Numbers 20:9-19

9 And Moses took the staff ¹from before the LORD, as he commanded him.

Moses Strikes the Rock

10 Then Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock, and he said to them, ²"Hear now, you rebels: shall we bring water for you out of this rock?"

11 And Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock with his staff twice, ³and water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their livestock.

12 And the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, "Because ⁴you did not believe in me, ⁵to uphold me as holy in the eyes of the people of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land that I have given them."

13 ⁶These are the waters of Meribah,^[a] where the people of Israel quarreled with the LORD, and through them he showed himself holy.

Edom Refuses Passage

14 ⁷Moses sent messengers from Kadesh to ⁸the king of Edom: "Thus says ⁹your brother Israel: You know all the hardship that we have met:

15 ¹⁰how our fathers went down to Egypt, ¹¹and we lived in Egypt a long time. ¹²And the Egyptians dealt harshly with us and our fathers.

16 And ¹³when we cried to the LORD, he heard our voice and ¹⁴sent an angel and brought us out of Egypt. And here we are in Kadesh, a city on the edge of your territory.

17 ¹⁵Please let us pass through your land. We will not pass through field or vineyard, ¹⁶or drink water from a well. We will go along the King's Highway. We will not turn aside to the right hand or to the left until we have passed through your territory."

18 But Edom said to him, "You shall not pass through, lest I come out with the sword against you."

19 And the people of Israel said to him, "We will go up by the highway, ¹⁷and if we drink of your water, I and my livestock, ¹⁸then I will pay for it. Let me only pass through on foot, nothing more."

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Numbers 20:9-19 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO NUMBERS 20

In this chapter is an account of the children of Israel coming to the wilderness of Zin, where Miriam died, and where wanting water they murmured, Nu 20:1-5, upon which Moses and Aaron applied to the Lord, who ordered Moses to speak to a rock, which should give forth water, and which being smitten by him, accordingly did, Nu 20:6-11, but Moses and Aaron, in their conduct of this affair, displeased the Lord, Nu 20:12,13, after this, Moses sent to the king of Edom to desire a passage through his country, which request was refused, Nu 20:14-21, upon Israel's coming to Mount Hor, Aaron, by order, went up to the mount, and, when stripped of his clothes, which were put on his son Eleazar, he died, lamented by all the people, Nu 20:22-29.

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible

Cross References 18

1. Numbers 17:10
2. Psalms 106:32, 33
3. [See ver. 8 above]
4. Numbers 27:14; Deuteronomy 1:37; Deuteronomy 3:26; Deuteronomy 32:51
5. Ezekiel 20:41; Ezekiel 36:23; Ezekiel 38:16
6. Numbers 27:14; Exodus 17:7; Deuteronomy 32:51; Deuteronomy 33:8; Psalms 81:7; Psalms 95:8; Psalms 106:32
7. Judges 11:16, 17
8. See Genesis 36:31-39
9. Deuteronomy 2:4, 8; Deuteronomy 23:7; Obad. 10, 12
10. Genesis 46:6; Acts 7:15
11. See Exodus 12:40
12. Exodus 1:11; Deuteronomy 26:6
13. Exodus 2:23; Exodus 3:7
14. Exodus 3:2; Exodus 14:19; Exodus 23:20; Exodus 33:2
15. [Numbers 21:22; Deuteronomy 2:27]
16. [ver. 19]
17. [ver. 17]
18. Deuteronomy 2:6, 28

Footnotes 1

[a]. Meribah means quarreling

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