1 Then the whole congregation of Israel left the Desert of Sin, moving from place to place as the LORD commanded. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. 2 So the people contended with Moses, “Give us water to drink.” “Why do you contend with me?” Moses replied. “Why do you test the LORD?” 3 But 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?” 4 Then Moses cried out to the LORD, “What should I do with these people? A little more and they will stone me!” 5 And the LORD said to Moses, “Walk on ahead of the people and take some of the elders of Israel with you. Take along in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. 6 Behold, I will stand there before you by the rock at Horeb. And when you strike the rock, water will come out of it for the people to drink.” So Moses did this in the sight of the elders of Israel. 7 He named the place Massah and Meribah because the Israelites quarreled, and because they tested the LORD, saying, “Is the LORD among us or not?” 8 After this, the Amalekites came and attacked the Israelites at Rephidim. 9 So Moses said to Joshua, “Choose some of our men and go out to fight the Amalekites. Tomorrow I will stand on the hilltop with the staff of God in my hand.” 10 Joshua did as Moses had instructed him and fought against the Amalekites, while Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. 11 As long as Moses held up his hands, Israel prevailed; but when he lowered them, Amalek prevailed. 12 When Moses’ hands grew heavy, they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it. Then Aaron and Hur held his hands up, one on each side, so that his hands remained steady until the sun went down. 13 So Joshua overwhelmed Amalek and his army with the sword. 14 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Write this on a scroll as a reminder and recite it to Joshua, because I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven.” 15 And Moses built an altar and named it The LORD Is My Banner. 16 “Indeed,” he said, “a hand was lifted up toward the throne of the LORD. The LORD will war against Amalek from generation to generation.”
Exodus · Berean Standard Bible
Exodus 17 Berean Standard Bible
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
People & places in this chapter
From this site's family tree and Bible maps, only where those guides cite this chapter.
People
Aaron
Moses' brother and spokesman, Israel's first high priest.
Cited in the guide: Exodus 4–40; Leviticus 8–10
Hur
The man who with Aaron held up Moses' hands during the battle with Amalek at Rephidim, and who was left with Aaron to settle disputes while Moses went up the mountain. Exodus 31:2…
Cited in the guide: Exodus 17:10; Exodus 17:12; Exodus 24:14
Joshua
The Ephraimite son of Nun, originally named Hoshea, who led Israel against Amalek at Rephidim, served as Moses' attendant, was one of the two faithful spies, and was commissioned…
Cited in the guide: Exodus 17:9; Exodus 33:11; Numbers 13:16
Moses
Drawn from the Nile, he led Israel out of Egypt and received God's Law.
Cited in the guide: Exodus 2–Deuteronomy 34
Cross references (16)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.
- 1 Exodus 16:1; Exodus 19:2; Exodus 17:8; Numbers 33:12–14
- 2 Psalm 78:18; Deuteronomy 6:16; 1 Corinthians 10:9; Psalm 78:41; Isaiah 7:12
- 3 Exodus 16:2–3; Exodus 15:24
- 4 1 Samuel 30:6; Numbers 14:10; John 8:59; John 10:31; Acts 14:19
- 5 Exodus 7:19–20; Numbers 20:8–11; Ezekiel 2:6; Acts 20:23–24
- 6 1 Corinthians 10:4; Nehemiah 9:15; Numbers 20:9–11; Psalm 105:41; Deuteronomy 8:15
- 7 Psalm 81:7; Numbers 20:13; Psalm 95:8; Deuteronomy 9:22; Exodus 17:2
- 8 Deuteronomy 25:17–19; Genesis 36:12; Numbers 24:20; 1 Samuel 15:2; 1 Samuel 30:1
- 9 Deuteronomy 32:44; Exodus 24:13; Exodus 4:20; Exodus 4:2; Hebrews 4:8
- 10 Exodus 24:14; Exodus 31:2; Exodus 17:12; Joshua 11:15; Matthew 28:20
- 11 1 Timothy 2:8; James 5:16; Psalm 56:9; Luke 18:1
- 12 Isaiah 35:3; Philippians 1:19; Hebrews 12:12; Ephesians 6:18; 2 Corinthians 1:11
- 13 Joshua 10:42; Joshua 11:12; Joshua 10:32; Joshua 10:37; Joshua 10:28
- 14 Exodus 34:27; 1 Samuel 30:1; 1 Samuel 30:17; Numbers 24:20; 2 Samuel 8:12
- 15 Genesis 22:14; Judges 6:24; Psalm 60:4; Genesis 33:20
- 16 Psalm 21:8–11; Isaiah 66:1; Acts 7:49
Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences
What the Fathers said
Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).
How these were chosen
“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).
… shall have knowledge to cry, Father or mother, He shall receive the power of Damascus, and the spoils of Samaria, against the king of the Assyrians;" declaring, in a mysterious manner indeed, but emphatically, that the Lord did fight with a hidden hand against Amalek. For this cause, too, He suddenly removed those children belonging to the house of David, …
… who else save Moses smote the Egyptians with so many and mighty plagues, as when He led the people through the parted waters of the sea, when he obtained manna for them from heaven in their hunger, and water from the rock in their thirst? Who else save Joshua the son of Nun divided the stream of the Jordan for …
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 7 (1888)