Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible
Exodus 17:1-7
Water From the Rock (Exodus 17:1).
The children of Israel leave the wilderness of Sinai and encamp in Rephidim. Its site is uncertain. There they find themselves without water. Considering the continual shortage of water in the wilderness when they were not at oases or wells, a situation which they must have become used to, this comment must be taken to mean that they had reached a desperate state. Their mouths were parched, their water skins were dry, they were dehydrating and they saw no hope of finding water. And once again they murmur. And they turn to Moses their only hope. Behind all their belligerence lies the confidence that they have that Moses can somehow do something. Their only hope lay in deliverance from Yahweh.
Moses is therefore told to take the elders of Israel with him to a place which Yahweh will show him, and then Yahweh will stand before them on the rock in Horeb and when he smites the rock the water will flood out so that all may drink. All we are then told is that Moses did so. But we note that the emphasis is not on the provision of water but on the fact that the people tempted God, asking whether He was among them or not.
So the children of Israel have now been tested by water three times. Firstly after their first three days when there was no water (Exodus 15:22), secondly at Marah, where it was bitter (Exodus 15:23), and now here at Rephidim, where there was again none. Yahweh's testings are always complete. Note that the people first ‘strove with Moses' (Exodus 17:2), and then ‘murmured' against Moses (Exodus 17:3). It would appear that the situation lasted for some time and that the people were getting more and more belligerent (Exodus 17:4).
a They journey by stages to Rephidim where there is no water, and the people wrangle with Moses and ask him to give them water, at which Moses asks, ‘why do you wrangle with me? Why do you put Yahweh to the test?' (Exodus 17:1).
b The people thirst for water and murmur against Moses saying, ‘Why have you brought us from Egypt to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst?' (Exodus 17:3).
c Moses cries to Yahweh and asks what he must do, as the people are ready to stone him (Exodus 17:4).
d Yahweh tells him to pass on before the people with the elders of Israel and the staff with which he smote the river (the Reed Sea) and go forward (Exodus 17:5 a).
c For Yahweh will stand on the rock in Horeb, and Moses must smite the rock, and then water will come out that the people might drink (Exodus 17:5 b).
b ‘Moses did so', that is, he obediently smites the rock in the sight of the elders of Israel and water comes out (Exodus 17:5 c).
a And he call the name of the place Massah (‘testing') and Meribah (‘striving') because of their striving, and because they had tempted Yahweh asking whether He was with them or not (Exodus 17:7).
Note in ‘a' that the people wrangle with Moses and Moses asks why they put Yahweh to the test, while in the parallel he names the place Massah and Meribah because that is what they people did. In ‘b' there is a contrast between a disobedient people crying out in anger and distress, certain that they will die, and the confident Moses doing what Yahweh has commanded him which results in life-giving water for the people (assumed from the narrative). In ‘c' Moses cries to Yahweh and in the parallel Yahweh answers him. Instead of stoning him, they will drink. Central to the narrative is that Moses goes forward into the barren wilderness, taking the unbelieving elders of Israel, and the mighty staff with which the waters of the Reed Sea had been parted. On the one hand is fear on the other is power. In this will the whole problem be rectified.
‘And all the congregation of the children of Israel journeyed from the Wilderness of Sin by their stages according to the commandment of Yahweh, and pitched in Rephidim. And there was no water for the people to drink.'
The journey towards Sinai continued. Prior to reaching Rephidim they passed through Dophkah (possibly meaning ‘smeltery', a reminder of the copper workings found in a number of places in South-central Sinai) and Alush (Numbers 33:12). Neither can be specifically identified. And then they reached Rephidim. A regular feature of such a wilderness journey is shortage of water, especially for so large a group. Thus in order to be mentioned the situation here must have become desperate. Their waterskins were empty and their mouths were parched. It is not said at this stage that their cattle and sheep needed water. They could survive far longer without it.
“Rephidim.” The site of Rephidim is not certain although the Wadi Refayid in south west Sinai has been suggested. The fact that these sites are unidentifiable is a striking feature of their accuracy. Had a later writer invented the journey the places would have been identifiable.
However Exodus 17:6 speaks of ‘the rock in Horeb' to which the elders go from Rephidim. It is thus fairly close to Mount Sinai (Horeb and Mount Sinai are almost interchangeable terms, although the former refers to a slightly wider area). Compare how Exodus 18:5 describes being ‘at the mount of God', that is Mount Sinai
‘For this reason the people strove with Moss and said, “Give us water that we may drink.” And Moses said to them, “Why do you strive with me? Why do you put Yahweh to the test?” And the people thirsted for water. And the people murmured against Moses and said, “Why have you brought us out of Egypt to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst?”
Because their situation was getting desperate the people came to Moses in their desperation, crying out for water. But Moses too was parched and thirsty, yet he struggled on with confidence in Yahweh. Thus he challenged them as to their lack of faith. They too should share his confidence.
“Why do you strive with me?” The word means ‘to wrangle, to engage in controversy'. It was clear that they were in a very angry mood, even ready to attack him (Exodus 17:4) and he challenged what they were intending to do in order to diffuse the situation. Why were they doing it? he asked. The situation was not his fault. It was a consequence of desert journeying. They knew the position as well as he did and he possibly felt that they should have shown the same resilience as he did.
“Why do you put Yahweh to the test?” But worse he pointed out to them that what they were really doing was challenging Yahweh. They should have been continuing on in confident faith waiting for Yahweh to act on their behalf, not blaming His representative. It was Yahweh that they were really confronting. Let them remember with Whom they were dealing. Compare Exodus 15:25; Exodus 16:4. There Yahweh had ‘proved' them, now they were ‘proving' Yahweh They had clearly not learned their lesson from those incidents.
“And the people murmured against Moses.” The controversy has now resulted in incipient rebellion. Their feeling are growing stronger.
“And the people thirsted for water.” The repetition shows that the shortage continued and grew worse. There they were in that excessively hot, barren place with water supplies run out. Their children and cattle were crying out for water, and in their desperation they were beginning to feel that death was inevitable (compare Exodus 16:3; Numbers 16:13). And they accused him of being responsible for it. If he had not brought them out of Egypt they would never have been in this situation. They forgot the joy they had had in their deliverance. What good was that if they now died of thirst?
‘And Moses cried to Yahweh saying, “What shall I do to this people. They are almost ready to stone me?”
Moses himself was getting desperate, not at the shortage of water but because of the angry belligerence of the people. And he cried to Yahweh for help, possibly in the Tent where the covenant tablets of his fathers were held, or in front of the cloud which represented the presence of God.
‘And Yahweh said to Moses, “Pass on before the people, and take with you the elders of Israel. And take in your hand the staff with which you smote the Nile, and go. Behold I will stand before you there on the rock in Horeb, and you will smite the rock and water will come out of it so that the people might drink.” And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel.'
Yahweh answers Moses. This time Moses must take not only Aaron, but also all the elders of Israel. They too must now become involved in the finding of solutions that they might learn to trust in Yahweh. Note that on the one hand he has with him the weak and trembling elders, and on the other the mighty staff of God. The contrast is striking. On the one hand fears, on the other the perfect answer. But only Moses was aware of it.
“Take in your hand the staff with which you smote the Nile.” There the staff made the water undrinkable. Now it was to be used to provide drinkable water. It was not just a staff of judgment but one of mercy to those who followed Yahweh. The staff was the symbol of Moses' authority and its use therefore confirmed his position before the elders and the people. Yahweh is here revealed as the great controller of waters.
“I will stand before you there on the rock in Horeb.” This would seem to have been a rock reasonably well known to Moses from his previous time in the area, and he had possibly heard stories of water coming from the rock. We are probably to see here that the cloud will move over this famous rock to denote Yahweh's presence. Horeb is closely connected with Mount Sinai, and to some extent equated with it. Thus they were to go close to Sinai.
And Yahweh would stand there on it. All the elders would see was a barren rock, but Moses would know that Yahweh was there. Although it may be that the cloud descended on it. Either way Horeb was to be the place of Yahweh's blessing.
“And you will smite the rock and water will come out of it.” The limestone rocks in the area absorbed water and it has been known for water to come from such rocks when they are knocked. But in this case the particular rock must have been over a large spring in view of the amount of water that came from it.
The actual carrying out of his assignment is described in a sentence, ‘and Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel.' The mentioning of the elders as witnesses suggests a recognition of the importance of having such witnesses to what happened, which suggests a contemporary narrative. They would inform the people of all that had happened.
Notice that no attempt is made to bring out a miraculous element. What is considered important is not that it was a miracle but that it was Yahweh Who provided water for His people after they had challenged why He had done nothing and had put Him to the test. He had provided water at Marah (Exodus 15:25), He had provided water at Elim (Exodus 15:27), now He provided water at Horeb (Exodus 17:6).
‘And he called the name of the place Massah and Meribah because of the striving of the children of Israel and because they tested out Yahweh saying,. “Is Yahweh among us or not?” '
Moses was clearly very concerned at the behaviour of the people and he expressed this concern by applying two names to the area (he is not said to have done this in other places so it is clearly seen as significant). This was possibly because there were two prominent landmarks to which he gave each a name. One he called Massah, which means ‘tempting, proving', and the other he called Meribah, ‘chiding, striving'. These would be forever a symbol and reminder of the behaviour of the people. They were to be a monument to rebellious doubt and lack of faith.
“Is Yahweh among us or not?” This was not the doubt of unbelief but the muttering of rebellion. They saw His cloud. But what use was that, they asked, if He did not provide for them? In other words they were disgruntled at the way He behaved.
Note for Christians.
Paul likens the rock from which the water flowed to Christ (1 Corinthians 10:4) Who provides His people with living water (John 4:10; John 4:14; John 7:37). He does not there mean that the rock was literally Christ (any more than baptismal water was from the Red Sea) but that the water from the rock came from the same source as the living water we receive through Christ, from the heart of God Himself. Thus just as the people of Israel drank water from the rock, so we can drink spiritual water from Him.
End of note.