King James Version
Exodus 17
16 verses with commentary
Water from the Rock at Rephidim
And 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.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And all the congregation of the children of Israel journeyed from the wilderness of Sin</strong>—Israel's journey from Sin to Rephidim marks continued testing after manna provision. The phrase 'according to the commandment of the LORD' (עַל־פִּי יְהוָה, al-pi YHWH, literally 'by the mouth of the LORD') emphasizes divine direction—they move only as God speaks through the cloud/fire pillar. ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
XVII.
THE MURMURING AT REPHIDIM AND THE FIGHT WITH AMALEK.
(1) **The children of Israel journeyed from the wilderness of Sin.**—The route by which Rephidim was reached is very uncertain. From El Markha there are three modes of reaching the Wady Feiran, where Rephidim is placed by most critics. One route (the shortest) is from the northern part of El Markha by Wady Shellal and Wady Magharah, where ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**27. Moses stretched forth his hand over the sea, &c.--**What circumstances could more clearly demonstrate the miraculous character of this transaction than that at the waving of Moses' rod, the dividing waters left the channel dry, and on his making the same motion on the opposite side, they returned, commingling with instantaneous fury? Is such the character of any ebb tide?
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 17
Chapter Outline
The Israelites murmur for water at Rephidim, God sendeth it out of the rock.(1-7)
Amalek overcome, The prayers of Moses.(8-16)
**Verses 1-7**
The children of Israel journeyed according to the commandment of the Lord, led by the pillar of cloud and fire, yet they came to a place where there was no water for them to drink. We may be in the way of duty, ye...
Read full commentary →Wherefore 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?
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Wherefore the people did chide with Moses, and said, Give us water that we may drink</strong>—The verb 'chide' (רִיב, riv) means 'to contend, quarrel legally'—Israel puts Moses on trial for their thirst. Their demand 'Give us water' treats Moses as responsible rather than crying to God. Moses' response 'Why chide ye with me?' recognizes their real accusation: 'wherefore do ye tempt the LOR...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(2) **The people did chide.**—Water is scanty along the route by which we have supposed Rephidim to have been reached. Such a supply as the people may have brought with them from Elim would have been exhausted. They would have looked forward to Rephidim both for their immediate necessity and for replenishing their water-skins. They would be suffering both from thirst and disappointment. The needs ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**28. there remained not so much as one of them--**It is surprising that, with such a declaration, some intelligent writers can maintain there is no evidence of the destruction of Pharaoh himself (Psa 106:11).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 17
Chapter Outline
The Israelites murmur for water at Rephidim, God sendeth it out of the rock.(1-7)
Amalek overcome, The prayers of Moses.(8-16)
**Verses 1-7**
The children of Israel journeyed according to the commandment of the Lord, led by the pillar of cloud and fire, yet they came to a place where there was no water for them to drink. We may be in the way of duty, ye...
Read full commentary →And 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?
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And the people thirsted there for water; and the people murmured against Moses</strong>—Physical thirst produces spiritual complaint. The verb 'murmured' (לוּן, lun) appears again (cf. Ex 16:2), showing Israel's default response to hardship. Their accusation that Moses brought them from Egypt 'to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst' reveals staggering unbelief: they interpr...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(3) **To kill us.**—This was no exaggeration. Thirst kills as surely as hunger, and more quickly. Whole armies have died of it. (Herod. iii. 26.) Ships’ crews have perished of it on the ocean, with “water, water everywhere, and not a drop to drink.” Unless a supply could somehow or other have been provided speedily, the whole people must have been exterminated.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 17
Chapter Outline
The Israelites murmur for water at Rephidim, God sendeth it out of the rock.(1-7)
Amalek overcome, The prayers of Moses.(8-16)
**Verses 1-7**
The children of Israel journeyed according to the commandment of the Lord, led by the pillar of cloud and fire, yet they came to a place where there was no water for them to drink. We may be in the way of duty, ye...
Read full commentary →And Moses cried unto the LORD, saying, What shall I do unto this people? they be almost ready to stone me.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And Moses cried unto the LORD, saying, What shall I do unto this people? they be almost ready to stone me</strong>—Moses' cry demonstrates proper response: taking complaint to God rather than arguing with complainers. His question 'What shall I do?' recognizes human insufficiency—Moses cannot create water. The phrase 'almost ready to stone me' (עוֹד מְעַט וּסְקָלֻנִי, od m'at us'qaluni) re...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(4) **They be almost ready to stone me.**—Heb., *Yet a little and they will stone *me. On tumultuary stoning, see the second Note on Exodus 8:26.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**30. Israel saw the Egyptians dead upon the sea-shore, &c.--**The tide threw them up and left multitudes of corpses on the beach; a result that brought greater infamy on the Egyptians, but that tended, on the other hand, to enhance the triumph of the Israelites, and doubtless enriched them with arms, which they had not before. The locality of this famous passage has not yet been, and probably...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 17
Chapter Outline
The Israelites murmur for water at Rephidim, God sendeth it out of the rock.(1-7)
Amalek overcome, The prayers of Moses.(8-16)
**Verses 1-7**
The children of Israel journeyed according to the commandment of the Lord, led by the pillar of cloud and fire, yet they came to a place where there was no water for them to drink. We may be in the way of duty, ye...
Read full commentary →And 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.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Go on before the people, and take with thee of the elders of Israel</strong>—God's instruction to 'go on before' (עֲבֹר, avor) means Moses must lead despite the danger. Taking elders provides witnesses to the miracle, preventing later accusations that Moses found natural water. The command to take 'thy rod, wherewith thou smotest the river' identifies the Nile-striking staff that brought p...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(5) **Go on before the people.**—The people were probably in no condition to move. They were exhausted. with a long day’s march—weary, faint, nerveless. Moses and the elders, who probably journeyed on asses, would have more strength.
**Take with thee of the elders**—as witnesses. Each miracle had an educational value, and was designed to call forth, exercise, and so strengthen the faith of the peo...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 17
Chapter Outline
The Israelites murmur for water at Rephidim, God sendeth it out of the rock.(1-7)
Amalek overcome, The prayers of Moses.(8-16)
**Verses 1-7**
The children of Israel journeyed according to the commandment of the Lord, led by the pillar of cloud and fire, yet they came to a place where there was no water for them to drink. We may be in the way of duty, ye...
Read full commentary →Behold, 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.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb</strong>—This verse is central to understanding Christ in the Old Testament. God says 'I will stand...upon the rock' (צוּר, tsur)—YHWH positions Himself ON the rock that Moses will strike. The Hebrew עַל־הַצּוּר (al-hatsur, 'upon the rock') places God receiving the blow meant for rebellious Israel. Moses strikes the rock and wat...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 17
Chapter Outline
The Israelites murmur for water at Rephidim, God sendeth it out of the rock.(1-7)
Amalek overcome, The prayers of Moses.(8-16)
**Verses 1-7**
The children of Israel journeyed according to the commandment of the Lord, led by the pillar of cloud and fire, yet they came to a place where there was no water for them to drink. We may be in the way of duty, ye...
Read full commentary →And 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? Massah: that is, Temptation Meribah: that is, Chiding, or, Strife
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And 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</strong>—The dual name memorializes Israel's sin: Massah (מַסָּה, 'testing') and Meribah (מְרִיבָה, 'strife, contention'). Their 'chiding' (רִיב, riv, legal contention) and tempting (נָסָה, nasah, putting to trial) mark the place permanently. The ques...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(7) **Massah **means *trial, *or *temptation, *being formed from the root used in Exodus 17:2 (“Wherefore do ye *tempt *the Lord ?”) It is the word translated by “trial” in Job 9:23, and by *“*temptation” in Deuteronomy 4:34; Deuteronomy 7:19; Deuteronomy 29:3, and Psalm 95:8.
**Meribah **means *chiding, *or *quarrel, *and is from the root *rub, *or *rib, *translated “chide” in Exodus 17:2, and re...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
CHAPTER 15 Ex 15:1-27. Song of Moses.
**1. Then sang Moses and the children of Israel--**The scene of this thanksgiving song is supposed to have been at the landing place on the eastern shore of the Red Sea, at Ayoun Musa, "the fountains of Moses." They are situated somewhat farther northward along the shore than the opposite point from which the Israelites set out. But the line of the people wou...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 17
Chapter Outline
The Israelites murmur for water at Rephidim, God sendeth it out of the rock.(1-7)
Amalek overcome, The prayers of Moses.(8-16)
**Verses 1-7**
The children of Israel journeyed according to the commandment of the Lord, led by the pillar of cloud and fire, yet they came to a place where there was no water for them to drink. We may be in the way of duty, ye...
Read full commentary →Victory over Amalek
Then came Amalek, and fought with Israel in Rephidim.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Then came Amalek, and fought with Israel in Rephidim</strong>—Amalek's attack immediately after water provision shows that physical provision doesn't eliminate spiritual warfare. The Amalekites (עֲמָלֵק, descendants of Esau's grandson) represent flesh opposing spirit (Gal 5:17). Their strategy—attacking the weak and weary (Deut 25:17-18)—demonstrates Satan's tactics against exhausted belie...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(8) **Then came Amalek.**—The Amalekites had not been previously (except in the anticipatory notice of Genesis 14:7) mentioned as a nation. Their name marks them for descendants of Amalek, the grandson of Esau (Genesis 36:12; Genesis 36:16); and it would seem that they early became the predominant people in the Sinaitic peninsula. Balaam speaks of them as “the first of the nations” (Numbers 24:20)...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 8-16**
Israel engaged with Amalek in their own necessary defence. God makes his people able, and calls them to various services for the good of his church. Joshua fights, Moses prays, both minister to Israel. The rod was held up, as the banner to encourage the soldiers. Also to God, by way of appeal to him. Moses was tired. The strongest arm will fail with being long held out; it is G...
Read full commentary →And 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. Joshua: called Jesus
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And Moses said unto Joshua, Choose us out men, and go out, fight with Amalek</strong>—This is Joshua's first appearance, immediately in military role. His name יְהוֹשֻׁעַ (Yehoshua, 'YHWH is salvation') prefigures Jesus (Greek form of Joshua) who conquers enemies. The command to 'choose men' establishes military organization—faith includes strategy, not presumption. Moses' declaration 'to ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(9) **Moses said unto Joshua.**—This is the first mention of Joshua. He was an Ephraimite, the son of a man called Nun, and the tenth in descent from Joseph (see Note on Exodus 6:16), in the prime of life—about 45 years old—and probably known as possessing military capacity. His actual name at the timo was Hoshea, which might have been viewed as a good omen, since the word meant “Saviour.” Moses a...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 8-16**
Israel engaged with Amalek in their own necessary defence. God makes his people able, and calls them to various services for the good of his church. Joshua fights, Moses prays, both minister to Israel. The rod was held up, as the banner to encourage the soldiers. Also to God, by way of appeal to him. Moses was tired. The strongest arm will fail with being long held out; it is G...
Read full commentary →So 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.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>So 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</strong>—Joshua's obedience without question models military discipline and faith. The separation of roles—Joshua in valley fighting, Moses on mountain interceding—establishes the warfare pattern: believers fight earthly battles while Christ intercedes in heavenly places...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(10) **Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up.**—Moses, we know, was eighty years of age (Exodus 7:7); Aaron was eighty-three; Hur, the *grandfather *of Bezaleel (Exodus 31:2), the architect of the Tabernacle, can scarcely have been less. Unfit for battle themselves, they felt it was by prayer and intercession that they could best help forward a good result, and so withdrew themselves from the actual confl...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 8-16**
Israel engaged with Amalek in their own necessary defence. God makes his people able, and calls them to various services for the good of his church. Joshua fights, Moses prays, both minister to Israel. The rod was held up, as the banner to encourage the soldiers. Also to God, by way of appeal to him. Moses was tired. The strongest arm will fail with being long held out; it is G...
Read full commentary →And it came to pass, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed: and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And it came to pass, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed: and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed</strong>—The raised hand holding God's rod demonstrates that victory depends on intercession, not military might alone. The Hebrew גָּבַר (gavar, 'prevailed, was strong') shows the battle's tide turning based on Moses' arm position. This cannot be magic—the rod's power f...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(11) **When Moses held up his hand . . . Israel prevailed, **&c.—In order to teach the lesson of the value of intercessory prayer, God made the fortunes of the fight to vary according as Moses “held up his hand,” or allowed it to sink down. It is not probable that the Israelites were *directly *affected by the bodily movements of Moses, or indeed could discern them, but Moses, Aaron, and Hur were ...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 8-16**
Israel engaged with Amalek in their own necessary defence. God makes his people able, and calls them to various services for the good of his church. Joshua fights, Moses prays, both minister to Israel. The rod was held up, as the banner to encourage the soldiers. Also to God, by way of appeal to him. Moses was tired. The strongest arm will fail with being long held out; it is G...
Read full commentary →But 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.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>But Moses' hands were heavy; and they took a stone, and put it under him, and he sat thereon</strong>—Moses' fatigue reveals human limitation in intercession. The Hebrew כְּבֵדִים (k'vedim, 'heavy') indicates exhausting burden—prayer is work. The stone seat provides rest without cessation, showing that intercession requires endurance. Aaron and Hur supporting Moses' hands from both sides c...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(12) **Moses’ hands were heavy.**—Moses writes with a clear remembrance of his feelings at the time. His hands, long stretched to heaven, grew weary, “heavy,” feeble; he could no longer raise them up, much less stretch them out, by his own muscular energy. They sank down, and dropped by his sides. If the battle was not to be lost, it was necessary to find some remedy. Apparently, Aaron and Hur bet...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 8-16**
Israel engaged with Amalek in their own necessary defence. God makes his people able, and calls them to various services for the good of his church. Joshua fights, Moses prays, both minister to Israel. The rod was held up, as the banner to encourage the soldiers. Also to God, by way of appeal to him. Moses was tired. The strongest arm will fail with being long held out; it is G...
Read full commentary →And Joshua discomfited Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And Joshua discomfited Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword</strong>—The victory is complete: Joshua 'discomfited' (חָלַשׁ, chalash, 'weakened, defeated') Amalek utterly. The phrase 'with the edge of the sword' indicates thorough military victory, yet verse 11 makes clear this resulted from Moses' intercession, not Joshua's military prowess alone. This dual causation—divine int...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 8-16**
Israel engaged with Amalek in their own necessary defence. God makes his people able, and calls them to various services for the good of his church. Joshua fights, Moses prays, both minister to Israel. The rod was held up, as the banner to encourage the soldiers. Also to God, by way of appeal to him. Moses was tired. The strongest arm will fail with being long held out; it is G...
Read full commentary →And 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.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And the LORD said unto Moses, Write this for a memorial in a book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua</strong>—This is Scripture's first explicit command to write, establishing written Scripture's authority. The verb 'write' (כָּתַב, katav) and 'memorial' (זִכָּרוֹן, zikaron) show God ensures permanent record of His promises and judgments. The dual instruction—write for posterity, rehea...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(14) **Write this for a memorial in a book.**—Heb., *in the book. *That “book” existed long prior to Moses is implied in his quotation of them (Genesis 5:1; Numbers 21:14), and has of late years been abundantly proved by the discoveries made of Egyptian papyruses dating from a time long anterior to the Jewish lawgiver. The expression used in the present place, if it may be trusted,[59] “*the *book...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 8-16**
Israel engaged with Amalek in their own necessary defence. God makes his people able, and calls them to various services for the good of his church. Joshua fights, Moses prays, both minister to Israel. The rod was held up, as the banner to encourage the soldiers. Also to God, by way of appeal to him. Moses was tired. The strongest arm will fail with being long held out; it is G...
Read full commentary →And Moses built an altar, and called the name of it Jehovahnissi: Jehovahnissi: that is, The LORD my banner
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And Moses built an altar, and called the name of it Jehovahnissi</strong>—Moses' altar commemorates victory through worship. The name יְהוָה נִסִּי (YHWH-Nissi, 'The LORD is my banner') proclaims that God Himself is Israel's standard/ensign under which they fought. Ancient armies rallied around visible banners; Israel rallies around invisible YHWH. The altar's name teaches that worship rec...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(15) **Moses built an altar.**—Primarily, no doubt, to sacrifice thank-offerings upon it, as an acknowledgment of the Divine mercy in giving Israel the victory. But secondarily as a memorial—a monument to commemorate Israel’s triumph.
**And called the name of it Jehovah-nissi.**—Jacob had named an altar “El-Elohe-Israel” (Genesis 33:20); but otherwise we do not find altars given special names. Whe...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 8-16**
Israel engaged with Amalek in their own necessary defence. God makes his people able, and calls them to various services for the good of his church. Joshua fights, Moses prays, both minister to Israel. The rod was held up, as the banner to encourage the soldiers. Also to God, by way of appeal to him. Moses was tired. The strongest arm will fail with being long held out; it is G...
Read full commentary →For he said, Because the LORD hath sworn that the LORD will have war with Amalek from generation to generation. Because: or, Because the hand of Amalek is against the throne of the LORD, therefore, etc the LORD hath: Heb. the hand upon the throne of the LORD
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>For he said, Because the LORD hath sworn that the LORD will have war with Amalek from generation to generation</strong>—The phrase 'the LORD hath sworn' (כִּי־יָד עַל־כֵּס יָהּ, literally 'for a hand upon the throne of Yah') indicates divine oath tied to God's throne. Amalek's attack on God's people constitutes attack on God's sovereignty. The declaration of perpetual war 'from generation ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(16) **Because the Lord hath sworn that the Lord will have war with Amalek.—**Heb,, *because *(*his*)* hand is against the throne of Jehovah, *(*there shall be*) *war to Jehovah with Amalek, *&c. The Hebrew can scarcely be said to be “obscure.” It gives plainly enough the sense which our translators have placed in the margin. Amalek, by attacking Israel, had lifted up his hand against the throne o...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 8-16**
Israel engaged with Amalek in their own necessary defence. God makes his people able, and calls them to various services for the good of his church. Joshua fights, Moses prays, both minister to Israel. The rod was held up, as the banner to encourage the soldiers. Also to God, by way of appeal to him. Moses was tired. The strongest arm will fail with being long held out; it is G...
Read full commentary →