Christian Standard Bible
Exodus 17:2
2So the people complained to Moses, “Give us water to drink.” “Why are you complaining to me?” Moses replied to them. “Why are you testing the Lord?”
Exodus 17:2 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)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?
- New International Version (NIV)So they quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water to drink.” Moses replied, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you put the Lord to the test?”
- English Standard Version (ESV)Therefore the people quarreled with Moses and said, "Give us water to drink." And Moses said to them, "Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the Lord?"
- New King James Version (NKJV)Therefore the people contended with Moses, and said, “Give us water, that we may drink.” So Moses said to them, “Why do you contend with me? Why do you tempt the Lord?”
Context of Exodus 17:2
1The entire Israelite community left the Wilderness of Sin, moving from one place to the next according to the Lord’s command. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. So the people complained to Moses, “Give us water to drink.” “Why are you complaining to me?” Moses replied to them. “Why are you testing the Lord?” 3But the people thirsted there for water and grumbled against Moses. They said, “Why did you ever bring us up from Egypt to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?” 4Then Moses cried out to the Lord, “What should I do with these people? In a little while they will stone me!”
Read all of Exodus 17Exodus 17:2 word by word
וַיָּ֤רֶב הָעָם֙ עִם־מֹשֶׁ֔ה וַיֹּ֣אמְר֔וּ תְּנוּ־לָ֥נוּ מַ֖יִם וְנִשְׁתֶּ֑ה וַיֹּ֤אמֶר לָהֶם֙ מֹשֶׁ֔ה מַה־תְּרִיבוּן֙ עִמָּדִ֔י מַה־תְּנַסּ֖וּן אֶת־יְהוָֽה׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- Wherefore the peopleעַם‛am · peopleH5971
- did chideרִיבrîyb rûb · to contendH7378
- with Mosesמֹשֶׁהmôsheh · MosesH4872
- and saidאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
- Giveנָתַןnâthan · to give: giveH5414
- us waterמַיmayim · waterH4325
- that we may drinkשָׁתָהshâthâh · to drinkH8354
- ye with me? wherefore do ye temptנָסָהnâsâh · to testH5254
- the Lordיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068
Cross-references for Exodus 17:2
- Exodus 5:21“May the Lord take note of you and judge,” they said to them, “because you have made us reek to Pharaoh and his officials — putting a sword in their hand to kill us!”
- Exodus 14:11They said to Moses, “Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt?
- Exodus 15:24The people grumbled to Moses, “What are we going to drink?”
- Exodus 16:2The entire Israelite community grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness.
- Numbers 11:4The riffraff among them had a strong craving for other food. The Israelites wept again and said, “Who will feed us meat?
- Numbers 14:2All the Israelites complained about Moses and Aaron, and the whole community told them, “If only we had died in the land of Egypt, or if only we had died in this wilderness!
- Numbers 20:3The people quarreled with Moses and said, “If only we had perished when our brothers perished before the Lord.
- Numbers 21:5The people spoke against God and Moses: “Why have you led us up from Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is no bread or water, and we detest this wretched food!”
- Genesis 30:1When Rachel saw that she was not bearing Jacob any children, she envied her sister. “Give me sons, or I will die!” she said to Jacob.
- 1 Samuel 8:6When they said, “Give us a king to judge us,” Samuel considered their demand wrong, so he prayed to the Lord.
- Luke 15:12The younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of the estate I have coming to me.’ So he distributed the assets to them.
- Exodus 17:7He named the place Massah and Meribah because the Israelites complained, and because they tested the Lord, saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?”
- Numbers 14:22none of the men who have seen my glory and the signs I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have tested me these ten times and did not obey me,
- Deuteronomy 6:16Do not test the Lord your God as you tested him at Massah.
- Psalms 78:18They deliberately tested God, demanding the food they craved.
- Psalms 95:9where your ancestors tested me; they tried me, though they had seen what I did.
Commentaries on Exodus 17:2
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 2Why chide ye with me? - God is your leader, complain to him; Wherefore do ye tempt the Lord? As he is your leader, all your murmurings against me he considers as directed against himself; why therefore do ye tempt him? Has he not given you sufficient proofs that he can destroy his enemies and support his friends? And is he not among you to do you good? Exodus 17:7. Why therefore do ye doubt his power and goodness, and thus provoke him to treat you as his…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 2Tempt the Lord - It is a general characteristic of the Israelites that the miracles, which met each need as it arose, failed to produce a habit of faith: but the severity of the trial, the faintness and anguish of thirst in the burning desert, must not be overlooked in appreciating their conduct.Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 2test the LORD: This is explained in 17:7. The people doubted that God was with them. They questioned whether he cared for them. They demanded proof that he was present and would help them. There is a kind of testing that comes from faith. A person may believe, yet still struggle with doubt (“I do believe; help my unbelief,” Mark 9:24). This is a humble request for help. But there is also a test that comes from unbelief (“so that we may see it and believe…Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 2-32-3. the people did chide with Moses, and said, Give us water that we may drink, &c.--The want of water was a privation, the severity of which we cannot estimate, and it was a great trial to the Israelites, but their conduct on this new occasion was outrageous; it amounted even to "a tempting of the Lord." It was an opposition to His minister, a distrust of His care, an indifference to His kindness, an unbelief in His providence, a trying of His patience…Read the comment
Topics related to Exodus 17:2
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Exodus 17
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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