John Calvin Commentary Exodus 16:2

"And the whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron in the wilderness:" — Exodus 16:2 (ASV)

And the whole congregation. Moses does not say that only some of the people murmured, but that they were all gathered into mobs as if in a conspiracy, or at any rate, as they were arranged by hundreds and thousands, they murmured unanimously. Yet this universal term allows for exceptions; nor do we need to suppose that every single person was included in this impious rebellion.

The best remedy for their hunger would have been to pray to God, whom they had found to be in all respects a bountiful Father, and whom they had heard to have wonderfully provided for their ancestors when the Egyptians and inhabitants of Canaan were suffering from famine in such rich and fertile lands. If they had only been convinced that the earth is made fertile by God’s blessing, it would also have occurred to them that it is His special responsibility to feed the hungry, and they would have immediately directed their prayers to Him. Instead, their unbelief reveals itself in their turbulent clamor.

It is indeed astonishing that wretched people, whom their necessity should have humbled, rose insolently against God, and that their hunger, far from bending their hearts to gentleness, was the very incentive for their arrogance.

But this is all too common with the wicked—because they do not trust that God is reconciled to them—to neglect prayer, and to cry out in confusion, to utter their curses, and to rush furiously here and there like mad dogs. This was the case with the Israelites in the wilderness of Sin.

The lack of all things, which confronted them, was an invitation from God for them to experience His power—the power by which He created the world from nothing and which is independent of all external assistance for the sustenance of humankind.

But despair seized upon their faithless minds, so that they rejected His aid and beneficence. Moreover, their malevolence and ingratitude instigated them to quarrel with Moses. This was the essence of their complaint: that they were dragged away from an abundance of bread and meat, so that they would perish from hunger in the desert. Therefore, they called Moses and Aaron, by whose hand and efforts they had been delivered, their murderers.