Keluaran 17:6

17:6 I will be standing ¹  before you there on ²  the rock in Horeb, and you will strike ³  the rock, and water will come out of it so that the people may drink.” ⁴  And Moses did so in plain view ⁵  of the elders of Israel.

Ulangan 1:6

Events at Horeb

1:6 The Lord our God spoke to us at Horeb and said, “You have stayed ⁶  in the area of this mountain long enough.

Ulangan 4:10

4:10 You ⁷  stood before the Lord your God at Horeb and he ⁸  said to me, “Assemble the people before me so that I can tell them my commands. ⁹  Then they will learn to revere me all the days they live in the land, and they will instruct their children.”

Mazmur 106:19

106:19 They made an image of a calf at Horeb,

and worshiped a metal idol.

Maleakhi 4:4

Restoration through the Lord

4:4 “Remember the law of my servant Moses, to whom at Horeb ¹⁰  I gave rules and regulations for all Israel to obey. ¹¹ 

[17:6]  ¹ tn The construction uses הִנְנִי עֹמֵד (hinni ’omed) to express the futur instans or imminent future of the verb: “I am going to be standing.”

[17:6]  sn The reader has many questions when studying this passage – why water from a rock, why Horeb, why strike the rock when later only speak to it, why recall the Nile miracles, etc. B. Jacob (Exodus, 479-80) says that all these are answered when it is recalled that they were putting God to the test. So water from the rock, the most impossible thing, cleared up the question of his power. Doing it at Horeb was significant because there Moses was called and told he would bring them to this place. Since they had doubted God was in their midst, he would not do this miracle in the camp, but would have Moses lead the elders out to Horeb. If people doubt God is in their midst, then he will choose not to be in their midst. And striking the rock recalled striking the Nile; there it brought death to Egypt, but here it brought life to Israel. There could be little further doubting that God was with them and able to provide for them.

[17:6]  ² tn Or “by” (NIV, NLT).

[17:6]  ³ tn The form is a Hiphil perfect with the vav (ו) consecutive; it follows the future nuance of the participle and so is equivalent to an imperfect tense nuance of instruction.

[17:6]  ⁴ tn These two verbs are also perfect tenses with vav (ו) consecutive: “and [water] will go out…and [the people] will drink.” But the second verb is clearly the intent or the result of the water gushing from the rock, and so it may be subordinated.

[17:6]  sn The presence of Yahweh at this rock enabled Paul to develop a midrashic lesson, an analogical application: Christ was present with Israel to provide water for them in the wilderness. So this was a Christophany. But Paul takes it a step further to equate the rock with Christ, for just as it was struck to produce water, so Christ would be struck to produce rivers of living water. The provision of bread to eat and water to drink provided for Paul a ready analogy to the provisions of Christ in the gospel (1 Cor 10:4).

[17:6]  ⁵ tn Heb “in the eyes of.”

[1:6]  ⁶ tn Heb “lived”; “dwelled.”

[4:10]  ⁷ tn The text begins with “(the) day (in) which.” In the Hebrew text v. 10 is subordinate to v. 11, but for stylistic reasons the translation treats v. 10 as an independent clause, necessitating the omission of the subordinating temporal phrase at the beginning of the verse.

[4:10]  ⁸ tn Heb “the Lord.” See note on “he” in 4:3.

[4:10]  ⁹ tn Heb “my words.” See v. 13; in Hebrew the “ten commandments” are the “ten words.”

[4:4]  ¹⁰ sn Horeb is another name for Mount Sinai (cf. Exod 3:1).

[4:4]  ¹¹ tn Heb “which I commanded him in Horeb concerning all Israel, statutes and ordinances.”