Exodus 17

Water in the Rock

1 Then all the congregation of the sons of Israel journeyed by stages from the wilderness of 1Sin, according to the command of the LORD, and camped at 2Rephidim, and there was no water for the people to drink.
2 Therefore the people 3quarreled with Moses and said, "Give us water that we may drink." And Moses said to them, "4Why do you quarrel with me? 5Why do you test the LORD?"
3 But the people thirsted there for water; and they 6grumbled against Moses and said, "Why, now, have you brought us up from Egypt, to kill us and our children and 7our livestock with thirst?"
4 So Moses cried out to the LORD, saying, "What shall I do to this people? A 8little more and they will stone me."
5 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Pass before the people and take with you some of 9the elders of Israel; and take in your hand your staff with which 10you struck the Nile, and go.
6 "Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at 11Horeb; and 12you shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it, that the people may drink." And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel.
7 He named * the place 13Massah and 14Meribah because of the quarrel of the sons of Israel, and because they 15tested the LORD, saying, "Is the LORD among us, or not?"

Amalek Fought

8 Then 16Amalek came and fought against Israel at 17Rephidim.
9 So Moses said to 18Joshua, "Choose men for us and go out, fight against Amalek. Tomorrow I will station myself on the top of the hill with 19the staff of God in my hand."
10 Joshua did as Moses told him, and fought against Amalek; and Moses, Aaron, and 20Hur went up to the top of the hill.
11 So it came about when Moses held his hand up, that Israel prevailed, and when he let his hand down, Amalek prevailed.
12 But Moses' hands were heavy. Then they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it; and Aaron and Hur 21supported his hands, one on one side and one on the other. Thus his hands were steady until the sun set.
13 So Joshua overwhelmed Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.
14 Then the LORD said to Moses, "22Write this in a book as a memorial and recite * it to Joshua, that 23I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven."
15 Moses built an 24altar and named * it 25The LORD is My Banner;
16 and he said, "26The LORD has sworn * *; the LORD will have war against Amalek from generation to generation."

Cross References 26

  • 1. Exodus 16:1; Numbers 33:12
  • 2. Exodus 19:2; Numbers 33:14
  • 3. Exodus 14:11; Num 20:2, 3, 13
  • 4. Exodus 16:8
  • 5. Deuteronomy 6:16; Psalms 78:18, 41; Matthew 4:7; 1 Corinthians 10:9
  • 6. Exodus 16:2, 3
  • 7. Exodus 12:38
  • 8. Numbers 14:10; 1 Samuel 30:6
  • 9. Exodus 3:16, 18
  • 10. Exodus 7:20
  • 11. Exodus 3:1
  • 12. Numbers 20:10, 11; Deuteronomy 8:15; Nehemiah 9:15; Psalms 78:15; Psalms 105:41; Psalms 114:8; 1 Corinthians 10:4
  • 13. Deuteronomy 6:16; Deuteronomy 9:22; Psalms 95:8
  • 14. Numbers 20:13, 24; Numbers 27:14; Psalms 81:7
  • 15. Numbers 14:22; Deuteronomy 33:8
  • 16. Genesis 36:12; Numbers 24:20; Deuteronomy 25:17-19; 1 Samuel 15:2
  • 17. Exodus 17:1
  • 18. Exodus 24:13
  • 19. Exodus 4:20
  • 20. Exodus 24:14; Exodus 31:2
  • 21. Isaiah 35:3
  • 22. Exodus 24:4; Exodus 34:27; Numbers 33:2
  • 23. Deuteronomy 25:19; 1 Samuel 15:3
  • 24. Exodus 24:4
  • 25. Genesis 22:14; Judges 6:24
  • 26. Genesis 22:16

Footnotes 16

Exodus 17 Commentaries

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