Exodus 17:3

17:3 But the people were very thirsty ¹  there for water, and they murmured against Moses and said, “Why in the world ²  did you bring us up out of Egypt – to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst?” ³ 

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.

[17:3]  ¹ tn The verbs and the pronouns in this verse are in the singular because “the people” is singular in form.

[17:3]  ² 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).

[17:3]  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.

[17:6]  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.”

[17:6]  ⁵ tn Or “by” (NIV, NLT).

[17:6]  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.

[17:6]  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.

[17:6]  ⁸ tn Heb “in the eyes of.”