Following a night of bitter weeping over the spies' report, morning brings a wave of despair and open rebellion to the Israelite camp [הטור הארוך, העמק דבר]. The collapse of the nation's faith happens with astonishing speed. The discouraging words of just a few individuals manage to incite hundreds of thousands of people, instantly plunging every layer of society into total hopelessness [צרור המור]. While a general sense of resentment and bitter complaining spreads throughout the entire population [אבן עזרא, אבי עזר], a subtle distinction emerges between the masses and their leadership. The widespread bitterness belongs to the common people, but the direct, formulated accusations are hurled at Moses and Aaron by the community's representatives, princes, and tribal heads, who speak on behalf of the entire nation [אור החיים, רש ר הירש, העמק דבר].
The anger of the people is aimed squarely at Moses and Aaron. In one view, the leaders are accused of acting as God's agents only to drag the nation out of Egypt and through the harsh desert, ultimately to hand them over to their enemies [ספורנו]. Another perspective suggests that the people fully understand God is directing their journey, but they tragically misinterpret His intentions. They mistakenly believe that God hates them and plans to kill them in the land of Canaan as a delayed punishment for past sins, such as practicing idolatry in Egypt or worshipping the Golden Calf. In this state of panic, they confront Moses and Aaron, demanding to know why the leaders are not praying to overturn this harsh divine decree [העמק דבר, אלשיך].
Consumed by despair, the people express a tragic wish, crying out for a different fate [רש״י, שפתי חכמים, גור אריה, מזרחי]. Their outcry shows a grim set of priorities regarding how they would prefer to die. Their first choice is a quiet, natural death back in Egypt. Recognizing that this is no longer possible, they move to their second, slightly less terrible option: dying in the desert. They declare that they would rather face unnatural deaths in the wilderness, similar to those who sinned previously, as long as they do not have to enter the land of Canaan [אור החיים, אלשיך].
The core of the nation's panic is not a fear of death itself, but rather a terror of how they might die. They vastly prefer the thought of passing away peacefully in their beds in Egypt or the desert over falling by the sword in a brutal war against a strong enemy. Such a violent defeat would leave their wives and children completely defenseless, turning their families into helpless spoils of war [ביאור יש״ר, בכור שור, ביאור שטיינזלץ]. In their eyes, if God had intended to kill them from the very beginning, it would have been far more merciful to let them die in Egypt. To their minds, dragging them through the endless suffering of the desert only to lead them to a cruel slaughter at the hands of their enemies is the ultimate betrayal [מלבי״ם].