Texts in Conversation
Exodus and Numbers both describe Moses bringing water from a rock during the wilderness journey. Although the places differ, the repetition connects the moments, and Numbers Rabbah explains this by describing the rock or well traveling with Israel.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Exodus 17:1
Hebrew Bible
4 Then Moses cried out to the Lord, “What will I do with this people?—a little more and they will stone me!” 5 The Lord said to Moses, “Go over before the people; take with you some of the elders of Israel and take in your hand your staff with which you struck the Nile and go. 6 I will be standing before you there on the rock in Horeb, and you will strike the rock, and water will come out of it so that the people may drink.” And Moses did so in plain view of the elders of Israel. 7 He called the name of the place Massah and Meribah, because of the contending of the Israelites and because of their testing the Lord, saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?”
Numbers 20:8
Hebrew Bible
6 So Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly to the entrance to the tent of meeting. They then threw themselves down with their faces to the ground, and the glory of the Lord appeared to them. 7 Then the Lord spoke to Moses: 8 “Take the staff and assemble the community, you and Aaron your brother, and then speak to the rock before their eyes. It will pour forth its water, and you will bring water out of the rock for them, and so you will give the community and their beasts water to drink.” 9 So Moses took the staff from before the Lord, just as he commanded him. 10 Then Moses and Aaron gathered the community together in front of the rock, and he said to them, “Listen, you rebels, must we bring water out of this rock for you?” 11 Then Moses raised his hand, and struck the rock twice with his staff. And water came out abundantly. So the community drank, and their beasts drank too.
Numbers 21:18
Hebrew Bible
16 And from there they traveled to Beer; that is the well where the Lord spoke to Moses, “Gather the people and I will give them water.” 17 Then Israel sang this song: “Spring up, O well, sing to it! 18 The well which the princes dug, which the leaders of the people opened with their scepters and their staffs.” And from the wilderness they traveled to Mattanah; 19 and from Mattanah to Nahaliel; and from Nahaliel to Bamoth; 20 and from Bamoth to the valley that is in the country of Moab, near the top of Pisgah, which overlooks the wastelands.
Numbers Rabbah 1:2
Aggadah
Rabbinic
The manna was due to the merit of Moses. Know that it is due to the merit of Moses; when Moses departed, “The manna ceased on the following day” (Joshua 5:12). The clouds of glory were due to the merit of Aaron. From where do we derive it? When Aaron departed, what is written: “The spirit of the people became restive on the way” (Numbers 21:4), as the sun was beating down on them. The well was due to the merit of Miriam. What is written? “Miriam died there and was buried there” (Numbers 20:1). What is written thereafter? “There was no water for the congregation” (Numbers 20:2). Of what was the well constituted? It was a boulder. It was like a beehive, and it would roll and come with them on their journeys. When the banners would encamp and the Tabernacle would stand, that boulder would come and settle in the courtyard of the Tent of Meeting. The princes would stand over it and say: “Rise, well” (Numbers 21:17).
Date: 1200 C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... In Exodus 17:1-7, the people of Israel are encamped at Rephidim but there is no water for them to drink. Because of their thirst, the people grumble against Moses, and Moses calls out to God. He is instructed to strike the rock at Horeb, whereupon water will flow from the rock. Having done this and received the water, Moses names the place Massah and Meribah. In Numbers 20:1-13, a related story is recorded. On this occasion, the people of Israel are at Kadesh, but once again they are without water. Moses is instructed to tell the rock to bring forth its water. He strikes the rock with his rod and water comes forth; in the scriptural text, it is announced that these are the waters of Meribah. That the waters from the rock at both Rephidim and Kadesh are called Meribah has apparently suggested that water from the same rock is present in both places ... The image of the well or water following Israel in the wilderness appears to stem from Numbers 21:16-18 and in Midrash Rabbah on Numbers 1:1 it is written ..."
Aageson, James W.
Paul's Use of Scripture: A Comparative Study of Biblical Interpretation in Early Palestinian Judaism and the New Testament With Special Reference to Romans 9-11
(pp. 264-265) Mansfield College, the University of Oxford, 1983
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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