 | But they soon forgot his works; they did not wait for his counsel. But craved intensely in the wilderness... | Forgetfulness of God's deeds and impatience. |
| Ps 106:24-25 | Then they despised the pleasant land, having no faith in his promise. They grumbled in their tents and did not obey the voice of the Lord. | Linking grumbling to lack of faith. |
| Isa 48:17-18 | Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer... "Oh that you had paid attention to my commandments! Then your peace would have been like a river..." | Consequences of not listening to God. |
| Matt 6:31-33 | Therefore do not be anxious, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. | Call to trust God for provision. |
| Phil 2:14 | Do all things without grumbling or questioning... | Christian call to avoid grumbling. |
| 1 Cor 10:9-10 | We must not put Christ to the test, as some of them did and were destroyed by serpents, nor grumble, as some of them did and were destroyed by the Destroyer. | Warning against grumbling using Israel as example. |
| Heb 3:7-9 | Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says: "Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, on the day of testing in the wilderness, where your fathers put me to the test..." | Connects grumbling/rebellion to hardened hearts. |
| Jas 1:2-4 | Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. | Trials as an opportunity for steadfastness. |
| 1 Pet 4:9 | Show hospitality to one another without grumbling. | Practical application against grumbling. |
| Jude 1:16 | These are grumblers, malcontents, following their own sinful desires... | Warning against grumblers and their character. |
| Neh 9:20-21 | You gave your good Spirit to instruct them... You sustained them forty years in the wilderness, and they lacked nothing; their clothes did not wear out and their feet did not swell. | God's sustained provision despite grumbling. |
Exodus 15 verses
Exodus 15 24 Meaning
Exodus 15:24 reveals the immediate turning of the Israelites from joyous praise to discontent shortly after their miraculous deliverance from Egypt and crossing of the Red Sea. They voiced a complaint against Moses, expressing their urgent need for drinking water in the wilderness, thereby manifesting a lack of trust in God's ongoing provision.
Exodus 15 24 Context
Exodus 15:24 takes place only three days after the triumphant crossing of the Red Sea (Exod 14) and the Israelites' jubilant singing of the Song of the Sea (Exod 15:1-21), celebrating God's deliverance from Pharaoh and his army. After marching into the Wilderness of Shur, they encounter a major survival challenge: lack of potable water. They arrive at Marah (meaning "bitter"), where the only water available is undrinkable. This sudden shift from a miraculous high point to a desperate low highlights the volatile nature of the human heart, quickly forgetting divine intervention in the face of immediate hardship. The historical context is a people newly freed from generations of slavery, unaccustomed to self-reliance and heavily dependent on divine guidance and provision in a harsh, unfamiliar desert environment. Their complaint demonstrates a deep-seated fear and a regression to a mindset of immediate physical need over spiritual trust, contrasting sharply with their recent profession of faith.
Exodus 15 24 Word analysis
- And: Connects this new action to the preceding events, implying a swift transition.
- the people: Refers specifically to the Israelite multitude, emphasizing it was a widespread sentiment, not just a few individuals. This is the entire community.
- grumbled (לּוֹנ֛וּ - lun):
- Hebrew root lun fundamentally means "to stay overnight," "to lodge," which developed the nuance of "to grumble" or "to complain," likely from the idea of lingering dissatisfaction that settles in or remains.
- This is not merely expressing discomfort but a deep-seated murmuring, a low, often suppressed complaint that often suggests resentment or disaffection.
- It's a recurrent pattern of behavior throughout the wilderness narrative, always signifying a lack of faith, rebellion against God's appointed leadership (Moses), and an underlying distrust in God's promises and provision.
- The grumbling often implies regret for having left Egypt, idealizing their former bondage over present freedom and struggle.
- against Moses: The direct target of their complaint. Although it is directed at Moses, by complaining against God's chosen leader, they are implicitly, and often explicitly in later instances, complaining against God Himself, who appointed Moses. This demonstrates a challenge to divine authority.
- saying: Introduces their specific grievance.
- "What shall we drink?":
- This phrase reveals their immediate, practical concern and their perceived desperate need.
- It points to a human-centric perspective, focusing on the lack and how they will solve it, rather than seeking God's intervention or trusting in His established pattern of provision.
- It encapsulates their short-sightedness and rapid forgetfulness of the powerful display of God's provision at the Red Sea just days prior.
- It echoes a universal human tendency to prioritize immediate physical comforts and needs over spiritual lessons or enduring faith during trials.
Exodus 15 24 Bonus section
The speed with which Israel transitioned from celebrating God's power (Exo 15:1-21) to complaining (Exo 15:24) is striking. It underscores the fragility of human faith and memory when faced with discomfort, suggesting that spiritual highs are easily forgotten without continued reliance on God. This rapid shift also serves as a pedagogical point for both the original audience and future readers: true faith is demonstrated not just in moments of victory but, more critically, in enduring times of scarcity and challenge. The wilderness journey immediately following liberation was not merely a physical passage but a spiritual crucible designed by God to test and shape a newly formed nation, revealing their hearts' inclinations (as later explicitly stated in Deut 8:2).
Exodus 15 24 Commentary
Exodus 15:24 immediately follows one of the Bible's greatest salvific acts and a hymn of praise, presenting a stark and rapid decline from exultation to complaint. The Israelites, only days after witnessing the Red Sea parting and singing praises to Yahweh, are plunged into a state of anxiety and murmuring when confronted with a basic physical need: water in the wilderness. Their "grumbling" (lun) is more than mere discontent; it is a pattern of faithlessness, forgetting God's miraculous intervention and questioning His plan and the leadership He appointed. This episode at Marah serves as the first of many tests of Israel's faith in the wilderness, establishing a recurring theme: God leads, provides, and teaches, while Israel doubts, complains, and struggles with obedience. The problem isn't the lack of water itself, but the people's response to the lack—their failure to trust God after witnessing His unparalleled power. Moses becomes the direct recipient of their frustrated impatience, illustrating the heavy burden of spiritual leadership. This event underscores that freedom often brings new challenges that test faith, requiring consistent reliance on God rather than reverting to human anxieties or longing for a perceived easier past (even one of bondage).