Event · Exodus and Wilderness
Water from the rock; victory over Amalek
Water from the rock; victory over AmalekExodus 17:1–1615th or 13th century BCE (debated)
Moses strikes the rock at Horeb for water; Joshua defeats Amalek while Moses' hands are held up.
- Main passage Exodus 17:1–16
Places named Massah and Meribah Exodus 17:7 · Rephidim Exodus 17:8
- Place in the order
- Explicit biblical sequence Scripture itself gives the order of these events.
- Historical setting
- 15th or 13th century BCE (debated) Disputed date
1 Kings 6:1 counts 480 years from the exodus to Solomon's fourth year, which points to about 1446 BCE in the conventional chronology. Many scholars argue for the thirteenth century from archaeological evidence.
Proposals: About 1446 BCE (from 1 Kings 6:1); About 1260s BCE (archaeological arguments)
Read it
Exodus 17:1–16 WEB
1All the congregation of the children of Israel traveled from the wilderness of Sin, starting according to the LORD’s commandment, and encamped in Rephidim; but there was no water for the people to drink. 2Therefore the people quarreled with Moses, and said, “Give us water to drink.” Moses said to them, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the LORD?” 3The people were thirsty for water there; so the people murmured against Moses, and said, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us, our children, and our livestock with thirst?” 4Moses cried to the LORD, saying, “What shall I do with these people? They are almost ready to stone me.” 5The LORD said to Moses, “Walk on before the people, and take the elders of Israel with you, and take the rod in your hand with which you struck the Nile, and go. 6Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock in Horeb. You shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it, that the people may drink.” Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel. 7He called the name of the place Massah, and Meribah, because the children of Israel quarreled, and because they tested the LORD, saying, “Is the LORD among us, or not?” 8Then Amalek came and fought with Israel in Rephidim. 9Moses said to Joshua, “Choose men for us, and go out to fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with God’s rod in my hand.” 10So Joshua did as Moses had told him, and fought with Amalek; and Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. 11When Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed. When he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed. 12But Moses’ hands were heavy; so they took a stone, and put it under him, and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held up his hands, the one on the one side, and the other on the other side. His hands were steady until sunset. 13Joshua defeated Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword. 14The LORD said to Moses, “Write this for a memorial in a book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua: that I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under the sky.” 15Moses built an altar, and called its name “The LORD our Banner”. 16He said, “The LORD has sworn: ‘The LORD will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.’”