Exodus 17

Israel is thirsty at Rephidim and complains against Moses and the LORD. God answers with water from the rock at Horeb. Then Amalek attacks, and Israel wins while Moses’ hands are held up. The chapter shows God providing for his people even when they doubt him, and fighting for them.

Exodus 17:1

Israel travels by the LORD’s command, so the dry camp at Rephidim is no accident. God leads his people into a place of need. That does not mean he has left them. It is where he will show himself as their provider.

BSA: commanded (“gave orders, instructed”): The journey was under God’s direction, so even the waterless stop was part of his leading.

Exodus 17:2

The people demand water and blame Moses. Moses sees that their quarrel is really with God. To test the LORD is to put him in the dock, demanding proof that he is good and faithful, after all he has already done.

BSA: contended (“strove”): The word carries the sense of a legal dispute, as if Israel were taking Moses and God to court. test (“tempt”): Testing God means pushing him to prove himself rather than trusting what he has already shown.

See also: Deuteronomy 6:16.

Exodus 17:3

Thirst turns into grumbling, and the grumbling twists the past. Israel accuses Moses of leading them out of Egypt to die, forgetting the slavery they were rescued from. Real need, met with distrust, easily becomes bitter complaint.

BSA: grumbled (“complained and murmured in discontent”): This is a low, persistent muttering that spreads through a crowd, not a single cry for help.

Exodus 17:4

Moses does not argue back. He cries out to the LORD, and he is honest about his fear: the people are close to stoning him. Bringing the crisis to God, rather than to the crowd, is the right move.

BSA: cried out (“with distress, in need”): This is a cry of real anguish, and God welcomes it.

Exodus 17:5

God does not scold Moses. He gives clear directions: go ahead of the people, take witnesses from the elders, and bring the staff. That staff had struck the Nile, so it reminds everyone of God’s power already shown in Egypt.

BSA: elders (“old, elderly, respected leaders”): These respected leaders would see the miracle and could vouch for it to the whole people.

Exodus 17:6

The LORD promises to be standing at the rock before Moses even strikes it. The water comes because God is present, not because of Moses’ skill. Christians have long seen in this rock a picture of Christ, who gives living water to the thirsty.

BSA: stand (“be present, take my place”): God himself takes his place at the rock, so the supply comes from his presence.

See also: 1 Corinthians 10:4; John 7:37-38.

Exodus 17:7

Moses gives the place two names that record Israel’s failure. Massah means testing and Meribah means quarreling. Their question, whether the LORD was among them or not, was foolish, since he had just led them by cloud and fed them with bread.

BSA: tested (“tried, proved”): Israel tried to prove God, when it was God who had been proving himself to them.

Hebrew: מַסָּה (massah, H4532) — “testing, trial.” The name keeps the memory alive. Later Scripture warns believers not to harden their hearts as Israel did at Meribah and Massah.

See also: Psalm 95:7-9.

Exodus 17:8

No sooner has Israel been given water than an enemy attacks. Amalek, a desert people descended from Esau, strikes the weary people at Rephidim. Later Scripture remembers this as a cruel attack on the weak and tired.

See also: Deuteronomy 25:17-18.

Exodus 17:9

Moses appoints Joshua, here named for the first time, to lead the fighting. Moses himself will stand on the hill holding the staff of God. The staff is a sign that the victory depends on God’s power, not on Israel’s weapons.

BSA: staff (“rod, walking stick”): It is an ordinary shepherd’s staff, made a sign of God’s power by his word.

Exodus 17:10

Two things happen at once. Joshua fights in the valley, and Moses, with Aaron and Hur, goes up the hill. The battle needs both the work of the soldiers below and the lifted hands above.

BSA: Hur (“a chief assistant to Moses”): Hur is a trusted helper who stands beside Moses and Aaron at the key moment.

Exodus 17:11

The battle swings with the position of Moses’ hands. When they are raised, Israel gains the upper hand, and when they drop, Amalek does. The lifted hands show where Israel’s help comes from, and many readers see in them a picture of prayer.

BSA: hands (“in prayer, lifted to God”): The raised hands point to dependence on God, a posture of prayer and appeal.

Hebrew: גָּבַר (gavar, H1396) — “to be strong, to prevail.” The same word is used for both sides in turn. It shows the strength shifting back and forth, and it came from God, not from the fighters.

See also: 1 Timothy 2:8.

Exodus 17:12

Even Moses grows tired. His friends bring a stone to sit on and hold up his arms, one on each side, until sunset. Nobody carries the work alone here. God’s people bear each other up in the long fight.

BSA: steady (“faithful, firm”): The hands stayed firm and faithful through the whole day, held up by friends.

Hebrew: אֱמוּנָה (emunah, H530) — “steadiness, firmness, faithfulness.” The word usually means faithfulness. Here it describes hands that stay firm, so the picture is of faith that holds on until evening.

See also: Galatians 6:2.

Exodus 17:13

Joshua defeats Amalek and his army with the sword. The text gives the credit to the whole scene: the soldiers fought, the leader prayed, and his helpers held him up. The victory belongs to God.

BSA: overwhelmed (“discomfited, weakened”): Amalek was worn down and broken in the field, not simply killed in a single stroke.

Exodus 17:14

God tells Moses to write the event down and to repeat it to Joshua, who will lead after him. God also promises that Amalek’s memory will be wiped out. This enemy had attacked God’s people without fear of God, and the promise is that such opposition will not last.

BSA: blot out (“erase, wipe away”): The picture is of wiping a writing surface clean, so that nothing is left to remember. reminder (“a memorial, a remembrance”): Writing it down keeps the lesson for later generations.

See also: Deuteronomy 25:19; 1 Samuel 15:2-3.

Exodus 17:15

Moses builds an altar to mark the victory and names it The LORD Is My Banner. A banner was a rallying signal in battle. Moses is saying that God, not an army, is the one under whom his people gather and win.

BSA: Banner (“of victory”): The banner stands for God’s victory, and Israel’s safety is found under it.

Hebrew: נִסִּי (nissi, H5251) — “my banner, my standard.” A nes was a pole raised high so people could see it and rally. Moses says God himself is that rallying point.

Exodus 17:16

Moses’ words are hard to translate exactly, but the sense is clear: a hand was raised toward the LORD’s throne, and the LORD will fight against Amalek across the generations. God takes up the cause of his people, and his opposition to those who attack them is lasting.

BSA: throne (“seat of honor and authority”): Moses points to the LORD’s royal rule, which stands over every enemy.