Murmuring
80 passages listed in Nave’s Topical Bible and Torrey’s New Topical Textbook. Verse text: Berean Standard Bible; links open in your translation.
35 sections
- Aaron
- Against God
- Against: Christ
- Against: Disciples of Christ
- Against: God
- Against: Ministers of God
- Against: The Service of God
- Against: The Sovereignty of God
- Asaph
- Cain
- Characteristic of the Wicked
- David
- Disciples
- Elijah
- Forbidden
- Grecians
- Guilt of Encouraging Others In
- Hezekiah
- Illustrated
- Israelites
- Jeremiah
- Jews
- Jews, Against Jesus
- Job
- Jonah
- Korah
- Moses
- Pharisees
- Provokes God
- Punishment of
- Rachel
- Saints Cease From
- Solomon
- Tempts God
- Unreasonableness of
Aaron
- Numbers 12:1–2 Then Miriam and Aaron criticized Moses because of the Cushite woman he had married, for he had taken a Cushite wife. …
- Numbers 12:8 I speak with him face to face, clearly and not in riddles; he sees the form of the LORD. Why then were you unafraid to speak against My servant Moses?”
Against God
- Exodus 5:22–23 So Moses returned to the LORD and asked, “Lord, why have You brought trouble upon this people? Is this why You sent me? …
- Exodus 16:8 And Moses added, “The LORD will give you meat to eat this evening and bread to fill you in the morning, for He has heard your grumbling against Him. Who are we? Your grumblings are not against us but against the LORD.”
- Exodus 16:12 “I have heard the grumbling of the Israelites. Tell them, ‘At twilight you will eat meat, and in the morning you will be filled with bread. Then you will know that I am the LORD your God.’”
- Numbers 14:26–37 Then the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, …
- Numbers 17:10–11 The LORD said to Moses, “Put Aaron’s staff back in front of the Testimony, to be kept as a sign for the rebellious, so that you may put an end to their grumbling against Me, lest they die.” …
- Job 15:11–13 Are the consolations of God not enough for you, even words spoken gently to you? …
- Job 33:12–13 Behold, you are not right in this matter. I will answer you, for God is greater than man. …
- Job 34:37 For he adds rebellion to his sin; he claps his hands among us and multiplies his words against God.”
- Psalm 37:1 Do not fret over those who do evil; do not envy those who do wrong.
- Psalm 44:9–26 But You have rejected and humbled us; You no longer go forth with our armies. …
- Psalm 73:13–22 Surely in vain I have kept my heart pure; in innocence I have washed my hands. …
- Psalm 78:17–21 But they continued to sin against Him, rebelling in the desert against the Most High. …
- Proverbs 19:3 A man’s own folly subverts his way, yet his heart rages against the LORD.
- Ecclesiastes 7:10 Do not say, “Why were the old days better than these?” For it is unwise of you to ask about this.
- Jeremiah 15:10 Woe to me, my mother, that you have borne me, a man of strife and conflict in all the land. I have neither lent nor borrowed, yet everyone curses me.
- Lamentations 3:39 Why should any mortal man complain, in view of his sins?
- Malachi 3:14 You have said, ‘It is futile to serve God. What have we gained by keeping His requirements and walking mournfully before the LORD of Hosts?
- Luke 10:40 But Martha was distracted by all the preparations to be made. She came to Jesus and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her to help me!”
- Romans 9:19–20 One of you will say to me, “Then why does God still find fault? For who can resist His will?” …
- 1 Corinthians 10:10 And do not complain, as some of them did, and were killed by the destroying angel.
- Philippians 2:14 Do everything without complaining or arguing,
- James 5:9 Do not complain about one another, brothers, so that you will not be judged. Look, the Judge is standing at the door!
- Jude 16 These men are discontented grumblers, following after their own lusts; their mouths spew arrogance; they flatter others for their own advantage.
Against: Christ
- Luke 5:30 But the Pharisees and their scribes complained to Jesus’ disciples, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?”
- Luke 15:2 So the Pharisees and scribes began to grumble: “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”
- Luke 19:7 And all who saw this began to grumble, saying, “He has gone to be the guest of a sinful man!”
- John 6:41–43 At this, the Jews began to grumble about Jesus because He had said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” …
- John 6:52 At this, the Jews began to argue among themselves, “How can this man give us His flesh to eat?”
Against: Disciples of Christ
- Matthew 7:2 For with the same judgment you pronounce, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
- Luke 5:30 But the Pharisees and their scribes complained to Jesus’ disciples, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?”
- Luke 6:2 But some of the Pharisees asked, “Why are you doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?”
Against: God
- Proverbs 19:3 A man’s own folly subverts his way, yet his heart rages against the LORD.
Against: Ministers of God
- Exodus 17:3 But the people thirsted for water there, and they grumbled against Moses: “Why have you brought us out of Egypt — to make us and our children and livestock die of thirst?”
- Numbers 16:41 The next day the whole congregation of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron, saying, “You have killed the LORD’s people!”
Against: The Service of God
- Malachi 3:14 You have said, ‘It is futile to serve God. What have we gained by keeping His requirements and walking mournfully before the LORD of Hosts?
Against: The Sovereignty of God
- Romans 9:19–20 One of you will say to me, “Then why does God still find fault? For who can resist His will?” …
Asaph
- Psalm 73:3 For I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
Cain
- Genesis 4:13–14 But Cain said to the LORD, “My punishment is greater than I can bear. …
Characteristic of the Wicked
- Jude 16 These men are discontented grumblers, following after their own lusts; their mouths spew arrogance; they flatter others for their own advantage.
David
- 2 Samuel 6:8 Then David became angry because the LORD had burst forth against Uzzah. So he named that place Perez-uzzah, as it is called to this day.
- Psalm 116:10–11 I believed, therefore I said, “I am greatly afflicted.” …
Disciples
- Mark 14:4–5 Some of those present, however, expressed their indignation to one another: “Why this waste of perfume? …
- John 6:61 Aware that His disciples were grumbling about this teaching, Jesus asked them, “Does this offend you?
Elijah
- 1 Kings 19:4 while he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness. He sat down under a broom tree and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, LORD,” he said. “Take my life, for I am no better than my fathers.”
- 1 Kings 19:10 “I have been very zealous for the LORD, the God of Hosts,” he replied, “but the Israelites have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I am the only one left, and they are seeking …
Forbidden
- 1 Corinthians 10:10 And do not complain, as some of them did, and were killed by the destroying angel.
- Philippians 2:14 Do everything without complaining or arguing,
Grecians
- Acts 6:1 In those days when the disciples were increasing in number, the Grecian Jews among them began to grumble against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food.
Guilt of Encouraging Others In
- Numbers 13:31–33 But the men who had gone up with him replied, “We cannot go up against the people, for they are stronger than we are!” …
- Numbers 14:36–37 So the men Moses had sent to spy out the land, who had returned and made the whole congregation grumble against him by bringing out a bad report about the land— …
Hezekiah
- Isaiah 38:10–18 I said, “In the prime of my life I must go through the gates of Sheol and be deprived of the remainder of my years.” …
Illustrated
- Matthew 20:11 On receiving their pay, they began to grumble against the landowner.
- Luke 15:29–30 But he answered his father, ‘Look, all these years I have served you and never disobeyed a commandment of yours. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. …
Israelites
- Exodus 5:21 “May the LORD look upon you and judge you,” the foremen said, “for you have made us a stench before Pharaoh and his officials; you have placed in their hand a sword to kill us!”
- Exodus 14:11–12 They said to Moses, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us into the wilderness to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? …
- Exodus 15:23–24 And when they came to Marah, they could not drink the water there because it was bitter. (That is why it was named Marah.) …
- Exodus 16:2–3 And there in the desert the whole congregation of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron. …
- Exodus 17:2–3 So the people contended with Moses, “Give us water to drink.” “Why do you contend with me?” Moses replied. “Why do you test the LORD?” …
- Numbers 11:1–10 Soon the people began to complain about their hardship in the hearing of the LORD, and when He heard them, His anger was kindled, and fire from the LORD blazed among them and consumed the outskirts of the camp. …
- Numbers 11:33 But while the meat was still between their teeth, before it was chewed, the anger of the LORD burned against the people, and the LORD struck them with a severe plague.
- Numbers 14:1 Then the whole congregation lifted up their voices and cried out, and that night the people wept.
- Numbers 16:41 The next day the whole congregation of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron, saying, “You have killed the LORD’s people!”
- Numbers 20:2–5 Now there was no water for the congregation, so they gathered against Moses and Aaron. …
- Numbers 21:5–6 and spoke against God and against Moses: “Why have you led us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is no bread or water, and we detest this wretched food!” …
- Deuteronomy 1:27–28 You grumbled in your tents and said, “Because the LORD hates us, He has brought us out of the land of Egypt to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites to be annihilated. …
Jeremiah
- Jeremiah 20:14–18 Cursed be the day I was born! May the day my mother bore me never be blessed. …
- Lamentations 3:1 I am the man who has seen affliction under the rod of God’s wrath.
Jews
- John 6:41–43 At this, the Jews began to grumble about Jesus because He had said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” …
Jews, Against Jesus
- John 6:41–43 At this, the Jews began to grumble about Jesus because He had said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” …
- John 6:52 At this, the Jews began to argue among themselves, “How can this man give us His flesh to eat?”
Job
- Job 3:1 After this, Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth.
- Job 6:1 Then Job replied:
- Job 7:1 “Is not man consigned to labor on earth? Are not his days like those of a hired hand?
- Job 9:1 Then Job answered:
- Job 10:1 “I loathe my own life; I will express my complaint and speak in the bitterness of my soul.
- Job 13:1 “Indeed, my eyes have seen all this; my ears have heard and understood.
- Job 19:1 Then Job answered:
- Job 23:1 Then Job answered:
- Job 30:1 “But now they mock me, men younger than I am, whose fathers I would have refused to put with my sheep dogs.
Jonah
- Jonah 4:8–9 As the sun was rising, God appointed a scorching east wind, and the sun beat down on Jonah’s head so that he grew faint and wished to die, saying, “It is better for me to die than to live.” …
Korah
- Numbers 16:8–11 Moses also said to Korah, “Now listen, you sons of Levi! …
Moses
- Exodus 5:22–23 So Moses returned to the LORD and asked, “Lord, why have You brought trouble upon this people? Is this why You sent me? …
- Numbers 11:11–15 So Moses asked the LORD, “Why have You brought this trouble on Your servant? Why have I not found favor in Your sight, that You have laid upon me the burden of all these people? …
Pharisees
Provokes God
- Numbers 14:2 All the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron, and the whole congregation said to them, “If only we had died in the land of Egypt, or if only we had died in this wilderness!
- Numbers 14:11 And the LORD said to Moses, “How long will this people treat Me with contempt? How long will they refuse to believe in Me, despite all the signs I have performed among them?
- Deuteronomy 9:8 At Horeb you provoked the LORD, and He was angry enough to destroy you.
- Deuteronomy 9:22 You continued to provoke the LORD at Taberah, at Massah, and at Kibroth-hattaavah.
Punishment of
- Numbers 11:1 Soon the people began to complain about their hardship in the hearing of the LORD, and when He heard them, His anger was kindled, and fire from the LORD blazed among them and consumed the outskirts of the camp.
- Numbers 14:27–29 “How long will this wicked congregation grumble against Me? I have heard the complaints that the Israelites are making against Me. …
- Numbers 16:45–46 “Get away from this congregation so that I may consume them in an instant.” And Moses and Aaron fell facedown. …
- Psalm 106:25–26 They grumbled in their tents and did not listen to the voice of the LORD. …
Rachel
- Genesis 30:1 When Rachel saw that she was not bearing any children for Jacob, she envied her sister. “Give me children, or I will die!” she said to Jacob.
Saints Cease From
- Isaiah 29:23–24 For when he sees his children around him, the work of My hands, they will honor My name, they will sanctify the Holy One of Jacob, and they will stand in awe of the God of Israel. …
Solomon
- Ecclesiastes 2:17–18 So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. For everything is futile and a pursuit of the wind. …
Tempts God
- Exodus 17:2 So the people contended with Moses, “Give us water to drink.” “Why do you contend with me?” Moses replied. “Why do you test the LORD?”
Unreasonableness of
- Lamentations 3:39 Why should any mortal man complain, in view of his sins?
Related topics
Murmuring of Israelites Against MosesTrouble
Topics: Nave’s Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey’s New Topical Textbook (1897), public domain, via the Berean Bible topical index.