Psalms 78:20
in Psalms 78When He struck the rock, water gushed out and torrents raged. But can He also give bread or supply His people with meat?”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Behold, he smote the rock, so that waters gushed out, And streams overflowed; Can he give bread also? Will he provide flesh for his people?
KJV
Behold, he smote the rock, that the waters gushed out, and the streams overflowed; can he give bread also? can he provide flesh for his people?
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This verse in Psalms 78
Commentary
9 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
they continued to sin against Him
on Psalms 78:17-22
They tested God willfully, demanding the food they craved, and asked whether He could prepare a table in the wilderness. Verse 20 puts the question after the rock had already given water and torrents. The wrath that answered was a fire kindled against Jacob.
This site's exposition
But can He also give bread
Matthew Henry called it the most absurd question unbelief ever asked. Albert Barnes reasoned that food in the desert was no harder for God to give than water had been. The argument runs from a proof of power to a doubt of it.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
"And they tempted God in their hearts, in order that they might seek morsels for their souls." It is one thing to ask in believing, another thing in tempting. Lastly there followeth, "And they slandered God, and said, Shall God be able to prepare a table in the desert?" "For He smote the rock, and the waters flowed, and torrents gushed forth: will He be able to give bread also, or to prepare a table for His people?" Not believing therefore, they sought morsels for their souls. Not so the Apostle James doth enjoin a morsel to be asked for the mind, but doth admonish that it be sought by believers, not by such as tempt and slander God. "But if any one of you," he saith, "doth lack wisdom, let him ask of God, who doth give to all men abundantly, and doth not upbraid, and it shall be given to him: but let him ask in faith, nothing wavering." This faith had not that generation which "had not directed their heart, and the spirit thereof had not been trusted with God."
A commentator
John ChrysostomHomily on the Gospel of Matthew 49 · Written in the 5th century.
proposed
And that which in the wilderness seemed to the Jews marvellous, (they said at least, "Can He give bread also? or prepare a table in the wilderness?") this He shows forth in His works. With this view also He leads them into the wilderness, that the miracle might be very far beyond suspicion, and that no one might think that any village lying near contributed ought to the meal. For this reason He mentions the hour also, not the place only.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Behold, he smote the rock, that the waters gushed out, and the streams overflowed,....
Never did unbelief, though always unreasonable, ask so absurd a question: "Can he that melted down a rock into streams of water give bread also? Or can he that has given bread provide flesh also?" Is any thing too hard for Omnipotence? When once the ordinary powers of nature are exceeded God has made bare his arm, and we must conclude that nothing is impossible with him.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Behold, he smote the rock, that the waters gushed out, and the streams overflowed. They admit what he had done, and yet, with superabundant folly and insolence, demand further proofs of his omnipotence. Can he give bread also? can he provide flesh for his people? As if the manna were nothing, as if animal food alone was true nourishment for men. If they had argued, "can he not give flesh?" the argument would have been reasonable, but they ran into insanity; when, having seen many marvels of omnipotence, they dared to insinuate that other things were beyond the divine power. Yet, in this also, we have imitated their senseless conduct. Each new difficulty has excited fresh incredulity. We are still fools and slow of heart to believe our God, and this is a fault to be bemoaned with deepest penitence. For this cause the Lord is often wroth with us and chastens us sorely; for unbelief has in it a degree of provocation of the highest kind.
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
Behold, he smote the rock, that the waters gushed out, and the streams overflowed. They admit what he had done, and yet, with superabundant folly and insolence, demand further proofs of his omnipotence. Can he give bread also? can he provide flesh for his people? As if the manna were nothing, as if animal food alone was true nourishment for men. If they had argued, "can he not give flesh?" the argument would have been reasonable, but they ran into insanity; when, having seen many marvels of omnipotence, they dared to insinuate that other things were beyond the divine power.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Behold, he smote the rock ... - See the notes at Psa 78:15. The smiting of the rock the first time occurred “before” the complaining about the food. The fact that the rock had been smitten could not be doubted. They had thus had abundant evidence that God was able to do that, and to furnish “water” for them in the desert. It was unreasonable, therefore, to doubt whether he could provide “food” for them - for this in itself was no more difficult than to furnish water. Yet they are represented as affirming that this was far more difficult, and that, although it was admitted that God had provided “water,” yet that to provide “food” was wholly beyond his power. Their special sin, therefore, was, that they doubted the power of God in one case, when, in another, equally difficult, they had had abundant proof of it. The spirit of complaining had not been put down by one surprising and undoubted miracle performed in their behalf - a miracle which proved that God had all the power necessary to meet their needs. Can he give bread also? - Does the ability to cause water to flow from a rock prove that there is also ability to produce bread when necessary? They doubted it, and thus complained against God. Can he provide flesh for his people? - They supposed that this required greater power than the providing of water, or even of bread, and that if it were admitted that God could furnish the two former, it would by no means follow that he could provide the latter. It was this, as the next verse shows, which was the immediate occasion of the special anger of the Lord.
The words behind it
15 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| הֵ֤ן | hen | there! | H2005 → | 316 times |
| הִכָּה־ | hikah- | he struck | H5221 → | 499 times |
| צ֨וּר׀ | tzur | a rock | H6697 → | 78 times |
| וַיָּז֣וּבוּ | vaiyazuvu | and they flowed out | H2100 → | |
| מַיִם֮ | mayim | waters | H4325 → | 581 times |
| וּנְחָלִ֪ים | unechalim | and torrents | H5158 → | 141 times |
| יִ֫שְׁטֹ֥פוּ | yishtofu | they overflowed | H7857 → | 31 times |
| הֲגַם־ | hagam- | ¿ also | H1571 → | 769 times |
| לֶ֭חֶם | lechem | food | H3899 → | 298 times |
| י֣וּכַל | yukhal | is he able | H3201 → | 194 times |
| תֵּ֑ת | tet | to give | H5414 → | 2011 times |
| אִם־ | ʾim- | or? | H518 → | 1069 times |
| יָכִ֖ין | yakhin | will he prepare | H3559 → | 217 times |
| שְׁאֵ֣ר | sheer | meat | H7607 → | 16 times |
| לְעַמּֽוֹ׃ | leamo | for people his | H5971 → | 1873 times |
הֵ֤ןthere!
henH2005 →316 times
הִכָּה־he struck
hikah-H5221 →499 times
צ֨וּר׀a rock
tzurH6697 →78 times
וַיָּז֣וּבוּand they flowed out
vaiyazuvuH2100 →
מַיִם֮waters
mayimH4325 →581 times
וּנְחָלִ֪יםand torrents
unechalimH5158 →141 times
יִ֫שְׁטֹ֥פוּthey overflowed
yishtofuH7857 →31 times
הֲגַם־¿ also
hagam-H1571 →769 times
לֶ֭חֶםfood
lechemH3899 →298 times
י֣וּכַלis he able
yukhalH3201 →194 times
תֵּ֑תto give
tetH5414 →2011 times
אִם־or?
ʾim-H518 →1069 times
יָכִ֖יןwill he prepare
yakhinH3559 →217 times
שְׁאֵ֣רmeat
sheerH7607 →16 times
לְעַמּֽוֹ׃for people his
leamoH5971 →1873 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
Psalms 78:41Again and again they tested God and provoked the Holy One of Israel.
it leads to
- Acts 7:39
But our fathers refused to obey him. Instead, they rejected him and in their hearts turned back to Egypt.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Numbers 14:22
not one of the men who have seen My glory and the signs I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness—yet have tested Me and disobeyed Me these ten times—
- Hebrews 3:8–11
do not harden your hearts, as you did in the rebellion, in the day of testing in the wilderness,
- Deuteronomy 6:16
Do not test the LORD your God as you tested Him at Massah.
- Psalms 78:19–20
They spoke against God, saying, “Can God really prepare a table in the wilderness?
- Acts 7:39
Through
Numbers 20:11Then 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.
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.
- 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…
- 1 Corinthians 10:4
Through
Numbers 11:18And say to the people: Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow, and you will eat meat, because you have cried out in the hearing of the LORD, saying: ‘Who will feed us meat? For we were…
it leads to
- Exodus 19:10
Then the LORD said to Moses, “Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow. They must wash their clothes
- Exodus 19:10
Where this verse is studied
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About Psalms
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Psalms; 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; John Chrysostom, Homily on the Gospel of Matthew 49; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.