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BOOK 2 OF 66 · LAW · KING JAMES BIBLE

Exodus 17

Exodus book home•Chapter 17 of 40•16 verses
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REVIEWED OVERVIEW

Exodus 17 Overview

Exodus 17 contains two major tests: lack of water at Rephidim and attack by Amalek. Israel quarrels with Moses and asks whether the LORD is among them. God tells Moses to strike the rock in Horeb with the rod used in Egypt, and water comes out for the people. The place is named Massah and Meribah because of Israel’s testing and strife. Amalek then attacks, and Joshua leads Israel in battle while Moses stands on the hill with the rod of God. When Moses’ hands are raised Israel prevails; Aaron and Hur support his hands until victory. The LORD declares continuing conflict with Amalek, and Moses builds an altar named Jehovah-nissi.

ExodusBook
17Chapter
16Verses
LawDivision

Before you read Exodus 17

Coming from

Exodus 16 records manna and quail, teaching daily dependence on God’s provision.

In this chapter

Israel questions God’s presence over water, then learns in battle that victory likewise depends on God rather than human strength alone.

Leads into

Exodus 18 introduces Jethro’s visit, worship, and practical counsel concerning Moses’ unsustainable workload.

Key understanding

Exodus 17 contains two major tests: lack of water at Rephidim and attack by Amalek. Israel quarrels with Moses and asks whether the LORD is among them. God tells Moses to strike the rock in Horeb with the rod used in Egypt, and water comes out for the people. The place is named Massah and Meribah because of Israel’s testing and strife. Amalek then attacks, and Joshua leads Israel in battle while Moses stands on the hill with the rod of God. When Moses’ hands are raised Israel prevails; Aaron and Hur support his hands until victory. The LORD declares continuing conflict with Amalek, and Moses builds an altar named Jehovah-nissi.

Major truths in this chapterExplore deeper

Truth 1

Testing God reverses the proper relationship: Israel demands that God prove his presence on their terms despite repeated evidence of his care.

Truth 2

The rod associated with judgment in Egypt becomes the instrument through which God provides water for Israel.

Truth 3

Joshua appears as a military leader while Moses’ raised hands visibly connect the battle’s outcome with dependence on God.

Truth 4

Aaron and Hur’s support shows that even the appointed leader needs practical help to remain faithful in his role.

Truth 5

The altar name Jehovah-nissi identifies the LORD as Israel’s banner in victory.

Connections to the rest of ScriptureExplore deeper

Connection 1

Psalm 95 looks back to Massah and Meribah as a warning against hardening the heart.

Connection 2

Deuteronomy 6:16 specifically commands Israel not to tempt the LORD as they did at Massah.

Connection 3

Matthew 4:7 cites that Deuteronomy command when Jesus refuses to tempt God.

Connection 4

1 Corinthians 10:4 uses the wilderness-rock history in a Christ-centered warning to the church.

Connection 5

Deuteronomy 25 later commands Israel to remember Amalek’s attack on the weak during the journey.

What is clear, and where care is neededExplore deeper

Keep this clear 1

1 Corinthians 10’s statement that the Rock was Christ gives inspired theological significance, but Exodus 17 should still be read in its own historical setting.

Keep this clear 2

Moses’ raised hands are connected with victory in this narrative; the text does not establish a universal physical posture that mechanically guarantees success.

Keep this clear 3

The command concerning Amalek belongs to Israel’s covenant-national history and should not be generalized into hostility toward modern peoples.

Keep this clear 4

Israel’s real thirst explains the pressure but does not justify demanding proof of God’s presence after repeated deliverance.

Read Exodus 17 watching for…

The question, “Is the LORD among us, or not?”

The same rod used in Egypt now providing water.

The names Massah and Meribah.

Joshua’s first major appearance.

Aaron and Hur supporting Moses until sunset.

TWBC REVIEW STANDARD

Plain language. Scripture first. Fact distinguished from inference. No filler. No fake certainty. Designed to help you read the Bible itself.

Chapter outline2 sections
1-7God gives water from the rock at Rephidim8-16Israel fights Amalek while Moses' hands are upheld
1

And all the congregation of the children of Israel journeyed from the wilderness of Sin, after their journeys, according to the commandment of the LORD, and pitched in Rephidim: and there was no water for the people to drink.

2

Wherefore the people did chide with Moses, and said, Give us water that we may drink. And Moses said unto them, Why chide ye with me? wherefore do ye tempt the LORD?

3

And the people thirsted there for water; and the people murmured against Moses, and said, Wherefore is this that thou hast brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst?

4

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

5

And the LORD said unto Moses, Go on before the people, and take with thee of the elders of Israel; and thy rod, wherewith thou smotest the river, take in thine hand, and go.

6

Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb; and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel.

7

And he called the name of the place Massah, and Meribah, because of the chiding of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the LORD, saying, Is the LORD among us, or not?

8

Then came Amalek, and fought with Israel in Rephidim.

9

And Moses said unto Joshua, Choose us out men, and go out, fight with Amalek: to morrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in mine hand.

10

So Joshua did as Moses had said to him, and fought with Amalek: and Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill.

11

And it came to pass, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed: and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed.

12

But Moses' 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.

13

And Joshua discomfited Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.

14

And the LORD said unto Moses, Write this for a memorial in a book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua: for I will utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven.

15

And Moses built an altar, and called the name of it Jehovahnissi:

16

For he said, Because the LORD hath sworn that the LORD will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.