Murmuring

Passages on this topic

From Nave’s Topical Bible (1896), a historical reference index. The groupings are Nave’s; the verses are shown in the text used across this site.

(Complaining, grumbling) -Of Israelites against Moses

• Exodus 5:21 “May the LORD look upon you and judge you,” the foremen said, “for you have made us a stench before Pharaoh and his officials; you have placed in their hand a sword to kill us!”
• Exodus 15:24 So the people grumbled against Moses, saying, “What are we to drink?”
• Exodus 16:2–3 And there in the desert the whole congregation of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron. “If only we had died by the LORD’s hand in the land of Egypt!” they said. “There we sat by pots of meat and ate our fill of bread, but you have brought us into this desert to starve this whole assembly to dea…
• Numbers 16:2–3 a rebellion against Moses, along with 250 men of Israel renowned as leaders of the congregation and representatives in the assembly. They came together against Moses and Aaron and told them, “You have taken too much upon yourselves! For everyone in the entire congregation is holy, and the LORD is i…
• Numbers 16:13–14 Is it not enough that you have brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey to kill us in the wilderness? Must you also appoint yourself as ruler over us? Moreover, you have not brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey or given us an inheritance of fields and vineyards. Will yo…
• Numbers 16:41 The next day the whole congregation of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron, saying, “You have killed the LORD’s people!”
• Numbers 20:2–4 Now there was no water for the congregation, so they gathered against Moses and Aaron. The people quarreled with Moses and said, “If only we had perished with our brothers before the LORD! Why have you brought the LORD’s assembly into this wilderness for us and our livestock to die here?

Against God

• Exodus 5:22–23 So Moses returned to the LORD and asked, “Lord, why have You brought trouble upon this people? Is this why You sent me? Ever since I went to Pharaoh to speak in Your name, he has brought trouble on this people, and You have not delivered Your people in any way.”
• 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.”
• Exodus 16:12 “I have heard the grumbling of the Israelites. Tell them, ‘At twilight you will eat meat, and in the morning you will be filled with bread. Then you will know that I am the LORD your God.’”
• Numbers 14:26–37 Then the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “How long will this wicked congregation grumble against Me? I have heard the complaints that the Israelites are making against Me. So tell them: As surely as I live, declares the LORD, I will do to you exactly as I heard you say. Your bodies will fall in this…
• Numbers 17:10–11 The LORD said to Moses, “Put Aaron’s staff back in front of the Testimony, to be kept as a sign for the rebellious, so that you may put an end to their grumbling against Me, lest they die.” So Moses did as the LORD had commanded him.
• Job 15:11–13 Are the consolations of God not enough for you, even words spoken gently to you? Why has your heart carried you away, and why do your eyes flash, so that you turn your spirit against God and pour such words from your mouth?
• Job 33:12–13 Behold, you are not right in this matter. I will answer you, for God is greater than man. Why do you complain to Him that He answers nothing a man asks?
• Job 34:37 For he adds rebellion to his sin; he claps his hands among us and multiplies his words against God.”
• Psalm 37:1 Of David. Do not fret over those who do evil; do not envy those who do wrong.
• Psalm 44:9–26 But You have rejected and humbled us; You no longer go forth with our armies. You have made us retreat from the foe, and those who hate us have plundered us. You have given us up as sheep to be devoured; You have scattered us among the nations. You sell Your people for nothing; no profit do You gai…

Instances of

Cain

• Genesis 4:13–14 But Cain said to the LORD, “My punishment is greater than I can bear. Behold, this day You have driven me from the face of the earth, and from Your face I will be hidden; I will be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me.”

Rachel

• Genesis 30:1 When Rachel saw that she was not bearing any children for Jacob, she envied her sister. “Give me children, or I will die!” she said to Jacob.

Moses

• Exodus 5:22–23 So Moses returned to the LORD and asked, “Lord, why have You brought trouble upon this people? Is this why You sent me? Ever since I went to Pharaoh to speak in Your name, he has brought trouble on this people, and You have not delivered Your people in any way.”
• Numbers 11:11–15 So Moses asked the LORD, “Why have You brought this trouble on Your servant? Why have I not found favor in Your sight, that You have laid upon me the burden of all these people? Did I conceive all these people? Did I give them birth, so that You should tell me, ‘Carry them in your bosom, as a nurse…

Israelites

• Exodus 5:21 “May the LORD look upon you and judge you,” the foremen said, “for you have made us a stench before Pharaoh and his officials; you have placed in their hand a sword to kill us!”
• Exodus 14:11–12 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? Did we not say to you in Egypt, ‘Leave us alone so that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve…
• Exodus 15:23–24 And when they came to Marah, they could not drink the water there because it was bitter. (That is why it was named Marah.) So the people grumbled against Moses, saying, “What are we to drink?”
• Exodus 16:2–3 And there in the desert the whole congregation of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron. “If only we had died by the LORD’s hand in the land of Egypt!” they said. “There we sat by pots of meat and ate our fill of bread, but you have brought us into this desert to starve this whole assembly to dea…
• Exodus 17:2–3 So the people contended with Moses, “Give us water to drink.” “Why do you contend with me?” Moses replied. “Why do you test the LORD?” 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 t…
• Numbers 11:1–10 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. And the people cried out to Moses, and he prayed to the LORD, and the fire died down. So…
• Numbers 11:33 But while the meat was still between their teeth, before it was chewed, the anger of the LORD burned against the people, and the LORD struck them with a severe plague.
• Numbers 14 Then the whole congregation lifted up their voices and cried out, and that night the people wept. All the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron, and the whole congregation said to them, “If only we had died in the land of Egypt, or if only we had died in this wilderness! Why is the LORD bring… (whole chapter)
• Numbers 16:41 The next day the whole congregation of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron, saying, “You have killed the LORD’s people!”
• Numbers 20:2–5 Now there was no water for the congregation, so they gathered against Moses and Aaron. The people quarreled with Moses and said, “If only we had perished with our brothers before the LORD! Why have you brought the LORD’s assembly into this wilderness for us and our livestock to die here? Why have y…

Korah

• Numbers 16:8–11 Moses also said to Korah, “Now listen, you sons of Levi! Is it not enough for you that the God of Israel has separated you from the congregation of Israel and brought you near to Himself to perform the work at the LORD’s tabernacle, and to stand before the congregation to minister to them? He has b…

Job

• Job 3 After this, Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth. And this is what he said: “May the day of my birth perish, and the night it was said, ‘A boy is conceived.’ If only that day had turned to darkness! May God above disregard it; may no light shine upon it. May darkness and gloom recla… (whole chapter)
• Job 6 Then Job replied: “If only my grief could be weighed and placed with my calamity on the scales. For then it would outweigh the sand of the seas — no wonder my words have been rash. For the arrows of the Almighty have pierced me; my spirit drinks in their poison; the terrors of God are arrayed again… (whole chapter)
• Job 7 “Is not man consigned to labor on earth? Are not his days like those of a hired hand? Like a slave he longs for shade; like a hireling he waits for his wages. So I am allotted months of futility, and nights of misery are appointed to me. When I lie down I think: ‘When will I get up?’ But the night… (whole chapter)
• Job 9 Then Job answered: “Yes, I know that it is so, but how can a mortal be righteous before God? If one wished to contend with God, he could not answer Him one time out of a thousand. God is wise in heart and mighty in strength. Who has resisted Him and prospered? He moves mountains without their knowl… (whole chapter)
• Job 10 “I loathe my own life; I will express my complaint and speak in the bitterness of my soul. I will say to God: Do not condemn me! Let me know why You prosecute me. Does it please You to oppress me, to reject the work of Your hands and favor the schemes of the wicked? Do You have eyes of flesh? Do Yo… (whole chapter)
• Job 13 “Indeed, my eyes have seen all this; my ears have heard and understood. What you know, I also know; I am not inferior to you. Yet I desire to speak to the Almighty and argue my case before God. You, however, smear with lies; you are all worthless physicians. If only you would remain silent; for tha… (whole chapter)
• Job 19 Then Job answered: “How long will you torment me and crush me with your words? Ten times now you have reproached me; you shamelessly mistreat me. Even if I have truly gone astray, my error concerns me alone. If indeed you would exalt yourselves above me and use my disgrace against me, then understa… (whole chapter)
• Job 23 Then Job answered: “Even today my complaint is bitter. His hand is heavy despite my groaning. If only I knew where to find Him, so that I could go to His seat. I would plead my case before Him and fill my mouth with arguments. I would learn how He would answer, and consider what He would say. Would… (whole chapter)
• Job 30 “But now they mock me, men younger than I am, whose fathers I would have refused to put with my sheep dogs. What use to me was the strength of their hands, since their vigor had left them? Gaunt from poverty and hunger, they gnawed the dry land, and the desolate wasteland by night. They plucked mal… (whole chapter)

David

• 2 Samuel 6:8 Then David became angry because the LORD had burst forth against Uzzah. So he named that place Perez-uzzah, as it is called to this day.
• Psalm 116:10–11 I believed, therefore I said, “I am greatly afflicted.” In my alarm I said, “All men are liars!”

Asaph

• Psalm 73:3 For I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

Elijah

• 1 Kings 19:4 while he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness. He sat down under a broom tree and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, LORD,” he said. “Take my life, for I am no better than my fathers.”
• 1 Kings 19:10 “I have been very zealous for the LORD, the God of Hosts,” he replied, “but the Israelites have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I am the only one left, and they are seeking my life as well.”

Solomon

• Ecclesiastes 2:17–18 So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. For everything is futile and a pursuit of the wind. I hated all for which I had toiled under the sun, because I must leave it to the man who comes after me.

Hezekiah

• Isaiah 38:10–18 I said, “In the prime of my life I must go through the gates of Sheol and be deprived of the remainder of my years.” I said, “I will never again see the LORD, even the LORD, in the land of the living; I will no longer look on mankind with those who dwell in this world. My dwelling has been picked u…

Jeremiah

• Jeremiah 20:14–18 Cursed be the day I was born! May the day my mother bore me never be blessed. Cursed be the man who brought my father the news, saying, “A son is born to you,” bringing him great joy. May that man be like the cities that the LORD overthrew without compassion. May he hear an outcry in the morning an…
• Lamentations 3 I am the man who has seen affliction under the rod of God’s wrath. He has driven me away and made me walk in darkness instead of light. Indeed, He keeps turning His hand against me all day long. He has worn away my flesh and skin; He has shattered my bones. He has besieged me and surrounded me with… (whole chapter)

Jonah

• Jonah 4 Jonah, however, was greatly displeased, and he became angry. So he prayed to the LORD, saying, “O LORD, is this not what I said while I was still in my own country? This is why I was so quick to flee toward Tarshish. I knew that You are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger, abounding in… (whole chapter)

Jews, against Jesus

• John 6:41–43 At this, the Jews began to grumble about Jesus because He had said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” They were asking, “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How then can He say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?” “Stop grumbling among yourselves,” Jesus r…
• John 6:52 At this, the Jews began to argue among themselves, “How can this man give us His flesh to eat?”

See DOUBT

See Envy

See Ingratitude

See also [2849]CONTENTMENT

See Resignation