Numbers 20:11

THE MESSAGE

With that Moses raised his arm and slammed his staff against the rock—once, twice. Water poured out. Congregation and cattle drank.

Parallel Translations

Hebrew Names Version
Moshe lifted up his hand, and struck the rock with his rod twice: and water came forth abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their cattle.

King James Version
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.

Lexham English Bible
Then Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock with his staff twice. And abundant water went out, and the community and their livestock drank.

English Standard Version
And Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock with his staff twice, and water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their livestock.

New Century Version
Then Moses lifted his hand and hit the rock twice with his stick. Water began pouring out, and the people and their animals drank it.

New English Translation
Then Moses raised his hand, and struck the rock twice with his staff. And water came out abundantly. So the community drank, and their beasts drank too.

Amplified Bible
Then Moses raised his hand [in anger] and with his rod he struck the rock twice [instead of speaking to the rock as the LORD had commanded]. And the water poured out abundantly, and the congregation and their livestock drank [fresh water].

New American Standard Bible
Then Moses raised his hand and struck the rock twice with his staff; and water came out abundantly, and the congregation and their livestock drank.

Geneva Bible (1587)
Then Moses lift vp his hande, and with his rod he smote the rocke twise, and the water came out aboundantly: so the Congregation, and their beastes dranke.

Legacy Standard Bible
Then Moses raised high his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod; and water came forth abundantly, and the congregation and their beasts drank.

Contemporary English Version
He raised his stick in the air and struck the rock two times. At once, water gushed from the rock, and the people and their livestock had water to drink.

Complete Jewish Bible
Then Moshe raised his hand and hit the rock twice with his staff. Water flowed out in abundance, and the community and their livestock drank.

Darby Translation
And Moses lifted up his hand, and with his staff smote the rock twice, and much water came out, and the assembly drank, and their beasts.

Easy-to-Read Version
Moses lifted his arm and hit the rock twice. Water began flowing from the rock, and the people and their animals drank that water.

George Lamsa Translation
And Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock with his rod twice; and the water came out abundantly, and the people drank and all their cattle also.

Good News Translation
Then Moses raised the stick and struck the rock twice with it, and a great stream of water gushed out, and all the people and animals drank.

Christian Standard Bible®
Then Moses raised his hand and struck the rock twice with his staff, so that abundant water gushed out, and the community and their livestock drank.

Literal Translation
And Moses lifted up his hand and smote the rock with his rod twice; and much water came out; and the congregation and their animals drank.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
And Moses lift vp his hande, & smote ye rocke wt the staffe two tymes. Then came ye water out abudantly, so yt the cogregacion dranke, and their catell also.

American Standard Version
And Moses lifted up his hand, and smote the rock with his rod twice: and water came forth abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their cattle.

Bible in Basic English
And lifting up his hand, Moses gave the rock two blows with his rod: and water came streaming out, and the people and their cattle had drink enough.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
And Moyses lyft vp his hande, and with his rodde he smote the rocke two tymes, and the water came out aboundauntly, and the multitude dranke, and their beastes also.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
And Moses lifted up his hand, and smote the rock with his rod twice; and water came forth abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their cattle.

King James Version (1611)
And Moses lift vp his hand, and with his rod he smote the rocke twice: and the water came out abundantly, and the Congregation dranke, and their beasts also.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock with his rod twice; and much water came forth, and the congregation drank, and their cattle.

English Revised Version
And Moses lifted up his hand, and smote the rock with his rod twice: and water came forth abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their cattle.

Berean Standard Bible
Then Moses raised his hand and struck the rock twice with his staff, so that a great amount of water gushed out, and the congregation and their livestock were able to drink.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And whanne Moises hadde reisid the hond, and hadde smyte the flynt twies with the yerde, largeste watris yeden out, so that the puple drank, and the beestis drunken.

Young's Literal Translation
and Moses lifteth up his hand, and smiteth the rock with his rod twice; and much water cometh out, and the company drink, also their beasts.

Update Bible Version
And Moses lifted up his hand, and smote the rock with his rod twice: and water came forth abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their cattle.

Webster's Bible Translation
And Moses lifted 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].

World English Bible
Moses lifted up his hand, and struck the rock with his rod twice: and water came forth abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their cattle.

New King James Version
Then Moses lifted his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod; and water came out abundantly, and the congregation and their animals drank.

New Living Translation
Then Moses raised his hand and struck the rock twice with the staff, and water gushed out. So the entire community and their livestock drank their fill.

New Life Bible
Then Moses lifted up his hand and hit the rock twice with his stick, and more than enough water came out. The people and their animals drank.

New Revised Standard
Then Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock twice with his staff; water came out abundantly, and the congregation and their livestock drank.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And Moses lifted high his hand and smote the cliff with his staff, twice, - and there came forth water in abundance, and the assembly and their cattle, did drink.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And when Moses bad lifted up his hand, and struck the rock twice with the rod, there came forth water in great abundance, so that the people and their cattle drank,

Revised Standard Version
And Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock with his rod twice; and water came forth abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their cattle.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
Then Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod; and water came forth abundantly, and the congregation and their beasts drank.

Contextual Overview

¹ In the first month, the entire company of the People of Israel arrived in the Wilderness of Zin. The people stayed in Kadesh. Miriam died there, and she was buried. ²There was no water there for the community, so they ganged up on Moses and Aaron. They attacked Moses: "We wish we'd died when the rest of our brothers died before God . Why did you haul this congregation of God out here into this wilderness to die, people and cattle alike? And why did you take us out of Egypt in the first place, dragging us into this miserable country? No grain, no figs, no grapevines, no pomegranates—and now not even any water!" ⁶ Moses and Aaron walked from the assembled congregation to the Tent of Meeting and threw themselves facedown on the ground. And they saw the Glory of God . ⁷ God spoke to Moses: "Take the staff. Assemble the community, you and your brother Aaron. Speak to that rock that's right in front of them and it will give water. You will bring water out of the rock for them; congregation and cattle will both drink." ⁹Moses took the staff away from God 's presence, as commanded. He and Aaron rounded up the whole congregation in front of the rock. Moses spoke: "Listen, rebels! Do we have to bring water out of this rock for you?" ¹¹ With that Moses raised his arm and slammed his staff against the rock—once, twice. Water poured out. Congregation and cattle drank. ¹² God said to Moses and Aaron, "Because you didn't trust me, didn't treat me with holy reverence in front of the People of Israel, you two aren't going to lead this company into the land that I am giving them." ¹³ These were the Waters of Meribah (Bickering) where the People of Israel bickered with God , and he revealed himself as holy.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

smote: Numbers 20:8, Leviticus 10:1, 1 Samuel 15:13, 1 Samuel 15:14, 1 Samuel 15:19, 1 Samuel 15:24, 1 Kings 13:21-24, 1 Chronicles 13:9, 1 Chronicles 13:10, 1 Chronicles 15:2, 1 Chronicles 15:13, Matthew 28:20, James 1:20

the water: Exodus 17:6, Deuteronomy 8:15, Hosea 13:5, 1 Corinthians 10:4

Reciprocal: Numbers 1:50 - the tabernacle Numbers 20:24 - because ye Deuteronomy 32:51 - ye trespassed Psalms 74:15 - cleave Psalms 78:15 - General Psalms 78:20 - he smote Psalms 105:41 - opened Psalms 106:33 - Because Psalms 114:8 - General Isaiah 35:6 - for Isaiah 43:19 - rivers Isaiah 48:21 - he caused Jonah 4:4 - Doest thou well to be angry Habakkuk 3:9 - Thou Hebrews 2:2 - every

Cross-References

Genesis 20:1
Abraham traveled from there south to the Negev and settled down between Kadesh and Shur. While he was camping in Gerar, Abraham said of his wife Sarah, "She's my sister." So Abimelech, king of Gerar, sent for Sarah and took her. But God came to Abimelech in a dream that night and told him, "You're as good as dead—that woman you took, she's a married woman." Now Abimelech had not yet slept with her, hadn't so much as touched her. He said, "Master, would you kill an innocent man? Didn't he tell me, ‘She's my sister'? And didn't she herself say, ‘He's my brother'? I had no idea I was doing anything wrong when I did this." God said to him in the dream, "Yes, I know your intentions were pure, that's why I kept you from sinning against me; I was the one who kept you from going to bed with her. So now give the man's wife back to him. He's a prophet and will pray for you—pray for your life. If you don't give her back, know that it's certain death both for you and everyone in your family." Abimelech was up first thing in the morning. He called all his house servants together and told them the whole story. They were shocked. Then Abimelech called in Abraham and said, "What have you done to us? What have I ever done to you that you would bring on me and my kingdom this huge offense? What you've done to me ought never to have been done." Abimelech went on to Abraham, "Whatever were you thinking of when you did this thing?" Abraham said, "I just assumed that there was no fear of God in this place and that they'd kill me to get my wife. Besides, the truth is that she is my half sister; she's my father's daughter but not my mother's. When God sent me out as a wanderer from my father's home, I told her, ‘Do me a favor; wherever we go, tell people that I'm your brother.'" Then Abimelech gave Sarah back to Abraham, and along with her sent sheep and cattle and servants, both male and female. He said, "My land is open to you; live wherever you wish." And to Sarah he said, "I've given your brother a thousand pieces of silver—that clears you of even a shadow of suspicion before the eyes of the world. You're vindicated." Then Abraham prayed to God and God healed Abimelech, his wife and his maidservants, and they started having babies again. For God had shut down every womb in Abimelech's household on account of Sarah, Abraham's wife.

Genesis 20:4
Now Abimelech had not yet slept with her, hadn't so much as touched her. He said, "Master, would you kill an innocent man? Didn't he tell me, ‘She's my sister'? And didn't she herself say, ‘He's my brother'? I had no idea I was doing anything wrong when I did this."

Genesis 22:12
"Don't lay a hand on that boy! Don't touch him! Now I know how fearlessly you fear God; you didn't hesitate to place your son, your dear son, on the altar for me."

Genesis 26:7
The men of the place questioned him about his wife. He said, "She's my sister." He was afraid to say "She's my wife." He was thinking, "These men might kill me to get Rebekah, she's so beautiful."

Genesis 42:18
On the third day, Joseph spoke to them. "Do this and you'll live. I'm a God-fearing man. If you're as honest as you say you are, one of your brothers will stay here in jail while the rest of you take the food back to your hungry families. But you have to bring your youngest brother back to me, confirming the truth of your speech—and not one of you will die." They agreed.

Job 1:1
Job was a man who lived in Uz. He was honest inside and out, a man of his word, who was totally devoted to God and hated evil with a passion. He had seven sons and three daughters. He was also very wealthy—seven thousand head of sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred teams of oxen, five hundred donkeys, and a huge staff of servants—the most influential man in all the East!

Psalms 14:4
Don't they know anything, all these impostors? Don't they know they can't get away with this— Treating people like a fast-food meal over which they're too busy to pray?

Proverbs 1:7
Start with God —the first step in learning is bowing down to God ; only fools thumb their noses at such wisdom and learning.

Proverbs 16:6
Guilt is banished through love and truth; Fear-of- God deflects evil.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

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 justice, according to the law of God, and of the abundance of water flowing from it, as typical of the abundance of grace, and the blessings of it, as coming through a smitten wounded Saviour, John 19:34- :, where the same things are said of another rock as of this, and both types of Christ;

and the water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their beasts also; there was enough for them and their cattle; for it came out in great quantities, in large streams, so that it ran down like a river, and which gave them drink as out of the great depths,

Psalms 78:15, where the Psalmist makes mention of rocks in the plural number, for there were two that were smitten in two different places, and at two different times; the one was at Rephidim, the other, as here, in Kadesh; the one was in the first year of Israel's coming out of Egypt, this in the fortieth year of it; that was struck but once, this twice; of this second stone no mention is made by any traveller but one a, who coming from Mount Sinai, says,

"we passed by a large rock on our left hand, in which, as in the other rock which Moses struck with his rod, appear, from the bottom to the top, openings where water hath gushed out.''

a See a Journal from Cairo to Mount Sinai, 1722. p. 42, 43. Ed. 2.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The command Numbers 20:8 was “Speak ye unto the rock.” The act of smiting, and especially with two strokes, indicates violent irritation on the part of Moses; as does also his unseemly mode of addressing the people: “Hear now, ye rebels.” The form too of the question, “must we, etc.,” directs the people not, as ought to have been the case, to God as their deliverer, but to Moses and Aaron personally. In fact the faithful servant of God, worn out by the reiterated perversities of the people, breaks down; and in the actual discharge of his duty as God’s representative before Israel, acts unworthily of the great function entrusted to him. Thus, Moses did not “sanctify God in the eyes of the children of Israel.” Aaron might have checked the intemperate words and acts of Moses, and did not. Hence, God punishes both by withdrawing them from their work for Him, and handing over its accomplishment to another.