Numbers 20:11 BSB — MannaFest

Numbers 20:11

Then Moses raised his hand and struck the rock twice with his staff, so that a great amount of water gushed out, and the congregation and their livestock were able to drink.

BSB

Parallel translations (2) ▾

ASV

And Moses lifted up his hand, and smote the rock with his rod twice: and water came forth abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their cattle.

KJV

And Moses lifted up his hand, and with his rod he smote the rock twice: and the water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their beasts also.

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Commentary

2 voices

John Gill

1697–1771

Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763)

And Moses lifted up his hand, and with his rod he smote the rock twice,.... At first it only brought out some drops, as Jarchi conjectures, and therefore Moses smote again, when it brought forth water plentifully: the Targum of Jonathan says,"at the first time it dropped blood, at the second time came out much water.''Could this be credited, it would make the agreement between this rock and Christ appear very manifest, from whom, when his side was pierced with a spear, there came out blood and water, Joh 19:34 for justification and sanctification.

The record, by era

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

Albert Barnes

1798–1870

Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)

The command Num 20:8 was “Speak ye unto the rock.” The act of smiting, and especially with two strokes, indicates violent irritation on the part of Moses; as does also his unseemly mode of addressing the people: “Hear now, ye rebels.” The form too of the question, “must we, etc.,” directs the people not, as ought to have been the case, to God as their deliverer, but to Moses and Aaron personally.

Voices on this verse

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Original language & word study

15 tagged words

Original	Transliteration	Meaning	Word study
וַיָּ֨רֶם	vai.Ya.rem	and he raised	H7311 →
מֹשֶׁ֜ה	mo.Sheh	Moses	H4872 →
אֶת־	'et-	<obj.>	H853 →
יָד֗וֹ	ya.Do	hand his	H3027 →
וַיַּ֧ךְ	vai.Yakh	and he struck	H5221 →
אֶת־	'et-	<obj.>	H853 →
הַסֶּ֛לַע	ha.Se.la'	the rock	H5553 →
בְּמַטֵּ֖הוּ	be.ma.Te.hu	with rod his	H4294 →
פַּעֲמָ֑יִם	pa.'a.Ma.yim	two times	H6471 →
וַיֵּצְאוּ֙	vai.ye.tze.'U	and they came out	H3318 →
מַ֣יִם	Ma.yim	waters	H4325 →
רַבִּ֔ים	ra.Bim	many	H7227 →
וַתֵּ֥שְׁתְּ	va.Te.shet	and it drank	H8354 →
הָעֵדָ֖ה	ha.'e.Dah	the congregation	H5712 →
וּבְעִירָֽם׃ ס	u.ve.'i.Ram	and livestock their	H1165 →

Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread: the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.

The walk

The walk8

Where the connections lead

Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.

Through
Exodus 17:6
Behold, I will stand there before you by the rock at Horeb. And when you strike the rock, water will come out of it for the people to drink.” So Moses did this in…
leads to
- Nehemiah 9:15
  In their hunger You gave them bread from heaven; in their thirst You brought them water from the rock. You told them to go in and possess the land which You had sworn to…
  Reached by 2 independent paths from here.
- Psalms 105:41
  He opened a rock, and water gushed out; it flowed like a river in the desert.
  Reached by 2 independent paths from here.
- Deuteronomy 8:15
  He led you through the vast and terrifying wilderness with its venomous snakes and scorpions, a thirsty and waterless land. He brought you water from the rock of flint.
  Reached by 2 independent paths from here.
- 1 Corinthians 10:4
  and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ.
- Numbers 20:9–11
  So Moses took the staff from the LORD’s presence, just as he had been commanded.
Through
1 Corinthians 10:4
and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ.
leads to
- Isaiah 48:21
  They did not thirst when He led them through the deserts; He made water flow for them from the rock; He split the rock, and water gushed out.
  Reached by 2 independent paths from here.
- Exodus 17:6
  Behold, I will stand there before you by the rock at Horeb. And when you strike the rock, water will come out of it for the people to drink.” So Moses did this in…
- John 7:37
  On the last and greatest day of the feast, Jesus stood up and called out in a loud voice, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink.

Featured studies on this passage

On Numbers 20:11

Moses Strikes the Rock — Exodus 17 and Numbers 20

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The Bronze Serpent

Christ's own chosen picture of his death. A four-moment story across 1,400 years: sin and plague, command and cure, idolatry and smashing, crucifixion and fulfillment.

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