Therefore you and all your company have gathered together against Yahweh! What is Aaron that you murmur against him?”
Parallel translations
- KJV For which cause both thou and all thy company are gathered together against the LORD: and what is Aaron, that ye murmur against him?
- BSB Therefore, it is you and all your followers who have conspired against the LORD! As for Aaron, who is he that you should grumble against him?”
- NKJV Therefore you and all your company are gathered together against the Lord. And what is Aaron that you complain against him?”
- NASB Therefore you and your whole group are the ones gathered together against the Lord; but as for Aaron, who is he, that you grumble against him?”
- NLT The Lord is the one you and your followers are really revolting against! For who is Aaron that you are complaining about him?”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Moses tells them their gathering is ultimately against the LORD himself, not merely against Aaron. To reject God's appointed servant is to reject God.
Overview
Moses unmasks the true nature of the rebellion: by opposing the leaders God appointed, they are opposing God. Their murmuring against Aaron is murmuring against the LORD who chose him. This sobering truth carries into the gospel, where to reject Christ, God's appointed one, is to reject the Father who sent him (Luke 10:16).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Exod 16:7–8and in the morning, then you shall see Yahweh’s glory; because he hears your murmurings against Yahweh. Who are we, that you murmur against us?”
- Exod 17:2Therefore the people quarreled with Moses, and said, “Give us water to drink.” Moses said to them, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test Yahweh?”
- Num 16:3They assembled themselves together against Moses and against Aaron, and said to them, “You take too much on yourself, since all the congregation are holy, everyone of them, and Yahweh is among them! Why do you lift yourselves up above Yahweh’s assembly?”
- 1 Cor 3:5Who then is Apollos, and who is Paul, but servants through whom you believed; and each as the Lord gave to him?
- Rom 13:2Therefore he who resists the authority, withstands the ordinance of God; and those who withstand will receive to themselves judgment.
- Acts 5:4While you kept it, didn’t it remain your own? After it was sold, wasn’t it in your power? How is it that you have conceived this thing in your heart? You haven’t lied to men, but to God.”
- Luke 10:16Whoever listens to you listens to me, and whoever rejects you rejects me. Whoever rejects me rejects him who sent me.”
- 1 Sam 8:7Yahweh said to Samuel, “Listen to the voice of the people in all that they tell you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me as the king over them.
- John 13:20Most certainly I tell you, he who receives whomever I send, receives me; and he who receives me, receives him who sent me.”
- 1 Cor 10:10Don’t grumble, as some of them also grumbled, and perished by the destroyer.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
In the wilderness Christ is the water from the rock, the bronze serpent lifted up that the dying might look and live (John 3:14), and the star and scepter that Balaam saw rising out of Jacob.
How Numbers 16:11 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.