What Does Exodus 17:2 Mean in the King James?
Wherefore the people did chide with Moses, and said, Give us water that we may drink. And Moses said unto them, Why chide ye with me? wherefore do ye tempt the LORD?
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The argument is aimed at Moses, but the test beneath it is whether the LORD is present.
THE MEANING
The verse holds both truths together: thirst is real, and a demand for relief can also challenge whether the LORD is present. When pressure is directed at a human mediator, the question beneath it can reach beyond that person to God. Need and accusation coexist in the same plea.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The verse undoes the belief that a demand for relief is only practical: when lack is made a test of God’s presence, the request carries a deeper challenge.
THE ROOT
וַיָּרֶב
vayarev
GROWS FROM
ריב
r-y-b
To contend, dispute, or strive.
“chide” in this verse is vayarev. The Hebrew verb names contention, a conflict that keeps its force when the same root appears in Meribah. Moses answers the dispute with him by naming the deeper question: whether the LORD is being tested.
ALSO GROWS
riv: Contend or dispute.
רִיב
This is the root verb behind the people’s quarrel with Moses.
merivah: Strife or contention; also the place-name Meribah.
מְרִיבָה
The place-name in the next part of the account preserves the dispute in the same word-family.
תְּנַסּוּן
tenassun
GROWS FROM
נסה
n-s-h
To test or put to the proof.
“tempt” in this verse is tenassun. The verb means putting the LORD to a test, not merely tempting someone toward wrongdoing. Its root returns in the name Massah, linking the people’s question about God’s presence to the act of testing.
ALSO GROWS
massah: Testing; also the place-name Massah.
מַסָּה
The place-name in Exodus 17:7 marks this episode as a test of the LORD.
nissah: He tested or put to the proof.
נִסָּה
This verbal form makes explicit the testing action that Moses identifies beneath the dispute.
תְּנוּ
tenu
GROWS FROM
נתן
n-t-n
To give, set, or place.
“give” in this verse is tenu. The request uses a form of nathan, whose range includes giving and setting something in place. Here the requested gift of water becomes the point at which the question of God’s presence is pressed.
ALSO GROWS
natan: To give, set, or place.
נָתַן
This is the verb behind the people’s demand for water.
mattanah: A gift or present.
מַתָּנָה
This noun from the same root brings out the gift-like dimension of what the people ask to receive.
THE PATTERN
A real need becomes a test when lack is turned into a verdict on whether God is present.
And he called the name of the place Massah, and Meribah, because of the chiding of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the LORD, saying, Is the LORD among us, or not?Ye shall not tempt the LORD your God, as ye tempted him in Massah.Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.THE THREAD
And he called the name of the place Massah, and Meribah, because of the chiding of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the LORD, saying, Is the LORD among us, or not?Massah carries the root of testing, and Meribah carries the root of contention, the two actions held together in this verse. The closing question makes the hidden issue plain: the demand for water has become a question about whether the LORD is among them.
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