New International Version
Exodus 17:2
2So 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?”
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?
- 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?”
- New Living Translation (NLT)So once more the people complained against Moses. “Give us water to drink!” they demanded. “Quiet!” Moses replied. “Why are you complaining against me? And why are you testing the Lord?”
Context of Exodus 17:2
1The whole Israelite community set out from the Desert of Sin, traveling from place to place as the Lord commanded. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. 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?” 3But the people were thirsty for water there, and they grumbled against Moses. They said, “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to make us and our children and livestock die of thirst?” 4Then Moses cried out to the Lord, “What am I to do with these people? They are almost ready to 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 5:21and they said, “May the Lord look on you and judge you! You have made us obnoxious to Pharaoh and his officials and have put a sword in their hand to kill us.”
- Exodus 14:11They said to Moses, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt?
- Exodus 15:24So the people grumbled against Moses, saying, “What are we to drink?”
- Exodus 16:2In the desert the whole community grumbled against Moses and Aaron.
- Numbers 11:4The rabble with them began to crave other food, and again the Israelites started wailing and said, “If only we had meat to eat!
- Numbers 14:2All the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron, and the whole assembly said to them, “If only we had died in Egypt! Or in this wilderness!
- Numbers 20:3They quarreled with Moses and said, “If only we had died when our brothers fell dead before the Lord!
- Numbers 21:5they spoke against God and against Moses, and said, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is no bread! There is no water! And we detest this miserable food!”
- Genesis 30:1When Rachel saw that she was not bearing Jacob any children, she became jealous of her sister. So she said to Jacob, “Give me children, or I’ll die!”
- 1 Samuel 8:6But when they said, “Give us a king to lead us,” this displeased Samuel; so he prayed to the Lord.
- Luke 15:12The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them.
- Exodus 17:7And he called the place Massah and Meribah because the Israelites quarreled and because they tested the Lord saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?”
- Numbers 14:22not one of those who saw my glory and the signs I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness but who disobeyed me and tested me ten times—
- Deuteronomy 6:16Do not put the Lord your God to the test as you did at Massah.
- Psalms 78:18They willfully put God to the test by 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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