Exodus 17
Berean Standard Bible · Compare translations · 1446 BC · Egypt & the Exodus · Tap a verse to copy, share or highlight ·
16 verses · 420 words · ~2 min read · ~3 min listen
Water from the Rock
1Then the whole congregation of Israel left the Desert of Sin, moving from place to place as the Lord commanded. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. 2So the people contended with Moses, “Give us water to drink.”
“Why do you contend with me?” Moses replied. “Why do you test the Lord?”
3But the people thirsted for water there, and they grumbled against Moses: “Why have you brought us out of Egypt—to make us and our children and livestock die of thirst?”
4Then Moses cried out to the Lord, “What should I do with these people? A little more and they will stone me!”
5And the Lord said to Moses, “Walk on ahead of the people and take some of the elders of Israel with you. Take along in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. 6Behold, I will stand there before you by the rock at Horeb. And when you strike the rock, water will come out of it for the people to drink.”
So Moses did this in the sight of the elders of Israel. 7He named the place Massah and Meribah because the Israelites quarreled, and because they tested the Lord, saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?”
The Defeat of the Amalekites
8After this, the Amalekites came and attacked the Israelites at Rephidim. 9So Moses said to Joshua, “Choose some of our men and go out to fight the Amalekites. Tomorrow I will stand on the hilltop with the staff of God in my hand.”
10Joshua did as Moses had instructed him and fought against the Amalekites, while Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill.
11As long as Moses held up his hands, Israel prevailed; but when he lowered them, Amalek prevailed. 12When Mosesʼ hands grew heavy, they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it. Then Aaron and Hur held his hands up, one on each side, so that his hands remained steady until the sun went down.
13So Joshua overwhelmed Amalek and his army with the sword.
14Then the Lord said to Moses, “Write this on a scroll as a reminder and recite it to Joshua, because I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven.”
15And Moses built an altar and named it The Lord Is My Banner. 16“Indeed,” he said, “a hand was lifted up toward the throne of the Lord. The Lord will war against Amalek from generation to generation.”
Footnotes (5)
- a v1 The geographical name Sin is related to Sinai and should not be mistaken for the English word sin.
- b v6 Horeb is another name for Sinai.
- c v7 Massah means testing.
- d v7 Meribah means quarreling.
- e v15 Hebrew YHWH Nissi
Study notes on this chapter · 1
The rock that followed them
Israel drank water from the rock at Horeb and again at Kadesh. Paul says that the spiritual rock that followed them was Christ. His words reflect a Jewish tradition about a water-giving rock, and he draws a lesson about Israel's failure despite these gifts.
When: Exodus and Numbers (wilderness period); 1 Corinthians, c. AD 55.
Ways people read this (3)
- Paul sees Christ as present with Israel in the wilderness, providing for them.
- Paul is reading the rock as a pattern: its provision of water corresponds to what Christ gives.
- Some interpreters connect the rock being struck once (Exodus) and then spoken to (Numbers 20) with Christ's single sacrifice.
Editorial note by BibleWay. Interpretations vary; dates are approximate scholarly estimates.