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Exodus 17:1-7

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Water from a Rock

1 And all the community of the {Israelites} set out from the desert of Sin for their journeys according to the command of Yahweh, and they camped in Rephidim, and there was no water for the people to drink.
2 And the people quarreled with Moses, and they said, "Give us water so that we can drink." And Moses said to them, "Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test Yahweh?"
3 And the people thirsted for water, and the people grumbled against Moses and said, "Why {ever} did you bring us up from Egypt to kill me and my sons and my cattle with thirst?"
4 And Moses cried out to Yahweh, saying, "What will I do with this people? A little longer and they will stone me."
5 And Yahweh said to Moses, "Go on before the people and take with you [some] from the elders of Israel, and the staff with which you struck the Nile take in your hand, and go.
6 Look, I [will be] standing before you there on the rock in Horeb, and you will strike the rock, and water will come out from it, and the people will drink." And Moses did so before the eyes of the elders of Israel.
7 And he called the name of the place Massah and Meribah because of the quarrel of the {Israelites} and because of their testing Yahweh [by] saying, "Is Yahweh in our midst or not?"
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Exodus 17:1-7 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO EXODUS 17

The children of Israel coming to Rephidim, want water, and chide with Moses about it, who, crying to the Lord, is bid to smite the rock, from whence came water for them, and he named the place from their contention with him, Ex 17:1-7 at this place Amalek came and fought with Israel, who, through the prayer of Moses, signified by the holding up of his hands, and by the sword of Joshua, was vanquished, Ex 17:8-13, for the remembrance of which it was ordered to be recorded in a book, and an altar was built with this inscription on it, "Jehovahnissi": it being the will of God that Amalek should be fought with in every generation until utterly destroyed, Ex 17:14-16.

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible

Footnotes 4

  • [a]. Literally "sons/children of Israel"
  • [b]. Or "at all"; literally "this"
  • [c]. The unexpected switch to first-person singular pronouns reflects the fact that the question summarizes a host of angry accusations and self-centered concern
  • [d]. Literally "sons/children of Israel"
Scripture quotations marked (LEB) are from the Lexham English Bible. Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software.