Exodus 17:1-7

1 Therefore all the multitude of the sons of Israel went forth from the desert of Sin, by their dwellings, by the word of the Lord, and setted tents in Rephidim, where was no water to the people to drink. (And so all the Israelites went forth from the wilderness of Sin, in stages, by the word of the Lord, and pitched their tents in Rephidim, where there was no water for the people to drink.)
2 Which people chided against Moses, and said, Give water to us, that we drink. To whom Moses answered, What chide ye against me, and why tempt ye the Lord? (And the people complained to Moses, and said, Give us some water to drink. To whom Moses answered, Why do ye complain to me, and why do ye tempt the Lord?)
3 Therefore the people thirsted there for the scarceness of water, and they grouched against Moses, and said, Why madest thou us to go out of Egypt, (for) to slay us, and our free children, and our beasts, for thirst? (And so the people thirsted there for the scarceness of water, and they grumbled against Moses, and said, Why hast thou made us to go out of Egypt, in order to kill us, and our children, and our beasts, with thirst?)
4 Forsooth Moses cried to the Lord, and said, What shall I do to this people? yet a little, and it shall stone me (What shall I do with these people? very soon they shall all stone me!).
5 The Lord said to Moses, Go thou before the people, and take with thee of the elder men of Israel, and take in thine hand the rod, with the which thou hast smitten the flood, and go; (The Lord said to Moses, Go thou before the people, and take some of the elders of Israel with thee, and take in thy hand the staff with which thou struck the River, and go;)
6 lo! I shall stand there before thee, above the stone of Horeb, and thou shalt smite the stone, and water shall go out thereof, that the people drink. Moses did so before the elder men of Israel; (lo! I shall stand there before thee, by the rock at Mount Sinai, and thou shalt strike the rock, and water shall come out of it, and then the people shall have something to drink. Moses did this in the sight of the elders of Israel;)
7 and he called the name of that place Temptation, for the chiding of the sons of Israel, and for they tempted the Lord, and said, Whether the Lord is in us, or nay? (and he called the name of that place Massah and Meribah, because of the complaining of the Israelites, and because they tempted the Lord and said, Is the Lord with us, or not?)

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.

Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.