Psalm 78:40
New International Version
How often they rebelled against him in the wilderness and grieved him in the wasteland!

New Living Translation
Oh, how often they rebelled against him in the wilderness and grieved his heart in that dry wasteland.

English Standard Version
How often they rebelled against him in the wilderness and grieved him in the desert!

Berean Standard Bible
How often they disobeyed Him in the wilderness and grieved Him in the desert!

King James Bible
How oft did they provoke him in the wilderness, and grieve him in the desert!

New King James Version
How often they provoked Him in the wilderness, And grieved Him in the desert!

New American Standard Bible
How often they rebelled against Him in the wilderness And grieved Him in the desert!

NASB 1995
How often they rebelled against Him in the wilderness And grieved Him in the desert!

NASB 1977
How often they rebelled against Him in the wilderness, And grieved Him in the desert!

Legacy Standard Bible
How often they rebelled against Him in the wilderness And grieved Him in the wasteland!

Amplified Bible
How often they rebelled against Him in the wilderness And grieved Him in the desert!

Christian Standard Bible
How often they rebelled against him in the wilderness and grieved him in the desert.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
How often they rebelled against Him in the wilderness and grieved Him in the desert.

American Standard Version
How oft did they rebel against him in the wilderness, And grieve him in the desert!

Contemporary English Version
While they were in the desert, they often rebelled and made God sad.

English Revised Version
How oft did they rebel against him in the wilderness, and grieve him in the desert!

GOD'S WORD® Translation
How often they rebelled against him in the wilderness! How often they caused him grief in the desert!

Good News Translation
How often they rebelled against him in the desert; how many times they made him sad!

International Standard Version
How they rebelled against him in the desert, grieving him in the wilderness!

Majority Standard Bible
How often they disobeyed Him in the wilderness and grieved Him in the desert!

NET Bible
How often they rebelled against him in the wilderness, and insulted him in the desert!

New Heart English Bible
How often they rebelled against him in the wilderness, and grieved him in the desert.

Webster's Bible Translation
How oft did they provoke him in the wilderness, and grieve him in the desert!

World English Bible
How often they rebelled against him in the wilderness, and grieved him in the desert!
Literal Translations
Literal Standard Version
How often do they provoke Him in the wilderness, "" Grieve Him in the desolate place?

Young's Literal Translation
How often do they provoke Him in the wilderness, Grieve Him in the desolate place?

Smith's Literal Translation
How often they will embitter him in the desert! they will grieve him in the waste.
Catholic Translations
Douay-Rheims Bible
How often did they provoke him in the desert: and move him to wrath in the place without water?

Catholic Public Domain Version
How often did they provoke him in the desert and stir him to wrath in a waterless place?

New American Bible
How often they rebelled against God in the wilderness, grieved him in the wasteland.

New Revised Standard Version
How often they rebelled against him in the wilderness and grieved him in the desert!
Translations from Aramaic
Lamsa Bible
How oft did they provoke him in the wilderness, and grieve him in the desert!

Peshitta Holy Bible Translated
They bitterly provoked him in the wilderness and angered him in the deserts.
OT Translations
JPS Tanakh 1917
How oft did they rebel against Him in the wilderness, And grieve Him in the desert!

Brenton Septuagint Translation
How often did they provoke him in the wilderness, and anger him in a dry land!

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
I Will Open My Mouth in Parables
39He remembered that they were but flesh, a passing breeze that does not return. 40How often they disobeyed Him in the wilderness and grieved Him in the desert! 41Again and again they tested God and provoked the Holy One of Israel.…

Cross References
Isaiah 63:10
But they rebelled and grieved His Holy Spirit. So He turned and became their enemy, and He Himself fought against them.

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?

Numbers 14:22-23
not one of the men who have seen My glory and the signs I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness—yet have tested Me and disobeyed Me these ten times— / not one will ever see the land that I swore to give their fathers. None of those who have treated Me with contempt will see it.

Hebrews 3:10
Therefore I was angry with that generation, and I said, ‘Their hearts are always going astray, and they have not known My ways.’

Hebrews 3:17
And with whom was God angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness?

Exodus 16:28
Then the LORD said to Moses, “How long will you refuse to keep My commandments and instructions?

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?”

Deuteronomy 9:22
You continued to provoke the LORD at Taberah, at Massah, and at Kibroth-hattaavah.

Deuteronomy 32:19
When the LORD saw this, He rejected them, provoked to anger by His sons and daughters.

Judges 2:12
Thus they forsook the LORD, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt, and they followed after various gods of the peoples around them. They bowed down to them and provoked the LORD to anger,

Judges 2:17
Israel, however, did not listen to their judges. Instead, they prostituted themselves with other gods and bowed down to them. They quickly turned from the way of their fathers, who had walked in obedience to the LORD’s commandments; they did not do as their fathers had done.

1 Corinthians 10:9
We should not test Christ, as some of them did, and were killed by snakes.

1 Corinthians 10:11
Now these things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come.

Nehemiah 9:26
But they were disobedient and rebelled against You; they flung Your law behind their backs. They killed Your prophets, who had admonished them to return to You. They committed terrible blasphemies.

Nehemiah 9:30
You were patient with them for many years, and Your Spirit admonished them through Your prophets. Yet they would not listen, so You gave them into the hands of the neighboring peoples.


Treasury of Scripture

How oft did they provoke him in the wilderness, and grieve him in the desert!

how oft

Psalm 78:17
And they sinned yet more against him by provoking the most High in the wilderness.

Psalm 95:8-10
Harden not your heart, as in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness: …

Psalm 106:14-33
But lusted exceedingly in the wilderness, and tempted God in the desert…

provoke him.

Isaiah 7:13
And he said, Hear ye now, O house of David; Is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will ye weary my God also?

Isaiah 63:10
But they rebelled, and vexed his holy Spirit: therefore he was turned to be their enemy, and he fought against them.

Ephesians 4:30
And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.

Jump to Previous
Cause Desert Desolate Dry Frequently Grief Grieve Grieved Oft Often Places Provoke Rebel Rebelled Waste Wasteland Wilderness
Jump to Next
Cause Desert Desolate Dry Frequently Grief Grieve Grieved Oft Often Places Provoke Rebel Rebelled Waste Wasteland Wilderness
Psalm 78
1. An exhortation both to learn and to preach, the law of God
9. The story of God's wrath against the incredulous and disobedient
67. The Israelites being rejected, God chose Judah, Zion, and David.














How often they disobeyed Him in the wilderness
This phrase highlights the repeated nature of Israel's rebellion against God during their time in the wilderness. The Hebrew word for "disobeyed" is "מָרָה" (marah), which conveys a sense of bitterness and rebellion. Historically, the wilderness period was a time of testing and reliance on God, yet the Israelites frequently failed to trust and obey Him. This serves as a reminder of human frailty and the need for continual faithfulness to God.

and grieved Him in the desert!
The word "grieved" comes from the Hebrew "עָצַב" (atsab), which means to cause pain or sorrow. This indicates that the Israelites' actions were not just disobedient but also deeply hurtful to God. The desert, or "מִדְבָּר" (midbar), was a place of both physical and spiritual testing. In the biblical narrative, the desert represents a place where God’s people are stripped of distractions and must rely solely on Him. The Israelites' failure to do so grieved God, highlighting the personal nature of His relationship with His people. This serves as a powerful reminder of the importance of obedience and trust in our walk with God.

(40) How oft.--Ten instances of murmuring are actually recorded in Exodus and Numbers.

Verse 40. - How oft did they provoke him in the wilderness, and grieve him in the desert! (comp. Deuteronomy 31:27; Deuteronomy 32:15-18; Acts 7:30-43, etc.). That God is "grieved" at man's sins appears, not only from this passage, but also from Genesis 6:6; Psalm 95:10; Ephesians 4:30; Hebrews 3:17.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
How often
כַּ֭מָּה (kam·māh)
Interrogative
Strong's 4100: What?, what!, indefinitely what

they disobeyed Him
יַמְר֣וּהוּ (yam·rū·hū)
Verb - Hifil - Imperfect - third person masculine plural | third person masculine singular
Strong's 4784: To be contentious or rebellious

in the wilderness
בַמִּדְבָּ֑ר (ḇam·miḏ·bār)
Preposition-b, Article | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 4057: A pasture, a desert, speech

and grieved Him
יַ֝עֲצִיב֗וּהוּ (ya·‘ă·ṣî·ḇū·hū)
Verb - Hifil - Imperfect - third person masculine plural | third person masculine singular
Strong's 6087: To carve, fabricate, fashion, to worry, pain, anger

in the desert.
בִּֽישִׁימֽוֹן׃ (bî·šî·mō·wn)
Preposition-b | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 3452: Waste, wilderness


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OT Poetry: Psalm 78:40 How often they rebelled against him (Psalm Ps Psa.)
Psalm 78:39
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