GRUMBLING IN THE BIBLE

The above verb, also translated as 'murmuring,' is generally associated with the Israelites complaints made while they were undergoing their wilderness wanderings. “There are over a dozen passages in the Pentateuch where such 'murmuring' is mentioned; it was characteristic of Israel” (Cole)

Less recognized is the fact that there are an equal number of times in the New Testament where someone is grumbling against someone else. On most of these occasions, the Greek root gogguzo is the verb employed. Vine says that this verb denotes “to mutter, murmur, grumble, say anything in a low tone (Eng. gong), an onomatopoeic word, representing the significance by the sound of the word, as in English with the word 'murmur' itself...” In case you are confused by Vine's reference to “gong,” I should explain that the letter combination 'gg' in Greek is generally pronounced as 'ng' instead.

Below are some comments regarding the dozen NT references to “murmuring.”

Matthew 20:11 – Workers in Jesus parable grumble against the landowner when late-comers receive the same wages as they have.

“The nature of their grumbling...showed what kind of men they were. They did not say, 'You have put us on a par with the late-comers,' but 'you have put them on a par with us.' In other words, they were not only dissatisfied with what they themselves had received; they were also – perhaps especially – envious of what had been given to the others!” (Hendricksen)

Mark 14:5 – Bystanders complain to Jesus about the woman “wasting” valuable perfume on him.

This episode is practically a duplicate of John 12:3-5 in which it is specifically Judas who complains about the waste. But as Ralph Martin says, “The comment of the Evangelist is intended to stress the avarice of Judas, who saw in the price of the ointment nothing of the beautiful deed which Jesus praised but only a means by which the apostolic fund would be increased, and thereby his own pocket lined. And even this motive was cloaked under a specious plea that the money could be given away to relieve the poor. Thus to covetousness there is added the trait of deceit.”

Luke 5:30 – The Pharisees and scribes complain to the disciples about them eating and drinking with sinners.

“From the words of the Saviour it...appears that those who in their self-complacency imagine themselves to be righteous and spiritually healthy will have no part in the salvation brought by Him. But those who know themselves as sinners will find that He has come to call and heal them. In His attitude towards sinners Jesus was quite different from the Jewish religious leaders who thought it beneath their dignity to mix with sinners and to seek to save them. The best ones among them did allow sinners to come to them to seek a better life, but they never went to fallen ones to try to reclaim them.” (Gelderhuys)

Luke 15:1-2 – This is practically a duplicate of Luke 5:30 in that the situation is almost identical.

Craddock's comments are as follows: “The reader is...to hear what follows as the response of Jesus, and hence the response of the church, to critics who find in the presence of tax collectors and sinners around Jesus something contradictory, or inappropriate, or unsavory, or repulsive, or socially disruptive, or in violation of the nature and purpose of true religion. More correctly, it should be said that these people are not simply in Jesus' presence; he 'receives' (RSV) or 'welcomes' (NEB) them, a term that could mean Jesus is host to them as guests. The issue, then, is table fellowship, breaking bread together being the sign and seal of full acceptance.”

Luke 19:7 – Outsiders grumble about Jesus associating with Zacchaeus, the tax-collector.

On the surface, this appears to be yet another case of Jesus associating himself with sinners, who come to him in repentance. However, Fitzmyer makes a good case for the fact that, despite the opinion of the crowd that Zacchaeus is a “sinner,” he is really an upright, practicing Jew who already gives half his money to the poor.

Fitzmyer states, “Zacchaeus is not self-effacing, but he is not boasting either; cf. the antecedent protestation of the self-asserting Pharisee in 18:11-12 with the deferential defense that the toll-collector makes here. Jesus' pronouncement of salvation (v. 9) is not made to reveal his own power in forgiving sin or to imply that former sins of extortion are remitted (recall the condition in Zacchaeus' statement, 'if,' not 'when'). His words are addressed to the grumbling crowd; they vindicate Zacchaeus and make it clear that even such a person can find salvation: He too is a 'son of Abraham.' This does not mean that Zacchaeus has become a child of Abraham in some spiritual sense (as in Pauline usage, Gal 3:7,29; Rom 4:16-17); Jesus seeks lodging from him because he is really an offspring of Abraham, a Jew, with as much claim to the salvation which Jesus brings as any other Israelite (cf. 13:16).”

John 6:41,43 – The Jews complain when Jesus calls himself “the bread from heaven.”

“The same word ['murmur'] appears in LXX [the Septuagint] account of the murmuring of the Israelites during the Exodus (Exod xvi, 2, 7, 8)...With the 'murmuring' in vs. 41 we return to the atmosphere of the Israelites in the desert and the manna. Although the historical connections between the multiplication [of the loaves] and the discourse may not have been as close as now portrayed, the evangelist loses no opportunity to show how the same themes run through them. The familiar question of Jesus' origins betrays the usual misunderstanding that greets Jesus as the revealer. If he is the bread from heaven, if he is the Son of Man who is to come on the clouds, how can he have grown up in a family at Nazareth?” (R.E. Brown)

John 6:61 – Even Jesus' own disciples are offended by his saying they must eat his body and drink his blood. This attitude is somewhat understandable in light of the scrupulous measures the Jews took to ensure that all blood was drained from an animal before preparing it for food.

“Who were these disciples? Were they the twelve? Probably not (cf. 6:67-69) because they departed from following Jesus at this point. But apparently they were people who had been numbered among the followers of Jesus. Yet even though they were persons who had been regarded as part of the group, these disciples (like the wilderness rebels) were designated as grumblers and were warned by Jesus not to be scandalized (offended, 6:61)...Thus it should be evident that discipleship in John is far more than a matter of saying the right words or belonging to a group. It is a matter of obediently following Jesus (6:60; cf. 12:42-43).” (Borchert)

John 7:12 – Some people complain that Jesus is deceiving the crowd while others feel he is a good man. “Yet no man spoke openly of him for fear of the Jews.”

I am reminded of the current political climate in America where, both in the church and outside, people are afraid to openly voice their views for fear of reprisals from others. Instead, all we are likely is to hear is vague murmuring from all sides. Morris says, “'Murmuring' usually indicates discontent, but here it probably denotes rather quiet discussion, 'whispering,' suppressed discussion in low tones, in corners, and among friends' (Dodds). The crowds were divided in their opinions, but it was not safe to speak up about Jesus, so they kept their voices low.” (Morris)

John 7:32 – The crowd murmurs against the Jewish authorities who seem to be unable to arrest Jesus. They even speculate that perhaps they know that Jesus really is the Messiah.

Morris points out that the Pharisees were the most active opponents of Jesus while the chief priests were the only ones who had the power to do something about it. So they combine their forces and bide their time, waiting for the most propitious moment to strike. He adds, “It is not without its interest that the Pharisees heard all this [murmuring] and that 'the chief priests and the Pharisees' took action. The Pharisees would have their finger on the public pulse more than the chief priests who were more remote.”

Acts 6:1 – The Christian Hellenists complain about the unequal food distribution.

This is one of the very few times in the Bible when the “grumbling” appears to have been totally justified, at least in terms of it being due to a real injustice. However, an open airing of the issue would have been a more appropriate response.

John Stott says that “the Jerusalem church members were murmuring against the apostles, who received the relief money (4:35,37) and were therefore expected to distribute it equitably. But such grumbling is inappropriate in Christians...It is not suggested that the oversight was deliberate ('the Hebrew widows were being given preferential treatment'); more probably the cause was poor administration or supervision.” Thus, the Twelve turn the problem of distribution over to a group of “deacons” who have Hellenistic backgrounds instead in order to alleviate the problem.

I Corinthians 10:10 – The example of Jews grumbling in the wilderness is given to the church as a warning.

“Israel's fifth failure, which God disciplined with death, occurred when they spoke rebelliously against God's appointed leaders, Moses and Aaron (Num. 16:41-49). As a result they were killed by snakes (Num. 21:4-6). Did the Corinthians think that they knew better than God the path that would bring them to heaven? (cf. 1 Cor. 1:18-3:20)” (Lowery)

Philippians 2:14 – Paul tells the church to do all things without murmuring or arguing.

Hendricksen: “Paul has been speaking about the necessity of obedience (verse 12) in the great task of so working out salvation. But obedience may be of two kinds: grudging or voluntary...grudging obedience is in reality no obedience at all...True religion is never merely external compliance. Hence, Paul continues, 'Practice doing all things without muttering and argumentations'...All the dictates of God's will must be obeyed cheerfully; in such a manner that the will of man does not rebel against them by means of discontented, undertone grumblings, nor his mind by means of perpetual ingenious disputations.”

Jude 16 – A warning is given to the church against intruders who are murmurers, etc.

“Jude sums up his description of the false brethren by stressing their three chief characteristics; his opponents were rebellious, licentious and motivated by their own advantages.” (David Payne) And all of this came out in the form of their grumbling against the constituted authorities in the church. Unfortunately, I have seen this type of behavior first-hand again and again in various congregations. At one church business meeting where various parties were quite obviously jockeying for favorable positions, someone stood up and said, “We are suffering from a power vacuum in this church!” I corrected him by replying, “We don't have a power vacuum; there are plenty of people here trying to grab power. We are suffering from a servant vacuum instead.”