Exodus 17:2
in Exodus 17So the people contended with Moses, “Give us water to drink.” “Why do you contend with me?” Moses replied. “Why do you test the LORD?”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Wherefore the people strove with Moses, and said, Give us water that we may drink. And Moses said unto them, Why strive ye with me? wherefore do ye tempt Jehovah?
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?
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This verse in Exodus 17
Commentary
7 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
and pitched in Rephidim
on Exodus 17:1-2
They came to Rephidim at the commandment of the LORD and found no water there, so the obedience and the hardship arrive together. The people bring two charges in one breath and the text keeps them apart, since chiding is aimed at Moses and tempting is aimed at the LORD. This is the fourth complaint in four chapters, after the sea at 14:11, the bitter water at 15:24 and the hunger at 16:2.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices
7 ), yet they are ready to demand every thing. They quarrelled with him for bringing them out of Egypt, as if, instead of delivering them, he designed to murder them, than which nothing could be more base and invidious,
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-citation-number+unbalanced-parens
): Why chide you with me? Observe how mildly he answered them; it was well that he was a man of extraordinary meekness, else their tumultuous conduct would have made him lose the possession of himself: it is folly to answer passion with passion, for that makes bad worse; but soft answers turn away wrath.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
), and now God sends Amalekites to quarrel with them; wars abroad are the just punishment of strifes and discontents at home. As Amalek's sin; so it is reckoned, Deut. xxv.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
Wherefore the people did chide with Moses,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Why 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? Exo 17:7. Why therefore do ye doubt his power and goodness, and thus provoke him to treat you as his enemies?
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Tempt 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.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
The entire community of B’nei Yisrael journeyed from the wilderness of Sin, traveling according to the word of Adonoy.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 2 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
19 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיָּ֤רֶב | vaiyarev | and it quarreled | H7378 → | 67 times |
| הָעָם֙ | haam | the people | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| עִם־ | ʾim- | with | H5973 → | 1050 times |
| מֹשֶׁ֔ה | mosheh | Moses | H4872 → | 765 times |
| וַיֹּ֣אמְר֔וּ | vaiyomeru | and they said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| תְּנוּ־ | tenu- | give | H5414 → | 2011 times |
| לָ֥נוּ | lanu | to <the> us | ||
| מַ֖יִם | mayim | water | H4325 → | 581 times |
| וְנִשְׁתֶּ֑ה | venishteh | so we may drink | H8354 → | 217 times |
| וַיֹּ֤אמֶר | vaiyomer | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| לָהֶם֙ | lahem | to <the> them | ||
| מֹשֶׁ֔ה | mosheh | Moses | H4872 → | 765 times |
| מַה־ | mah- | why? | H4100 → | 752 times |
| תְּרִיבוּן֙ | terivun | are you quarreling ! | H7378 → | 67 times |
| עִמָּדִ֔י | ʾimadi | with me | H5978 → | |
| מַה־ | mah- | why? | H4100 → | 752 times |
| תְּנַסּ֖וּן | tenasun | are you putting to [the] test ! | H5254 → | 36 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| יְהוָֽה׃ | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
וַיָּ֤רֶבand it quarreled
vaiyarevH7378 →67 times
הָעָם֙the people
haamH5971 →1873 times
עִם־with
ʾim-H5973 →1050 times
מֹשֶׁ֔הMoses
moshehH4872 →765 times
וַיֹּ֣אמְר֔וּand they said
vaiyomeruH559 →5305 times
תְּנוּ־give
tenu-H5414 →2011 times
לָ֥נוּto <the> us
lanu
מַ֖יִםwater
mayimH4325 →581 times
וְנִשְׁתֶּ֑הso we may drink
venishtehH8354 →217 times
וַיֹּ֤אמֶרand he said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
לָהֶם֙to <the> them
lahem
מֹשֶׁ֔הMoses
moshehH4872 →765 times
מַה־why?
mah-H4100 →752 times
תְּרִיבוּן֙are you quarreling !
terivunH7378 →67 times
עִמָּדִ֔יwith me
ʾimadiH5978 →
מַה־why?
mah-H4100 →752 times
תְּנַסּ֖וּןare you putting to [the] test !
tenasunH5254 →36 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
יְהוָֽה׃Yahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
1 Corinthians 10:9We should not test Christ, as some of them did, and were killed by snakes.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 6:16
Do not test the LORD your God as you tested Him at Massah.
Reached by 3 separate paths from here.
- Hebrews 3:8–11
do not harden your hearts, as you did in the rebellion, in the day of testing in the wilderness,
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Numbers 21:5–6
and spoke against God and against Moses: “Why have you led us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is no bread or water, and we detest this wretched food!”
- Deuteronomy 6:16
Through
Deuteronomy 6:16Do not test the LORD your God as you tested Him at Massah.
it leads to
- Exodus 17:7
He named the place Massah and Meribah because the Israelites quarreled, and because they tested the LORD, saying, “Is the LORD among us or not?”
- Luke 4:12
But Jesus answered, “It also says, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”
- Matthew 4:7
Jesus replied, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”
- Psalms 95:8–9
do not harden your hearts as you did at Meribah, in the day at Massah in the wilderness,
- Hebrews 3:8–9
do not harden your hearts, as you did in the rebellion, in the day of testing in the wilderness,
- Exodus 17:7
Where this verse is studied
About Exodus
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.