Father Franz von Hummelauer (1842-1914) was a Jesuit biblical scholar who, beginning in 1884 took part, along with Fathers Joseph Knabenbauer and Rudolph Cornely, in producing the famous Cursus Scripturae Sacrae commentary series on the Old and New Testaments. This should not be confused with the equally famous Scripturae Sacrae Cursus Completus edited by Father Jacques-Paul Migne.
Water Drawn from the Rock (Exodus 17:1–7)
Already at Marah God had relieved the lack of water, and in the desert of Sin he had supplied food. Nevertheless, when suffering thirst at Rephidim, the people attack Moses and God with reproaches, whom God refreshes by a miracle even more illustrious than at Marah, performed through the rod — the memorial of so many wonders — by drawing water for a time from the rock.
Dillmann thinks verse 2 is merely a corruption of verse 3, but they do not say the same thing. In verse 2, as I believe, the people, newly arrived at the place, urgently ask for water, and Moses warns them that their complaints are directed not so much against him as against Yahweh’s providence. But soon, when thirst increases in that same place (v.3), they assail Moses and God’s providence with insults, which are summarized in verse 7 by the formula: “Is the Lord among us or not?”
Now at last Moses cries out to Yahweh.
Verse 1: “Therefore the whole multitude of the children of Israel set out from the desert of Sin by their stages according to their journeys,” — and if you compare Book of Genesis 13:3 and Book of Numbers 33:12ff., you will readily admit that here the stations Dophkah and Alush are conveniently indicated — “according to the word of the Lord,” which may aptly be understood here as the pillar of cloud, for every sign by which God manifests his will is called the word of God.
“They encamped at Rephidim, where there was no water for the people to drink.”
Verse 2: The people quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water to drink.” Moses answered, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the Lord?” Your complaints are directed not so much against me as against God himself. Why do you provoke God to anger? Why, distrusting the divine favor and help which you have so often experienced, do you again wish by experiment to learn whether God is among you, when you ought to have recourse to God not by murmuring but by prayer and firm hope?
Verse 3: The people thirsted there because of lack of water and murmured against Moses, saying, “Why did you bring us out of Egypt to kill us, our children, and our cattle with thirst?”
Verse 4: Moses cried to the Lord, “What shall I do with this people? How can I satisfy their request?” Perhaps better generally: What shall I do regarding this people, especially to defend myself from their importunity? “A little more and they will stone me.”
Verse 5: The Lord said to Moses, “Go before the people.” The Hebrew says “pass before the face of the people,” which Caietan interprets as: Do not fear, they will not stone you. But the simpler sense is that of the Vulgate and Septuagint: go ahead toward that rock, and take with you some of the elders of Israel, who will be authoritative witnesses of the miracle, and take in your hand the rod with which you struck the Nile.
The rod which by divine power transformed so great a river into blood — how could it not draw water from this rock? After the crossing of the Red Sea Moses is not said to have used the rod except here and in the very similar narrative in Book of Numbers 20, where it is gathered that the rod was no longer in Moses’ hands but kept before the Lord, that is, in the sanctuary (cf. Exodus 16:33). It seems to have been appointed by God for the wonders of the Exodus, and it was a notable favor that Moses was again permitted to use it, so that both he and the people might have full confidence.
Verse 6: “Behold, I will stand there before you upon the rock in Horeb.” You will not be alone or abandoned; I will be present. “You shall strike the rock, and water shall come out of it for the people to drink.” The text suggests that so much water would flow as was required for the people and their flocks. It does not say that a permanent spring arose, nor does that place today have a spring.
The Amalekites could have delayed their attack until the Hebrews were exhausted by thirst and nearly reached the oasis; but God thwarted their cunning and refreshed his people there by a miraculous drink. Moses did so before the elders of Israel.
Verse 7: He called the name of the place “Testing” and “Quarreling,” because of the quarrel of the children of Israel and because they tested the Lord, saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?”
The two names Massah and Meribah are foreshadowed by the words in verse 2 “they quarreled” and “you test.” But why is one place given two names on one occasion? Note that in Book of Numbers 20 very similar events are narrated and a spring is likewise given the name Meribah. That similarity may be the reason why here, besides the name Massah, the name Meribah also crept in — especially since the verb ריב (“to quarrel”) appears both in verse 2 and verse 7.
CONTINUE:
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