Exodus 15:22-27

Bitter Water Made Sweet

22 Then Moses made Israel set out from the Red Sea, and they went into the wilderness of 1Shur. They went three days in the wilderness and found no water.
23 When they came to 2Marah, they could not drink the water of Marah because it was bitter; therefore it was named Marah.[a]
24 And the people 3grumbled against Moses, saying, "What shall we drink?"
25 And he 4cried to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a log,[b] and he 5threw it into the water, and the water became sweet. There the LORD [c] made for them a statute and a rule, and there he 6tested them,
26 saying, 7"If you will diligently listen to the voice of the LORD your God, and do that which is right in his eyes, and give ear to his commandments and keep all his statutes, I will put none of the 8diseases on you that I put on the Egyptians, for I am the LORD, 9your healer."
27 Then 10they came to Elim, where there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees, and they encamped there by the water.

Exodus 15:22-27 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO EXODUS 15

This chapter contains the song of Moses, and of the children of Israel, on the banks of the Red sea; in which they celebrate their passage through it, the destruction of Pharaoh and his host in it, and the glory of the divine perfections displayed therein, interspersed with prophetic hints of things future, Ex 15:1-19 which same song was sung by the women, with Miriam at the head of them, attended with timbrels and dances, Ex 15:20,21, an account is given of the march of the children of Israel from the Red sea to the wilderness of Shur, and of the bitter waters found at Marah, which occasioned a murmuring, and of their being made sweet by casting a tree into them, Ex 15:22-25 when they were told by the Lord, that if they would yield obedience to his commandments, they should be free from the diseases the Egyptians had been afflicted with, Ex 15:26, and the chapter is concluded with their coming to Elim, where they found twelve wells of water, and seventy palm trees, and there encamped, Ex 15:27.

Cross References 10

  • 1. Genesis 16:7; Genesis 25:18; 1 Samuel 15:7
  • 2. [Ruth 1:20]
  • 3. Exodus 16:2; Exodus 17:3
  • 4. Exodus 14:10; Exodus 17:4
  • 5. [2 Kings 2:21; 2 Kings 4:41]
  • 6. Exodus 16:4; Deuteronomy 8:2, 16; Judges 2:22; Judges 3:1, 4; Psalms 66:10
  • 7. See Leviticus 26:3-13; Deuteronomy 7:12-15
  • 8. Deuteronomy 28:27, 60
  • 9. Exodus 23:25; Psalms 103:3; Psalms 147:3; Hosea 6:1
  • 10. Numbers 33:9

Footnotes 3

The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.