Numbers 14:4
New International Version
And they said to each other, “We should choose a leader and go back to Egypt.”

New Living Translation
Then they plotted among themselves, “Let’s choose a new leader and go back to Egypt!”

English Standard Version
And they said to one another, “Let us choose a leader and go back to Egypt.”

Berean Standard Bible
So they said to one another, “Let us appoint a leader and return to Egypt.”

King James Bible
And they said one to another, Let us make a captain, and let us return into Egypt.

New King James Version
So they said to one another, “Let us select a leader and return to Egypt.”

New American Standard Bible
So they said to one another, “Let’s appoint a leader and return to Egypt!”

NASB 1995
So they said to one another, “Let us appoint a leader and return to Egypt.”

NASB 1977
So they said to one another, “Let us appoint a leader and return to Egypt.”

Legacy Standard Bible
So they said to one another, “Let us appoint a leader and return to Egypt.”

Amplified Bible
So they said one to another, “Let us appoint a [new] leader and return to Egypt.”

Christian Standard Bible
So they said to one another, “Let’s appoint a leader and go back to Egypt.”

Holman Christian Standard Bible
So they said to one another, “Let’s appoint a leader and go back to Egypt.”

American Standard Version
And they said one to another, Let us make a captain, and let us return into Egypt.

Contemporary English Version
Then they said to one another, "Let's choose our own leader and go back."

English Revised Version
And they said one to another, Let us make a captain, and let us return into Egypt.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
They said to each other, "Let's choose a leader and go back to Egypt."

Good News Translation
So they said to one another, "Let's choose a leader and go back to Egypt!"

International Standard Version
Then they told each other, "Let's assign a leader and go back to Egypt."

Majority Standard Bible
So they said to one another, ?Let us appoint a leader and return to Egypt.?

NET Bible
So they said to one another, "Let's appoint a leader and return to Egypt."

New Heart English Bible
And they said to one another, "Let us make a captain, and let us return into Egypt."

Webster's Bible Translation
And they said one to another, Let us make a captain, and let us return into Egypt.

World English Bible
They said to one another, “Let’s choose a leader, and let’s return into Egypt.”
Literal Translations
Literal Standard Version
And they say to one another, “Let us appoint a head and return to Egypt.”

Young's Literal Translation
And they say one unto another, 'Let us appoint a head, and turn back to Egypt.'

Smith's Literal Translation
And they will say, a man to his brother, We will give a head, and turn back to Egypt.
Catholic Translations
Douay-Rheims Bible
And they said one to another: Let us appoint a captain, and let us return into Egypt.

Catholic Public Domain Version
And they said to one another, “Let us appoint our leader, and so return to Egypt.”

New American Bible
So they said to one another, “Let us appoint a leader and go back to Egypt.”

New Revised Standard Version
So they said to one another, “Let us choose a captain, and go back to Egypt.”
Translations from Aramaic
Lamsa Bible
And they said one to another, Let us appoint a leader, and let us return to Egypt.

Peshitta Holy Bible Translated
And they said, each man to his brother, “Come, we shall make a Leader for us and we shall return to Egypt!”
OT Translations
JPS Tanakh 1917
And they said one to another: 'Let us make a captain, and let us return into Egypt.'

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And they said one to another, Let us make a ruler, and return into Egypt.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
The People Rebel
3Why is the LORD bringing us into this land to fall by the sword? Our wives and children will become plunder. Would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt?” 4So they said to one another, “Let us appoint a leader and return to Egypt.” 5Then Moses and Aaron fell facedown before the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel.…

Cross References
Exodus 16:3
“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 death!”

Exodus 17:3
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 thirst?”

Deuteronomy 1:27
You grumbled in your tents and said, “Because the LORD hates us, He has brought us out of the land of Egypt to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites to be annihilated.

Nehemiah 9:17
They refused to listen and failed to remember the wonders You performed among them. They stiffened their necks and appointed a leader to return them to their bondage in Egypt. But You are a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in loving devotion, and You did not forsake them.

Psalm 106:25
They grumbled in their tents and did not listen to the voice of the LORD.

Acts 7:39
But our fathers refused to obey him. Instead, they rejected him and in their hearts turned back to Egypt.

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 the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.”

Deuteronomy 9:23
And when the LORD sent you out from Kadesh-barnea, He said, “Go up and possess the land that I have given you.” But you rebelled against the command of the LORD your God. You neither believed Him nor obeyed Him.

1 Samuel 8:7
And the LORD said to Samuel, “Listen to the voice of the people in all that they say to you. For it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected Me as their king.

Jeremiah 44:16-17
“As for the word you have spoken to us in the name of the LORD, we will not listen to you! / Instead, we will do everything we vowed to do: We will burn incense to the Queen of Heaven and offer drink offerings to her, just as we, our fathers, our kings, and our officials did in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. At that time we had plenty of food and good things, and we saw no disaster.

Ezekiel 20:8
But they rebelled against Me and refused to listen. None of them cast away the abominations before their eyes, and they did not forsake the idols of Egypt. So I resolved to pour out My wrath upon them and vent My anger against them in the land of Egypt.

Ezekiel 20:24
For they did not practice My ordinances, but they rejected My statutes and profaned My Sabbaths, fixing their eyes on the idols of their fathers.

Hebrews 3:16-19
For who were the ones who heard and rebelled? Were they not all those Moses led out of Egypt? / And with whom was God angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? / And to whom did He swear that they would never enter His rest? Was it not to those who disobeyed? ...

Hebrews 4:1-2
Therefore, while the promise of entering His rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be deemed to have fallen short of it. / For we also received the good news just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, since they did not share the faith of those who comprehended it.

1 Corinthians 10:10
And do not complain, as some of them did, and were killed by the destroying angel.


Treasury of Scripture

And they said one to another, Let us make a captain, and let us return into Egypt.

Deuteronomy 17:16
But he shall not multiply horses to himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt, to the end that he should multiply horses: forasmuch as the LORD hath said unto you, Ye shall henceforth return no more that way.

Deuteronomy 28:68
And the LORD shall bring thee into Egypt again with ships, by the way whereof I spake unto thee, Thou shalt see it no more again: and there ye shall be sold unto your enemies for bondmen and bondwomen, and no man shall buy you.

Nehemiah 9:16,17
But they and our fathers dealt proudly, and hardened their necks, and hearkened not to thy commandments, …

Jump to Previous
Appoint Captain Choose Egypt Head Turn
Jump to Next
Appoint Captain Choose Egypt Head Turn
Numbers 14
1. The people murmur at the news
6. Joshua and Caleb labor to still them
11. God threatens them
13. Moses intercedes with God, and obtains pardon
26. The Murmurers are debarred from entering into the land
36. The men who raised the evil report die by a plague
40. The people that would invade the land against the will of God are smitten














And they said to one another
This phrase introduces a collective decision-making process among the Israelites. The Hebrew root for "said" is "אָמַר" (amar), which often implies not just speaking but also a deliberation or intention. This reflects a moment of communal dialogue, highlighting the unity in their discontent. Historically, this setting is after the Israelites have received the discouraging report from the spies about the Promised Land, leading to a crisis of faith. The phrase underscores the power of collective influence and the potential for groupthink, especially when fear overrides faith.

Let us appoint a leader
The desire to "appoint a leader" signifies a pivotal moment of rebellion against God's chosen leadership. The Hebrew word for "appoint" is "נָתַן" (natan), meaning to give or set. This indicates a deliberate choice to replace divinely appointed leadership with human decision-making. In the context of the Israelites' journey, this reflects a lack of trust in God's provision and guidance through Moses. It serves as a cautionary tale about the dangers of rejecting divine authority in favor of human solutions, especially when motivated by fear or impatience.

and return to Egypt
The phrase "return to Egypt" is laden with irony and tragedy. Egypt, in the biblical narrative, symbolizes bondage and oppression. The Hebrew root for "return" is "שׁוּב" (shuv), which means to turn back or repent. However, in this context, it is a turning away from God's promise. This desire to return to a place of slavery rather than face the challenges of faith in God's promise highlights the human tendency to prefer the familiarity of past hardships over the uncertainties of future blessings. It serves as a powerful reminder of the importance of perseverance and trust in God's promises, even when the path seems daunting.

Verse 4. - Let us make a captain, and let us return into Egypt. Although this was only proposed in the wildness of their distress, yet it was a height of rebellion to which they had never risen before. They had lamented that they had not died in Egypt, and they had wished themselves back in Egypt, but they had never proposed to take any overt steps towards returning thither. Nothing less than an entire and deliberate revolt was involved in the wish to elect a captain for themselves, for the angel of the covenant was the Captain of the Lord's host (Joshua 5:14, 15). The proposal to depose him, and to choose another in his place, marked the extremity of the despair, the unbelief, and the ingratitude of the people.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
So they said
וַיֹּאמְר֖וּ (way·yō·mə·rū)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine plural
Strong's 559: To utter, say

to
אֶל־ (’el-)
Preposition
Strong's 413: Near, with, among, to

one
אִ֣ישׁ (’îš)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 376: A man as an individual, a male person

another,
אָחִ֑יו (’ā·ḥîw)
Noun - masculine singular construct | third person masculine singular
Strong's 251: A brother, )

“Let us appoint
נִתְּנָ֥ה (nit·tə·nāh)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect Cohortative - first person common plural
Strong's 5414: To give, put, set

a leader
רֹ֖אשׁ (rōš)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 7218: The head

and return
וְנָשׁ֥וּבָה (wə·nā·šū·ḇāh)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Conjunctive imperfect Cohortative - first person common plural
Strong's 7725: To turn back, in, to retreat, again

to Egypt.”
מִצְרָֽיְמָה׃ (miṣ·rā·yə·māh)
Noun - proper - feminine singular | third person feminine singular
Strong's 4714: Egypt -- a son of Ham, also his descendants and their country in Northwest Africa


Links
Numbers 14:4 NIV
Numbers 14:4 NLT
Numbers 14:4 ESV
Numbers 14:4 NASB
Numbers 14:4 KJV

Numbers 14:4 BibleApps.com
Numbers 14:4 Biblia Paralela
Numbers 14:4 Chinese Bible
Numbers 14:4 French Bible
Numbers 14:4 Catholic Bible

OT Law: Numbers 14:4 They said one to another Let us (Nu Num.)
Numbers 14:3
Top of Page
Top of Page