And the people thirsted there for water; and the people murmured against Moses, and said, Wherefore is this that thou hast brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst?

So the people were thirsty there for want of water, and murmured against Moses, saying: Why didst thou make us go forth out of Egypt, to kill us and our children, and our beasts with thirst?

and the people thirst there for water, and the people murmur against Moses, and say, 'Why is this?, thou hast brought us up out of Egypt, to put us to death, also our sons and our cattle, with thirst.'

And the people were in great need of water; and they made an outcry against Moses, and said, Why have you taken us out of Egypt to send death on us and our children and our cattle through need of water?

And so the people were thirsty in that place, due to the scarcity of water, and they murmured against Moses, saying: "Why did you cause us to go out of Egypt, so as to kill us and our children, as well as our cattle, with thirst?"

Sitivit ergo illic populus ab aquis, et murmuravit populus contra Mosen, dicens, Quare sic nos ascendere fecisti ex AEgypto, ut interficeres me, et filios meos, et pecora mea, siti?

And the people murmured - The reader must not forget what has so often been noted relating to the degraded state of the minds of the Israelites. A strong argument however may be drawn from this in favor of their supernatural escape from Egypt. Had it been a scheme concerted by the heads of the people, provision would necessarily have been made for such exigencies as these. But as God chose to keep them constantly dependent upon himself for every necessary of life, and as they had Moses alone as their mediator to look to, they murmured against him when brought into straits and difficulties, regretted their having left Egypt, and expressed the strongest desire to return. This shows that they had left Egypt reluctantly; and as Moses and Aaron never appear to have any resources but those which came most evidently in a supernatural way, therefore the whole exodus or departure from Egypt proves itself to have been no human contrivance, but a measure concerted by God himself.

And the people thirsted there for water,.... They saw there was no water when they first came thither, and therefore chid Moses for bringing them to such a place, where they could not subsist; and having stayed some little time here, and all the water they brought with them from Alush being spent, and having none to drink, began to be very thirsty:
and the people murmured against Moses; became more impatient and enraged, and threw out their invectives against him with much acrimony and severity:
wherefore is this that thou hast brought us up out of Egypt? where it would have been much better for us to have continued:
to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst: which is intolerable to any, and especially to children and cattle, which require frequent drinking: they could not suppose that Moses had such a murderous view in bringing them out of Egypt, or that this was his intention in it, but that this would be the issue and event of it.