The people quarreled with Moshe and said, “If only we had perished with the death of our brothers before the Lord! Why have you brought the congregation of the Lord into this wilderness to die there, we and our livestock?”
English of Core Text: “If only we had perished with the death of our brothers before the Lord” — with the death of our brothers by the plague. This teaches that death by thirst is more dreadful than [death by plague].
On the daf / in context: The people’s wish to have died earlier by plague rather than now by thirst highlights the severity of the water crisis after Miriam’s death. The complaint also frames the subsequent command and the sin at the rock.
Type of Learning: Comparison / severity of punishmentWhat Is Learned: Death by thirst is portrayed as worse than the plague that struck the generation; the complaint sets the stage for Mei Merivah.