8402. Verses 2-3 And all the assembly of the children of Israel grumbled against Moses and against Aaron in the wilderness. And the children of Israel said to them, Would that we had ¹ died ¹ by the hand of Jehovah in the land of Egypt, when we sat by a pot of flesh, eating bread to the full! For you have brought us out to this wilderness, to kill all this congregation with hunger.

'And all the assembly of the children of Israel grumbled' means grief and therefore complaint on account of the severity of the temptation. 'Against Moses and against Aaron' means God's truth. 'In the wilderness' means a state of temptation. 'And the children of Israel said to them' means the thoughts arising in a troubled state of mind. 'Would that we had died by the hand of Jehovah in the land of Egypt' means that it would have been preferable for them to have been forsaken by the Lord when they were in the state involving molestations. 'When we sat by a pot of flesh' means a life according to their own pleasure, and such as they craved for. 'Eating bread to the full!' means that in that situation they enjoyed the good of lower pleasures, as much as they wished to have. 'For you have brought us out' means after they were delivered. 'To this wilderness' means a state involving temptations. 'To kill all this congregation with hunger' means that they were perishing owing to the lack of delight and of good.

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