1.
And all the congregation of the children of Israel journeyed from the wilderness of Sin, after their journeys, according to the commandment of the LORD, and pitched in Rephidim: and there was no water for the people to drink.
children = sons.
Sin . Hebrew Bush.
commandment . Hebrew "mouth". Figure of speech Metonymy (of Cause). App-6 . Mouth put for what is spoken by it. the LORD. Hebrew. Jehovah. App-4 . Rephidim = reclining places. Two stations omitted here. Compare 17. Numbers 33:12-14 .
2.
Wherefore the people did chide with Moses, and said, Give us water that we may drink. And Moses said unto them, Why chide ye with me? wherefore do ye tempt the LORD?
chide . Murmuring was good policy. They would not "dig" (as at Beer and Elim) = to "beg "they were not ashamed. "Give us water. "See note on Exodus 15:24 .
Why chide . . . ? Figure of speech Erotesis. App-6 .
wherefore . Some codices, with Samaritan Pentateuch, The Targum of Jonathan ben Uzziel, Sept, and Syriac, read "And why".
tempt = put to the proof. Hebrew from nasah, to smell, hence, to try. Figure of speech Anthropopatheia. App-6 .
3.
And the people thirsted there for water; and the people murmured against Moses, and said, Wherefore is this that thou hast brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst?
us . Hebrew. he. Figure of speech Heterosis (of' Number). App-6 .
4.
And Moses cried unto the LORD, saying, What shall I do unto this people? they be almost ready to stone me.
they be almost ready . Hebrew "yet a little and they will". Moses, David, Jeremiah, Stephen, Paul, and the Lord Jesus suffered from stoning or its threatening
5.
And the LORD said unto Moses, Go on before the people, and take with thee of the elders of Israel; and thy rod, wherewith thou smotest the river, take in thine hand, and go.
the LORD (Hebrew. Jehovah. said . See note on Exodus 3:7 , and compare note on Exodus 6:10 .
6.
Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb; and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel.
Behold . Figure of speech Asterismos. App-6 .
I will stand . Figure of speech Anthropopatheia. App-6 .
rock : a type of Christ. Frequently referred to (Deuteronomy 32:4 , Deuteronomy 32:15 , Deuteronomy 32:18 , Deuteronomy 32:31 , Deuteronomy 32:37 ; 1 Samuel 2:2 .Psalms 18:2; Psalms 18:2 ). Rock of life (Deuteronomy 32:18 ): Salvation (2 Samuel 22:47 , &c.): Refuge (Psalms 27:5 ; Psalms 62:6 , Psalms 62:7 ): Rest and refreshment (Isaiah 32:2 ).
Horeb . Compare Exodus 3:1 .
smite . Smitten only once. Compare Isaiah 53:4 .Zechariah 13:7 . Jehovah on the Rock = God in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:19 ). No water till smitten (Psalms 78:20 . John 7:38 , John 7:39 ; John 12:24 ). water. Water from the rock. Fire out of the rock (Judges 6:21 ). Honey from the rock (Psalms 81:16 ). Oil from the rock (Deuteronomy 32:13 ).
7.
And he called the name of the place Massah, and Meribah, because of the chiding of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the LORD, saying, Is the LORD among us, or not?
Massah = Temptation. Tempting of God. Meribah = Strife. Striving with Moses.
tempted. Figure of speech Anthropopatheia. App-6 . (i.e. tempting Jehovah to cut them off).
8.
Then came Amalek, and fought with Israel in Rephidim.
Then came Amalek. See on Genesis 21:25 and Judges 5:11 . Amalek came to fight for the water. Compare Deuteronomy 25:17 , Deuteronomy 25:18 . Amalek came behind and attacked the rear, and he "feared not God", Deuteronomy 25:8 .
Amalek , Figure of speech Synecdoche (of Part), App-6 , put for Amalekites. At Rephidim, they got water plus Amalek; at Meribah, water plus Edom.
9.
And Moses said unto Joshua, Choose us out men, and go out, fight with Amalek: to morrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in mine hand.
Joshua . First occurance. (250 times in all). Hebrew. Jehoshua. Now fifty-three years of age. Hence a bondman in Egypt. Twenty-seven years younger than Moses. See App-50 .
men . Hebrew, plural of 'ish or 'enesh. App-14 .
fight . There was a large population in the peninsula at this time. A wilderness, a place of pasture, not a desert.
God . Hebrew. Elohim. App-4 .
10.
So Joshua did as Moses had said to him, and fought with Amalek: and Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill.
as = according as.
Moses (prophet), Aaron (priest), Hur (royal tribe, Judah).
Hur . Hebrew noble or well-born. The son of Caleb, the son of Hezron, the son of Pharez, the son of Judah (1 Chronicles 2:3 , 1 Chronicles 2:4 , 1 Chronicles 2:5 , 1 Chronicles 2:18 , 1 Chronicles 2:19 ). Josephus makes him the husband of Miriam and grandfather of Bezaleel (Exodus 31:2 ; Exodus 35:30 ; Exodus 38:22 ).
11.
And it came to pass, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed: and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed.
when = according as.
hand . Samaritan Pentateuch and Septuagint read "hands". Compare Exodus 17:12 .
12.
But Moses' hands were heavy; and they took a stone, and put it under him, and he sat thereon; and Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands, the one on the one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun.
heavy = weary.
13.
And Joshua discomfited Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.
edge . Hebrew mouth. Figure of speech Prosopopoeia. App-6 . sword in the Plain: Rod of God on the mount (Exodus 17:9 ): Jehovah above all (Exodus 17:6 ).
14.
And the LORD said unto Moses, Write this for a memorial in a book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua: for I will utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven.
the LORD (Hebrew. Jehovah. said. See notes on Exodus 3:7 and Exodus 6:10 .
Write . First occurrence. The tablets found at Lachish and Tel-el-Amarna show that writing of a high order was fully developed before the time of Moses.
in a book . Hebrew "in the book" (bassepher). This writing afterward ordered for "the Book of the Law" (Exodus 24:4 , Exodus 24:7 ). See App-47 , where the history of that Book is traced from this passage to Malachi.
put out = blot out. Compare Deuteronomy 25:19 . Numbers 24:20 .
15.
And Moses built an altar, and called the name of it Jehovah-nissi:
Jehovah-nissi = " Jehovah [is] my banner. "One of the Jehovah titles. App-4 .
16.
For he said, Because the LORD hath sworn that the LORD will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.
LORD = Jah. See App-4 .
hath sworn . The margins of Authorized Version and Revised Version show the perplexity caused by the Ellipsis . of the verb. "Surely the hand [lifted up] upon the banner of Jah [is to swear]: for the war of Jehovah against Amalek is to be from generation to generation". So it was. It was carried on by Ehud (Judges 3:13-15 ), Barak (Judges 5:14 ), Gideon (Judges 6:3 ; Judges 7:12-14 ), Saul (1 Samuel 15:2-9 , Compare Exodus 17:11 ), Samuel (1 Samuel 15:32 , 1 Samuel 15:33 ), David (1 Samuel 27:8 ; 1 Samuel 30:1 , 1 Samuel 30:17 ; 2 Samuel 8:12 ), Simeonites (1 Chronicles 4:42 , 1 Chronicles 4:43 ), and Mordecai (Esther 3:1-6 ; Esther 9:7-10 ).