Numbers 20:4

 Numbers 20:4

And why have ye brought up the congregation of the LORD into this wilderness, that we and our cattle should die there?

a. NLT: Why have you brought the congregation of the LORD’s people into this wilderness to die, along with all our livestock?   [Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.]

b. ASV: And why have ye brought the assembly of Jehovah into this wilderness, that we should die there, we and our beasts?  [Thomas Nelson & Sons first published the American Standard Version in 1901. This translation of the Bible is in the public domain.]

c. YLT: And why have ye brought in the assembly of Jehovah unto this wilderness to die there, we and our beasts?  [The Young's Literal Translation was translated by Robert Young, who believed in a strictly literal translation of God's word. This version of the Bible is in the public domain.]

d. Classic Amplified:  And why have you brought up the congregation of the Lord into this wilderness, that we should die here, we and our livestock? [Amplified Bible, Classic Edition (AMPC) Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation]

e. Stone Edition THE CHUMASH, Rabbinic Commentary: Why have you brought the congregation of HASHEM to this Wildreness to die there, we and our animals?  [The Artscroll Series/Stone Edition, THE CHUMASH Copyright 1998, 2000 by MESORAH PUBLICATIONS, Ldt.]

The Israel Bible: Why have you brought Hashem’s congregation into this wilderness for us and our beasts to die there?  [The English Translation was adapted by Israel 365 from the JPS Tanakh. Copyright Ⓒ 1985 by the Jewish Publication Society. All rights reserved.]

g. NIV: Why did you bring the LORD’s community into this wilderness, that we and our livestock should die here?  THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by Permission of Biblica, Inc.® All rights reserved worldwide.]

1. “And why have ye brought up the congregation of the LORD into this wilderness…”

a. [And] why [Strong: 4100 mah maw or mah {mah}; or ma {maw}; or ma {mah}; also meh {meh}; a primitive particle; properly, interrogative what? (including how? why? when?); but also exclamation, what! (including how!), or indefinitely what (including whatever, and even relatively, that which); often used with prefixes in various adverbial or conjunctive senses:--how (long, oft, (- soever)), (no-)thing, what (end, good, purpose, thing), whereby(-fore, -in, -to, -with), (for) why.] 

b. [have ye] brought up [Strong: 935 bow' bo a primitive root; to go or come (in a wide variety of applications):--abide, apply, attain, X be, befall, + besiege, bring (forth, in, into, to pass), call, carry, X certainly, (cause, let, thing for) to come (against, in, out, upon, to pass), depart, X doubtless again, + eat, + employ, (cause to) enter (in, into, -tering, -trance, -try), be fallen, fetch, + follow, get, give, go (down, in, to war), grant, + have, X indeed, (in-)vade, lead, lift (up), mention, pull in, put, resort, run (down), send, set, X (well) stricken (in age), X surely, take (in), way.]

c. [Strong: 853 'eth ayth apparent contracted from 226 in the demonstrative sense of entity; properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely):--(as such unrepresented in English).]

d. [the] congregation [Strong: 6951 qahal kaw-hawl' from 6950; assemblage (usually concretely):--assembly, company, congregation, multitude.]

e. [of the] LORD [Strong: 3068 Yhovah yeh-ho-vaw' from 1961; (the) self-Existent or Eternal; Jehovah, Jewish national name of God:--Jehovah, the Lord.]

f. into [Strong: 413 'el ale (but only used in the shortened constructive form sel {el}); a primitive particle; properly, denoting motion towards, but occasionally used of a quiescent position, i.e. near, with or among; often in general, to:--about, according to ,after, against, among, as for, at, because(-fore, -side), both...and, by, concerning, for, from, X hath, in(- to), near, (out) of, over, through, to(-ward), under, unto, upon, whether, with(-in).]

g. this [Strong: 2088 zeh zeh a primitive word; the masculine demonstrative pronoun, this or that:--he, X hence, X here, it(-self), X now, X of him, the one...the other, X than the other, (X out of) the (self) same, such (a one) that, these, this (hath, man), on this side...on that side, X thus, very, which.] 

h. wilderness [Strong: 4057 midbar mid-bawr' from 1696 in the sense of driving; a pasture (i.e. open field, whither cattle are driven); by implication, a desert; also speech (including its organs):--desert, south, speech, wilderness.]

2. “...that we and our cattle should die there?”

a. [that] we [Strong: 587 'anachnuw an-akh'-noo apparently from 595; we:--ourselves, us, we]

b. [and our] cattle [Strong: 1165 b`iyr beh-ere' from 1197 (in the sense of eating): cattle:--beast, cattle.]

c. [should] die [Strong: 4191 muwth mooth a primitive root: to die (literally or figuratively); causatively, to kill:--X at all, X crying, (be) dead (body, man, one), (put to, worthy of) death, destroy(-er), (cause to, be like to, must) die, kill, necro(-mancer), X must needs, slay, X surely, X very suddenly, X in (no) wise.]

d. there [Strong: 8033 sham shawm a primitive particle (rather from the relative pronoun, 834); there (transferring to time) then; often thither, or thence:--in it, + thence, there (-in, + of, + out), + thither, + whither.]

1). 1). The phrase “before the LORD” in Numbers 20:3 means as the Jewish Translation the Israel Bible says, “at the instance of Hashem!” They are literally saying it would be better to die under judgment like Korah (Numbers 16), or the spies who spread slander throughout the congregation.

a). Numbers 14:36, 37  And the men, which Moses sent to search the land, who returned, and made all the congregation to murmur against him, by bringing up a slander upon the land,

14:37 Even those men that did bring up the evil report upon the land, died by the plague before the Lord.

b). That is unbelievable.