Numbers 20:11(v20)Moses lifted up his hand, and struck the rock with his rod twice, and water came out abundantly. The congregation and their livestock drank.
Numbers 21:5(v19)The people spoke against God and against Moses: “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no bread,…
Numbers 11:4(vv18–19)The mixed multitude that was among them lusted exceedingly; and the children of Israel also wept again, and said, “Who will give us meat to…
Deuteronomy 6:16(v18)You shall not tempt Yahweh your God, as you tempted him in Massah.
Hebrews 3:18-19(v22)To whom did he swear that they wouldn’t enter into his rest, but to those who were disobedient? We see that they weren’t able to enter in…
Show all 52 cross-references
Genesis 7:11(v23)In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the…
Exodus 16:3(v19)and the children of Israel said to them, “We wish that we had died by Yahweh’s hand in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the meat pots,…
1 Corinthians 10:9(v18)Let’s not test Christ, as some of them tested, and perished by the serpents.
Jude 1:5(vv21–22)Now I desire to remind you, though you already know this, that the Lord, having saved a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward…
Exodus 16:8-10(v19)Moses said, “Now Yahweh will give you meat to eat in the evening, and in the morning bread to satisfy you, because Yahweh hears your…
Numbers 11:1-3(v21)The people were complaining in the ears of Yahweh. When Yahweh heard it, his anger burned; and Yahweh’s fire burned among them, and…
Numbers 11:21-23(v20)Moses said, “The people, among whom I am, are six hundred thousand men on foot; and you have said, ‘I will give them meat, that they may…
Deuteronomy 1:32(v22)Yet in this thing you didn’t believe Yahweh your God,
Psalms 23:5(v19)You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil. My cup runs over.
Isaiah 63:10(v17)But they rebelled and grieved his Holy Spirit. Therefore he turned and became their enemy, and he himself fought against them.
Malachi 3:10(v23)Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house, and test me now in this,” says Yahweh of Armies, “if I will…
1 Corinthians 10:11(v21)Now all these things happened to them by way of example, and they were written for our admonition, on whom the ends of the ages have come.
Hebrews 3:12(v22)Beware, brothers, lest perhaps there might be in any one of you an evil heart of unbelief, in falling away from the living God;
Hebrews 11:6(v22)Without faith it is impossible to be well pleasing to him, for he who comes to God must believe that he exists, and that he is a rewarder…
Genesis 18:12-14(v20)Sarah laughed within herself, saying, “After I have grown old will I have pleasure, my lord being old also?” Yahweh said to Abraham, “Why…
Numbers 11:13(v19)Where could I get meat to give all these people? For they weep before me, saying, ‘Give us meat, that we may eat.’
Numbers 20:3(v19)The people quarreled with Moses, and spoke, saying, “We wish that we had died when our brothers died before Yahweh!
Psalms 78:41(v20)They turned again and tempted God, and provoked the Holy One of Israel.
Psalms 106:14-15(v18)but gave in to craving in the desert, and tested God in the wasteland. He gave them their request, but sent leanness into their soul.
Psalms 106:24(v22)Yes, they despised the pleasant land. They didn’t believe his word,
Isaiah 7:9(v22)The head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is Remaliah’s son. If you will not believe, surely you shall not be established.’ ”
1 Corinthians 10:6(v18)Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted.
Hebrews 3:16-19(v17)For who, when they heard, rebelled? Wasn’t it all those who came out of Egypt led by Moses? With whom was he displeased forty years? Wasn’t…
1 John 5:10(v22)He who believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. He who doesn’t believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed…
Exodus 17:6-7(v20)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…
Numbers 11:18(v20)“Say to the people, ‘Sanctify yourselves in preparation for tomorrow, and you will eat meat; for you have wept in the ears of Yahweh,…
Deuteronomy 9:8(v17)Also in Horeb you provoked Yahweh to wrath, and Yahweh was angry with you to destroy you.
Deuteronomy 9:12-22(v17)Yahweh said to me, “Arise, get down quickly from here; for your people whom you have brought out of Egypt have corrupted themselves. They…
2 Kings 7:19(v23)and that captain answered the man of God, and said, “Now, behold, if Yahweh made windows in heaven, might such a thing be?” and he said,…
Job 34:37(v19)For he adds rebellion to his sin. He claps his hands among us, and multiplies his words against God.”
Psalms 33:9(v23)For he spoke, and it was done. He commanded, and it stood firm.
Psalms 95:8-10(v17)Don’t harden your heart, as at Meribah, as in the day of Massah in the wilderness, when your fathers tempted me, tested me, and saw my…
Psalms 95:9(v18)when your fathers tempted me, tested me, and saw my work.
Psalms 106:13-32(v17)They soon forgot his works. They didn’t wait for his counsel, but gave in to craving in the desert, and tested God in the wasteland. He…
James 4:2-3(v18)You lust, and don’t have. You murder and covet, and can’t obtain. You fight and make war. You don’t have, because you don’t ask. You ask,…
Exodus 16:2-3(v18)The whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron in the wilderness; and the children of Israel…
Numbers 11:10(v21)Moses heard the people weeping throughout their families, every man at the door of his tent; and Yahweh’s anger burned greatly; and Moses…
Deuteronomy 32:22(v21)For a fire is kindled in my anger, that burns to the lowest Sheol, devours the earth with its increase, and sets the foundations of the…
2 Kings 7:2(v23)Then the captain on whose hand the king leaned answered the man of God, and said, “Behold, if Yahweh made windows in heaven, could this…
2 Chronicles 32:19(v19)They spoke of the God of Jerusalem as of the gods of the peoples of the earth, which are the work of men’s hands.
Psalms 78:31(v21)when the anger of God went up against them, killed some of their fattest, and struck down the young men of Israel.
Psalms 78:32(v17)For all this they still sinned, and didn’t believe in his wondrous works.
Isaiah 5:6(v23)I will lay it a wasteland. It won’t be pruned or hoed, but it will grow briers and thorns. I will also command the clouds that they rain no…
Romans 9:20(v19)But indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God? Will the thing formed ask him who formed it, “Why did you make me like this?”
1 Corinthians 10:5(v21)However with most of them, God was not well pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness.
Revelation 13:6(v19)He opened his mouth for blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his dwelling, those who dwell in heaven.
52 distinct cross-references across this passage (54 total citations).
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (18 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
John Calvin1540 · Public DomainOn vv17, 18, 19, 21, 2317. Yet they continued still to sin against him.…
17. Yet they continued still to sin against him. The prophet, having briefly declared how God, by a continual succession of benefits, had clearly manifested the greatness of his love towards the children of Abraham, now adds, that after having been laid under such deep and solemn obligations to him, they, as was natural to them, and according to their customary way, wickedly rebelled against him. In the first place, he accuses them of having provoked him grievously, by pertinaciously adding iniquity to iniquity; and then he points out the particular kind of the provocation with which they were chargeable. By the word provoke, he intimates, that it was no light offense which they had committed, but wickedness so heinous and aggravated as not to be endured. From the place in which it was committed, he aggravates the enormity of the sin. It was in the very wilderness, whilst the remembrance of their deliverance was yet fresh in their memory, and where they had every day full in their view tokens of the presence of God, and where even necessity itself should have constrained them to yield a true and holy obedience — it was in that place, and under these circumstances, that they repressed not their insolence and unbridled appetite. It was then, certainly, a proof of monstrous infatuation for them to act in such a wanton and disgraceful manner as they did, at the very time when their want of all things should have proved the best remedy for keeping them under restraint, and to do this even in the presence of God, who presented before them such manifestations of his glory as filled them with terror, and who allured them so kindly and tenderly to himself.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators1599 · Public DomainOn vv17, 18, 19, 22, 23Their wicked malice could be overcome by no benefits,…
Their wicked malice could be overcome by no benefits, which were great and many.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp1656 · Public DomainOn vv17–23Psa 78:17 And they sinned yet more against him…
Psa 78:17 And they sinned yet more against him by provoking the most High in the wilderness.
Ver. 17. And they sinned yet more against him] The better he was to them the worse were they toward him, as if God had hired them to be wicked; and this was ordinary with them, and is still among us. Oh the Divine patience!
Read full note →
By provoking the most High in the wilderness] In terra arida ubi Deo indies indigebant, ibi peccabant, saith Aben Ezra here. This was another aggravation of their sin.
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 Poole1685 · Public DomainOn vv17, 18, 20, 21, 22, 23Where they had such strong and singular obligations to…
Where they had such strong and singular obligations to obedience, both from the great things which God had then and there done for them, and from their dependence upon God’s favour and help for their safety and subsistence. This was a great aggravation of their sin and folly.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill1763 · Public DomainOn vv17–23And they tempted God in their heart,.... Which is…
And they tempted God in their heart,.... Which is desperately wicked, and from whence all impiety flows; they entertained hard thoughts of God; they inwardly fretted at their present circumstances, and secretly repined and murmured against God, and wished for things they should not; not being contented with what they had, and thankful for them, as they ought to have been:
by asking meat for their lust; or, "for their soul"; such as their souls lusted after, and their sensitive appetites craved; for they were not satisfied with the bread they had, which was sufficient for their sustenance and support; they wanted food for pleasure and wantonness; to ask for daily bread is right, but to ask for more to consume on our lusts is wrong, Jam 4:3.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley1765 · Public DomainOn vv17, 18, 22, 23Wilderness - Where they had such singular obligations to…
Wilderness - Where they had such singular obligations to obedience. This was a great aggravation of their sins.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke1810 · Public DomainOn vv18, 22Verse 18. By asking meat for their lust.] לנפשם…
Verse 18. By asking meat for their lust.] לנפשם lenaphsham, "for their souls," i.e., for their lives; for they said in their hearts that the light bread, the manna, was not sufficient to sustain their natural force, and preserve their lives. It seems, however, from the expression, that they were wholly carnal; that they had no spirituality of mind; they were earthly, animal, and devilish.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson1811 · Public DomainOn vv17, 21, 23Psa 78:17-20. And they sinned yet more — Hebrew,…
Psa 78:17-20. And they sinned yet more — Hebrew, ויוסיפו עוד לחשׂאלו, They added yet to sin against him. All these miraculous works did not alter their depraved nature; but it broke out into new and greater provocations; in the wilderness — In that very place where they were under such strong and singular obligations to obedience, both for the great things which God had then and there done for them, and from their dependance upon his favour and help for their safety and subsistence; where, indeed, without his singular providence, they had all perished. This was certainly a great aggravation of their sin and folly. And they tempted God — Desired a new trial and proof of his power, as the next verse shows. See Num 11:4. By asking meat for their lust — Not for their necessary subsistence, for which they had in manna, but out of an inordinate and luxurious appetite. Yea, they spake against God, &c. — At last they openly declared and manifested that distrust of his power which was in their hearts, saying, Can God furnish a table? — Is he able to provide, not only bare support and sustenance, but variety of nourishing and pleasant food, here in this barren wilderness? Behold, he smote the rock, &c. — It is true he hath brought water out of a rock for us in abundance; but can he give bread also? — Not such light food as this manna is, but more substantial bread, here where no corn grows? Can he provide flesh for his people? — Can he make an ample provision for all this multitude of such flesh as this place does not afford? They should have said, Lord, if thou wilt thou canst. For is any thing too hard for Omnipotence? When once the ordinary powers of nature are exceeded, and God has made bare his arm, and put forth his almighty power, we must conclude nothing is impossible with him.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes1834 · Public DomainOn vv17–23And they sinned yet more against him - literally,…
And they sinned yet more against him - literally, “They added to sin against him.” The idea is, that his mercies, and the proofs of his presence were only made the occasion of greater sin on their part. This may have been in two ways;
(1) their sin was thus more aggravated, as being committed against greater light; and
Read full note →
(2) they evinced more and more their depravity, in proportion as he bestowed mercies on them - not an uncommon thing with people.
By provoking the Most High - literally, “embittering.” They rebelled against him. They refused to submit to him. They forgot his mercies. Compare Deu 9:22.
In the wilderness - literally, “in the dry place;” in the desert. In the very place where they were most manifestly dependent on him - where there were no natural streams of water - where their needs were met by a miraculous supply - even there did they provoke him, and rebel against him. If he had simply stopped that miraculous supply of water they must have perished. But sinners forget how dependent they are on God, when they sin against him. On what can they rely, if he withdraws from them, and leaves them to themselves?
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Daniel D. Whedon1874 · Public DomainOn vv18–2018. Tempted God— “They wished to put God to…
18. Tempted God— “They wished to put God to the proof, with a view to renounce him altogether, in case he should not give them what they wanted.”—Hengstenberg. And this was at their first permanent halting-place after leaving Sinai. So soon (after three days’ march, Num_10:33) were effaced the awful impressions at the giving of the law!
Asking meat for their lust—The complaint began with the “mixed multitude” which had followed them out of Egypt. Num_11:4. The manna sufficed for temperate and healthful desert life, but meat was demanded as a luxury. The history says “they lusted a lust,” that is, they lusted inordinately. Blind appetite, in man or brute, is unreasoning, impatient, and rebellious.
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 Colleges1878 · Public DomainOn vv17–2317. Yet went they on still to sin against…
17. Yet went they on still to sin against him,
Rebelling against the Most High in the land of drought.
Read full note →
Both the occasions referred to in Psa_78:15-16 were connected with murmuring. The names of Massah and Meribah preserved the memory of Israel’s sin in tempting God and striving with Him. And to these sins they added other sins. Note how the words ‘rebel’ and ‘tempt’ recur like a refrain at the beginning of each division of the Psalm (Psa_78:17-18; Psalms 40, 41; Psalms 56). Cp. Psa_95:9; Psa_106:7; Psa_106:14; Psa_106:33; Psa_106:43; Exo_17:2; Exo_17:7; Num_14:22; Num_20:10; Num_20:24; Deu_1:26; Deu_1:43; Deu_6:16; Deu_9:23; Deu_33:8; &c. The two words sum up Israel’s behaviour: they rebelled against God by constant disobedience to His revealed Will; they tempted Him, by sceptical doubts of His goodness, and insolent demands that He should prove His power.
17–31. In spite of these miracles of mercy they sinned yet more, and tempted God in their unbelief, so that while He supplied their wants He was compelled to punish them for their sin. The order is logical not chronological. The first murmurings for food (Exodus 16) preceded the giving of the water: and the narratives of Exodus 16 and Numbers 11 are fused into one.
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 Readers1878 · Public DomainOn vv17, 19, 21(17) They sinned yet more and more.—This implies the…
(17) They sinned yet more and more.—This implies the discontent which had already shown itself before the miraculous supply of water.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary1880 · Public DomainOn vv17, 18, 19, 21, 22, 23And they sinned yet more against him by provoking…
And they sinned yet more against him by provoking the Most High in the wilderness. The two provocations of a demand for bread (Exo_16:3) and a demand for flesh (Num_11:4) are joined together in the present passage, as the two occasions of giving water are in vers. 15, 16. Only the second of these two provocations was subsequent to the (first) giving of water; but the psalmist does not allow himself to be bound by considerations of strict chronological accuracy. He is a poet, and not an historian; though at present he is treating of history.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Charles H. Spurgeon1885 · Public DomainOn vv17–23Ver. 17. And they sinned yet more against him.…
Ver. 17. And they sinned yet more against him. Outdoing their former sins, going into greater deeps of evil: the more they had the more loudly they clamoured for more, and murmured because they had not every luxury that pampered appetites could desire. It was bad enough to mistrust their God for necessaries, but to revolt against him in a greedy rage for superfluities was far worse. Ever is it the nature of the disease of sin to proceed from bad to worse; men never weary of sinning, but rather increase their speed in the race of iniquity. In the case before us the goodness of God was abused into a reason for greater sin. Had not the Lord been so good they would not have been so bad. If he had wrought fewer miracles before, they would not have been so inexcusable in their unbelief, so wanton in their idolatry.
By provoking the most High in the wilderness. Although they were in a position of obvious dependence upon God for everything, being in a desert where the soil could yield them no support, yet they were graceless enough to provoke their benefactor. At one time they provoked his jealousy by their hankering after false gods, anon they excited his wrath by their challenges of his power, their slanders against his love, their rebellions against his will. He was all bounty of love, and they all superfluity of naughtiness. They were favoured above all nations, and yet none were more ill favoured. For them the heavens dropped manna, and they returned murmurs; the rocks gave them rivers, and they replied with floods of wickedness. Herein, as in a mirror, we see ourselves. Israel in the wilderness acted out, as in a drama, all the story of man's conduct towards his God.
Read full note →
Ver. 17. And they sinned yet more against him. He does not say that they sinned only, but that they sinned against God.
And they sinned yet more against him, namely, God. Against what God? Against him who had delivered them by great and unheard of wonders out of Egypt, who had led them as free men across the Red Sea with a dry foot, who had continued to lead and to protect them will pillars of cloud and fire by day and night, and had given them to drink abundantly of water drawn from the arid rock. Against this God they had added sin to sin. Simply to sin is human, and happens to the saints even after they have received grace: but to sin against God argues a singular degree of impiety. To sin against God is to injure and dishonour him in things immediately pertaining to himself. So they sinned against God, because after so many distinguished proofs and testimonies of his care made manifest to them, they continued to think and speak evil against him. All sins indeed, of whatever class they may be, are done against God, because they are opposed to his will; but those which are committed peculiarly against God, are certainly greater than others. Such are those wrought against his name, goodness, providence, power, truth, and worship, and against those things which specially concern him, whatever they may be. So we read of the sins of the sons of Eli, 1Sa 2:24-25: "It is no good report that I hear: ye make the Lord's people to transgress. If one man sin against another, the judge shall judge him; but if a man sin against the Lord, who shall intreat for him?" Musculus.
Ver. 17. They sinned yet more. Their sin was not murmuring only, sinful as that is, but uncontrolled desire. And for what was that desire? It was for meat. They had grown so weary of the bread of heaven which God so mercifully provided; and they wanted something in addition--something, too, which was not absolutely necessary to their existence. When they murmured for water at Massah, they murmured for something needful. Their sin then was in murmuring, instead of praying. But here they lusted for something unnecessary, and this was an aggravation of their sin. And thus the psalmist, evidently comparing this sin with the murmuring at Massah, says, "They sinned yet more against him." George Wagner, in "The Wanderings of the Children of Israel."
Ver. 17. Sin in its progress feeds upon divine mercies to aid its advance, as also every other surrounding circumstance.
Ver. 17-21.
I. They tempted God's patience; Ps 78:17.
II. They tempted God's wisdom; Ps 78:18.
III. They tempted God's power; Ps 78:19-20.
IV. They tempted God's wrath; Ps 78:21. E. G. Gange, of Bristol.
Psalms 78:18*
Ver. 17-21.
I. They tempted God's patience; Ps 78:17.
II. They tempted God's wisdom; Ps 78:18.
III. They tempted God's power; Ps 78:19-20.
IV. They tempted God's wrath; Ps 78:21. E. G. Gange, of Bristol.
Ver. 17-21.
I. They tempted God's patience; Ps 78:17.
II. They tempted God's wisdom; Ps 78:18.
III. They tempted God's power; Ps 78:19-20.
IV. They tempted God's wrath; Ps 78:21. E. G. Gange, of Bristol.
Ver. 17-21.
I. They tempted God's patience; Ps 78:17.
II. They tempted God's wisdom; Ps 78:18.
III. They tempted God's power; Ps 78:19-20.
IV. They tempted God's wrath; Ps 78:21. E. G. Gange, of Bristol.
Ver. 17-21.
I. They tempted God's patience; Ps 78:17.
II. They tempted God's wisdom; Ps 78:18.
III. They tempted God's power; Ps 78:19-20.
IV. They tempted God's wrath; Ps 78:21. E. G. Gange, of Bristol.
Charles H. Spurgeon's The Treasury of David (1869–1885) — public domain. Psalms only. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
The Biblical Illustrator1887 · Public DomainOn vv17–21And they sinned yet more against Him by provoking…
Psa_78:17
And they sinned yet more against Him by provoking the Most High in the wilderness.
Read full note →
Sin multiplying with mercies
The more copiously the showers of mercies fell upon the Jew in the wilderness, the more abounding his sins.
I. This is a lamentably common character. Seeds of sin innumerable are imbedded in every depraved heart; and the sunbeams and showers of mercy often develop them into harvests, whose ripened grains fall down into the soul to be multiplied again, etc.
II. This is a monstrously unnatural character. The eternal design and the essential tendency of Divine goodness are to quicken all intelligent spirits into gratitude and virtue, to waken them into hallelujahs. The goodness of God should lead to repentance. Man is somehow denaturalized, dehumanized; he pursues a course hostile to the constitution of things.
III. This is a tremendously guilty character. It is treasuring up wrath against the day of wrath. (Homilist.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield1917 · Public DomainOn v22(See Scofield "Psa 2:12")
trusted
(See Scofield "Psa 2:12")
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0On vv17, 19, 21, 23They challenged God
They challenged God
They wanted God to prove that he could do what he said he would do before they would believe him.
John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv17, 18, 19, 21, 23 17. Yet they continued still to sin against him.…
17. Yet they continued still to sin against him. The prophet, having briefly declared how God, by a continual succession of benefits, had clearly manifested the greatness of his love towards the children of Abraham, now adds, that after having been laid under such deep and solemn obligations to him, they, as was natural to them, and according to their customary way, wickedly rebelled against him. In the first place, he accuses them of having provoked him grievously, by pertinaciously adding iniquity to iniquity; and then he points out the particular kind of the provocation with which they were chargeable. By the word provoke, he intimates, that it was no light offense which they had committed, but wickedness so heinous and aggravated as not to be endured. From the place in which it was committed, he aggravates the enormity of the sin. It was in the very wilderness, whilst the remembrance of their deliverance was yet fresh in their memory, and where they had every day full in their view tokens of the presence of God, and where even necessity itself should have constrained them to yield a true and holy obedience — it was in that place, and under these circumstances, that they repressed not their insolence and unbridled appetite. It was then, certainly, a proof of monstrous infatuation for them to act in such a wanton and disgraceful manner as they did, at the very time when their want of all things should have proved the best remedy for keeping them under restraint, and to do this even in the presence of God, who presented before them such manifestations of his glory as filled them with terror, and who allured them so kindly and tenderly to himself.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv17, 18, 19, 22, 23 Their wicked malice could be overcome by no benefits,…
Their wicked malice could be overcome by no benefits, which were great and many.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv17–23 Psa 78:17 And they sinned yet more against him…
Psa 78:17 And they sinned yet more against him by provoking the most High in the wilderness.
Ver. 17. And they sinned yet more against him] The better he was to them the worse were they toward him, as if God had hired them to be wicked; and this was ordinary with them, and is still among us. Oh the Divine patience!
Read full note →
By provoking the most High in the wilderness] In terra arida ubi Deo indies indigebant, ibi peccabant, saith Aben Ezra here. This was another aggravation of their sin.
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 vv17, 18, 20, 21, 22, 23 Where they had such strong and singular obligations to…
Where they had such strong and singular obligations to obedience, both from the great things which God had then and there done for them, and from their dependence upon God’s favour and help for their safety and subsistence. This was a great aggravation of their sin and folly.
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 vv17–23 And they tempted God in their heart,.... Which is…
And they tempted God in their heart,.... Which is desperately wicked, and from whence all impiety flows; they entertained hard thoughts of God; they inwardly fretted at their present circumstances, and secretly repined and murmured against God, and wished for things they should not; not being contented with what they had, and thankful for them, as they ought to have been:
by asking meat for their lust; or, "for their soul"; such as their souls lusted after, and their sensitive appetites craved; for they were not satisfied with the bread they had, which was sufficient for their sustenance and support; they wanted food for pleasure and wantonness; to ask for daily bread is right, but to ask for more to consume on our lusts is wrong, Jam 4:3.
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 vv17, 18, 22, 23 Wilderness - Where they had such singular obligations to…
Wilderness - Where they had such singular obligations to obedience. This was a great aggravation of their sins.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv18, 22 Verse 18. By asking meat for their lust.] לנפשם…
Verse 18. By asking meat for their lust.] לנפשם lenaphsham, "for their souls," i.e., for their lives; for they said in their hearts that the light bread, the manna, was not sufficient to sustain their natural force, and preserve their lives. It seems, however, from the expression, that they were wholly carnal; that they had no spirituality of mind; they were earthly, animal, and devilish.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv17, 21, 23 Psa 78:17-20. And they sinned yet more — Hebrew,…
Psa 78:17-20. And they sinned yet more — Hebrew, ויוסיפו עוד לחשׂאלו, They added yet to sin against him. All these miraculous works did not alter their depraved nature; but it broke out into new and greater provocations; in the wilderness — In that very place where they were under such strong and singular obligations to obedience, both for the great things which God had then and there done for them, and from their dependance upon his favour and help for their safety and subsistence; where, indeed, without his singular providence, they had all perished. This was certainly a great aggravation of their sin and folly. And they tempted God — Desired a new trial and proof of his power, as the next verse shows. See Num 11:4. By asking meat for their lust — Not for their necessary subsistence, for which they had in manna, but out of an inordinate and luxurious appetite. Yea, they spake against God, &c. — At last they openly declared and manifested that distrust of his power which was in their hearts, saying, Can God furnish a table? — Is he able to provide, not only bare support and sustenance, but variety of nourishing and pleasant food, here in this barren wilderness? Behold, he smote the rock, &c. — It is true he hath brought water out of a rock for us in abundance; but can he give bread also? — Not such light food as this manna is, but more substantial bread, here where no corn grows? Can he provide flesh for his people? — Can he make an ample provision for all this multitude of such flesh as this place does not afford? They should have said, Lord, if thou wilt thou canst. For is any thing too hard for Omnipotence? When once the ordinary powers of nature are exceeded, and God has made bare his arm, and put forth his almighty power, we must conclude nothing is impossible with him.
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 vv17–23 And they sinned yet more against him - literally,…
And they sinned yet more against him - literally, “They added to sin against him.” The idea is, that his mercies, and the proofs of his presence were only made the occasion of greater sin on their part. This may have been in two ways;
(1) their sin was thus more aggravated, as being committed against greater light; and
Read full note →
(2) they evinced more and more their depravity, in proportion as he bestowed mercies on them - not an uncommon thing with people.
By provoking the Most High - literally, “embittering.” They rebelled against him. They refused to submit to him. They forgot his mercies. Compare Deu 9:22.
In the wilderness - literally, “in the dry place;” in the desert. In the very place where they were most manifestly dependent on him - where there were no natural streams of water - where their needs were met by a miraculous supply - even there did they provoke him, and rebel against him. If he had simply stopped that miraculous supply of water they must have perished. But sinners forget how dependent they are on God, when they sin against him. On what can they rely, if he withdraws from them, and leaves them to themselves?
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv18–20 18. Tempted God— “They wished to put God to…
18. Tempted God— “They wished to put God to the proof, with a view to renounce him altogether, in case he should not give them what they wanted.”—Hengstenberg. And this was at their first permanent halting-place after leaving Sinai. So soon (after three days’ march, Num_10:33) were effaced the awful impressions at the giving of the law!
Asking meat for their lust—The complaint began with the “mixed multitude” which had followed them out of Egypt. Num_11:4. The manna sufficed for temperate and healthful desert life, but meat was demanded as a luxury. The history says “they lusted a lust,” that is, they lusted inordinately. Blind appetite, in man or brute, is unreasoning, impatient, and rebellious.
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 vv17–23 17. Yet went they on still to sin against…
17. Yet went they on still to sin against him,
Rebelling against the Most High in the land of drought.
Read full note →
Both the occasions referred to in Psa_78:15-16 were connected with murmuring. The names of Massah and Meribah preserved the memory of Israel’s sin in tempting God and striving with Him. And to these sins they added other sins. Note how the words ‘rebel’ and ‘tempt’ recur like a refrain at the beginning of each division of the Psalm (Psa_78:17-18; Psalms 40, 41; Psalms 56). Cp. Psa_95:9; Psa_106:7; Psa_106:14; Psa_106:33; Psa_106:43; Exo_17:2; Exo_17:7; Num_14:22; Num_20:10; Num_20:24; Deu_1:26; Deu_1:43; Deu_6:16; Deu_9:23; Deu_33:8; &c. The two words sum up Israel’s behaviour: they rebelled against God by constant disobedience to His revealed Will; they tempted Him, by sceptical doubts of His goodness, and insolent demands that He should prove His power.
17–31. In spite of these miracles of mercy they sinned yet more, and tempted God in their unbelief, so that while He supplied their wants He was compelled to punish them for their sin. The order is logical not chronological. The first murmurings for food (Exodus 16) preceded the giving of the water: and the narratives of Exodus 16 and Numbers 11 are fused into one.
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 vv17, 19, 21 (17) They sinned yet more and more.—This implies the…
(17) They sinned yet more and more.—This implies the discontent which had already shown itself before the miraculous supply of water.
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 vv17, 18, 19, 21, 22, 23 And they sinned yet more against him by provoking…
And they sinned yet more against him by provoking the Most High in the wilderness. The two provocations of a demand for bread (Exo_16:3) and a demand for flesh (Num_11:4) are joined together in the present passage, as the two occasions of giving water are in vers. 15, 16. Only the second of these two provocations was subsequent to the (first) giving of water; but the psalmist does not allow himself to be bound by considerations of strict chronological accuracy. He is a poet, and not an historian; though at present he is treating of history.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Charles H. Spurgeon 1885 · Public Domain On vv17–23 Ver. 17. And they sinned yet more against him.…
Ver. 17. And they sinned yet more against him. Outdoing their former sins, going into greater deeps of evil: the more they had the more loudly they clamoured for more, and murmured because they had not every luxury that pampered appetites could desire. It was bad enough to mistrust their God for necessaries, but to revolt against him in a greedy rage for superfluities was far worse. Ever is it the nature of the disease of sin to proceed from bad to worse; men never weary of sinning, but rather increase their speed in the race of iniquity. In the case before us the goodness of God was abused into a reason for greater sin. Had not the Lord been so good they would not have been so bad. If he had wrought fewer miracles before, they would not have been so inexcusable in their unbelief, so wanton in their idolatry.
By provoking the most High in the wilderness. Although they were in a position of obvious dependence upon God for everything, being in a desert where the soil could yield them no support, yet they were graceless enough to provoke their benefactor. At one time they provoked his jealousy by their hankering after false gods, anon they excited his wrath by their challenges of his power, their slanders against his love, their rebellions against his will. He was all bounty of love, and they all superfluity of naughtiness. They were favoured above all nations, and yet none were more ill favoured. For them the heavens dropped manna, and they returned murmurs; the rocks gave them rivers, and they replied with floods of wickedness. Herein, as in a mirror, we see ourselves. Israel in the wilderness acted out, as in a drama, all the story of man's conduct towards his God.
Read full note →
Ver. 17. And they sinned yet more against him. He does not say that they sinned only, but that they sinned against God.
And they sinned yet more against him, namely, God. Against what God? Against him who had delivered them by great and unheard of wonders out of Egypt, who had led them as free men across the Red Sea with a dry foot, who had continued to lead and to protect them will pillars of cloud and fire by day and night, and had given them to drink abundantly of water drawn from the arid rock. Against this God they had added sin to sin. Simply to sin is human, and happens to the saints even after they have received grace: but to sin against God argues a singular degree of impiety. To sin against God is to injure and dishonour him in things immediately pertaining to himself. So they sinned against God, because after so many distinguished proofs and testimonies of his care made manifest to them, they continued to think and speak evil against him. All sins indeed, of whatever class they may be, are done against God, because they are opposed to his will; but those which are committed peculiarly against God, are certainly greater than others. Such are those wrought against his name, goodness, providence, power, truth, and worship, and against those things which specially concern him, whatever they may be. So we read of the sins of the sons of Eli, 1Sa 2:24-25: "It is no good report that I hear: ye make the Lord's people to transgress. If one man sin against another, the judge shall judge him; but if a man sin against the Lord, who shall intreat for him?" Musculus.
Ver. 17. They sinned yet more. Their sin was not murmuring only, sinful as that is, but uncontrolled desire. And for what was that desire? It was for meat. They had grown so weary of the bread of heaven which God so mercifully provided; and they wanted something in addition--something, too, which was not absolutely necessary to their existence. When they murmured for water at Massah, they murmured for something needful. Their sin then was in murmuring, instead of praying. But here they lusted for something unnecessary, and this was an aggravation of their sin. And thus the psalmist, evidently comparing this sin with the murmuring at Massah, says, "They sinned yet more against him." George Wagner, in "The Wanderings of the Children of Israel."
Ver. 17. Sin in its progress feeds upon divine mercies to aid its advance, as also every other surrounding circumstance.
Ver. 17-21.
I. They tempted God's patience; Ps 78:17.
II. They tempted God's wisdom; Ps 78:18.
III. They tempted God's power; Ps 78:19-20.
IV. They tempted God's wrath; Ps 78:21. E. G. Gange, of Bristol.
Psalms 78:18*
Ver. 17-21.
I. They tempted God's patience; Ps 78:17.
II. They tempted God's wisdom; Ps 78:18.
III. They tempted God's power; Ps 78:19-20.
IV. They tempted God's wrath; Ps 78:21. E. G. Gange, of Bristol.
Ver. 17-21.
I. They tempted God's patience; Ps 78:17.
II. They tempted God's wisdom; Ps 78:18.
III. They tempted God's power; Ps 78:19-20.
IV. They tempted God's wrath; Ps 78:21. E. G. Gange, of Bristol.
Ver. 17-21.
I. They tempted God's patience; Ps 78:17.
II. They tempted God's wisdom; Ps 78:18.
III. They tempted God's power; Ps 78:19-20.
IV. They tempted God's wrath; Ps 78:21. E. G. Gange, of Bristol.
Ver. 17-21.
I. They tempted God's patience; Ps 78:17.
II. They tempted God's wisdom; Ps 78:18.
III. They tempted God's power; Ps 78:19-20.
IV. They tempted God's wrath; Ps 78:21. E. G. Gange, of Bristol.
Charles H. Spurgeon's The Treasury of David (1869–1885) — public domain. Psalms only. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv17–21 And they sinned yet more against Him by provoking…
Psa_78:17
And they sinned yet more against Him by provoking the Most High in the wilderness.
Read full note →
Sin multiplying with mercies
The more copiously the showers of mercies fell upon the Jew in the wilderness, the more abounding his sins.
I. This is a lamentably common character. Seeds of sin innumerable are imbedded in every depraved heart; and the sunbeams and showers of mercy often develop them into harvests, whose ripened grains fall down into the soul to be multiplied again, etc.
II. This is a monstrously unnatural character. The eternal design and the essential tendency of Divine goodness are to quicken all intelligent spirits into gratitude and virtue, to waken them into hallelujahs. The goodness of God should lead to repentance. Man is somehow denaturalized, dehumanized; he pursues a course hostile to the constitution of things.
III. This is a tremendously guilty character. It is treasuring up wrath against the day of wrath. (Homilist.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On v22 (See Scofield "Psa 2:12")
trusted
(See Scofield "Psa 2:12")
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv17, 19, 21, 23 They challenged God
They challenged God
They wanted God to prove that he could do what he said he would do before they would believe him.
Read full note →
in their hearts
"with their whole hearts"
to satisfy their appetites
"so they could eat as much as they desired"
translationWords
sin
rebel
Most High
heart
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 vv17, 23 78:17-31 Israel rebelled in the wilderness despite God’s abundant…
78:17-31 Israel rebelled in the wilderness despite God’s abundant provision.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.