Psalms 78:15-16

78:15 He broke open rocks in the wilderness,

and gave them enough water to fill the depths of the sea. ¹ 

78:16 He caused streams to flow from the rock,

and made the water flow like rivers.

Psalms 105:41

105:41 He opened up a rock and water flowed out;

a river ran through dry regions.

Psalms 107:35

107:35 As for his people, ²  he turned ³  a desert into a pool of water,

and a dry land into springs of water.

Exodus 17:6

17:6 I will be standing ⁴  before you there on ⁵  the rock in Horeb, and you will strike ⁶  the rock, and water will come out of it so that the people may drink.” ⁷  And Moses did so in plain view ⁸  of the elders of Israel.

Numbers 20:11

20:11 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.

Deuteronomy 8:15

8:15 and who brought you through the great, fearful desert of venomous serpents ⁹  and scorpions, an arid place with no water. He made water flow ¹⁰  from a flint rock and

Nehemiah 9:15

9:15 You provided bread from heaven for them in their time of hunger, and you brought forth water from the rock for them in their time of thirst. You told them to enter in order to possess the land that you had sworn ¹¹  to give them.

Nehemiah 9:1

The People Acknowledge Their Sin before God

9:1 On the twenty-fourth day of this same month the Israelites assembled; they were fasting and wearing sackcloth, their heads covered with dust.

Colossians 1:4

1:4 since ¹²  we heard about your faith in Christ Jesus and the love that you have for all the saints.

¹ tn Heb “and caused them to drink, like the depths, abundantly.”

² tn The words “As for his people” are not included in the Hebrew text, but have been supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity. The psalmist contrasts God’s judgment on his enemies with his blessing of his people. See the note on the word “enemies” in v. 39 for further discussion.

³ tn The verbal form appears to be a preterite, which is most naturally taken as narrational. See the note on the word “turned” in v. 33.

⁴ tn The construction uses הִנְנִי עֹמֵד (hinni ’omed) to express the futur instans or imminent future of the verb: “I am going to be standing.”

⁵ tn Or “by” (NIV, NLT).

⁶ tn The form is a Hiphil perfect with the vav (ו) consecutive; it follows the future nuance of the participle and so is equivalent to an imperfect tense nuance of instruction.

⁷ tn These two verbs are also perfect tenses with vav (ו) consecutive: “and [water] will go out…and [the people] will drink.” But the second verb is clearly the intent or the result of the water gushing from the rock, and so it may be subordinated.

⁸ tn Heb “in the eyes of.”

⁹ tn Heb “flaming serpents”; KJV, NASB “fiery serpents”; NAB “saraph serpents.” This figure of speech (metonymy) probably describes the venomous and painful results of snakebite. The feeling from such an experience would be like a burning fire (שָׂרָף, saraf).

¹⁰ tn Heb “the one who brought out for you water.” In the Hebrew text this continues the preceding sentence, but the translation begins a new sentence here for stylistic reasons.

¹¹ tn Heb “had lifted your hand.”

¹² tn The adverbial participle ἀκούσαντες (akousante") is understood to be temporal and translated with “since.” A causal idea may also be in the apostle’s mind, but the context emphasizes temporal ideas, e.g., “from the day” (v. 6).