Exodus 17:1-7

Water from the Rock

1 ¹All the congregation of the people of Israel moved on from the wilderness of Sin by stages, according to the commandment of the Lord, and camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink.

2 ²Therefore the people quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water to drink. ” And Moses said to them, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you ³test the Lord? ”

3 But the people thirsted there for water, and ⁴the people grumbled against Moses and said, “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst? ”

4 So Moses cried to the Lord, “What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready ⁵to stone me. ”

5 And the Lord said to Moses, “Pass on before the people, taking with you some of the elders of Israel, and take in your hand the staff with ⁶which you struck the Nile, and go.

6 ⁷Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb, and you shall strike the rock, and water shall come out of it, and the people will drink. ” And Moses did so, in the sight of the elders of Israel.

7 And he called the name of the place ⁸Massah^[a] and ⁹Meribah, ^[b] because of the quarreling of the people of Israel, and because they tested the Lord by saying, “Is the Lord among 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.

Cross References

• 1. 17:1 ch. 16:1; Num. 33:12, 14
• 2. 17:2 Num. 20:3, 4
• 3. 17:2 Deut. 6:16; Ps. 78:18, 41; 95:8, 9; Isa. 7:12; Matt. 4:7; 1 Cor. 10:9; Heb. 3:8, 9
• 4. 17:3 ch. 15:24; 16:2
• 5. 17:4 Num. 14:10; 1 Sam. 30:6; 2 Chr. 24:21; Matt. 23:37; Luke 13:34; John 8:59; 10:31-33; 11:8; Acts 7:58; 14:5, 19; 2 Cor. 11:25; Heb. 11:37; [Josh. 9:25; 1 Kgs. 21:13]
• 6. 17:5 ch. 7:20
• 7. 17:6 Num. 20:8-11; Deut. 8:15; Neh. 9:15; Ps. 78:15, 16, 20; 105:41; 114:8; Isa. 43:20; 48:21; 1 Cor. 10:4
• 8. 17:7 Ps. 95:8
• 9. 17:7 Num. 20:13; Ps. 81:7; 95:8

Footnotes

• [a] 17:7 'Massah' means 'testing'
• [b] 17:7 'Meribah' means 'quarreling'