And the people became as complainers of evilFamous translations do not include the word "as," seeing it as redundant. Sforno explains its purpose elegantly. Knowing they had nothing to complain about it, the people still complained, if only to provoke a reaction. Thus, the people were "like" complainers but they were not "real" complainers. Simply put, there arose a culture of complaining. This is what happened to people who were given everything and wanted for nothing.