1 All the congregation of the children of Israel travelled from the wilderness of Sin, starting according to the LORD’s commandment, and encamped in Rephidim; but there was no water for the people to drink. 2 Therefore the people quarrelled with Moses, and said, “Give us water to drink.” Moses said to them, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the LORD?” 3 The people were thirsty for water there; so the people murmured against Moses, and said, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us, our children, and our livestock with thirst?” 4 Moses cried to the LORD, saying, “What shall I do with these people? They are almost ready to stone me.” 5 The LORD said to Moses, “Walk on before the people, and take the elders of Israel with you, and take the rod in your hand with which you struck the Nile, and go. 6 Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock in Horeb. You shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it, that the people may drink.” Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel. 7 He called the name of the place Massah, and Meribah, because the children of Israel quarrelled, and because they tested the LORD, saying, “Is the LORD amongst us, or not?” 8 Then Amalek came and fought with Israel in Rephidim. 9 Moses said to Joshua, “Choose men for us, and go out to fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with God’s rod in my hand.” 10 So Joshua did as Moses had told him, and fought with Amalek; and Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. 11 When Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed. When he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed. 12 But Moses’ hands were heavy; so they took a stone, and put it under him, and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held up his hands, the one on the one side, and the other on the other side. His hands were steady until sunset. 13 Joshua defeated Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword. 14 The LORD said to Moses, “Write this for a memorial in a book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua: that I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under the sky.” 15 Moses built an altar, and called its name “The LORD our Banner”. 16 He said, “The LORD has sworn: ‘The LORD will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.’”
Exodus · World English Bible British Edition (with Deuterocanon)
Exodus 17 World English Bible British Edition (with Deuterocanon)
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
Notes on this text (1)
- "World English Bible" is a trademark of eBible.org; the text is shown unaltered.
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)