Exodus 17:5

5 And the Lord said to Moses, Go before this people, and take to thyself of the elders of the people; and the rod with which thou smotest the river, take in thine hand, and thou shalt go.

Exodus 17:5 Meaning and Commentary

Exodus 17:5

And the Lord said unto Moses
Out of the pillar of cloud:

go on before the people,
lead them on nearer to Mount Sinai or Horeb, within sight of which they now were. Jarchi adds, by way of explanation, "and see if they will stone thee"; fear not, go on boldly, no harm shall come to thee:

and take with thee of the elders of Israel;
some of them for a witness, as the above writer observes, that they may see that by thine hand water comes out of the rock, and may not say there were fountains there from the days of old. These were taken, because they were the principal men among the people, who, as they were men of years, so of prudence and probity, and whose veracity might be depended upon; and since so great a multitude could not all of them see the miracle, the rock being smote, and the water only flowing in one part of it, and perhaps the road to it but narrow, it was proper some persons should be singled out as witnesses of it, and who so proper as the elders of the people?

and thy rod, wherewith thou smotest the river, take in thine hand and
go;
wherewith the river Nile was smitten, and the water became blood, when Moses and Aaron first went to Pharaoh; and which, though smitten by Aaron, yet being with the rod of Moses, and by his order, is attributed to him; or else with which the Red sea was smitten by Moses, and divided; which being but a narrow channel, or an arm of the sea, might be called a river: and this circumstance is observed, as the afore mentioned writer thinks, to let the Israelites know, that the rod was not, as they thought, only designed for inflicting punishment, as on Pharaoh and the Egyptians, but also for bringing good unto them; and when they saw this in his hand, by which so many miracles had been wrought, they might be encouraged to hope that something was going to be done in their favour, and that water would be produced for them to drink.

Exodus 17:5 In-Context

3 And the people thirsted there for water, and there the people murmured against Moses, saying, Why is this? hast thou brought us up out of Egypt to slay us and our children and our cattle with thirst?

4 And Moses cried to the Lord, saying, What shall I do to this people? yet a little while and they will stone me.

5 And the Lord said to Moses, Go before this people, and take to thyself of the elders of the people; and the rod with which thou smotest the river, take in thine hand, and thou shalt go.

6 Behold, I stand there before thou , on the rock in Choreb, and thou shalt smite the rock, and water shall come out from it, and the people shall drink. And Moses did so before the sons of Israel.

7 And he called the name of that place, Temptation, and Reviling, because of the reviling of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the Lord, saying, Is the Lord among us or not?