Font Size
Exodus 17:3-5
New English Translation
Exodus 17:3-5
New English Translation
3 But the people were very thirsty[a] there for water, and they murmured against Moses and said, “Why in the world[b] did you bring us up from Egypt—to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst?”[c]
4 Then Moses cried out to the Lord, “What will I do with[d] this people?—a little more[e] and they will stone me!”[f] 5 The Lord said to Moses, “Go over before the people;[g] take with you some of the elders of Israel and take in your hand your staff with which you struck the Nile and go.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Exodus 17:3 tn The verbs and the pronouns in this verse are in the singular because “the people” is singular in form.
- Exodus 17:3 tn The demonstrative pronoun is used as the enclitic form for special emphasis in the question; it literally says, “why is this you have brought us up?” (R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 24, §118).
- Exodus 17:3 sn Their words deny God the credit for bringing them out of Egypt, impugn the integrity of Moses and God by accusing them of bringing the people out here to die, and show a lack of faith in God’s ability to provide for them.
- Exodus 17:4 tn The preposition ל (lamed) is here specification, meaning “with respect to” (see R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 49, §273).
- Exodus 17:4 tn Or “they are almost ready to stone me.”
- Exodus 17:4 tn The perfect tense with the vav (ו) consecutive almost develops an independent force; this is true in sentences where it follows an expression of time, as here (see GKC 334 §112.x).
- Exodus 17:5 tn “Pass over before” indicates that Moses is the leader who goes first, and the people follow him. In other words, לִפְנֵי (lifne) indicates time and not place here (B. Jacob, Exodus, 477-78).
New English Translation (NET)
NET Bible® copyright ©1996-2017 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://netbible.com All rights reserved.