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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 Onkelos Exodus 17:6

Hebrew Bible · Targum

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Summary

Exodus 17 describes God standing near the rock at Horeb when Moses strikes it, which could be interpreted as God having a body. The Aramaic translation in Targum Onkelos unusually preserves this image, as it usually changes physical descriptions of God.

Passages

Exodus 17:6

Hebrew Bible
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

Onkelos Exodus 17:6

Targum
5 And the Lord said to Moses, Go on ahead of the people, and take some of the elders of Israel with you, and take in your hand your staff with which you struck the river, and go. 6 I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it, so that the people may drink. And Moses did so before the eyes of the elders of Israel. 7 And he named the place Massah and Meribah, because the sons of Israel quarreled, and because they put Him to the test before the Lord, saying, Is the Shekinah of the Lord among us or not?
50–500 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Onkelos Exodus

References

"... Onkelos retains this glaring anthropomorphism. As we have pointed out, the targumist is not always consistent in this regard. However, Saadiah renders it as 'I shall place a sign before you there' ..."
Israel Drazin and Stanley M. Wagner, Onkelos on the Torah, Exodus: Understanding the Bible Text (Jerusalem: Gefen, 2006), 104.

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 Onkelos Exodus 17:6

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