Water at Rephidim

The words

1. Amalek

   Amalek fights Israel at Rephidim after the water dispute; Joshua leads the fighting and defeats Amalek’s people with the sword.

   Exodus 17:8–13 (opens a new tab)

2. Cattle

   Domesticated livestock in the KJV’s broader usage.

   The people include their cattle in the complaint to Moses, accusing him of bringing them, their children and their animals out of Egypt to die of thirst.

   Exodus 17:3 (opens a new tab) · Webster’s 1828: cattle (opens a new tab)

3. Chiding

   The people chide with Moses by demanding water; he answers by asking why they quarrel with him and put the LORD to the test.

   Exodus 17:2 (opens a new tab)

4. Drink

   With no water at Rephidim, the people demand that Moses give them water to drink, beginning the dispute recorded in Exodus 17.

   Did you know?

   Earlier at Marah, Exodus describes bitter water becoming sweet after Moses casts a tree into it.

   Exodus 17:1–2 (opens a new tab) · Exodus 15:23–25 (opens a new tab)

5. Elders

   Moses is told to take elders of Israel with him; he strikes the rock in their sight, making them witnesses to the water’s provision.

   Did you know?

   Later in Exodus, seventy elders go up with Moses, Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, another appearance of Israel’s elders in the story.

   Exodus 17:5–6 (opens a new tab) · Exodus 24:9 (opens a new tab)

6. Massah

   The place receives the names Massah and Meribah after Israel tests the LORD, asking whether he is among them.

   Did you know?

   Deuteronomy later recalls Massah in a warning not to test the LORD as Israel did at that place.

   Exodus 17:7 (opens a new tab) · Deuteronomy 6:16 (opens a new tab)

7. Meribah

   Meribah is paired with Massah when Exodus names the place, recalling Israel’s quarrel with Moses over water.

   Exodus 17:2 (opens a new tab) · Exodus 17:7 (opens a new tab)

8. Murmur

   Speak in complaint.

   The people murmur against Moses because they are thirsty, accusing him of bringing them out of Egypt to die with their children and cattle.

   Exodus 17:3 (opens a new tab)

9. Rephidim

   Israel camps at Rephidim after leaving the wilderness of Sin, but the account says there is no water for the people to drink.

   Did you know?

   Numbers places the next camp after Rephidim in the wilderness of Sinai, preserving both names in its travel list.

   Exodus 17:1 (opens a new tab) · Numbers 33:14–15 (opens a new tab)

10. Rock of Horeb

    The LORD directs Moses to the rock in Horeb, promising that water will come from it when Moses strikes it.

    Exodus 17:5–6 (opens a new tab)

11. Smite

    Strike or hit.

    Moses is told to take the rod used at the river and smite the rock so that the people may drink.

    Exodus 17:5–6 (opens a new tab) · NET Bible: Exodus 17:6 (opens a new tab)

12. Stoning

    Moses cries to the LORD that the people are almost ready to stone him during the dispute over water.

    Exodus 17:4 (opens a new tab)

13. Tempted

    Put to the test.

    Exodus explains the testing at Massah and Meribah through the people’s question, “Is the LORD among us, or not?”

    Exodus 17:7 (opens a new tab) · NET Bible: Exodus 17:7 (opens a new tab)

14. Thirst

    The people’s thirst prompts a complaint against Moses: they accuse him of bringing them, their children and cattle out of Egypt to die of thirst.

    Exodus 17:1–3 (opens a new tab)

15. Water

    The LORD says water will come from the rock for the people to drink, and Moses carries out the instruction before Israel’s elders.

    Did you know?

    The book of Nehemiah recalls bread from heaven alongside water from a rock in its account of wilderness provision.

    Exodus 17:5–6 (opens a new tab) · Nehemiah 9:15 (opens a new tab)