Water from the Rock
Exodus 17:1-7
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Exo.17.1 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- ויסעו: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,pl
- כל: DET
- עדת: NOUN,f,sg,construct
- בני: NOUN,m,pl,construct
- ישראל: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ממדבר: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- סין: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- למסעיהם: PREP+NOUN,m,pl,abs+3,m,pl
- על: PREP
- פי: NOUN,m,sg,construct
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- ויחנו: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,pl
- ברפידים: PREP+NOUN,m,pl,abs
- ואין: CONJ+PART,exist
- מים: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- לשתת: VERB,qal,inf,NA,NA,NA
- העם: NOUN,m,sg,def
Parallels
- Exodus 15:22-24 (thematic): Immediately prior episode where the Israelites find bitter water at Mara—another instance of the community arriving at a campsite and facing no potable water.
- Exodus 16:1 (structural): Same travel-log pattern and geographic frame: the congregation's journeys in the wilderness (mentions the wilderness of Sin), situating the sequence of encampments that includes Rephidim.
- Numbers 20:1-13 (verbal): Later, similar crisis at Meribah where there is no water for the people; Moses' response and God's provision echo the Rephidim episode (rock/water motif and communal complaint).
- Deuteronomy 6:16 (allusion): Warning not to 'tempt the LORD as at Massah'—a covenantal recollection that alludes to these wilderness incidents of testing and lack of water (Massah/Meribah tradition tied to Rephidim/Meribah).
- Psalm 78:15-16 (thematic): Narrative retelling of Israel's wilderness experience: God split the rocks and provided water—poetic reflection on the same crisis of thirst and divine provision described in Exodus 17.
Alternative generated candidates
- Then all the congregation of the sons of Israel set out from the wilderness of Sin, by stages, at the command of the LORD, and they camped at Rephidim; and there was no water for the people to drink.
- Then all the congregation of the sons of Israel set out from the wilderness of Sin by stages, at the command of the LORD; and they camped at Rephidim, and there was no water for the people to drink.
Exo.17.2 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- וירב: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- העם: NOUN,m,sg,def
- עם: PREP
- משה: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ויאמרו: VERB,qal,wayyiqtol,3,pl
- תנו: VERB,qal,imp,2,pl
- לנו: PREP+PRON,1,pl
- מים: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- ונשתה: VERB,qal,impf,1,na,pl
- ויאמר: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- להם: PREP+PRON,3,m,pl
- משה: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- מה: PRON,int
- תריבון: VERB,qal,impf,2,m,pl
- עמדי: PREP+1cs
- מה: PRON,int
- תנסון: VERB,piel,impf,2,m,pl
- את: PRT,acc
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
Parallels
- Exod.16:2-3 (verbal): The people grumble to Moses about lack of provision (bread/water), echoing the same complaint and confrontational tone toward Moses and God.
- Num.20:2-13 (structural): A later, closely related episode at Meribah where Israelites demand water, quarrel with Moses, and test God — the narrative continuation with parallel actions and setting.
- Ps.95:8-9 (allusion): The psalm warns against hardening hearts 'as at Massah and Meribah,' explicitly alluding to the Exodus complaint and testing of the LORD.
- Deut.6:16 (quotation): The command 'Do not put the LORD your God to the test' echoes Moses’ rebuke in Exod 17:2, using the same prohibition against testing God.
- Ps.78:18-20 (thematic): A retelling of Israel's grumbling and testing of God, mentioning their demand for food/water and criticizing their lack of trust in God’s provision.
Alternative generated candidates
- And the people quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water that we may drink.” And Moses said to them, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the LORD?”
- And the people quarreled with Moses and said, "Give us water that we may drink." And Moses said to them, "Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the LORD?"
Exo.17.3 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- ויצמא: VERB,qal,imperfect,3,m,sg
- שם: ADV
- העם: NOUN,m,sg,def
- למים: PREP+NOUN,m,pl,abs
- וילן: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- העם: NOUN,m,sg,def
- על: PREP
- משה: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ויאמר: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- למה: ADV
- זה: PRON,dem,m,sg
- העליתנו: VERB,hif,perf,2,m,sg
- ממצרים: PREP+NOUN,m,pl,abs
- להמית: VERB,hiphil,inf
- אתי: PRON,1,sg
- ואת: CONJ
- בני: NOUN,m,pl,construct
- ואת: CONJ
- מקני: NOUN,m,pl,abs+PRON,1,sg
- בצמא: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
Parallels
- Exodus 15:24 (verbal): Immediately earlier scene at Marah where the people complain to Moses, asking 'What shall we drink?' — the same grievance about lack of water.
- Exodus 16:2-3 (verbal): The people accuse Moses of bringing them out of Egypt to die for lack of food — nearly identical language of 'brought us out... to die,' here applied to hunger rather than thirst.
- Numbers 20:2-5 (thematic): Later water-crisis at Kadesh where the Israelites again quarrel with Moses about lack of water; the episode (and Moses striking the rock) is a parallel narrative to Exodus 17.
- Numbers 14:2-4 (thematic): Mass murmurings and fear after the spies' report, with the people rebelling and expressing desire to return to Egypt — similar pattern of complaint and despair.
- Psalm 78:19-20 (allusion): Retrospective psalm recounting Israel's complaints in the wilderness ('Can God give a table in the wilderness?') — a theological reflection on the same complaints about provision.
Alternative generated candidates
- And there the people thirsted for water, and the people grumbled against Moses and said, “Why is it that you brought us up from Egypt, to put me and my children and my livestock to death by thirst?”
- And the people thirsted there for water, and the people grumbled against Moses and said, "Why is it that you brought us up from Egypt, to put me and my sons and my livestock to death with thirst?"
Exo.17.4 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- ויצעק: VERB,qal,wayyiqtol,3,m,sg
- משה: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- אל: NEG
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- לאמר: INF,qal,infc
- מה: PRON,int
- אעשה: VERB,qal,impf,1,_,sg
- לעם: PREP
- הזה: DEM,m,sg
- עוד: ADV
- מעט: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- וסקלני: VERB,qal,imprf,3,m,sg,1cs.obj
Parallels
- Numbers 11:14-15 (verbal): Moses cries to the LORD in despair about how to deal with the people and says he cannot bear them alone—parallels Exod 17:4's motif of Moses crying out to God for help with a rebellious, threatening people.
- Numbers 14:6-10 (thematic): After the spies' report the congregation talks of stoning Joshua and Caleb (and are ready to stone others) — a close parallel to the people's threat to stone Moses in Exod 17:4.
- John 8:59 (allusion): The crowd takes up stones to cast at Jesus after his provocative claims—an echo in the Gospels of the recurring biblical motif of the people attempting to stone a leader or prophet.
- Acts 7:57-60 (structural): Stephen is seized and stoned after his speech before the council; this New Testament instance repeats the pattern of a prophet/leader being threatened and executed by stoning, paralleling the danger Moses faced in Exod 17:4.
Alternative generated candidates
- And Moses cried out to the LORD, saying, “What shall I do for this people? A little more and they will stone me!”
- And Moses cried out to the LORD, saying, "What shall I do with this people? A little more and they will stone me."
Exo.17.5 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- ויאמר: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- אל: NEG
- משה: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- עבר: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- לפני: PREP
- העם: NOUN,m,sg,def
- וקח: VERB,qal,imp,2,m,sg
- אתך: PREP+PRON,2,m,sg
- מזקני: PREP+NOUN,m,pl,cons
- ישראל: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ומטך: CONJ+NOUN,m,sg,suff,2,m,sg
- אשר: PRON,rel
- הכית: VERB,qal,perf,2,m,sg
- בו: PREP+PRON,3,m,sg
- את: PRT,acc
- היאר: NOUN,m,sg,def
- קח: VERB,qal,impv,2,m,sg
- בידך: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,suff,2,m,sg
- והלכת: VERB,qal,perf,2,m,sg
Parallels
- Numbers 20:8-11 (verbal): At Meribah God again instructs Moses to take his rod and address the rock; Moses uses the rod to bring water, and the episode repeats the rod/rock/water language and setting of Exodus 17.
- Exodus 4:17 (verbal): Earlier in Moses’ commissioning God tells him to 'take this rod in thy hand' to perform signs; the same formula frames the rod as the divinely authorized instrument for miraculous action.
- Exodus 14:16 (structural): When parting the Red Sea God commands Moses to lift up his rod and stretch out his hand before the people—parallel in form and function to being told to go before the people with the rod.
- Psalm 78:15-16 (thematic): The psalm retells Israel’s wilderness narratives, recalling Moses’ striking/splitting actions and God’s giving of water from rock—echoing the rod/rock/water motif of Exodus 17.
- 1 Corinthians 10:4 (allusion): Paul interprets 'the rock' that followed Israel as a typological reference to Christ, thus treating the water-from-the-rock tradition (connected to Moses’ use of the rod) as a theological foreshadowing.
Alternative generated candidates
- And the LORD said to Moses, “Pass on before the people, and take with you some of the elders of Israel; and your staff with which you struck the Nile, take in your hand, and go.
- And the LORD said to Moses, "Pass on before the people, and take with you some of the elders of Israel, and take in your hand your staff with which you struck the Nile, and go."
Exo.17.6 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- הנני: PRT+PRON,1,sg
- עמד: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- לפניך: PREP+PRON,2,m,sg
- שם: ADV
- על: PREP
- הצור: NOUN,m,sg,def
- בחרב: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs
- והכית: CONJ+VERB,qal,perf,2,m,sg
- בצור: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ויצאו: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,pl
- ממנו: PREP+PRON,3,m,sg
- מים: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- ושתה: CONJ+VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- העם: NOUN,m,sg,def
- ויעש: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- כן: ADV
- משה: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- לעיני: PREP+NOUN,f,pl,cons
- זקני: NOUN,m,pl,cons
- ישראל: NOUN,m,sg,abs
Parallels
- Num.20.8-11 (quotation): Later narrative retelling of the same miracle—Moses commanded to speak to (then strikes) the rock and water comes out; parallels wording and action (but differs in detail and consequence).
- Ps.78.15-16 (verbal): Poetic retelling of God’s provision in the wilderness: God ‘split the rocks’ and ‘gave them drink,’ echoing the rock-and-water motif from Exodus 17.
- Ps.105.41 (thematic): Psalm recounts God opening the rock so waters gushed out for the people—another poetic parallel recalling the Exodus miracle.
- Deut.8.15 (allusion): Deuteronomy recalls God who ‘brought water out of the rock of flint’ during wilderness wanderings, alluding to the rock-as-provision tradition rooted in Exodus.
- 1 Cor.10.4 (allusion): Paul interprets the rock that supplied water in the wilderness as a spiritual figure (‘the rock was Christ’), using the Exodus event theologically in the New Testament.
Alternative generated candidates
- Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb; and you shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it, and the people will drink.” And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel.
- "Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb, and you shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it, and the people will drink." And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel.
Exo.17.7 - Details
Translation
Original Text
Morphology
- ויקרא: VERB,qal,wayyiqtol,3,m,sg
- שם: ADV
- המקום: NOUN,m,sg,def
- מסה: NOUN,f,sg,prop
- ומריבה: CONJ+NOUN,f,sg,prop
- על: PREP
- ריב: NOUN,m,sg,const
- בני: NOUN,m,pl,construct
- ישראל: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ועל: CONJ+PREP
- נסתם: VERB,qal,perf,3,pl
- את: PRT,acc
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- לאמר: INF,qal,infc
- היש: PART,exist
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- בקרבנו: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs+PRON,1,pl,poss
- אם: CONJ
- אין: PART,neg
Parallels
- Psalm 95:8-9 (quotation): Directly cites the Exodus incident: warns ‘do not harden your hearts as at Massah, as on the day at Meribah,’ using the same place-names and urging obedience rather than testing God.
- Deuteronomy 6:16 (verbal): Explicitly repeats the command not to test the LORD ‘as you tested him at Massah,’ directly echoing the question ‘Is the LORD among us or not?’ from Exodus 17:7.
- Numbers 20:2-13 (thematic): A later wilderness episode at Meribah where Israel quarrels for water; both passages associate the place-name Meribah/Massah with Israel’s testing of God and a failure of faith.
- Hebrews 3:8-9 (allusion): New Testament admonition referencing the wilderness testing and Massah, warning believers not to harden their hearts as the Israelites did when they tested God.
- 1 Corinthians 10:9 (allusion): Paul draws on Israel’s wilderness failures to warn Christians ‘not to put Christ to the test,’ alluding to the same pattern of testing God exemplified at Massah/Meribah.
Alternative generated candidates
- And he called the name of the place Massah and Meribah, because of the quarrel of the sons of Israel and because they tested the LORD, saying, “Is the LORD among us or not?”
- And he called the name of the place Massah and Meribah, because of the quarrel of the sons of Israel and because they tested the LORD, saying, "Is the LORD among us or not?"
Then all the congregation of the sons of Israel set out from the wilderness of Sin, by stages, according to the command of the LORD, and they camped at Rephidim; but there was no water for the people to drink. And the people quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water, that we may drink.” And Moses said to them, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the LORD?” And the people thirsted there for water, and the people grumbled against Moses and said, “Why is it that you brought us up from the land of Egypt, to kill me and my children and my livestock with thirst?” And Moses cried out to the LORD, saying, “What shall I do with this people? A little more and they will stone me.” And the LORD said to Moses, “Pass on before the people, and take with you some of the elders of Israel, and take in your hand your staff with which you struck the Nile, and go.
Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb, and you shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it, and the people will drink.” And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel. And he called the name of the place Massah and Meribah, because of the quarrel of the sons of Israel and because they tested the LORD, saying, “Is the LORD in our midst or not?”