Back to Exodus 17

Exodus 17:5-7

Yahweh said to Moses, “Walk on before the people, and take the elders of Israel with you, and take the rod in your hand with which you struck the Nile, and go. Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock in Horeb. You shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it, that the people may drink.” Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel. He called the name of the place Massah, and Meribah, because the children of Israel quarreled, and because they tested Yahweh, saying, “Is Yahweh among us, or not?”

World English Bible · Public Domain

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Parallel Translations

  • WEB World English Bible

    Yahweh said to Moses, “Walk on before the people, and take the elders of Israel with you, and take the rod in your hand with which you struck the Nile, and go.

    Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock in Horeb. You shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it, that the people may drink.” Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel.

    He called the name of the place Massah, and Meribah, because the children of Israel quarreled, and because they tested Yahweh, saying, “Is Yahweh among us, or not?”

  • KJV King James Version

    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.

    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.

    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?

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  • JPS JPS Tanakh (1917)

    And the LORD 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.

    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.

    And the name of the place was called Massah, and Meribah, because of the striving of the children of Israel, and because they tried the LORD, saying: 'Is the LORD among us, or not?'

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Examined in Scripture Analysis

Contradictions (2)

Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.

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Cross-references (36)

  • 1 Corinthians 10:4 (v6) and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of a spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was Christ.
  • Numbers 20:9-11 (v6) Moses took the rod from before Yahweh, as he commanded him. Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock, and he said to…
  • Nehemiah 9:15 (v6) and gave them bread from the sky for their hunger, and brought water out of the rock for them for their thirst, and commanded them that…
  • Psalms 105:41 (v6) He opened the rock, and waters gushed out. They ran as a river in the dry places.
  • Deuteronomy 8:15 (v6) who led you through the great and terrible wilderness, with venomous snakes and scorpions, and thirsty ground where there was no water; who…
Show all 36 cross-references
  • Psalms 78:15-16 (v6) He split rocks in the wilderness, and gave them drink abundantly as out of the depths. He brought streams also out of the rock, and caused…
  • John 4:10 (v6) Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would…
  • Psalms 78:20 (v6) Behold, he struck the rock, so that waters gushed out, and streams overflowed. Can he give bread also? Will he provide meat for his people?”
  • Psalms 114:8 (v6) who turned the rock into a pool of water, the flint into a spring of waters.
  • Isaiah 41:17-18 (v6) The poor and needy seek water, and there is none. Their tongue fails for thirst. I, Yahweh, will answer them. I, the God of Israel, will…
  • Psalms 46:4 (v6) There is a river, the streams of which make the city of God glad, the holy place of the tents of the Most High.
  • Isaiah 43:19-20 (v6) Behold, I will do a new thing. It springs out now. Don’t you know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.…
  • Isaiah 48:21 (v6) They didn’t thirst when he led them through the deserts. He caused the waters to flow out of the rock for them. He also split the rock and…
  • John 4:14 (v6) but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never thirst again; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well…
  • John 7:37-38 (v6) Now on the last and greatest day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink! He who…
  • Revelation 22:17 (v6) The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” He who hears, let him say, “Come!” He who is thirsty, let him come. He who desires, let him take the…
  • Exodus 3:1-5 (v6) Now Moses was keeping the flock of Jethro, his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the back of the wilderness, and…
  • Psalms 81:7 (v7) You called in trouble, and I delivered you. I answered you in the secret place of thunder. I tested you at the waters of Meribah.”
  • Exodus 7:19-20 (v5) Yahweh said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Take your rod, and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt, over their rivers, over their…
  • Exodus 16:10 (v6) As Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the children of Israel, they looked toward the wilderness, and behold, Yahweh’s glory appeared…
  • Numbers 20:13 (v7) These are the waters of Meribah; because the children of Israel strove with Yahweh, and he was sanctified in them.
  • Psalms 95:8 (v7) Don’t harden your heart, as at Meribah, as in the day of Massah in the wilderness,
  • Numbers 20:8-11 (v5) “Take the rod, and assemble the congregation, you, and Aaron your brother, and speak to the rock before their eyes, that it pour out its…
  • Deuteronomy 9:22 (v7) At Taberah, at Massah, and at Kibroth Hattaavah you provoked Yahweh to wrath.
  • Exodus 17:2 (v7) Therefore the people quarreled with Moses, and said, “Give us water to drink.” Moses said to them, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you…
  • Ezekiel 2:6 (v5) You, son of man, don’t be afraid of them, neither be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns are with you, and you dwell among…
  • Hebrews 3:8-9 (v7) don’t harden your hearts, as in the rebellion, like as in the day of the trial in the wilderness, where your fathers tested me and tried…
  • Numbers 20:24 (v7) “Aaron shall be gathered to his people; for he shall not enter into the land which I have given to the children of Israel, because you…
  • Acts 7:37-39 (v7) This is that Moses, who said to the children of Israel, ‘The Lord our God will raise up a prophet for you from among your brothers, like…
  • Acts 20:23-24 (v5) except that the Holy Spirit testifies in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions wait for me. But these things don’t count; nor do I…
  • Exodus 34:9 (v7) He said, “If now I have found favor in your sight, Lord, please let the Lord go among us, even though this is a stiff-necked people; pardon…
  • Deuteronomy 31:17 (v7) Then my anger shall be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them, and I will hide my face from them, and they shall be…
  • Joshua 22:31 (v7) Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest said to the children of Reuben, to the children of Gad, and to the children of Manasseh, “Today we…
  • Isaiah 12:6 (v7) Cry aloud and shout, you inhabitant of Zion; for the Holy One of Israel is great among you!”
  • Micah 3:11 (v7) Her leaders judge for bribes, and her priests teach for a price, and her prophets of it tell fortunes for money: yet they lean on Yahweh,…
  • John 1:14 (v7) The Word became flesh, and lived among us. We saw his glory, such glory as of the one and only Son of the Father, full of grace and truth.

Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)

Explain this passage (17 sources)

Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.

Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On v7 Or, tentation.

Or, tentation.

Or, strife.

Read full note →

When in adversity we think God to be absent, then we neglect his promise, and make him a liar.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.

John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv5–7 Exo 17:5 And the LORD said unto Moses, Go…
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv5–7 Take with thee of the elders of Israel, that…
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv5–7 And the Lord said unto Moses,.... Out of the…
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On v5 Go on before the people - Though they spake…
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv6–7 Verse 6. I will stand before thee there, upon…
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv5, 7 Exo 17:5-6. Go before the people — Though they…
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv6–7 The rock in Horeb - (a rock situated, according…
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv6–7 Before thee, ready to grant thy request at Horeb,…
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv5, 7 the Lord said unto Moses, &c.--not to smite the…
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv5–7 5. Thy rod — The rod which brought death…
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv5–7 5. the elders] to witness what takes place, and…
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv5, 7 (5) Go on before the people.—The people were probably…
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv5–7 Go on before the people. "Leave the people," i.e.…
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On v7 Is the Lord among us, or not?
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On v6 The rock, type of life through the Spirit by…
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v6 17:6 Mount Sinai: See study note on 3:1. •…
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