Comments on Exodus 17 This chapter contains two separate stories. First, in v. 1- 7 is the famous, or infamous, account of the complaining of Israel and Moses' reaction. Then, in v. 8-15, we have the war with Amalek. v1-7 The Numbers 20:2-13 account is again quite different in its presentation. The Exodus account presents it as the Lord favoring and providing for Israel despite their incessant complaining and their presumptuous challenge in v. 7, "Is the Lord among us, or not?" Here is the JPS rendering of the Numbers 20 account: 2 The community was without water, and they joined against Moses and Aaron. 3 The people quarreled with Moses, saying, "If only we had perished when our brothers perished at the instance of the Lord! 4 Why have you brought the Lord's congregation into this wilderness for us and our beasts to die there? 5 Why did you make us leave Egypt to bring us to this wretched place, a place with no grain or figs or vines or pomegranates? There is not even water to drink!" 6 Moses and Aaron came away from the congregation to the entrance of the Tent of Meeting, and fell on their faces. The Presence of the Lord appeared to them, 7 and the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 8 "You and your brother Aaron take the rod and assemble the community, and before their very eyes order the rock to yield its water. Thus you shall produce water for them from the rock and provide drink for the congregation and their beasts." 9 Moses took the rod from before the Lord, as He had commanded him. 10 Moses and Aaron assembled the congregation in front of the rock; and he said to them, "Listen, you rebels, shall we get water for you out of this rock?" 11 And Moses raised his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod. Out came copious water, and the community and their beasts drank. 12 But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, "Because you did not trust Me enough to affirm My sanctity in the sight of the Israelite people, therefore you shall not lead this congregation into the land that I have given them." 13 Those are the Waters of Meribah [Literally "Quarreled"] -- meaning that the Israelites quarreled with the Lord -through which He affirmed His sanctity. Let us consider the matter of Moses' getting into trouble with the Lord as a result of striking the rock. We know plainly that the matter at hand is Moses failed to uphold the name of the Lord in front of Israel per Deut. 32:51, and Moses was therefore not allowed to enter into the promised land. What exactly transpired though? Using the more detailed account in Numbers, let us review the events. In Num. 20:2-5 the people of Israel complain again about the conditions and cast their minds back to the material comforts of Egypt rather than casting their minds forward to the imminent bounty of the Promised Land. Then in Num. 20:6-8, Moses and Aharon appeal to the Lord, and the Lord instructs the to "order the rock to yield its water". The Lord does not command Moses to strike the rock with the staff, only to take it with him and verbally order the rock, and naturally we would assume Moses would invoke the Lord's name in doing so. However, in Num. 20:9-11 Moses takes the staff, yells at Israel, and strikes the rock rather than ordering it. Then in Num. 20:12-13 the Lord censures Moses and states he failed to "affirm [the Lord's] sanctity". We would have to conclude that Moses failed to do this as a result of not commanding the rock to bring forth water using the name of the Lord in the presence of Israel, as the Lord commanded him. The result is Israel was confronted with a portrait of an angry Moses calling them rebels and then striking the rock, seemingly in anger. Thus, superficially, the miracle seemed to be a product of Moses, and Moses failure to defer to the Lord by invoking His name. Thus, his ambiguous example could have made it appear as though the miracle was a result of his own actions and not being caused by the Lord's Providence. What it really boils down to is Moses was angry with Israel's incessant complaints and lack of faith, and he let his anger and frustration get the best of him. Being such a prominent character in Israel, such actions have considerable consequence, and the Lord takes action to make it clear to Israel that Moses' actions were not condoned by Him (i.e., Moses is not permitted to enter the Promised Land), and He therefore upholds and protects the sanctity of His own name. v8-15 Again, we have here a stylized and carefully edited account. Note the conflict between Amalek and Israel is given no historical background at all, no explanation as to why they came out to war, and no real details of the battle are offered. The text is deliberately arranged to emphasizes the intercessory role of Moses between Israel and God, a figure of vicarious salvation. The symbol of Moses lifting up his arms to God obviously connotes an appeal to one exalted above you, but it also has rhetorical links to the hand/arm being a symbol of the Lord's prophet on earth (cp. Isa. 40:10, Isa. 49:22, Ezek. 20:5, 15). The raising of the hand is symbolic of covenant making (cp. Exod. 6:8, Dan. 12:7). The arm is a symbol of might and power (cp. Exod. 15:16, Isa. 33:2, Job 40:9), and relying on the arm of the Lord as opposed to the arm of flesh obviously implies you fear God more than man. When Moses gets tired, he is supported (sustained) by his two closest assistants (councilors) such that he can continue to act in his capacity as leader of Israel (similar to the sustaining of the living Prophet until death, even if he becomes physically tired or weak; physical infirmity does not preclude or commute the office). So long as Moses hands were stretched up to God, Israel prevailed. The symbolism would be that so long as the Prophet was pleading to God in behalf of his people, and so long as the people were sustaining the prophet then God heeded their call. The result is they prevailed against their enemies by divine fiat. Then the story concludes with the Lord commanding Moses inscribe a reminder to the victory of Israel over Amalek. And then Moses builds an altar, the JPS rendering of v. 15-16: And Moses built an altar and named it Adonai-nissi [Literally "The Lord is my banner"]. He said, "It means, 'Hand upon the throne of the Lord!' The banner is a military device used as a rallying point for troops in the midst of the confusion of battle. The banners were typically large, colorful, held high above the head so they could easily be seen, and well protected from the enemy. So, when Moses says the Lord is Israel's banner he is saying the Lord is Israel's warrior, strength, and might. Compare this with the song appearing in Exod. 15. The final phrase, "Hand upon the throne of the Lord!" is obscure, but I would take it to mean when Israel has their hand outstretched to the Lord He allows them access to His power (the throne being an authority symbol) on earth and in heaven. Copyright © 2002 by S. Kurt Neumiller . All rights reserved. No part of this text may be reproduced in any form or by any means for commercial gain without the express written consent of the author. Digital or printed copies may be freely made and distributed for personal and public non-commercial use.