John Calvin Commentary Exodus 17:1

"And all the congregation of the children of Israel journeyed from the wilderness of Sin, by their journeys, according to the commandment of Jehovah, and encamped in Rephidim: and there was no water for the people to drink." — Exodus 17:1 (ASV)

And all the congregation. Scarcely had the people's rebellion about the lack of food been settled when they rebelled again over the issue of drink. They should, at least, have learned from the manna that whenever necessity pressed upon them, they should have humbly implored God’s help in prayer and supplication, with certain hope of relief. But this was their character: they were driven by despair into secret complaining and impulsive outcries.

We have an almost identical account in Numbers 20.¹⁸⁶ The error of those who think it is one and the same event is easily refuted by the circumstances of the time and place; and in Numbers 33, it is very clearly shown how great a distance there was between the one location and the other.

Nor does the tradition of some of the Rabbis seem probable, that this thirst did not arise from natural appetite because the manna was not only food but also served as drink. For there is no reason why we should be forced to imagine this; and we understand from the text that the beginning of their complaining arose from the fact that the water was now, for the first time, beginning to run out for them.

But it was God’s will, in two ways and at two different times, to test the minds of the Israelites, so that they might more plainly show their natural stubbornness. If they had needed bread and water at the same time, they would have been more excusable. However, after they had experienced that a sweet and wholesome kind of food was generously given to them from heaven, because that country produced no grain, it was an act of intolerable perversity to immediately complain against God when they had no supply of drink.

Moreover, a double accusation is brought against them here: for insulting God by quarreling and contending with Him, and also for testing Him. Both arose from unbelief, the cause of which was ingratitude. For it was too shameful of them to so soon bury in deliberate forgetfulness what God had so recently given them.

He had provided for them when they were suffering from hunger; why did they not turn to Him when they were oppressed by thirst? It is plain, then, that the former favor was wasted on them, since it so quickly vanished due to their lack of gratitude. From this, their unbelief also appears, because they neither expected nor asked anything of God. And with this, pride was also combined, because they dared to resort to arguing.

Indeed, this almost always happens: those who neither depend on His providence nor rest on His promises provoke God to contend with them and rush impulsively against Him. This is because the brutal force of our passions drives us to madness, unless we are persuaded that God will be our helper in due time and are submissive to His will.

In the beginning of the chapter, Moses briefly states that the Israelites journeyed according to the commandment—or, as the Hebrew expresses it, “the mouth”¹⁸⁷—of God, as if to praise their obedience. From this we gather that, at the very beginning, they were sufficiently inclined to their duty, until a temptation occurred which interrupted their progress on the right path.

This example warns us that whenever we undertake anything at God’s command, we should be very careful that nothing hinders our perseverance. It also shows that only those are equipped to act rightly who are well prepared to endure the assaults of temptation.

¹⁸⁶ A brief but able reply to the arguments of those who allege these similar passages against the authenticity of the Pentateuch, will be found in Hengstenberg, (Ryland’s Translation,) vol. 2, p. 310, etc.

¹⁸⁷ על-פי. Literally, ”upon the mouth.” Noldius cites, however, various texts, in which it is equivalent to no more than according to, though in this instance, and in many others, he would render it “according to the command.” — Concord. Partic. Hebr. — W