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Exodus

About this book
Chapter 17

1 The whole community of the Israelites traveled on their journey from the wilderness of Sin according to the Lord’s instruction, and they pitched camp in Rephidim. Now there was no water for the people to drink. 2 So the people contended with Moses, and they said, “Give us water to drink!”⁠ Moses said to them, “Why do you contend with me? Why do you test the Lord?” 3 But the people were very thirsty there for water, and they murmured against Moses and said, “Why in the world did you bring us up from Egypt—to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst?” 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?”⁠ 8 Amalek came and attacked Israel in Rephidim. 9 So Moses said to Joshua, “Choose some of our men and go out, fight against Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand.” 10 So Joshua fought against Amalek just as Moses had instructed him, and Moses and Aaron and Hur went up to the top of the hill. 11 Whenever Moses would raise his hands, then Israel prevailed,⁠ but whenever he would rest his hands, then Amalek prevailed. 12 When the hands of Moses became heavy, they took a stone and put it under him, and Aaron and Hur held up his hands, one on one side and one on the other, and so his hands were steady until the sun went down. 13 So Joshua destroyed Amalek and his army with the sword. 14 The Lord said to Moses, “Write this as a memorial in the book, and rehearse it in Joshua’s hearing; for I will surely blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven.”⁠ 15 Moses built an altar, and he called it “The Lord is my Banner,” 16 for he said, “For a hand was lifted up to the throne of the Lord—that⁠ the Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.”

Texts in conversation

Compare Exodus 17:6 and Numbers 20:8 and Numbers 21:18 and Numbers Rabbah 1:2

Hebrew Bible · Rabbinic

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Summary

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.

Passages

Exodus 17:6

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?”
750–400 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Exodus

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.
750–400 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Numbers

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.
750–400 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Numbers

Numbers Rabbah 1:2

Rabbinic · Aggadah
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).
1200 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Numbers Rabbah

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 ..."
James W. Aageson, “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” (PhD diss., Mansfield College, the University of Oxford, 1983), 264–265.
"... According to the plain sense of the biblical text, the poem begins in Numbers 21:17 and ends with the words “with their staffs” in verse 18. The words “from the wilderness (they went on to) Mattanah” to the end of the passage (verses 18–20) are a prose list of stations on Israel’s journey. The rabbinic sages, however, unanimously interpreted the list as referring to the wandering of the well, as it accompanied the camp of Israel: “The well that was with Israel in the wilderness was similar to a rock ... ascending with them to the mountains and descending with them to the valleys.” ..."
Menahem Kister, “Allegorical Interpretations of Biblical Narratives in Rabbinic Literature, Philo, and Origen: Some Case Studies,” in New Approaches to the Study of Biblical Interpretation in Judaism of the Second Temple Period and in Early Christianity: Proceedings of the Eleventh International Symposium of the Orion Center for the Study of the Dead Sea Scrolls and Associated Literature, Jointly Sponsored by the Hebrew University Center for the Study of Christianity, 9–11 January, 2007, ed. Gary A. Anderson, Ruth A. Clements, and David Satran (Leiden: Brill, 2013), 133–183.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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Exodus 17:6 and Numbers 20:8 and Numbers 21:18 and Numbers Rabbah 1:2

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