Verse 1
children = sons.
Sin. Hebrew Bush.
commandment. Hebrew "mouth". Figure of speech Metonymy (of Cause). App-6. Mouth put for what is spoken by it. the LORD. Hebrew. Jehovah. App-4. Rephidim = reclining places. Two stations omitted here. Compare 17. Numbers 33:12-14.
Verse 2
chide. Murmuring was good policy. They would not "dig" (as at Beer and Elim) = to "beg "they were not ashamed. "Give us water. "See note on Exodus 15:24.
Why chide . . . ? Figure of speech Erotesis. App-6.
wherefore. Some codices, with Samaritan Pentateuch, The Targum of Jonathan ben Uzziel, Sept, and Syriac, read "And why".
tempt = put to the proof. Hebrew from nasah, to smell, hence, to try. Figure of speech Anthropopatheia. App-6.
Verse 3
us. Hebrew. he. Figure of speech Heterosis (of" Number). App-6.
Verse 4
they be almost ready. Hebrew "yet a little and they will". Moses, David, Jeremiah, Stephen, Paul, and the Lord Jesus suffered from stoning or its threatening
Verse 5
the LORD (Hebrew. Jehovah. said. See note on Exodus 3:7, and compare note on Exodus 6:10.
Verse 6
Behold. Figure of speech Asterismos. App-6.
I will stand. Figure of speech Anthropopatheia. App-6.
rock: a type of Christ. Frequently referred to (Deuteronomy 32:4, Deuteronomy 32:15, Deuteronomy 32:18, Deuteronomy 32:31, Deuteronomy 32:37; 1 Samuel 2:2. Psalms 18:2). Rock of life (Deuteronomy 32:18): Salvation (2 Samuel 22:47, &c.): Refuge (Psalms 27:5; Psalms 62:6, Psalms 62:7): Rest and refreshment (Isaiah 32:2).
Horeb. Compare Exodus 3:1.
smite. Smitten only once. Compare Isaiah 53:4. Zechariah 13:7. Jehovah on the Rock = God in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:19). No water till smitten (Psalms 78:20. John 7:38, John 7:39; John 12:24). water. Water from the rock. Fire out of the rock (Judges 6:21). Honey from the rock (Psalms 81:16). Oil from the rock (Deuteronomy 32:13).
Verse 7
Massah = Temptation. Tempting of God. Meribah = Strife. Striving with Moses.
tempted. Figure of speech Anthropopatheia. App-6. (i.e. tempting Jehovah to cut them off).
Verse 8
Then came Amalek. See on Genesis 21:25 and Judges 5:11. Amalek came to fight for the water. Compare Deuteronomy 25:17, Deuteronomy 25:18. Amalek came behind and attacked the rear, and he "feared not God", Deuteronomy 25:8.
Amalek, Figure of speech Synecdoche (of Part), App-6, put for Amalekites. At Rephidim, they got water plus Amalek; at Meribah, water plus Edom.
Verse 9
Joshua. First occurance. (250 times in all). Hebrew. Jehoshua. Now fifty-three years of age. Hence a bondman in Egypt. Twenty-seven years younger than Moses. See App-50.
men. Hebrew, plural of "ish or "enesh. App-14.
fight. There was a large population in the peninsula at this time. A wilderness, a place of pasture, not a desert.
God. Hebrew. Elohim. App-4.
Verse 10
as = according as.
Moses (prophet), Aaron (priest), Hur (royal tribe, Judah).
Hur. Hebrew noble or well-born. The son of Caleb, the son of Hezron, the son of Pharez, the son of Judah (1 Chronicles 2:3, 1 Chronicles 2:4, 1 Chronicles 2:5, 1 Chronicles 2:18, 1 Chronicles 2:19). Josephus makes him the husband of Miriam and grandfather of Bezaleel (Exodus 31:2; Exodus 35:30; Exodus 38:22).
Verse 11
when = according as.
hand. Samaritan Pentateuch and Septuagint read "hands". Compare Exodus 17:12.
Verse 12
heavy = weary.
Verse 13
edge. Hebrew mouth. Figure of speech Prosopopoeia. App-6. sword in the Plain: Rod of God on the mount (Exodus 17:9): Jehovah above all (Exodus 17:6).
Verse 14
the LORD (Hebrew. Jehovah. said. See notes on Exodus 3:7 and Exodus 6:10.
Write. First occurrence. The tablets found at Lachish and Tel-el-Amarna show that writing of a high order was fully developed before the time of Moses.
in a book. Hebrew "in the book" (bassepher). This writing afterward ordered for "the Book of the Law" (Exodus 24:4, Exodus 24:7). See App-47, where the history of that Book is traced from this passage to Malachi.
put out = blot out. Compare Deuteronomy 25:19. Numbers 24:20.
Verse 15
Jehovah-nissi = " Jehovah [is] my banner. "One of the Jehovah titles. App-4.
Verse 16
LORD = Jah. See App-4.
hath sworn. The margins of Authorized Version and Revised Version show the perplexity caused by the Ellipsis. of the verb. "Surely the hand [lifted up] upon the banner of Jah [is to swear]: for the war of Jehovah against Amalek is to be from generation to generation". So it was. It was carried on by Ehud (Judges 3:13-15), Barak (Judges 5:14), Gideon (Judges 6:3; Judges 7:12-14), Saul (1 Samuel 15:2-9, Compare Exodus 17:11), Samuel (1 Samuel 15:32, 1 Samuel 15:33), David (1 Samuel 27:8; 1 Samuel 30:1, 1 Samuel 30:17; 2 Samuel 8:12), Simeonites (1 Chronicles 4:42, 1 Chronicles 4:43), and Mordecai (Esther 3:1-6; Esther 9:7-10).