Exodus 17:6

Hebrew Key Terms:

• H4325 מַיִם mayim - water
• H6697 צוּר tsur - rock
• H5221 נָכָה nakah - to strike, smite
• H2722 חֹרֵב Choreb - Horeb (the mountain of God)

Context: At Rephidim, the Israelites complained against Moses for lack of water. God commanded Moses to strike the rock at Horeb with his staff, and water gushed out to provide for the people. This miracle demonstrates God's provision in the wilderness and His presence accompanying Israel (the rock at Horeb = the mountain of God).

OT-to-OT Development:

• Numbers 20:11 - Second water-from-rock incident at Kadesh. Moses strikes the rock (against God's command to speak to it), suggesting the rock shouldn't be struck twice (Heb 10:10).
• Psalm 78:15-16, 20 - Recounts the miracle: "He split the rocks in the wilderness and gave them abundant drink... streams gushed out"
• Psalm 105:41 - "He opened the rock and water gushed out; it flowed like a river in the desert"
• Isaiah 48:21 - "He made water flow for them from the rock; He split the rock and water gushed out"

Connections:

• TO:
• Garden of Eden (Gen 2:10 - river from God's presence); God's provision of manna (Ex 16)
• FROM OT:
• Numbers 20:11 - water from rock at Kadesh
• Psalm 78:15-20 - ; 105:41; 114:8
• Isaiah 48:21
• FROM NT:
• 1 Corinthians 10:4 - "the rock was Christ"
• John 7:37-39 - Christ the source of living water
• John 19:34 - water from Christ's pierced side

Christological Connection: 1 Corinthians 10:4 provides the definitive interpretation: "They drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ." The physical rock struck by Moses prefigures Christ smitten on the cross. The water that flowed represents the Holy Spirit poured out through Christ's death (John 7:39: "the Spirit had not yet been given, because Jesus had not yet been glorified"). The escalation: physical water satisfying temporary thirst → Holy Spirit providing eternal life (John 4:13-14).

Connection Method(s): Typology (Providential, Forward-Looking) — Water from the struck rock sustaining Israel typologically prefigures Christ struck at Calvary providing the Spirit as living water, as Paul explicitly identifies: "the Rock was Christ" (1 Corinthians 10:4).

Trajectory Table: 098 - Living Water (Spirit and Life)