Numbers 20:11

And Moses lifted up his hand, and with his rod he smote the rock twice: and the water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their beasts also.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
Moses	מֹשֶׁ֜ה mo.Sheh	H4872	Mosheh · proper noun, a man's name
up	וַיָּ֨רֶם vai.Ya.rem	H7311	to be high actively · conjunction + verb, hiphil sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
hand	יָד֗וֹ ya.Do	H3027	a hand (the open one (indicating power · noun, common both genders singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
rod	בְּמַטֵּ֖הוּ be.ma.Te.hu	H4294	a branch (as extending) · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
smote	וַיַּ֧ךְ vai.Yakh	H5221	to strike (lightly or severely · conjunction + verb, hiphil sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
rock	הַסֶּ֛לַע ha.Se.la'	H5553	a craggy rock · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
twice	פַּעֲמָ֑יִם pa.'a.Ma.yim	H6471	a stroke · noun, common feminine dual absolute
water	מַ֣יִם Ma.yim	H4325	water · noun, common masculine plural absolute
out	וַיֵּצְאוּ֙ vai.ye.tze.'U	H3318	to go (causatively · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
abundantly	רַבִּ֔ים ra.Bim	H7227	abundant (in quantity · adjective, masculine plural absolute
congregation	הָעֵדָ֖ה ha.'e.Dah	H5712	a stated assemblage (specifically · definite article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
drank	וַתֵּ֥שְׁתְּ va.Te.shet	H8354	to imbibe (literally or figuratively) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person feminine singular
beasts	וּבְעִירָֽם u.ve.'i.Ram	H1165	cattle · conjunction + noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

1 Corinthians 10:4 And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.
Exodus 17:6 Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb; and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the…
Deuteronomy 8:15 Who led thee through that great and terrible wilderness, wherein were fiery serpents, and scorpions, and drought, where there was no water;…
Numbers 20:8 Take the rod, and gather thou the assembly together, thou, and Aaron thy brother, and speak ye unto the rock before their eyes; and it shall…
1 Samuel 15:24 And Saul said unto Samuel, I have sinned: for I have transgressed the commandment of the LORD, and thy words: because I feared the people, a…
1 Chronicles 15:13 For because ye did it not at the first, the LORD our God made a breach upon us, for that we sought him not after the due order.
Psalms 78:16 He brought streams also out of the rock, and caused waters to run down like rivers.
Hosea 13:5 I did know thee in the wilderness, in the land of great drought.

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Numbers 20:1-13

After thirty-eight years' tedious marches, or rather tedious rests, in the wilderness, backward towards the Red Sea, the armies of Israel now at length set their faces towards Canaan again, and had come not far off from the place where they were when, by the righteous sentence of divine Justice, they were made to begin their wanderings. Hitherto they had been led about as in a maze or labyrinth, while execution was doing upon the rebels that were sentenced; but they were now brought into the right way again: they abode in Kadesh (Num 20:1), not Kadesh-barnea, which was near the borders of Canaan, but another Kadesh on the confines of Edom, further off from the land of promise, yet in the way…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Numbers 20:11

the congregation drank, and their beasts--Physically the water afforded the same kind of needful refreshment to both. But from a religious point of view, this, which was only a common element to the cattle, was a sacrament to the people (Co1 10:3-4) --It possessed a relative sanctity imparted to it by its divine origin and use.

John Gill on Numbers 20:11

And Moses lifted up his hand, and with his rod he smote the rock twice,.... At first it only brought out some drops, as Jarchi conjectures, and therefore Moses smote again, when it brought forth water plentifully: the Targum of Jonathan says,"at the first time it dropped blood, at the second time came out much water.''Could this be credited, it would make the agreement between this rock and Christ appear very manifest, from whom, when his side was pierced with a spear, there came out blood and water, John 19:34 for justification and sanctification. In what respect this rock was a type of Christ, as the other at Horeb, and the smiting of it an emblem of Christ being smitten with the rod of ju…

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John Calvin on Numbers 20:1-13

Numbers 20:1-13 1. Then came the children of Israel, even the whole congregation, into the desert of Zin, in the first month: and the people abode in Kadesh; and Miriam died there, and was buried there. 1. Pervenerunt autem filii Israel universa congregatio, in desertum Sin, mense primo, et mansit populus in Cades: ubi mortua est Maria, et sepulta illic fuit: 2. And there was no water for the congregation: and they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron. 2. Quumque non esset aqua congregationi, convenerunt adversus Mosen et Aharon. 3. And the people chode with Moses, and spoke, saying, Would God that we had died when our brethren died before the Lord! 3. Et jurga…

The Church Fathers

The rock is Christ in a sign, the true Christ in the Word and in the flesh. And how did they drink? The rock was struck twice with a rod. The double striking prefigures the two pieces of wood on the cross.
— Augustine of Hippo, TRACTATE ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 26.12.2

"Therefore Moses struck the rock twice with his staff." What does this mean, brethren? I do not think it is without mystery. What does it mean that the rock was not struck once but twice with the staff? The rock was struck a second time because two trees were lifted up for the gibbet of the cross: the one stretched out Christ's sacred hands, the other spread out his sinless body from head to foot.
— Caesarius of Arles, SERMON 103.3

Priests also must take care lest they be insincere, lest they doubt the power of God. If Aaron and Moses (who seemed to waver at the waters of contradiction) did not deserve to enter the Promised Land, does it not stand to reason that we, bent under the burden of sin, shall be far less able to cross the river Jordan and reach Gilgal, the place of circumcision, if we shall cause one of these little ones to sin?
— Jerome, HOMILY 90

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Aaron — The eldest son of Amram and Jochebed, a daughter of Levi (Ex. 6:20). Some explain the name as meaning mountaineer, others mountain of strength, illuminator. He was born in Egypt three years before…
Beast — This word is used of flocks or herds of grazing animals (Ex. 22:5; Num. 20:4, 8, 11; Ps. 78:48); of beasts of burden (Gen. 45:17); of eatable beasts (Prov. 9:2); and of swift beasts or dromedaries…
Meribah — Quarrel or strife. (1.) One of the names given by Moses to the fountain in the desert of Sin, near Rephidim, which issued from the rock in Horeb, which he smote by the divine command, “because of the…
Anger · .Moses, toward Pharaoh — .Moses, toward Pharaoh
Desert, Journey Of Israel Through The · Moses striking the rock instead of speaking to it, disobeys God — Moses striking the rock instead of speaking to it, disobeys God
Disobedience To God · When he struck the rock — When he struck the rock
Miracles Wrought Through Servants Of God · Moses and Aaron: Water from rock in Kadesh — Moses and Aaron: Water from rock in Kadesh
Rashness · .When he struck the rock — .When he struck the rock
Rocks · Mentioned in scripture: Meribah in Kadesh — Mentioned in scripture: Meribah in Kadesh
Trouble · .About water — .About water
Water · .To the Israelites — .To the Israelites

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Numbers 20:11

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Numbers 20:1-13

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Numbers 20:11

John Gill on Numbers 20:11

John Calvin on Numbers 20:1-13

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Numbers 20:11

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Numbers 20:1-13

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Numbers 20:11

John Gill on Numbers 20:11

John Calvin on Numbers 20:1-13

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Keil & Delitzsch on Numbers 20:9-11

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Numbers 20:10-12

Rashi on Numbers 20:11