| 3. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with vayomru {וַיֹּאמְר֨וּ | way-yōm-rû} ‘and they said’, a wayyiqtol form introducing the lament. The indirect object alehem {אֲלֵהֶם | ʾă-lê-hem} ‘to them’ refers to Moses and Aaron, and benei yisrael {בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל | bə-nê yiś-rā-ʾēl} ‘the sons of Israel’ marks the corporate speaker. The optative mi-yitten moteinu {מִֽי־יִתֵּן מוּתֵנוּ | mî-yit-tēn mû-tê-nû} expresses a wish ‘if only we might die’. The phrase beyad Yahweh {בְיַד־יְהוָה | bə-yad Yə-hō-wāh} underscores divine agency. Temporal framing appears in the infinitive clauses beshivtenu {בְּשִׁבְתֵּנוּ | bə-šiv-tê-nû} and al-sir habasar {עַל־סִיר הַבָּשָׂר | ʿal-sîr ha-bā-śār}, ‘when we sat by the meat pot,’ and beokhleinu lechem lasova {בְּאָכְלֵנוּ לֶחֶם לָשֹׂבַע | bə-ʾā-ḵ-lê-nû le-ḥem lā-śō-ḇaʿ}, ‘when we ate bread to satiety’. The conjunction ki {כִּי־ | kî} ‘for’ introduces hotsetem otanu {הוֹצֵאתֶם אוֹתָנוּ | hō-ṣê-ʾe-tem ʾō-tā-nû} ‘you brought us out’ (Hifil perfect), followed by the purpose infinitive lehamit {לְהָמִית | lə-hā-mîṯ} ‘to cause to die’ applied to et-kol-hakahal hazeh {אֶת־כָּל־הַקָּהָל הַזֶּה | ʾet-kol-ha-qā-hāl haz-zēh}, ‘this entire assembly,’ concluding with baraav {בָּרָעָב | ba-rā-ʿāḇ} ‘in famine.’ The English renderings recast the Hebrew wish as a conditional lament, preserve the ‘hand’ metaphor for divine action, and reframe infinitives as temporal clauses, contrasting remembered abundance with the threat of starvation. |