Exodus 15:25
New International Version
Then Moses cried out to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a piece of wood. He threw it into the water, and the water became fit to drink. There the LORD issued a ruling and instruction for them and put them to the test.

New Living Translation
So Moses cried out to the LORD for help, and the LORD showed him a piece of wood. Moses threw it into the water, and this made the water good to drink. It was there at Marah that the LORD set before them the following decree as a standard to test their faithfulness to him.

English Standard Version
And he cried to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a log, and he threw it into the water, and the water became sweet. There the LORD made for them a statute and a rule, and there he tested them,

Berean Standard Bible
And Moses cried out to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a log. And when he cast it into the waters, they were sweetened. There the LORD made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there He tested them,

King James Bible
And he cried unto the LORD; and the LORD shewed him a tree, which when he had cast into the waters, the waters were made sweet: there he made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there he proved them,

New King James Version
So he cried out to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a tree. When he cast it into the waters, the waters were made sweet. There He made a statute and an ordinance for them, and there He tested them,

New American Standard Bible
Then he cried out to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a tree; and he threw it into the waters, and the waters became sweet. There He made for them a statute and regulation, and there He tested them.

NASB 1995
Then he cried out to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a tree; and he threw it into the waters, and the waters became sweet. There He made for them a statute and regulation, and there He tested them.

NASB 1977
Then he cried out to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a tree; and he threw it into the waters, and the waters became sweet. There He made for them a statute and regulation, and there He tested them.

Legacy Standard Bible
Then he cried out to Yahweh, and Yahweh showed him a tree; and he threw it into the waters, and the waters became sweet. There He set for them a statute and a judgment, and there He tested them.

Amplified Bible
Then he cried to the LORD [for help], and the LORD showed him a tree, [a branch of] which he threw into the waters, and the waters became sweet. There the LORD made a statute and an ordinance for them, and there He tested them,

Christian Standard Bible
So he cried out to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a tree. When he threw it into the water, the water became drinkable. The LORD made a statute and ordinance for them at Marah, and he tested them there.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
So he cried out to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a tree. When he threw it into the water, the water became drinkable. He made a statute and ordinance for them at Marah and He tested them there.

American Standard Version
An he cried unto Jehovah; and Jehovah showed him a tree, and he cast it into the waters, and the waters were made sweet. There he made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there he proved them;

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
And Moshe prayed before LORD JEHOVAH, and LORD JEHOVAH showed him wood and he cast it into the water and the waters became sweet there. He taught him the Law and judgment and there he tested him,

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And Moses cried to the Lord, and the Lord shewed him a tree, and he cast it into the water, and the water was sweetened: there he established to him ordinances and judgments, and there he proved him,

Contemporary English Version
Moses asked the LORD for help, and the LORD told him to throw a certain piece of wood into the water. Moses did so, and the water became fit to drink. At Marah the LORD tested his people and also gave them some laws and teachings.

Douay-Rheims Bible
But he cried to the Lord, and he shewed him a tree, which when he had cast into the waters, they were turned into sweetness. There he appointed him ordinances, and judgments, and there he proved him,

English Revised Version
And he cried unto the LORD; and the LORD shewed him a tree, and he cast it into the waters, and the waters were made sweet. There he made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there he proved them;

GOD'S WORD® Translation
Moses cried out to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a piece of wood. He threw it into the water, and the water became sweet. There the LORD set down laws and rules for them to live by, and there he tested them.

Good News Translation
Moses prayed earnestly to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a piece of wood, which he threw into the water; and the water became fit to drink. There the LORD gave them laws to live by, and there he also tested them.

International Standard Version
Moses cried out to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a tree, which he threw into the water, and the water became sweet. There the LORD presented to them a statute and an ordinance, and there he tested them.

JPS Tanakh 1917
And he cried unto the LORD; and the LORD showed him a tree, and he cast it into the waters, and the waters were made sweet. There He made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there He proved them;

Literal Standard Version
And he cries to YHWH, and YHWH shows him a tree, and he casts [it] into the waters, and the waters become sweet. He has made a statute for them there, and an ordinance, and He has tried them there,

Majority Standard Bible
And Moses cried out to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a log. And when he cast it into the waters, they were sweetened. There the LORD made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there He tested them,

New American Bible
he cried out to the LORD, who pointed out to him a piece of wood. When he threw it into the water, the water became fresh. It was here that God, in making statutes and ordinances for them, put them to the test.

NET Bible
He cried out to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a tree. When Moses threw it into the water, the water became safe to drink. There the Lord made for them a binding ordinance, and there he tested them.

New Revised Standard Version
He cried out to the LORD; and the LORD showed him a piece of wood; he threw it into the water, and the water became sweet. There the LORD made for them a statute and an ordinance and there he put them to the test.

New Heart English Bible
Then he cried to the LORD. The LORD showed him a tree, and he threw it into the waters, and the waters were made sweet. There he made a statute and an ordinance for them, and there he tested them;

Webster's Bible Translation
And he cried to the LORD; and the LORD showed him a tree, which he cast into the waters, and the waters were made sweet: there he made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there he proved them,

World English Bible
Then he cried to Yahweh. Yahweh showed him a tree, and he threw it into the waters, and the waters were made sweet. There he made a statute and an ordinance for them, and there he tested them.

Young's Literal Translation
and he crieth unto Jehovah, and Jehovah sheweth him a tree, and he casteth unto the waters, and the waters become sweet. There He hath made for them a statute, and an ordinance, and there He hath tried them,

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
The Waters of Marah
24So the people grumbled against Moses, saying, “What are we to drink?” 25And Moses cried out to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a log. And when he cast it into the waters, they were sweetened. There the LORD made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there He tested them, 26saying, “If you will listen carefully to the voice of the LORD your God, and do what is right in His eyes, and pay attention to His commands, and keep all His statutes, then I will not bring on you any of the diseases I inflicted on the Egyptians. For I am the LORD who heals you.”…

Cross References
Exodus 14:10
As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up and saw the Egyptians marching after them, and they were terrified and cried out to the LORD.

Exodus 16:4
Then the LORD said to Moses, "Behold, I will rain down bread from heaven for you. Each day the people are to go out and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test whether or not they will follow My instructions.

Exodus 20:20
"Do not be afraid," Moses replied. "For God has come to test you, so that the fear of Him may be before you, to keep you from sinning."

Deuteronomy 8:2
Remember that these forty years the LORD your God led you all the way in the wilderness, so that He might humble you and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep His commandments.

Deuteronomy 8:16
He fed you in the wilderness with manna that your fathers had not known, in order to humble you and test you, so that in the end He might cause you to prosper.

Joshua 24:25
On that day Joshua made a covenant for the people, and there at Shechem he established for them a statute and ordinance.

Judges 2:22
In this way I will test whether Israel will keep the way of the LORD by walking in it as their fathers did."


Treasury of Scripture

And he cried to the LORD; and the LORD showed him a tree, which when he had cast into the waters, the waters were made sweet: there he made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there he proved them,

cried

Exodus 14:10
And when Pharaoh drew nigh, the children of Israel lifted up their eyes, and, behold, the Egyptians marched after them; and they were sore afraid: and the children of Israel cried out unto the LORD.

Exodus 17:4
And Moses cried unto the LORD, saying, What shall I do unto this people? they be almost ready to stone me.

Psalm 50:15
And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.

a tree

2 Kings 2:21
And he went forth unto the spring of the waters, and cast the salt in there, and said, Thus saith the LORD, I have healed these waters; there shall not be from thence any more death or barren land.

2 Kings 4:41
But he said, Then bring meal. And he cast it into the pot; and he said, Pour out for the people, that they may eat. And there was no harm in the pot.

1 Corinthians 1:18
For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.

a statute

Joshua 24:21-25
And the people said unto Joshua, Nay; but we will serve the LORD…

proved

Exodus 16:4
Then said the LORD unto Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law, or no.

Deuteronomy 8:2,16
And thou shalt remember all the way which the LORD thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no…

Deuteronomy 13:3
Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the LORD your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.

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Exodus 15
1. The song of Moses, Miriam, and Israel on their deliverance
22. The people want water in the desert
23. The waters at Marah are bitter,
24. they murmur,
25. Moses prays, and sweetens the waters by God's direction
27. They encamp at Elim, where are twelve wells, and seventy palm trees














(25) The Lord shewed him a tree.--There are trees which have the power of sweetening bitter water; but none of them is at present found in the Sinaitic peninsula, and the Arabs are not now acquainted with any means of rendering the bitter waters of Howarah and the neighbouring springs palatable. Perhaps in ancient times there were forms of vegetable life in the peninsula which do not now exist there. Moses would scarcely have been "shown a tree" unless the tree had some virtue of its own; but, on the other hand, the tree alone is scarcely to be credited with the entire effect. As in so many other instances, God seems to have made use of nature, as far as nature could go, and then to have superadded His own omnipotent energy in order to produce the required effect. (Compare our blessed Lord's method in working His miracles.)

He made for them a statute and an ordinance.- God took advantage of the occasion to draw a lesson from it. He promised that, as He had healed the waters, so, if the Israelites would henceforth faithfully keep His commandments, He would "heal" them (Exodus 15:26), keeping them free from all the diseases of Egypt, and from the far greater evil involved in their own corrupted nature and infirmity.

Verses 25, 26. - The Lord shewed him a tree. - Several trees or plants belonging to different parts of the world, are said to possess the quality of rendering bitter water sweet and agreeable; as the nellimaram of Coromandel, the sassafras of Florida, the yerva Caniani of Peru, and the perru nelli (Phylanthus emblica) of India. But none of them is found in the Sinaitic. peninsula. Burckhardt suggested (Travels in Syria. p. 474) that the berries of the ghurkud (Peganum retusum), a low thorny shrub which grows abundantly round the Ain Howarah, may have been used by Moses to sweeten the drink; but there are three objections to this.

1. Moses is not said to have used the berries, but the entire plant;

2. The berries would not have been procurable in April, since they do not ripen till June; and

3. They would not have produced any such effect on the water as Burckhardt imagined. In fact there is no tree or shrub now growing in the Sinaitic peninsula, which would have any sensible effect on such water as that of Ain Howarah; and the Bedouins of the neighbourhood know of no means by which it can be made drinkable. Many of the Fathers believed that the "tree" had no natural effect, and was commanded to be thrown in merely to symbolise the purifying power of the Cross of Christ. But to moderns such a view appears to savour of mysticism. It is perhaps most probable that there was some tree or shrub in the vicinity of the bitter fountain in Moses' time which had a natural purifying and sweetening power, but that it has now become extinct. If this be the case, the miracle consisted in God's pointing out the tree to Moses, who had no previous knowledge of it. The waters were made sweet. Compare the miracle of Elisha (2 Kings 2:19-22). There he made for them a statute and an ordinance. See the next verse. God, it appears, after healing the water, and satisfying the physical thirst of his people, gave them an ordinance, which he connected by a promise with the miracle. If they would henceforth render strict obedience to all his commandments, then he would "heal" them as he had healed the water, would keep them free at once from physical and from moral evil, from the diseases of Egypt, and the diseases of their own hearts. And there he proved them. From the moment of their quitting Egypt to that of their entering Canaan, God was ever "proving" his people - trying them, that is - exercising their faith, and patience and obedience and power of self-denial, in order to fit them for the position which they were to occupy in Canaan. He had proved them at the Red Sea, when he let them be shut in between the water and the host of the Egyptians - he proved them now at Marah by a bitter disappointment - he proved them again at Meribah (Exodus 17:1-7); at Sinai (Exodus 20:20); at Taberah (Numbers 11:1-3); at Kibroth-hattaavah (ib, verse 34); at Kadesh (ib, 13:26-33), and elsewhere. For forty years he led them through the wilderness" to prove them, to know what was in their heart" (Deuteronomy 8.), to fit them for their glorious and conquering career in the land of promise All these diseases. See Deuteronomy 7:15; Deuteronomy 28:27. Kalisch correctly observes that, though the Egyptians had the character in antiquity of being among the healthiest and most robust of nations (Herod. 2:77), yet a certain small number of diseases have always raged among them with extreme severity He understands the present passage of the plagues, which, however, are certainly nowhere else called "diseases." There is no reason why the word should not be taken literally, as all take it in the passages of Deuteronomy above cited.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
And [Moses] cried out
וַיִּצְעַ֣ק (way·yiṣ·‘aq)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 6817: To shriek, to proclaim

to
אֶל־ (’el-)
Preposition
Strong's 413: Near, with, among, to

the LORD,
יְהוָ֗ה (Yah·weh)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 3068: LORD -- the proper name of the God of Israel

and the LORD
יְהוָה֙ (Yah·weh)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 3068: LORD -- the proper name of the God of Israel

showed him
וַיּוֹרֵ֤הוּ (way·yō·w·rê·hū)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Hifil - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular | third person masculine singular
Strong's 3384: To flow as water, to lay, throw, to point out, to teach

a log.
עֵ֔ץ (‘êṣ)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 6086: Tree, trees, wood

And when he cast it
וַיַּשְׁלֵךְ֙ (way·yaš·lêḵ)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Hifil - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 7993: To throw out, down, away

into
אֶל־ (’el-)
Preposition
Strong's 413: Near, with, among, to

the waters,
הַמַּ֔יִם (ham·ma·yim)
Article | Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 4325: Water, juice, urine, semen

[they]
הַמָּ֑יִם (ham·mā·yim)
Article | Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 4325: Water, juice, urine, semen

were sweetened.
וַֽיִּמְתְּק֖וּ (way·yim·tə·qū)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine plural
Strong's 4985: To become or be sweet or pleasant

There
שָׁ֣ם (šām)
Adverb
Strong's 8033: There, then, thither

[the LORD] made
שָׂ֥ם (śām)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 7760: Put -- to put, place, set

for them
ל֛וֹ (lōw)
Preposition | third person masculine singular
Strong's Hebrew

a statute
חֹ֥ק (ḥōq)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 2706: Something prescribed or owed, a statute

and an ordinance,
וּמִשְׁפָּ֖ט (ū·miš·pāṭ)
Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 4941: A verdict, a sentence, formal decree, divine law, penalty, justice, privilege, style

and there
וְשָׁ֥ם (wə·šām)
Conjunctive waw | Adverb
Strong's 8033: There, then, thither

He tested them,
נִסָּֽהוּ׃ (nis·sā·hū)
Verb - Piel - Perfect - third person masculine singular | third person masculine singular
Strong's 5254: To test, to attempt


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OT Law: Exodus 15:25 Then he cried to Yahweh (Exo. Ex)
Exodus 15:24
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