INTRODUCTION TO EXODUS 17
The children of Israel coming to Rephidim, want water, and chide with
Moses about it, who, crying to the Lord, is bid to smite the rock,
from whence came water for them, and he named the place from their
contention with him, Exodus 17:1 at this place Amalek came and fought... [ Continue Reading ]
AND ALL THE CONGREGATION OF THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL JOURNEYED FROM THE
WILDERNESS OF SIN,.... Where they had stayed some time, at least a
week, as it should seem, from the gathering the manna there six days,
and resting on the seventh:
AFTER THEIR JOURNEYS: first from the wilderness of Sin to Dophka... [ Continue Reading ]
WHEREFORE THE PEOPLE DID CHIDE WITH MOSES,.... Contended with him by
words, expostulating with him in a very angry and indecent manner for
bringing them thither; loading him with reproaches and calumnies,
wrangling and quarrelling with him, and using him very ill, giving
hard words and bad language:... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE PEOPLE THIRSTED THERE FOR WATER,.... They saw there was no
water when they first came thither, and therefore chid Moses for
bringing them to such a place, where they could not subsist; and
having stayed some little time here, and all the water they brought
with them from Alush being spent, a... [ Continue Reading ]
AND MOSES CRIED UNTO THE LORD..... Or prayed unto him, as the Targums
of Onkelos and Jonathan; which shows the distress he was thrown into,
the vehemence of his prayer, and perhaps the loud and lamentable tone
in which he expressed it: this was the method he always took, and the
refuge he fled unto... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE LORD SAID UNTO MOSES,.... Out of the pillar of cloud:
GO ON BEFORE THE PEOPLE, lead them on nearer to Mount Sinai or Horeb,
within sight of which they now were. Jarchi adds, by way of
explanation, "and see if they will stone thee"; fear not, go on
boldly, no harm shall come to thee:
AND TA... [ Continue Reading ]
BEHOLD, I WILL STAND BEFORE THEE THERE UPON THE ROCK IN HOREB,.... Or
"upon that rock" k, a particular rock which was pointed unto, where
the Lord in the pillar of cloud would stand; not as a mere spectator
of this affair, but as a director of Moses where to smite the rock;
and to exert his power in... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HE CALLED THE NAME OF THE PLACE MASSAH, AND MERIBAH,.... The
former signifies "temptation", and the latter "contention": the reason
of which names being given by Moses, or whoever was the name of the
place, follows: "because of the chiding of the children of Israel";
that was the reason why it w... [ Continue Reading ]
THEN CAME AMALEK,.... The Amalekites, who were not the posterity of
Amalek, a son of Eliphaz, the son of Esau, by Timna the concubine of
Eliphaz, Genesis 36:12 who dwelt in the desert, to the south of Judea,
beyond the city Petra, as you go to Aila, as Jerom says t; and so the
Targum of Jonathan des... [ Continue Reading ]
AND MOSES SAID UNTO JOSHUA,.... The son of Nun, who was his minister,
and was a man of war from his youth, trained up in the art of war, and
afterwards succeeded Moses, and was captain of the armies of Israel,
and fought at the head of them, and subdued the Canaanites. Moses knew
he was a fit person... [ Continue Reading ]
SO JOSHUA DID AS MOSES HAD SAID TO HIM,.... He singled out some proper
persons for the battle, and arrayed them with armour, and led them
forth out of the camp, and went forth at the head of them:
AND FOUGHT WITH AMALEK; upon both armies meeting, a battle ensued:
AND MOSES, AARON, AND HUR, WENT UP... [ Continue Reading ]
AND IT CAME TO PASS, WHEN MOSES HELD UP HIS HAND, THAT ISRAEL
PREVAILED,.... With his rod in it as a banner displayed, as some
think, which inspired the Israelites with courage to fight, and they
had the better of it; though Aben Ezra rejects that notion, observing,
that if that had been the case, A... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT MOSES'S HANDS WERE HEAVY,.... And hung down through weariness,
holding up the rod first in one hand, and then in another, for so long
a time; and thus sometimes, through infirmity, the best of men grow
remiss in prayer, their hands are weak and hang flown through the
corruptions of their hearts,... [ Continue Reading ]
AND JOSHUA DISCOMFITED AMALEK AND HIS PEOPLE WITH THE EDGE OF THE
SWORD. Amalek being distinguished from "his people", has led some to
think that Amalek was the name of the king, or general of the army,
and that it was a common name to the kings of that nation, as Pharaoh
was to the kings of Egypt;... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE LORD SAID UNTO MOSES,.... After the battle was over, and the
Israelites had got the victory:
WRITE THIS FOR A MEMORIAL IN A BOOK: not in loose papers, but in a
book, that it might continue; meaning that the account of this battle
with Amelek should be put down in the annals or journal of Mo... [ Continue Reading ]
AND MOSES BUILT AN ALTAR,.... On Horeb, as Aben Ezra; on the top of
the hill, as Ben Gersom, where sacrifices of thanksgiving were offered
up for the victory obtained, or however a monument erected in memory
of it:
AND HE CALLED THE NAME OF IT JEHOVAHNISSI; which signifies either "the
Lord is my mi... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR HE SAID, BECAUSE THE LORD HATH SWORN,.... So some Jewish writers b
take it for an oath, as we do; or "because the hand is on the throne
of the Lord" c; which the Targum of Jonathan, Jarchi, and Aben Ezra,
interpret of the hand of the Lord being lifted up, of his swearing by
the throne of his glo... [ Continue Reading ]