Exodus 16:1-3

"And they took their journey from Elim, and all the congregation of the children of Israel came unto the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, the fifteenth day of the second month after their departing out of the land of Egypt. And the whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron in the wilderness: and the children of Israel said unto them, Would that we had died by the hand of Jehovah in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh-pots, when we did eat bread to the full; for ye have brought us forth into this wilderness, to kill this whole assembly with hunger."

"The congregation of Israel (Exodus 16:1) ... this whole assembly (Exodus 16:3) ..." The use of two different words here for the entire body of Israel is by no stretch of imagination a sign of different sources, as some critics claim, for example, this: "The use of the word `congregation' reflects basic terminology of the later Israelite period."[2] Back of such a comment, of course, is the allegation of various sources, but as Allis observed, the use of various words to describe a single entity may not be regarded as "a suspicious feature suggesting diversity of authorship, that idea being a fundamental error."[3] We may only marvel at the naivete that supposes Moses could not have known both words - assembly and congregation. Again from Allis, "There is no warranty for such hair-splitting analysis."[4]

"The wilderness of Sin ..." Despite Israel's sin being a principle feature of the narrative here, it has nothing to do with the name of this wilderness. "The name Sin has no connection with the English word sin. The names Sin and Sinai are very similar, but the meaning of these names is uncertain."[5] The similarity of names leads some to identify this wilderness as lying in the vicinity of Sinai.

"The fifteenth day of the second month after ..." indicates the passage of about six weeks after the departure from Egypt.

"The whole congregation murmured against Moses and against Aaron ..." This is the third instance of Israel's murmuring, the others being at Pi-hahiroth (Exodus 14:10-12), and at Marah (Exodus 15:24). Upon this occasion of their murmuring, God heard their cry and sent bread from heaven.

"Would we had died by the hand of Jehovah in the land of Egypt ... This cry puts on the garb of piety, and names the name of Jehovah, but indicates a lack of faith in Him, His power, and His promises."[6] We cannot be too harsh, however, in our judgment of Israel. It was a real hardship they endured. They were suffering from hunger. Whatever supplies they had brought out of Egypt were exhausted, and they were tasting the bitter truth that freedom exacts a price of those who would attain it.

"When we sat by the flesh-pots ... eat bread to the full ..." Later on, they also remembered "the cucumbers ... melons ... leeks ... onions ... and garlic" (Numbers 11:4,5). These passages indicate that Pharaoh did indeed feed his slaves, and presumably his livestock, well, but we may not suppose that all was as well with Israel in Egypt as these hungry Israelites romantically remembered it. "The good old days" were never actually that good! It was an inescapable burden of their freedom that they should have encountered many dangers and hardships, but this they seemed incapable of realizing at the time.