Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, “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 water. You shall bring water to them out of the rock; so you shall give the congregation and their livestock drink.”
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 them, “Hear now, you rebels! Shall we bring water out of this rock for you?” Moses lifted up his hand, and struck the rock with his rod twice, and water came out abundantly. The congregation and their livestock drank.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv8, 10 Wherewith thou diddest miracles in Egypt, and didst divide…
Wherewith thou diddest miracles in Egypt, and didst divide the sea.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv8–11 Num 20:8 Take the rod, and gather thou the…
Num 20:8 Take the rod, and gather thou the assembly together, thou, and Aaron thy brother, and speak ye unto the rock before their eyes; and it shall give forth his water, and thou shalt bring forth to them water out of the rock: so thou shalt give the congregation and their beasts drink.
Ver. 8. Take the rod.] God puts off their rebellion, and satisfies their thirst by a miracle.
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Speak unto the rock.] He is not bidden now to smite it; as once in Exo 17:6, which because he did unbidden, God was deeply displeased, as some are of opinion.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv8, 9, 11 The rod; that rod which was laid up before…
The rod; that rod which was laid up before the Lord in the tabernacle, as appears from Num 20:9. But whether it was Aaron’s rod, which was undoubtedly laid up there, Num 17:10, or Moses’s rod, by which he wrought so many miracles, it is not considerable; or whether it was not one and the same rod, which was commonly called Moses’s rod, as here, Num 20:11, and elsewhere, and sometimes Aaron’s rod, as Exo 7:12, which may seem most probable. For it is likely, though not related elsewhere in Scripture, that wonder-working rod, called the rod of God, Exo 4:20, was laid up in some part of the tabernacle, though not in or near the ark, where Aaron’s blossoming rod for a particular reason was put. Speak ye unto the rock, which will sooner hear and obey my commands than these sottish and stubborn people.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv7–11 And the Lord spake unto Moses,.... Out of what…
And the Lord spake unto Moses,.... Out of what was the token of his glory, which perhaps was the cloud, with an uncommon lustre and brightness in it: saying; as follows.
And the Lord spake unto Moses,.... Out of what was the token of his glory, which perhaps was the cloud, with an uncommon lustre and brightness in it: saying; as follows.
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Numbers 20:8
num 20:8
num 20:8
num 20:8Take thy rod,.... The rod of miracles, as the Targum of Jonathan; not the rod of Aaron, miraculous for its blossom and fruit, as some Jewish writers think; but the rod of Moses, with which he had done many wonders in Egypt, and at the Red sea, and in the wilderness, and particularly by smiting the rock at Horeb, when the Israelites wanted water, as they did now:
and gather thou the assembly together, thou, and Aaron thy brother; not only the heads of the people, but the body of them, as many as could be got together to see the miracle, and to receive the benefit of it:
and speak ye unto the rock before their eyes; which was near, but a little way off, within sight, and might be pointed to: it was not the same rock that was smote before; that was in Horeb, this in the extremity of the land of Edom, as Aben Ezra observes; this was to be spoken to, and by a word speaking it would give out water; which was a trial of the faith of Moses and Aaron, as well as of the people, before whom, in a public manner, the rock was to be addressed, as if it was intelligent and all-sufficient:
and it shall give forth his water; not as though there was a fountain of water in it, but that water should flow from it, or God by it give water:
and thou shalt bring forth to them water out of the rock; by speaking to it: so thou shalt give the congregation and their beasts drink; sufficient for them both.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv8–9 The rod - That which was laid up before…
The rod - That which was laid up before the Lord in the tabernacle; whether it was Aaron's rod, which was laid up there, chap. xvii, 10, or Moses's rod by which he wrought so many miracles. For it is likely, that wonder-working rod, was laid up in some part of the tabernacle, though not in or near the ark, where Aaron's blossoming rod was put.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On v8 Num 20:8-9. Take the rod — That which was…
Num 20:8-9. Take the rod — That which was laid up before the Lord in the tabernacle; whether it was Aaron’s rod, which was laid up there, (Num 17:10,) or Moses’s rod, by which he wrought so many miracles. For it is likely that wonder-working rod was laid up in some part of the tabernacle, though not in or near the ark, where Aaron’s blossoming rod was put. From before the Lord — Out of the tabernacle.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv8, 11 Take the rod - That with which the miracles…
Take the rod - That with which the miracles in Egypt had been performed (Exo 7:8 ff; Exo 7:19 ff; Exo 8:5 ff, etc.), and which had been used on a similar occasion at Rephidim (Exo 17:5 following). This rod, as the memorial of so many divine interpositions, was naturally laid up in the tabernacle, and is accordingly Num 20:9 described now as taken by Moses “from before the Lord.”
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv8, 10, 11 The rod, with which Moses had wrought so many…
The rod, with which Moses had wrought so many miracles, and which was placed in the tabernacle, ver. 9. It is called his rod, in the Hebrews v. 11. We do not find that the rod of Aaron, which budded, was used to work miracles. --- Thou. Septuagint, "you." Both Moses and Aaron concurred in the action, (ver. 12,) but Moses was the chief agent. (Calmet)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv8, 10, 11 Take the rod--which had been deposited in the tabernacle…
Take the rod--which had been deposited in the tabernacle (Num 17:10), the wonder-working rod by which so many miracles had been performed, sometimes called "the rod of God" (Exo 4:20), sometimes Moses' (Num 20:11) or Aaron's rod (Exo 7:12).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv8–11 8. Take the rod — The wonder-working staff with…
8. Take the rod — The wonder-working staff with which the miracles in Egypt were wrought. There is no doubt that the fabled thyrsus of Bacchus, and the caduceus of Mercury, the instrument of his mythic marvels, are distorted traditions of this rod of Moses.
Speak ye unto the rock — There is no command to strike. The only human action which is authorized is, that Moses take the rod, and, probably, stretch it out toward the rock, and that both the brothers speak to it. It is remarkable that the Hebrew for rock is sela, or cliff, and not tzur, as the rock at Rephidim is called. Exo_17:6. From this Stanley argues that Kadesh is ancient Petra, or Sela, the wonderful rock city, “the basin of which is known by the Arabs by no other name than the Valley of Moses.” — Sinai and Pal., p. 95.
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Before their eyes — These words indicate some conspicuous rock, such as Dr. Robinson sought for but did not find at Ain-el-Weibeh, which he supposes to be Kadesh.
Thou shalt bring forth… water — As the agent, and not the efficient cause. Did not the fault of Moses, in part, consist in forgetting this distinction?
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv8, 10 8. Take the staff] Moses here receives no directions…
8. Take the staff] Moses here receives no directions as to what he is to do with the staff: perhaps some clauses which originally contained them have been lost. ‘The staff’ is spoken of as a definite well-known object. In E Moses is represented as using a staff given him by God (Exo_4:17; Exo_4:20); but in P the staff is always Aaron’s (Exo_7:9; Exo_7:12; Exo_7:19-20 &c.). In Num_20:11 (below), according to the Heb. text, Moses struck the rock with ‘his rod’; but LXX. has ‘the rod.’ במטהו is probably a late scribal error for במטה.
the rock] There is at Kadesh (the modern ‘Ain-el-Ḳadîs) a ‘large single mass, or a small hill, of solid rock’ described by Trumbull (Kadesh-Barnea, 272–4), who established the identity of the place.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv8, 10 (8) Take the rod.—It has been supposed by some,…
(8) Take the rod.—It has been supposed by some, from the fact that the rod is represented as being taken “from before the Lord” (Num_20:9), that the reference is to the rod of Aaron which was kept “before the testimony” (Num_17:10). On the other hand, the natural presumption that the rod was the same as that with which some of the previous miracles in Egypt and those at the Red Sea and at Rephidim had been wrought is confirmed by the facts that the name of Aaron is not mentioned in this verse until after the mention of the rod, and that Moses is said, in Num_20:11, to have smitten the rock “with his rod.”
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv8, 10 Take the rod. The rabdov , or staff of…
Take the rod. The rabdov , or staff of office, with which Moses and Aaron had worked wonders before Pharaoh, (Exo_7:9 sq. ) and with which Moses had smitten the rock in Rephidim. (Exo_17:6) This rod had not been mentioned, nor perhaps used, since then; but we might certainly have supposed that the instrument of so many miracles would be reverently laid up in the tabernacle "before the Lord," and, this we find from the next verse to have been the case. Gather thou the assembly together, i.e., by their representatives. Speak ye unto the rock before their eyes. The word used for the rock in this narrative is lSh instead of rWXh, as in Ex 17. It does not seem that any certain distinction of meaning can be drawn between the words, which are obviously interchanged in Jud_1:6:20, 21, and are both translated petra by the Septuagint; but the careful use of different terms in the two narratives serves to distinguish them, just as the use of kofinouv and spuridav by St. Mark (Mar_6:43 8:8 19, 20) helps to distinguish the two miracles of feeding the multitude.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On v8 speak ye unto the rock before their eyes
speak ye unto the rock before their eyes
See Exo 17:5. (See Scofield "Exo 17:5").
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The rock (Christ) 1Co 10:4 once smitten, needs not to be smitten (crucified) again. Moses’ act exalted himself Num 20:10 and implied (in type) that the one sacrifice was ineffectual, thus denying the eternal efficacy of the blood; Heb 9:25; Heb 9:26; Heb 10:3; Heb 10:11; Heb 10:12. The abundant water (grace reaching the need of the people, despite the error of their leader) tells of refreshing and power through the Spirit.
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On v7 Water Out of the Rock. —
Water Out of the Rock. —
v. 7. And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
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v. 8. Take the rod, the same shepherd’s staff which had already figured so largely in various miracles, Exo 17:5, and gather thou the assembly together, thou and Aaron, thy brother, and speak ye unto the rock before their eyes, in an address which was equivalent to a command and must yield results; and it shall give forth his water, and thou shalt bring forth to them water out of the rock; so thou shalt give the congregation and their beasts drink. So the Lord chose to overlook the people’s sin of grumbling and to treat them with a kindness which they did not deserve.
v. 9. And Moses took the rod from before the Lord, for it had probably been deposited in the Sanctuary, as He commanded him.
v. 10. And Moses and Aaron gathered the congregation together before the rock, and he, Moses, said unto them, Hear now, ye rebels, must we fetch you water out of this rock? The thought seems to be implied: Your attitude is one of such perpetual nagging and grumbling that there is some doubt in my mind whether we really ought, and whether we shall be able, to provide you with water.
v. 11. And Moses lifted up his hand, and with his rod he smote the rock twice; and the water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank and their beasts also. So God proved Himself the patient and merciful Lord, and Jesus Christ, the spiritual Rock, who accompanied the host, made them a gift of the water.
v. 12. And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron, Because ye believed Me not, because they had not firmly, unconditionally, and confidently placed their humble trust in His word, to sanctify Me in the eyes of the children of Israel, to give evidence before the eyes of the children of Israel that He was the Holy One, therefore ye shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them. Neither of them would have this privilege, since by their fleshly zeal and disgust they had distorted and obscured before the eyes of the people the image of Jehovah Himself; neither of them would enter the Land of Promise. The occasional discontent which manifests itself in the lives of Christians, though usually a sin of weakness, is highly displeasing in the sight of the Lord, and often brings some evidence of His displeasure upon the offenders.
v. 13. This is the water of Meribah (strife), because the children of Israel strove with the Lord, in murmuring against His dispensations, and He was sanctified in them, both by exposing the unbelief of the people and by punishing the weakness of Moses and Aaron. Cf Psa 106:32-33. This incident is a warning, lest any one become secure. Even firm and tested Christians are not safe against temptation and falling, against disobedience, foolishness, doubt, unbelief. It is fortunate that the merciful God does not desert His children at such times, but renews faith in their hearts and keeps them safe unto the end.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv7, 10 before their eyes
before their eyes
Here the people are represented by their "eyes" to emphasize what they see. AT: "while they watch you" (See: Synecdoche)
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from before Yahweh
This represents Yahweh's tent. AT: "from Yahweh's tent" (See: Metonymy)
translationWords
Yahweh
Moses
staff
Aaron
cow
command
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv7, 8, 10 20:7-9 God heard Israel’s complaints, regarded them as legitimate,…
20:7-9 God heard Israel’s complaints, regarded them as legitimate, and commanded Moses to solve the problem.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.