Exodus — Chapter 17
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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?”
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 Moses’ 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.”
1And all the congregation of the children of Israel journeyed from the wilderness of Sin, after their journeys, according to the commandment of the LORD, and pitched in Rephidim: and there was no water for the people to drink.
2Wherefore the people did chide with Moses, and said, Give us water that we may drink. And Moses said unto them, Why chide ye with me? wherefore do ye tempt the LORD?
3And the people thirsted there for water; and the people murmured against Moses, and said, Wherefore is this that thou hast brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst?
4And Moses cried unto the LORD, saying, What shall I do unto this people? they be almost ready to stone me.
5And the LORD said unto Moses, Go on before the people, and take with thee of the elders of Israel; and thy rod, wherewith thou smotest the river, take in thine hand, and go.
6Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb; and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel.
7And he called the name of the place Massah, and Meribah, because of the chiding of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the LORD, saying, Is the LORD among us, or not?
8Then came Amalek, and fought with Israel in Rephidim.
9And Moses said unto Joshua, Choose us out men, and go out, fight with Amalek: to morrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in mine hand.
10So Joshua did as Moses had said to him, and fought with Amalek: and Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill.
11And it came to pass, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed: and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed.
12But Moses’ hands were heavy; and they took a stone, and put it under him, and he sat thereon; and Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands, the one on the one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun.
13And Joshua discomfited Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.
14And the LORD said unto Moses, Write this for a memorial in a book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua: for I will utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven.
15And Moses built an altar, and called the name of it Jehovah-nissi:
16For he said, Because the LORD hath sworn that the LORD will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.
1And all the congregation of the children of Israel journeyed from the wilderness of Sin, by their journeys, according to the commandment of Jehovah, and encamped in Rephidim: and there was no water for the people to drink.
2Wherefore the people stove with Moses, and said, Give us water that we may drink. And Moses said unto them, Why strive ye with me? Wherefore do ye tempt Jehovah?
3And the people thirsted there for water; and the people murmured against Moses, and said, Wherefore hast thou brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst?
4And Moses cried unto Jehovah, saying, What shall I do unto this people? They are almost ready to stone me.
5And Jehovah said unto Moses, Pass on before the people, and take with thee of the elders of Israel; and they rod, wherewith thou smotest the river, take in thy hand, and go.
6Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb; and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel.
7And he called the name of the place Massah, and Meribah, because of the striving of the children of Israel, and because they tempted Jehovah, saying, Is Jehovah among us, or not?
8Then came Amalek, and fought with Israel in Rephidim.
9And Moses said unto Joshua, Choose us out men, and go out, fight with Amalek: to-morrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in my hand.
10So Joshua did as Moses had said to him, and fought with Amalek: and Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill.
11And it came to pass, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed; and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed.
12But Moses` hands were heavy; and they took a stone, and put it under him, and he sat thereon; and Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands, the one on the one side, and the other on the other side; And his hands were steady until the going down of the sun.
13And Joshua discomfited Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.
14And Jehovah said unto Moses, Write this for a memorial in a book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua: that I will utterly blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven.
15And Moses built an altar, and called the name of it Jehovah-nissi;
16And he said, Jehovah hath sworn: Jehovah will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.
1The whole community of the Israelites traveled on their journey from the wilderness of Sin according to the Lord’s instruction, and they pitched camp in Rephidim. Now there was no water for the people to drink.
2So the people contended with Moses, and they said, “Give us water to drink!” Moses said to them, “Why do you contend with me? Why do you test the Lord?”
3But the people were very thirsty there for water, and they murmured against Moses and said, “Why in the world did you bring us up from Egypt—to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst?”
4Then Moses cried out to the Lord, “What will I do with this people?—a little more and they will stone me!”
5The Lord said to Moses, “Go over before the people; take with you some of the elders of Israel and take in your hand your staff with which you struck the Nile and go.
6I will be standing before you there on the rock in Horeb, and you will strike the rock, and water will come out of it so that the people may drink.” And Moses did so in plain view of the elders of Israel.
7He called the name of the place Massah and Meribah, because of the contending of the Israelites and because of their testing the Lord, saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?”
8Amalek came and attacked Israel in Rephidim.
9So Moses said to Joshua, “Choose some of our men and go out, fight against Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand.”
10So Joshua fought against Amalek just as Moses had instructed him, and Moses and Aaron and Hur went up to the top of the hill.
11Whenever Moses would raise his hands, then Israel prevailed, but whenever he would rest his hands, then Amalek prevailed.
12When the hands of Moses became heavy, they took a stone and put it under him, and Aaron and Hur held up his hands, one on one side and one on the other, and so his hands were steady until the sun went down.
13So Joshua destroyed Amalek and his army with the sword.
14The Lord said to Moses, “Write this as a memorial in the book, and rehearse it in Joshua’s hearing; for I will surely wipe out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven.”
15Moses built an altar, and he called it “The Lord is my Banner,”
16for he said, “For a hand was lifted up to the throne of the Lord—that the Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.”
1All the congregation of the children of Israel traveled from the wilderness of Sin, by their journeys, according to Yahweh’s commandment, and encamped in Rephidim; but there was no water for the people to drink.
2Therefore the people quarreled with Moses, and said, “Give us water to drink.” Moses said to them, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test Yahweh?”
3The people were thirsty for water there; and the people murmured against Moses, and said, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us, our children, and our livestock with thirst?”
4Moses cried to Yahweh, saying, “What shall I do with these people? They are almost ready to stone me.”
5Yahweh said to Moses, “Walk on before the people, and take the elders of Israel with you, and take the rod in your hand with which you struck the Nile, and go.
6Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock in Horeb. You shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it, that the people may drink.” Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel.
7He called the name of the place Massah, and Meribah, because the children of Israel quarreled, and because they tested Yahweh, saying, “Is Yahweh among us, or not?”
8Then Amalek came and fought with Israel in Rephidim.
9Moses said to Joshua, “Choose men for us, and go out, fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with God’s rod in my hand.”
10So Joshua did as Moses had told him, and fought with Amalek; and Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill.
11When Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed. When he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed.
12But Moses’ hands were heavy; and they took a stone, and put it under him, and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held up his hands, the one on the one side, and the other on the other side. His hands were steady until sunset.
13Joshua defeated Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.
14Yahweh said to Moses, “Write this for a memorial in a book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua: that I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under the sky.”
15Moses built an altar, and called its name Yahweh our Banner.
16He said, “Yah has sworn: ‘Yahweh will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.’”
Summary
When Israel finds no water at Rephidim, the people quarrel with Moses and God instructs him to strike the rock at Horeb, from which water flows out for the people (vv. 1-7). Amalek then attacks Israel, and as long as Moses holds up his hands with the staff of God, Joshua and the army prevail in battle, with Aaron and Hur supporting Moses' arms when he grows tired (vv. 8-13). The LORD tells Moses to record this victory as a lasting memorial and declares that He will eventually blot out Amalek entirely, and Moses builds an altar there, naming it after the LORD as Israel's banner of victory (vv. 14-16).
Authorship & Background
Map & Geography
- Rephidim (v.1): The camp before Sinai, where there is no water. God commands Moses to strike the rock at Horeb.
- Horeb / the rock (v.6): God stands on the rock; Moses strikes it and water flows. The site is named Massah ("testing") and Meribah ("quarreling").
- Rephidim is also where Amalek attacks (v.8) — Israel's first battle after the Exodus.
Places on this map
- Mount SinaiJebel Musa, Sinai Peninsula, EgyptTraditionally Jebel Musa in the granite mountains of the southern Sinai peninsula, about 7,500 feet high. The identification dates from Christian monastic tradition rather than from the text, and other candidates have been proposed, but this has been the pilgrimage site since the fourth century. Wikipedia
Towns sit on their excavated or traditional site. Regions, rivers and seas are ringed rather than dotted, because for those a single point is only an anchor. Coastlines from Natural Earth.
Commentary
- Enduring Word (David Guzik): enduringword.com Guzik covers the rock as a type of Christ (smitten once, living water flows), Moses' raised hands as intercession, and Amalek as a type of the flesh that wars against the Spirit.
- Jamieson-Fausset-Brown (1871): blueletterbible.org A critical and explanatory commentary on the whole Bible, more concise than Matthew Henry and closer to the Hebrew and Greek, with attention to historical and geographical detail. Public domain.
- Matthew Henry's Exposition (1710): blueletterbible.org A devotional verse-by-verse commentary in the Puritan tradition, still among the most widely read three centuries on. Public domain.
Videos
Articles
- BibleProject: bibleproject.com On the whole book: the shape of the rescue from Egypt and where the story is going.
- GotQuestions.org: gotquestions.org On the whole book: an overview of the book of Exodus -- who wrote it, when, why, and how it fits the rest of Scripture.
Links open on the publisher's own site. Nothing here is reproduced on this page.
Reflection
- Demanding Instead of Trusting (v.2) — Israel's thirst turns into an accusation against Moses rather than a request lifted to God. When you're in need, does your instinct lean toward trusting prayer or toward demanding and blaming?
- The Rock That Is Struck (v.6) — God tells Moses He will stand on the very rock that gets struck so that water can flow to the people. How does knowing Christ was struck once, for good, change how you come to Him for what you need?
- The Power of Raised Hands (v.11) — Israel wins the battle only as long as Moses' hands stay lifted in intercession. Who is interceding for you right now, and who might need you to lift your hands for them?
- Held Up When You're Weary (v.12) — When Moses' arms grow too tired to hold up, Aaron and Hur physically support them until the battle is won. Who has God placed in your life to hold you up when you can't keep going alone?
- The Lord Is My Banner (v.15) — Moses names the altar after the truth that the victory belonged to God, not to Israel's own strength. What are you tempted to rally around instead of God when the fight gets hard?