Exo 14:12 | KD | STEP | When the Israelites saw the advancing army of the Egyptians, they were greatly alarmed; for their situation to human eyes was a very unfortunate one. Shut in on the east by the sea, on the south and west by high mountains, and with the army of the Egyptians behind them, destruction seemed inevitable, since they were neither outwardly armed nor inwardly prepared for a successful battle. Although they cried unto the Lord, they had no confidence in His help, notwithstanding all the previous manifestation so the fidelity of the true God; they therefore gave vent to the despair of their natural heart in complaints against Moses, who had brought them out of the servitude of Egypt to give them up to die in the desert. “ Hast thou, because there were no graves at all (אין מבּלי, a double negation to give emphasis) in Egypt, fetched us to die in the desert? ” Their further words in exaggerated the true state of the case from cowardly despair. For it was only when the oppression increased, after Moses’ first interview with Pharaoh, that they complained of what Moses had done ( ), whereas at first they accepted his proposals most thankfully ( ), and even afterwards implicitly obeyed his directions.

‏ Exodus 14:12

When the Israelites saw the advancing army of the Egyptians, they were greatly alarmed; for their situation to human eyes was a very unfortunate one. Shut in on the east by the sea, on the south and west by high mountains, and with the army of the Egyptians behind them, destruction seemed inevitable, since they were neither outwardly armed nor inwardly prepared for a successful battle. Although they cried unto the Lord, they had no confidence in His help, notwithstanding all the previous manifestation so the fidelity of the true God; they therefore gave vent to the despair of their natural heart in complaints against Moses, who had brought them out of the servitude of Egypt to give them up to die in the desert. “Hast thou, because there were no graves at all (אין מבּלי, a double negation to give emphasis) in Egypt, fetched us to die in the desert?” Their further words in Exo 14:12 exaggerated the true state of the case from cowardly despair. For it was only when the oppression increased, after Moses’ first interview with Pharaoh, that they complained of what Moses had done (Exo 5:21), whereas at first they accepted his proposals most thankfully (Exo 4:31), and even afterwards implicitly obeyed his directions.