Passage
And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron; and the whole assembly said to them, Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! or in this wilderness would that we had died!
Numbers 14:2 (DBY)
Nearby Context
Numbers 14:1 And the whole assembly lifted up their voice, and cried; and the people wept that night.
Numbers 14:2 And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron; and the whole assembly said to them, Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! or in this wilderness would that we had died!
Numbers 14:3 And why is Jehovah bringing us to this land that we may fall by the sword, that our wives and our little ones may become a prey? Is it not better for us to return to Egypt?
Numbers 14:4 And they said one to another, Let us make a captain, and let us return to Egypt.
Study Lenses
The verse centers on "children", "israel", "murmured", "against", "moses", "aaron", and "whole". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "children" and "israel", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.
The nearby context moves from verse 1's "And the whole assembly lifted up their..." into verse 3's "And why is Jehovah bringing us to...", so "children" and "israel" belong inside that flow. In Numbers context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.
A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "children" and "israel" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.