Numbers 20:11

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

Numbers 20:11 Meaning and Commentary

Numbers 20:11

And Moses lifted up his hand, and with his rod he smote the
rock twice
At first it only brought out some drops, as Jarchi conjectures, and therefore Moses smote again, when it brought forth water plentifully: the Targum of Jonathan says,

``at the first time it dropped blood, at the second time came out much water.''

Could this be credited, it would make the agreement between this rock and Christ appear very manifest, from whom, when his side was pierced with a spear, there came out blood and water, ( John 19:34 ) for justification and sanctification. In what respect this rock was a type of Christ, as the other at Horeb, and the smiting of it an emblem of Christ being smitten with the rod of justice, according to the law of God, and of the abundance of water flowing from it, as typical of the abundance of grace, and the blessings of it, as coming through a smitten wounded Saviour, (See Gill on Exodus 17:6), where the same things are said of another rock as of this, and both types of Christ;

and the water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and
their beasts also;
there was enough for them and their cattle; for it came out in great quantities, in large streams, so that it ran down like a river, and which gave them drink as out of the great depths, ( Psalms 78:15 Psalms 78:16 ) , where the Psalmist makes mention of rocks in the plural number, for there were two that were smitten in two different places, and at two different times; the one was at Rephidim, the other, as here, in Kadesh; the one was in the first year of Israel's coming out of Egypt, this in the fortieth year of it; that was struck but once, this twice; of this second stone no mention is made by any traveller but one F1, who coming from Mount Sinai, says,

``we passed by a large rock on our left hand, in which, as in the other rock which Moses struck with his rod, appear, from the bottom to the top, openings where water hath gushed out.''


FOOTNOTES:

F1 See a Journal from Cairo to Mount Sinai, 1722. p. 42, 43. Ed. 2.

Numbers 20:11 In-Context

9 So Moses took the staff from before the Lord, as he had commanded him.
10 Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock, and he said to them, "Listen, you rebels, shall we bring water for you out of this rock?"
11 Then Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock twice with his staff; water came out abundantly, and the congregation and their livestock drank.
12 But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, "Because you did not trust in me, to show my holiness before the eyes of the Israelites, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land that I have given them."
13 These are the waters of Meribah, where the people of Israel quarreled with the Lord, and by which he showed his holiness.
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.