Exodus 17:2

NET Bible® (New English Translation)

So the people contended with Moses, and they said,“Give us water to drink!” Moses said to them,“Why do you contend with me? Why do you test the LORD?”

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

וַיָּ֤רֶב הָעָם֙ עִם־מֹשֶׁ֔ה וַיֹּ֣אמְר֔וּ תְּנוּ־לָ֥נוּ מַ֖יִם וְנִשְׁתֶּ֑ה וַיֹּ֤אמֶר לָהֶם֙ מֹשֶׁ֔ה מַה־תְּרִיבוּן֙ עִמָּדִ֔י מַה־תְּנַסּ֖וּן אֶת־יְהוָֽה׃

Transliteration

And wa-yāreb the-ʿām with-mōsheh and-wa-yōʾmərû give-tənû-to-us mayim and-wə-nishteh and-wa-yōʾmer to-them mōsheh why-tərîbûn with-me why-tənassûn ʾet-YHWH.

Grammar Details

• *wa-yāreb*: waw-consecutive + qal imperfect 3rd person masculine singular - and he/it quarreled/contended
• *ʿām*: masculine singular noun with definite article - the people
• *mōsheh*: proper noun - Moses
• *wa-yōʾmərû*: waw-consecutive + qal imperfect 3rd person plural - and they said
• *tənû*: qal imperative masculine plural - give
• *mayim*: masculine plural noun - water
• *wə-nishteh*: waw-consecutive + qal imperfect 1st person plural cohortative - and let us drink
• *wa-yōʾmer*: waw-consecutive + qal imperfect 3rd person masculine singular - and he said
• *tərîbûn*: qal imperfect 2nd person masculine plural - you quarrel/contend
• *tənassûn*: piel imperfect 2nd person masculine plural - you test/try
• *ʾet*: direct object marker
• *YHWH*: proper noun - LORD/Yahweh

Word Meanings

• *wa-yāreb*: quarreled/contended/strove
• *wa-yōʾmərû*: said/spoke/commanded
• *tənû*: give/provide/grant
• *wə-nishteh*: let us drink/that we may drink
• *tərîbûn*: quarrel/contend/strive
• *tənassûn*: test/try/put to the proof

Referenced Verses

• Deut 6:16 : 16 Exhortation to Obey the Lord Exclusively You must not put the LORD your God to the test as you did at Massah.
• Ps 78:41 : 41 They again challenged God, and offended the Holy One of Israel.
• Isa 7:12 : 12 But Ahaz responded,“I don’t want to ask; I don’t want to put the LORD to a test.”
• Matt 4:7 : 7 Jesus said to him,“Once again it is written:‘You are not to put the Lord your God to the test.’”
• 1 Cor 10:9 : 9 And let us not put Christ to the test, as some of them did, and were destroyed by snakes.
• Ps 78:18 : 18 They willfully challenged God by asking for food to satisfy their appetite.
• Heb 3:9 : 9 “There your fathers tested me and tried me, and they saw my works for forty years.
• Ps 95:9 : 9 where your ancestors challenged my authority, and tried my patience, even though they had seen my work.
• Ps 106:14 : 14 In the wilderness they had an insatiable craving for meat; they challenged God in the wastelands.
• Mal 3:15 : 15 So now we consider the arrogant to be happy; indeed, those who practice evil are successful. In fact, those who challenge God escape!’”
• Ps 78:56 : 56 Yet they challenged and defied God Most High, and did not obey his commands.
• Exod 17:7 : 7 He called the name of the place Massah and Meribah, because of the contending of the Israelites and because of their testing the LORD, saying,“Is the LORD among us or not?”
• Num 14:22 : 22 For all the people have seen my glory and my signs that I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and yet have tempted me now these ten times, and have not obeyed me,
• Num 20:2-5 : 2 And there was no water for the community, and so they gathered themselves together against Moses and Aaron. 3 The people contended with Moses, saying,“If only we had died when our brothers died before the LORD! 4 Why have you brought up the LORD’s community into this wilderness? So that we and our cattle should die here? 5 Why have you brought us up from Egypt only to bring us to this dreadful place? It is no place for grain, or figs, or vines, or pomegranates; nor is there any water to drink!”
• Num 21:5 : 5 And the people spoke against God and against Moses,“Why have you brought us up from Egypt to die in the wilderness, for there is no bread or water, and we detest this worthless food.”
• Acts 5:9 : 9 Peter then told her,“Why have you agreed together to test the Spirit of the Lord? Look! The feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out!”
• Acts 15:10 : 10 So now why are you putting God to the test by placing on the neck of the disciples a yoke that neither our ancestors nor we have been able to bear?
• Luke 4:12 : 12 Jesus answered him,“It is said,‘You are not to put the Lord your God to the test.’”
• Luke 15:12 : 12 The younger of them said to his father,‘Father, give me the share of the estate that will belong to me.’ So he divided his assets between them.
• Exod 14:11-12 : 11 and they said to Moses,“Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the desert? What in the world have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? 12 Isn’t this what we told you in Egypt,‘Leave us alone so that we can serve the Egyptians, because it is better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!’”
• Exod 15:24 : 24 So the people murmured against Moses, saying,“What can we drink?”
• Exod 16:2-3 : 2 The entire company of Israelites murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. 3 The Israelites said to them,“If only we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pots of meat, when we ate bread to the full, for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger!”
• Gen 30:1-2 : 1 When Rachel saw that she could not give Jacob children, she became jealous of her sister. She said to Jacob,“Give me children or I’ll die!” 2 Jacob became furious with Rachel and exclaimed,“Am I in the place of God, who has kept you from having children?”
• Exod 5:21 : 21 and they said to them,“May the LORD look on you and judge, because you have made us stink in the opinion of Pharaoh and his servants, so that you have given them an excuse to kill us!”
• Num 11:4-6 : 4 Complaints about Food Now the mixed multitude who were among them craved more desirable foods, and so the Israelites wept again and said,“If only we had meat to eat! 5 We remember the fish we used to eat freely in Egypt, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic. 6 But now we are dried up, and there is nothing at all before us except this manna!”
• Num 14:2 : 2 And all the Israelites murmured against Moses and Aaron, and the whole congregation said to them,“If only we had died in the land of Egypt, or if only we had perished in this wilderness!
• 1 Sam 8:6 : 6 But this request displeased Samuel, for they said,“Give us a king to lead us.” So Samuel prayed to the LORD.
• Matt 16:1-3 : 1 The Demand for a Sign Now when the Pharisees and Sadducees came to test Jesus, they asked him to show them a sign from heaven. 2 He said,“When evening comes you say,‘It will be fair weather, because the sky is red,’ 3 and in the morning,‘It will be stormy today, because the sky is red and darkening.’ You know how to judge correctly the appearance of the sky, but you cannot evaluate the signs of the times.