1 And all the assembly of the children of Israel journeyed from the wilderness of Sin, according to their journeys, at the command of Jehovah; and they encamped in Rephidim; and there was no water for the people to drink. 2 And the people contended with Moses, and said, Give us water, that we may drink! And Moses said to them, Why do ye dispute with me? Why do ye tempt Jehovah? 3 And the people thirsted there for water; and the people murmured against Moses, and said, Why is it that thou hast brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst? 4 And Moses cried to Jehovah, saying, What shall I do with this people? Yet a little, and they will stone me! 5 And Jehovah said to Moses, Go on before the people, and take with thee of the elders of Israel, and thy staff with which thou didst smite the river, take in thy hand, and go. 6 Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock on Horeb; and thou shalt strike the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink. And Moses did so before the eyes of the elders of Israel. 7 And he called the name of the place Massah, and Meribah, because of the contention of the children of Israel, and because they had tempted Jehovah, saying, Is Jehovah among us, or not? 8 And Amalek came and fought with Israel in Rephidim. 9 And Moses said to Joshua, Choose us men, and go out, fight with Amalek; to-morrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand. 10 And Joshua did as Moses had said to him, to fight with Amalek; and Moses, Aaron and Hur went up to the top of the hill. 11 And it came to pass when Moses raised his hand, that Israel prevailed; and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed. 12 And Moses' hands were heavy; then they took a stone, and put [it] under him, and he sat on it; and Aaron and Hur supported his hands, one on this side, and one on that side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun. 13 And Joshua broke the power of Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword. 14 And Jehovah said to Moses, Write this [for] a memorial in the book, and rehearse [it] in the ears of Joshua, that I will utterly blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under the heavens. 15 And Moses built an altar, and called the name of it Jehovah-nissi. 16 And he said, For the hand is on the throne of Jah; Jehovah will have war with Amalek from generation to generation!
Exodus 17 Darby Translation
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)