English · ASV

Exodus 17

Listen to this chapter
0:00 0:00

Israel Tests the Lord at Rephidim 1–7

1
And 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.
2
Wherefore the people strove 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? ​
3
And 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?
4
And Moses cried unto Jehovah, saying, What shall I do unto this people? they are almost ready to stone me.
5
And Jehovah said unto Moses, Pass on before the people, and take with thee of the elders of Israel; and thy rod, wherewith thou smotest the river, take in thy hand, and go.
6
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. ​
7
And 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? ​

War Against Amalek 8–16

8
Then came Amalek, and fought with Israel in Rephidim. ​
9
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 my hand. ​
10
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.
11
And it came to pass, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed; and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed. ​
12
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. ​
13
And Joshua discomfited Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.
14
and 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. ​
15
And Moses built an altar, and called the name of it Jehovah-nissi; ​
16
and he said, Jehovah hath sworn: Jehovah will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

Study Notes for Exodus 17

Verse 2

do ye tempt the LORD — 'Chide' is riv, to contend in dispute, and 'tempt' is nasah, to put to the proof. The two verbs give the place its two names in v.7, Meribah and Massah. Moses' charge is recalled in Deut 6:16: 'Ye shall not tempt the LORD your God, as ye tempted him in Massah.'

Verse 6

the rock in Horeb — The LORD stands on the rock, Moses smites it, and the water comes 'in the sight of the elders of Israel'. Paul says Israel 'drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ' (1 Cor 10:4). The psalmist recalls it: 'He clave the rocks in the wilderness' (Ps 78:15).

Verse 7

Massah, and Meribah — One place, two names: Massah (the test) and Meribah (the contention), after the verbs of v.2. Massah is named only here and in Deut 6:16; 9:22; 33:8. The question 'Is the LORD among us, or not?' lies behind Ps 95:8, 'Harden not your heart, as in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness.'

Verse 8

Amalek — A grandson of Esau: Timna 'bare to Eliphaz Amalek' (Gen 36:12). Moses later recalls how Amalek 'smote the hindmost of thee, even all that were feeble behind thee… and he feared not God' (Deut 25:18). Balaam calls Amalek 'the first of the nations' (Num 24:20).

Verse 9

Joshua — This is his first mention in Scripture. His name was Oshea until Moses 'called Oshea the son of Nun Jehoshua' (Num 13:16). He leads the men while Moses takes 'the rod of God', the rod he had carried back to Egypt (Ex 4:20). He is later Moses' minister on the mount (Ex 24:13).

Verse 11

held up his hand — 'Prevailed' (gabar, to be strong) is used of both sides, so the battle follows the hand, and Israel is stronger when it is raised and Amalek when it is lowered. Later Scripture speaks of 'lifting up holy hands' in prayer (1 Tim 2:8), and the rod of God (v.9) is in Moses' hand on the hill.

Verse 12

his hands were steady — 'Steady' is emunah, firmness, the word elsewhere rendered 'faith' (Hab 2:4) and 'faithfulness' (Ps 89:1). Aaron and Hur 'stayed up' (tamak, to uphold) his hands, one on each side, until sunset. Hur is named with Aaron again when Moses goes up the mount (Ex 24:14).

Verse 14

Write this for a memorial in a book — This is the first use of the verb 'write' in Scripture. 'Utterly put out' doubles the verb machah, to wipe out; Moses repeats it in Deut 25:19, 'thou shalt blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven', and Saul is sent to carry it out (1 Sam 15:2–3).

Verse 15

Jehovahnissi — Yehovah nissi, 'the LORD is my banner'. Nes is a standard raised as a signal, the word rendered 'banner' in Ps 60:4: 'Thou hast given a banner to them that fear thee.' Moses names an altar rather than the battlefield, and v.16 closes with the LORD's own sworn war against Amalek.