Psalms 78:15
in Psalms 78He split the rocks in the wilderness and gave them drink as abundant as the seas.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
He clave rocks in the wilderness, And gave them drink abundantly as out of the depths.
KJV
He clave the rocks in the wilderness, and gave them drink as out of the great depths.
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This verse in Psalms 78
Commentary
9 notes on this verseGod gives abundantly, and is rich in mercy; he gives seasonably, and sometimes makes us to feel the want of mercies that we may the better know the worth of them. This water which God gave Israel out of the rock was the more valuable because it was spiritual drink. And that rock was Christ.
This site's exposition
The archers of Ephraim turned back
on Psalms 78:9-16
Ephraim's archers turned back, and verses 10 and 11 name the failure, a broken covenant and forgotten works. The works come next, wonders in Egypt at Zoan, the sea split and standing like a wall, the cloud by day and the fire by night, and water out of split rock. Delitzsch ties the tribe to its rejection at verse 67.
This site's exposition
He split the rocks in the wilderness
Barnes read the plural rocks as two times God split the rock, at Horeb in Exodus 17:6 and at Numbers 20:11. Spurgeon heard the seas as water from the depths of the earth. Twice the stone gave drink.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
"He split the rock in the desert." The rock has been split for us in the wilderness. The rock was struck, and the waters flowed: that rock which says, "Whoever thirsts, let him come and drink"; from whose belly rivers flowed. "And he gave them water to drink as if from a great abyss." In the desert, where there was no water, an abundance of waters was made for us. There are many things that might be said, and the psalm is boundless, and we are shut out by time.
"He that burst asunder the rock in the desert, and gave them water as in a great deep" [Psalm 78:15]; "and brought out water from the rock, and brought down waters like rivers" [Psalm 78:16], is surely able upon thirsty faith to pour the gift of the Holy Spirit (the which gift the performance of that thing did spiritually signify), to pour, I say, from the Spiritual Rock that followed, which is Christ: who stood and cried, "If any is thirsty, let him come to Me:" [John 7:37] and, "he that shall have drunk of the water which I shall give, rivers of living water shall flow out of his bosom." [John 4:14] For this He spoke, as is read in the Gospel, [John 7:39] to the Spirit, which they were to receive that believed in Him, unto whom like the rod drew near the wood of the Passion, in order that there might flow forth grace for believers.
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
He clave the rocks in the wilderness,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
He clave the rocks in the wilderness. Moses was the instrument, but the Lord did it all. Twice he made the flint a gushing rill. What can he not do? And gave them drink as out of the great depths, —as though it gushed from earth's innermost reservoirs. The streams were so fresh, so copious, so constant, that they seemed to well up from the earth's primeval fountains, and to leap at once from "the deep which coucheth beneath." Here was a divine supply for Israel's urgent need, and such an one as ought to have held them for ever in unwavering fidelity to their wonder working God.
He clave the rocks in the wilderness. Moses was the instrument, but the Lord did it all. Twice he made the flint a gushing rill. What can he not do? And gave them drink as out of the great depths, —as though it gushed from earth's innermost reservoirs. The streams were so fresh, so copious, so constant, that they seemed to well up from the earth's primeval fountains, and to leap at once from "the deep which coucheth beneath."
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
He clave the rocks in the wilderness - There were two occasions on which the rock was smitten for water; one Exo 17:6 at Mount Horeb, shortly after they came out of Egypt; and the other Num 20:11, when they had nearly ceased their wanderings in the wilderness. Hence, the plural term (rocks) is used here. And gave them drink as out of the great depths - As if he had formed a lake or an ocean, furnishing an inexhaustible supply.
The words behind it
6 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| יְבַקַּ֣ע | yevaka' | he split open | H1234 → | 51 times |
| צֻ֭רִים | tzurim | rocks | H6697 → | 78 times |
| בַּמִּדְבָּ֑ר | bamidbar | in the wilderness | H4057 → | 270 times |
| וַ֝יַּ֗שְׁקְ | vaiyashk | and he gave [them] to drink | H8248 → | 61 times |
| כִּתְהֹמ֥וֹת | kithomot | like deeps | H8415 → | 36 times |
| רַבָּֽה׃ | rabah | much | H7227 → | 454 times |
יְבַקַּ֣עhe split open
yevaka'H1234 →51 times
צֻ֭רִיםrocks
tzurimH6697 →78 times
בַּמִּדְבָּ֑רin the wilderness
bamidbarH4057 →270 times
וַ֝יַּ֗שְׁקְand he gave [them] to drink
vaiyashkH8248 →61 times
כִּתְהֹמ֥וֹתlike deeps
kithomotH8415 →36 times
רַבָּֽה׃much
rabahH7227 →454 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 10:4and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ.
it leads to
- 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…
Reached by 4 separate paths from here.
- 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 separate paths from here.
- 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.
- Exodus 17:6
Through
Exodus 17:6Behold, 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…
it leads to
- 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.
Reached by 3 separate paths from here.
- Psalms 105:41
He opened a rock, and water gushed out; it flowed like a river in the desert.
Reached by 3 separate 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 3 separate paths from here.
- 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…
- 1 Corinthians 10:4
Through
Psalms 114:8who turned the rock into a pool, the flint into a fountain of water!
it leads to
- 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.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Numbers 20:11
Where this verse is studied
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About Psalms
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Augustine of Hippo, Exposition on Psalm 78; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 3; Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Psalms; Jerome, Homily 11, on Psalm 77; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.