Exodus 17:4

Verse

Then Moses cried out to the LORD, “What should I do with these people? A little more and they will stone me!”

American Standard Version (1901)

And Moses cried unto Jehovah, saying, What shall I do unto this people? they are almost ready to stone me.

And Moses, crying out to the Lord, said, What am I to do to this people? they are almost ready to put me to death by stoning.

Douay-Rheims 1899

And Moses cried to the Lord, saying: What shall I do to this people? Yet a little more and they will stone me.

Free Bible Version

Moses cried out to the Lord, “What am I going to do with these people? A bit more of this and they're going to stone me!”

Geneva Bible 1599

And Moses cried to the Lord, saying, What shall I do to this people? for they be almost ready to stone me.

King James (Authorized) Version

And Moses cried unto the LORD, saying, What shall I do unto this people? they be almost ready to stone me.

One Unity Resource Bible

Moses [Drawn out] cried to Adonai , saying, “What shall I do with these people? They are almost ready to stone me.”

Translation for Translators

So Moses/I prayed earnestly to Yahweh. He/I said, “◄How shall I deal with these people?/I do not know how to deal with these people!► [RHQ] They are almost ready to kill me by throwing stones at me!”

Unlocked Literal Bible

Then Moses cried out to Yahweh, “What should I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me.”

Noah Webster Bible

And Moses cried to the LORD, saying, What shall I do to this people? they are almost ready to stone me.

World English Bible

Moses cried to Yahweh, saying, “What shall I do with these people? They are almost ready to stone me.”

Young's Literal Translation

And Moses crieth to Jehovah, saying, 'What do I to this people? yet a little, and they have stoned me.'

Context

Water from the Rock

³But the people thirsted for water there, and they grumbled against Moses: “Why have you brought us out of Egypt—to make us and our children and livestock die of thirst?”⁴Then Moses cried out to the LORD, “What should I do with these people? A little more and they will stone me!”

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Summary

In this verse, the Israelites are questioning Moses' leadership and grumbling against him due to their lack of water in the wilderness. Their complaint reveals a lack of faith and a tendency to forget how God had already provided for them in the past. This situation serves as a test of their trust in God's provision and Moses' role as their leader. It highlights the importance of relying on God's faithfulness and guidance, even in challenging circumstances.

Commentary

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
John Gill

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

Moses cried unto the Lord, saying, What shall I do unto this people?--His language, instead of betraying any signs of resentment or vindictive imprecation on a people who had given him a cruel and unmerited treatment, was the expression of an anxious wish to know what was the best to be done in the circumstances (compare Mat 5:44; Rom 12:21).

John Gill Bible Commentary

And Moses cried unto the Lord..... Or prayed unto him, as the Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan; which shows the distress he was thrown into, the vehemence of his prayer, and perhaps the loud and lamentable tone in which he expressed it: this was the method he always took, and the refuge he fled unto in all his times of trouble; in which he did well, and set a good example of piety and devotion to God, of faith and trust in him: saying: what shall I do unto this people? or, "for this people" (h); to relieve them in their present exigency; suggesting his own inability to do any thing for them: yet not despairing of relief, but rather expressing faith in the power and goodness of God to keep them, by his application to him; desiring that he would open a way for their help, and direct him what he must do in this case for them: something, he intimates, must be done speedily for the glory of God, for his own safety, and to prevent the people sinning yet more and more, and so bring destruction upon them; for, adds he: they be almost ready to stone me or, "yet a little, and they will stone me" (i); if the time of help is protracted, if relief is not in a short time given, he had reason to believe from the menaces they had given out, the impatience they had showed, the rage they were in, they would certainly take up stones and stone him, being in a stony and rocky place; and this they would do, not as a formal punishment of him as a false prophet, telling them they should be brought to Canaan, when they were brought into the wilderness and perishing there; which law respecting such an one was not yet in being; but this he supposed as what an enraged multitude was wont to do, and which was more ready at hand for them to do than anything else, see Exo 8:26. (h) "populo haic", V. L. Pagninus, Montanus, &c. (i) "adhuc paululum et lapidabit me." V. L. "parum abest", Tigurine version; "adhuc modicum", Pagninus, Montanus; "adhuc paulisper", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator; so Ainsworth.