How are the water shortage at Raphidim and the fight against Amalec answered?

Atlas of Saints · Chapter summary

God tells Moses to strike the rock Horeb so water will come out for the people, and Moses does so before Israel’s elders. Josue fights Amalec while Moses raises his hands; Aaron and Hur support those hands until sunset, and Josue puts Amalec to flight.

Chapter breakdown

How are the water shortage at Raphidim and the fight against Amalec answered? God tells Moses to strike the rock Horeb so water will come out for the people, and Moses does so before Israel’s elders. Josue fights Amalec while Moses raises his hands; Aaron and Hur support those hands until sunset, and Josue puts Amalec to flight.

All Israel’s multitude sets out from the desert of Sin, by their stages of lodging, according to the Lord’s word, and camps in Raphidim. There is no water for the people to drink. They quarrel with Moses and demand water. He asks why they quarrel with him and tempt the Lord. Thirsty for want of water, they complain that he brought them out of Egypt to kill them, their children and their beasts with thirst.

Moses cries to the Lord, asking what he is to do with the people and saying that a little more and they will stone him. The Lord tells him to go before the people, take some of Israel’s ancients, or elders, with him, and take in his hand the rod with which he struck the river.

The Lord says he will stand before Moses upon the rock Horeb. Moses is to strike the rock, and water will come out so the people may drink. Moses does so before Israel’s elders. He calls the place Temptation because Israel quarreled and tempted the Lord, asking whether the Lord was among them or not.

Amalec comes and fights Israel in Raphidim. Moses tells Josue to choose men and go out to fight Amalec. The next day Moses will stand on the hilltop with God’s rod in his hand. Josue does as Moses says and fights Amalec, while Moses, Aaron and Hur go up to the hilltop.

When Moses raises his hands, Israel overcomes; if he lowers them a little, Amalec overcomes. His hands are heavy, so they put a stone under him and he sits on it. Aaron and Hur hold up his hands on both sides, and his hands are not weary until sunset. Josue puts Amalec and his people to flight by the edge of the sword.

The Lord tells Moses to write this as a memorial in a book and deliver it to Josue’s ears, because he will destroy Amalec’s memory from under heaven. Moses builds an altar and names it “The Lord, my exaltation.” His closing words are: “Because the hand of the throne of the Lord, and the war of the Lord shall be against Amalec, from generation to generation.”

The story inside

Moses answers the water complaint by crying to the Lord. He reports a threat of stoning, then receives instructions to go with some elders and the rod that struck the river. The water promise names the rock Horeb and the act of striking it; Moses does so before the elders. The place name records the people’s quarrel and question about the Lord’s presence. In the battle account, Josue fights while Moses is on the hill with Aaron and Hur. The account ties Israel’s success to raised hands and Amalec’s success to lowered hands. When Moses’ hands are heavy, a stone seat and support on both sides keep them up until sunset. Josue puts Amalec to flight. The Lord then commands a written memorial delivered to Josue, and Moses names an altar. (Exodus 17:1–16.)

Lessons worth keeping

1
The place name records a specific question. Temptation is explained by Israel’s quarrelling and tempting the Lord, asking whether he is among them. Moses’ cry receives instructions involving some elders, the rod and the rock Horeb. (17:2–7.)
2
The help for Moses is concrete. When his hands are heavy, he sits on a stone and Aaron and Hur hold up his hands on both sides until sunset. This follows the stated difference between what happens when his hands are raised and lowered. (17:11–13.)
3
The battle is followed by a command to remember. Moses must write a memorial in a book and deliver it to Josue’s ears. The Lord’s promise concerns destroying Amalec’s memory; the final words speak of war against Amalec from generation to generation. (17:14–16.)

Test your recall

Why is the place called Temptation? Israel quarreled and tempted the Lord by asking whether he was among them. What is Moses told to take when he goes before the people? Some elders and the rod with which he struck the river. How do Aaron and Hur help when his hands are heavy? He sits on a stone and they hold his hands up on both sides until sunset. Why must he write a memorial and deliver it to Josue?

Show answer

The Lord says he will destroy Amalec’s memory from under heaven. (17:5–7, 12, 14.)

Source edition and notes

Douay–Rheims, revised by Richard Challoner (1749–1752). Project Gutenberg no. 1581. Locators refer to lines in the admitted pg1581.txt edition. Source notes may include Challoner commentary.

Lines 7801–7805
Exodus Chapter 17 The people murmur again for want of drink; the Lord giveth them water out of a rock. Moses lifting up his hand in prayer, Amalec is overcome.
Lines 7806–7818
17:1. Then all the multitude of the children of Israel setting forward from the desert of Sin, by their mansions, according to the word of the Lord, encamped in Raphidim, where there was no water for the people to drink. 17:2. And they chode with Moses, and said: Give us water, that we may drink. And Moses answered them: Why chide you with me? Wherefore do you tempt the Lord? 17:3. So the people were thirsty there for want of water, and murmured against Moses, saying: Why didst thou make us go forth out of Egypt, to kill us and our children, and our beasts with thirst?
Lines 7819–7825
17:4. And Moses cried to the Lord, saying: What shall I do to this people? Yet a little more and they will stone me. 17:5. And the Lord said to Moses: Go before the people, and take with thee of the ancients of Israel: and take in thy hand the rod wherewith thou didst strike the river, and go.
Lines 7826–7833
17:6. Behold I will stand there before thee, upon the rock Horeb, and thou shalt strike the rock, and water shall come out of it that the people may drink. Moses did so before the ancients of Israel: 17:7. And he called the name of that place Temptation, because of the chiding of the children of Israel, and for that they tempted the Lord, saying: Is the Lord amongst us or not?
Lines 7834–7842
17:8. And Amalec came, and fought against Israel in Raphidim. 17:9. And Moses said to Josue: Choose out men; and go out and fight against Amalec: tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill, having the rod of God in my hand. 17:10. Josue did as Moses had spoken, and he fought against Amalec; but Moses, and Aaron, and Hur, went up upon the top of the hill.
Lines 7843–7853
17:11. And when Moses lifted up his hands, Israel overcame; but if he let them down a little, Amalec overcame. 17:12. And Moses’s hands were heavy: so they took a stone, and put under him, and he sat on it: and Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands on both sides. And it came to pass, that his hands were not weary until sunset. 17:13. And Josue put Amalec and his people to flight, by the edge of the sword.
Lines 7854–7864
17:14. And the Lord said to Moses: Write this for a memorial in a book, and deliver it to the ears of Josue; for I will destroy the memory of Amalec from under heaven. 17:15. And Moses built an altar; and called the name thereof, The Lord, my exaltation, saying: 17:16. Because the hand of the throne of the Lord, and the war of the Lord shall be against Amalec, from generation to generation.