Trapped between the churning sea and the advancing Egyptian army, the Israelites are gripped by terror. In a moment of profound despair, they hurl a harsh accusation at Moses, declaring that the familiar certainty of slavery is far better than a newfound freedom that ends in slaughter.
A central difficulty arises from their specific claim that they had already begged Moses in Egypt to leave them alone to serve their masters. Looking back at the events before the exodus, there is no record of such a direct plea. A simple explanation is that the Torah does not document every single conversation. The fact that the people confront Moses with this argument suggests similar words were indeed spoken, as it is unlikely they would invent a complete lie to the very person who was present [אבן עזרא, אם למקרא].
The primary approach among commentators is that the people are referencing their earlier outcry when Pharaoh intensified their labor. At that time, they cried out for God to judge Moses. While they did not explicitly mention dying in the wilderness back then, standing before the sea, they feel their initial fears have fully materialized. They believe they were right to resist the redemption, having anticipated that once Pharaoh realized they were fleeing, he would pursue them with a sword [רש״י, מזרחי, כלי יקר, בכור שור].
From a psychological standpoint, this reaction is a natural human response to extreme danger. Paralyzed by anxiety, their memory slightly distorts; they now imagine their protests in Egypt were much sharper, as if they had clearly predicted this exact disaster [קאסוטו, שד״ל]. Alternatively, their statement might simply be an expression of bitter frustration, meaning this is what they should have said back in Egypt [כלי יקר].
Ultimately, their demand to return to servitude stems from a basic will to live. They reject what they see as unrealistic illusions of a distant land, lacking the desire to sacrifice their lives for freedom. Their anger toward Moses comes from a rational, natural fear of Egyptian swords, desert hazards, roaming nomads, and starvation. To them, he has traded poverty and servitude for certain death [מלבי״ם, רש ר הירש, ביאור שטיינזלץ]. The grammar of their cry highlights this self-centered desperation; they do not speak of death as an abstract concept, but emphasize their own active demise, stressing that it is better to serve Egypt than for them to die here in the wasteland [רש״י, גור אריה, דברי דוד, ביאור יש״ר].
On a deeper level, this preference for slavery reveals their spiritual state. The bondage in Egypt was meant to act as a refining crucible. Some among the Israelites felt they were not yet fully purified. They feared that the intense holiness of the wilderness and direct closeness to God would be too much to bear and would lead to their death. Therefore, they preferred to remain under Egyptian rule until their spiritual repair was complete [נחלת יעקב]. Furthermore, at this early stage before receiving the Torah, physical slavery seemed far more tolerable than losing their lives. Only later, after being sanctified and accepting the yoke of the Commandments, would their values shift. They would eventually understand that spiritual subjugation under a foreign power is far more dangerous and severe than physical death [חתם סופר].