Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer.

Neither murmur ye, as some of them murmured, and perished by the destroyer.

neither murmur ye, as also some of them did murmur, and did perish by the destroyer.

And do not be discontented, as some of them were, and they were destroyed by the Destroyer.

And do not say evil things against the Lord, as some of them did, and destruction overtook them.

And do not murmur, as some of them murmured, and so were destroyed by the angel of death.

Neither murmur ye Others understand this to be the murmuring that arose, when the twelve, who had been sent to spy out the land, disheartened, on their return, the minds of the people. But as that murmuring was not punished suddenly by any special chastisement from the Lord, but was simply followed by the infliction of this punishment -- that all were excluded from the possession of the land, it is necessary to explain this passage otherwise. It was a most severe punishment, it is true, to be shut out from entering the land, [1] but the words of Paul, when he says that they were destroyed by the destroyer, express another kind of chastisement. I refer it, accordingly, to the history, which is recorded in the sixteenth chapter of Numbers. [Nu 16:1-50]. For when God had punished the pride of Korah and Abiram, the people raised a tumult against Moses and Aaron, as if they had been to blame for the punishment which the Lord had inflicted. This madness of the people God punished by sending down fire from heaven, which swallowed up many of them -- upwards of fourteen thousand. It is, therefore, a striking and memorable token of God's wrath against rebels and seditious persons, that murmur against him. Those persons, it is true, murmured against Moses; but as they had no ground for insulting him, and had no occasion for being incensed against him, unless it was that he had faithfully discharged the duty which had been enjoined upon him by God, God himself was assailed by that murmuring. Let us, accordingly, bear in mind that we have to do with God, and not with men, if we rise up against the faithful ministers of God, and let us know that this audacity [2] will not go unpunished. By the destroyer you may understand the Angel, who executed the judgment of God. Now he sometimes employs the ministry of bad angels, sometimes of good, in punishing men, as appears from various passages of Scripture. As Paul here does not make a distinction between the one and the other, you may understand it of either.

Footnotes

1 - "De n'entrer point en la iouissance de la terre promise;" -- "Not to enter on the enjoyment of the promised land."

2 - "Ceste temerite outrecuidee;" -- "This presumptuous rashness."

Neither murmur ye - Do not repine at the allotments of Providence, or complain of His dealings.
As some of them also murmured - Numbers 14:2. The ground of their complaining was, that they had been disappointed; that they had been brought out of a land of plenty into a wilderness of want; and that instead of being conducted at once to the land of promise, they were left to perish in the desert. They therefore complained of their leaders, and proposed to return again into Egypt.
And were destroyed of the destroyer - That is, they were doomed to die in the wilderness without seeing the land of Canaan; Exodus 14:29. The "destroyer" here is understood by many to mean the "angel of death," so often referred to in the Old Testament, and usually called by the Jews "Sammael." The work of death, however, is attributed to an angel in Exodus 12:23; compare Hebrews 11:28. It was customary for the Hebrews to regard most human events as under the direction of angels. In Hebrews 2:14, he is described as he "that had the power of death;" compare the Book of Wisdom 18:22, 25. The simple idea here, however, is, that they died for their sin, and were not permitted to enter the promised land,

Neither murmur ye - How the Israelites murmured because of the manna, which their souls despised as a light bread - something incapable of affording them nourishment, etc., and because they had been brought out of Egypt into the wilderness, and pretended that the promises of God had failed; and how they were destroyed by serpents, and by the destroyer or plague; may be seen at large in the texts referred to in the margin on this and the preceding verses. It appears from what the apostle says here, that the Corinthians were murmuring against God and his apostle for prohibiting them from partaking of the idolatrous feasts, just as the Israelites did in the wilderness in reference to a similar subject. See the history of Phineas, with Zimri and Cosbi, and the rebellion of Corah and his company, etc., etc.
Destroyed of the destroyer - The Jews suppose that God employed destroying angels to punish those rebellious Israelites; they were five in number, and one of them they call משחית Meshachith, the destroyer; which appears to be another name for Samael, the angel of death, to whose influence they attribute all deaths which are not uncommon or violent. Those who die violent deaths, or deaths that are not in the common manner of men, are considered as perishing by immediate judgments from God.

Neither murmur ye,.... Against the true apostles of Christ, and faithful ministers of the word; nor against the laws and ordinances of Christ, or providences of God; so some of the members of this church did, or were inclined to do:
as some of them also murmured: as against the Lord, so against Moses and Aaron. The people of Israel were very prone unto, and often guilty of this sin; but what the apostle here has respect unto, is either their murmuring upon the report the spies made of the good land, in Numbers 14:1, or that of Korah and his company against Moses and Aaron, as principal officers, who were for setting all upon a level; and of all the people against them, for the death of these men, Numbers 16:1,
and were destroyed of the destroyer; meaning either some judgment of God upon them, as the earth's opening and swallowing up Korah and all that belonged unto him; and the fire that came down from heaven, and consumed the two hundred and fifty men that offered incense; and the plague which swept away fourteen thousand and seven hundred of those that murmured against Moses and Aaron, on the account of the death of the said persons; and any other judgment by which the carcasses of those fell in the wilderness, that murmured upon the report of the spies; or else since angels were usually employed by God, in inflicting such judgments, by the destroyer may be meant an angel, such an one as smote the firstborn in Egypt, and bears the same name, Hebrews 11:28 and as smote Israel with a pestilence upon David's numbering the people, and was about to have destroyed Jerusalem, had he not been restrained, 2-Samuel 24:15 and as, smote an hundred fourscore and five thousand in the camp of the Assyrians, in one night, 2-Kings 19:35. So that though an angel may be intended, it is not necessary, on account of the character given him, to understand an evil angel; it is true indeed, that Satan is by the Jews (a) called "the destroyer"; and Samuel, the same with Satan, is called "the angel of death"; to which the allusion is in Hebrews 2:14 and evil angels are frequently styled , "destroying angels" (b); as distinct from ministering ones, and to which some think the apostle here refers.
(a) T. Bab. Beracot, fol. 16. 2. (b) T. Bab. Kiddushin, fol. 72. 1. Beracot, fol. 51. 1.

some of them . . . murmured--upon the death of Korah and his company, who themselves were murmurers (Numbers 16:41, Numbers 16:49). Their murmurs against Moses and Aaron were virtually murmurs against God (compare Exodus 16:8, Exodus 16:10). Paul herein glances at the Corinthian murmurs against himself, the apostle of Christ.
destroyed--fourteen thousand seven hundred perished.
the destroyer--THE same destroying angel sent by God as in Exodus 12:23, and 2-Samuel 24:16.

The destroyer - The destroying angel. Numbers 14:1, Numbers 14:36