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?" But the people thirsted there for waterThe Hebrew word for "thirsted" is צָמָא (tsama), which conveys a deep, desperate need for water. This physical thirst symbolizes a spiritual longing and dependence on God. In the wilderness, the Israelites' need for water highlights their vulnerability and reliance on divine provision. Historically, the arid conditions of the Sinai Peninsula would have made water a precious and scarce resource, emphasizing the severity of their situation. Spiritually, this thirst can be seen as a metaphor for the soul's longing for God, as expressed in Psalm 42:1, "As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul longs after You, O God." and they grumbled against Moses
The Hebrew root for "grumbled" is לוּן (lun), which means to murmur or complain. This word is often used in the context of the Israelites' repeated complaints during their wilderness journey. Their grumbling reflects a lack of faith and trust in God's provision and leadership through Moses. Historically, this behavior is consistent with the human tendency to resist change and fear the unknown, especially when faced with hardship. From a scriptural perspective, grumbling is seen as a sign of rebellion against God's appointed leaders and His plans, as seen in Numbers 14:27, where God expresses His displeasure with the Israelites' constant complaints. Why have you brought us out of Egypt
This phrase reveals the Israelites' short-sightedness and ingratitude. The Hebrew word for "brought" is יָצָא (yatsa), meaning to lead out or deliver. Despite their miraculous deliverance from slavery, the Israelites quickly forget God's past faithfulness. This question reflects a common human tendency to romanticize the past when faced with present difficulties. Historically, Egypt was a place of bondage, yet in their discomfort, the Israelites view it as preferable to their current struggle. This highlights the challenge of trusting God's long-term plan over immediate comfort. to make us and our children and livestock die of thirst?
The phrase "die of thirst" underscores the severity of their fear and desperation. The Hebrew word for "die" is מוּת (muth), which signifies physical death. The inclusion of "children and livestock" emphasizes the communal and familial nature of their concern, as well as the economic impact, since livestock were vital for their survival. This reflects a genuine fear for their future and well-being. From a theological perspective, this fear contrasts with God's promise of provision and protection, as seen in His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The Israelites' focus on immediate needs blinds them to God's overarching promise of a land flowing with milk and honey, as described in Exodus 3:8. Persons / Places / Events 1. The IsraelitesThe chosen people of God, who were delivered from slavery in Egypt and are now journeying through the wilderness. 2. MosesThe leader appointed by God to bring the Israelites out of Egypt and guide them to the Promised Land. 3. RephidimThe location where the Israelites camped and experienced a lack of water, leading to their grumbling. 4. The WildernessRepresents the period of testing and reliance on God for the Israelites as they journey to the Promised Land. 5. GrumblingThe act of complaining against Moses, which reflects a deeper issue of distrust in God's provision. Teaching Points Trust in God's ProvisionThe Israelites' grumbling reveals a lack of trust in God's ability to provide. Believers today are called to trust in God's provision, even in difficult circumstances. The Danger of ComplainingComplaining can lead to a hardened heart and a lack of faith. Christians are encouraged to cultivate gratitude and trust instead. Leadership ChallengesMoses faced significant challenges as a leader. This passage reminds us of the importance of supporting and praying for our leaders. Spiritual ThirstJust as the Israelites experienced physical thirst, humans have a spiritual thirst that only God can satisfy through Jesus Christ. God's FaithfulnessDespite the Israelites' complaints, God remained faithful. This reassures believers of God's unchanging faithfulness. Bible Study Questions 1. How does the Israelites' reaction to their thirst reflect their spiritual state, and what can we learn from this about our own responses to challenges? 2. In what ways does the account of the Israelites' grumbling at Rephidim parallel our own struggles with trust in God's provision? 3. How can we apply the lessons from Moses' leadership in this passage to support and pray for our leaders today? 4. What are some practical ways we can combat a spirit of complaining and cultivate gratitude in our daily lives? 5. How does the concept of "living water" in John 4 provide a deeper understanding of the Israelites' physical thirst in Exodus 17:3? Connections to Other Scriptures Exodus 16The Israelites previously grumbled about food, and God provided manna, showing a pattern of God's provision despite their complaints. Numbers 20Another instance where the Israelites grumble about water, highlighting a recurring struggle with trust. John 4Jesus speaks of living water, offering a spiritual solution to the physical thirst experienced by the Israelites. Philippians 2Paul encourages believers to do everything without grumbling, contrasting the Israelites' behavior. People Aaron, Amalek, Amalekites, Hur, Israelites, Joshua, MosesPlaces Egypt, Horeb, Massah, Meribah, Nile River, Rephidim, SinaiTopics Bring, Cattle, Death, Die, Egypt, Grumbled, Hast, Kill, Livestock, Murmur, Murmured, Outcry, Sons, Thirst, Thirsted, Thirsty, WhereforeDictionary of Bible Themes Exodus 17:3 1418 miracles, responses
5265 complaints
5567 suffering, emotional
5822 criticism, against believers
5928 resentment, against God
6163 faults Exodus 17:1-3 4293 water
5569 suffering, hardship Exodus 17:1-6 5580 thirst Exodus 17:1-7 4278 spring of water
5473 proof, through testing
5924 quarrelsomeness Exodus 17:3-4 5945 self-pity Exodus 17:3-6 1330 God, the provider Library Nature of the Renderings
From the text we now turn to the renderings, and to the general principles that were followed, both in the Old and in the New Testament. The revision of the English text was in each case subject to the same general rule, viz. "To introduce as few alterations as possible into the Text of the Authorised Version consistently with faithfulness"; but, owing to the great difference between the two languages, the Hebrew and the Greek, the application of the rule was necessarily different, and the results …
C. J. Ellicott—Addresses on the Revised Version of Holy ScriptureJehovah Nissi
'And Moses built an altar, and called the name of it Jehovah Nissi [that is, the Lord is my Banner].' --EXODUS xvii. 15. We are all familiar with that picturesque incident of the conflict between Israel and Amalek, which ended in victory and the erection of this memorial trophy. Moses, as you remember, went up on the mount whilst Joshua and the men of war fought in the plain. But I question whether we usually attach the right meaning to the symbolism of this event. We ordinarily, I suppose, think …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture The War of Truth
Now, beloved, this scene of warfare is not recorded in Scripture as in interesting circumstance to amuse the lover of history, but it is written for our edification; for we remember the text which says--"Whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our profit." There is some profit to be derived from this--and we believe a peculiar profit, too, since God was pleased to make this the first writing commanded by Divine authority as a record for generations to come. We think that the journeys …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 3: 1857 How Churches Can Help Ministers.
Text.--And it came to pass, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed; and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed. But Moses's hands were heavy, and they took a stone, and put it under him, and he sat thereon: and Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands, the one on the one side and the other on the other side: and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun. And Joshua discomfited Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.--Exodus xvii. 11-13. You who read your Bibles will …
Charles Grandison Finney—Lectures on Revivals of Religion Exhortation to Prayer.
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John Newton—Olney Hymns The Waters of Meribah
'Then came the children of Israel, even the whole congregation, into the desert of Zin in the first month: and the people abode in Kadesh; and Miriam died there, and was buried there. 2. And there was no water for the congregation: and they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron. 3. And the people chode with Moses, and spake, saying, Would God that we had died when our brethren died before the Lord! 4. And why have ye brought up the congregation of the Lord into this wilderness, …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture The Intercessor
'These words spake Jesus, and lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify Thy Son, that Thy Son also may glorify Thee: As Thou hast given Him power over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as Thou hast given Him. And this is life eternal, that they might know Thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent. I have glorified Thee on the earth: I have finished the work which Thou gavest Me to do. And now, O Father, glorify Thou Me with …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture: St. John Chaps. XV to XXI Appendix ii. Philo of Alexandria and Rabbinic Theology.
(Ad. vol. i. p. 42, note 4.) In comparing the allegorical Canons of Philo with those of Jewish traditionalism, we think first of all of the seven exegetical canons which are ascribed to Hillel. These bear chiefly the character of logical deductions, and as such were largely applied in the Halakhah. These seven canons were next expanded by R. Ishmael (in the first century) into thirteen, by the analysis of one of them (the 5th) into six, and the addition of this sound exegetical rule, that where two …
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah The Reaction against Egypt
THE XIth DYNASTY: HARMHABI--THE HITTITE EMPIRE IN SYRIA AND IN ASIA MINOR--SETI I. AND RAMSES II.--THE PEOPLE OF THE SEA: MINEPHTAH AND THE ISRAELITE EXODUS. The birth and antecedents of Harmhabi, his youth, his enthronement--The final triumph of Amon and his priests--Harmhabi infuses order into the government: his wars against the Ethiopians and Asiatics--The Khati, their civilization, religion; their political and military constitution; the extension of their empire towards the north--The countries …
G. Maspero—History Of Egypt, Chaldaea, Syria, Babylonia, and Assyria, V 5 Jehovah. The "I Am. "
WHEN Moses in the desert beheld the burning bush God answered his question by the revelation of His name as the "I Am." "And God said unto Moses, I am, that I am: and He said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you" (Exod. iii:14). He who spake thus out of the bush to Moses was the same who in the fullness of time appeared upon the earth in the form of man. Our Lord Jesus Christ is no less person, than the I AM. If we turn to the fourth Gospel in which the Holy …
Arno Gaebelein—The Lord of Glory "Because the Carnal Mind is Enmity against God, for it is not Subject to the Law of God, Neither Indeed Can Be. "
Rom. viii. 7.--"Because the carnal mind is enmity against God, for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be." Unbelief is that which condemns the world. It involves in more condemnation than many other sins, not only because more universal, but especially because it shuts up men in their misery, and secludes them from the remedy that is brought to light in the gospel. By unbelief I mean, not only that careless neglect of Jesus Christ offered for salvation, but that which is the …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning Epistle xxviii. To Augustine, Bishop of the Angli .
To Augustine, Bishop of the Angli [136] . Gregory to Augustine, &c. Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men of good will (Luke ii. 14); because a grain of wheat, falling into the earth, has died, that it might not reign in heaven alone; even He by whose death we live, by whose weakness we are made strong, by whose suffering we are rescued from suffering, through whose love we seek in Britain for brethren whom we knew not, by whose gift we find those whom without knowing them we sought. …
Saint Gregory the Great—the Epistles of Saint Gregory the Great Ninth Sunday after Trinity Carnal Security and Its vices.
Text: 1 Corinthians 10, 6-13. 6 Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted. 7 Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play. 8 Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand. 9 Neither let us make trial of the Lord, as some of them made trial, and perished by the serpents. 10 Neither murmur ye, as …
Martin Luther—Epistle Sermons, Vol. III Exodus
The book of Exodus--so named in the Greek version from the march of Israel out of Egypt--opens upon a scene of oppression very different from the prosperity and triumph in which Genesis had closed. Israel is being cruelly crushed by the new dynasty which has arisen in Egypt (i.) and the story of the book is the story of her redemption. Ultimately it is Israel's God that is her redeemer, but He operates largely by human means; and the first step is the preparation of a deliverer, Moses, whose parentage, …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament Links Exodus 17:3 NIVExodus 17:3 NLTExodus 17:3 ESVExodus 17:3 NASBExodus 17:3 KJV
Exodus 17:3 Commentaries
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