Rephidim

Rephidim is the encampment of Israel between the wilderness of Sin and the wilderness of Sinai. It is the place where the people thirst, where Moses strikes the rock at Horeb for water, where Amalek attacks and Joshua leads Israel into its first recorded battle, and from which the congregation departs to encamp before the mountain. Two short itinerary notices in Numbers preserve its place in the wandering.

Arrival and the Lack of Water

The congregation comes to Rephidim from the wilderness of Sin "by their journeys, according to the mouth of Yahweh," and finds nothing to drink (Ex 17:1). The people thirst there for water, and they murmur against Moses, asking, "Why have you brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our sons and our cattle with thirst?" (Ex 17:3). They strive with Moses, demanding water; Moses answers, "Why do you⁺ strive with me? Why do you⁺ try Yahweh?" (Ex 17:2). Moses cries to Yahweh, "What shall I do to this people? They are almost ready to stone me" (Ex 17:4).

Water from the Rock at Horeb

Yahweh tells Moses to pass on before the people, taking with him the elders of Israel and "your rod, with which you struck the river" (Ex 17:5). The instruction is specific about place and means: "Look, [my Speech] will stand before you there on the rock in Horeb; and you will strike the rock, and there will come water out of it, that the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel" (Ex 17:6). The rock that supplies water is at Horeb; the rod Moses carries is the same rod that struck the Nile.

Massah and Meribah

The episode leaves the place a second name. "And he called the name of the place Massah, and Meribah, because of the striving of the sons of Israel, and because they tried Yahweh, saying, Is Yahweh among us, or not?" (Ex 17:7). Massah ("trying") and Meribah ("striving") are not separate locations from Rephidim but its alternate designation, given for what happened at the rock.

Amalek's Attack

"Then came Amalek, and fought with Israel in Rephidim" (Ex 17:8). Moses tells Joshua, "Choose men for us to go out and fight with Amalek: tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in my hand" (Ex 17:9). The rod that brought water from the rock is the same rod Moses lifts on the hill above the battle.

Moses' Hands, Aaron, and Hur

The battle's outcome tracks the rod's elevation: "when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed; and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed" (Ex 17:11). When the strain becomes too great, two come to his side: "But Moses' hands were heavy; and they took a stone, and put it under him, and he sat on it; and Aaron and Hur held up his hands, the one on the one side, and the other on the other side; And his hands were steady until the going down of the sun" (Ex 17:12). The stone, the seat, and the two flanking supporters keep the rod aloft until evening. "And Joshua discomfited Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword" (Ex 17:13).

The Memorial and the Altar

After the victory Yahweh issues a memorial decree: "And Yahweh said to Moses, Write this for a memorial in a book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua: that I will completely blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven" (Ex 17:14). Moses then builds an altar on the spot. "And Moses built an altar, and called the name of it Yahweh-nissi" (Ex 17:15) — Yahweh my banner. The reason follows: "Since a hand was raised to Yah's throne, [the Speech of] Yahweh will be at war with Amalek from generation to generation" (Ex 17:16).

Departure to Sinai

Rephidim is also the staging point for arrival at the mountain. "And when they had departed from Rephidim, and had come to the wilderness of Sinai, they encamped in the wilderness; and there Israel encamped before the mount" (Ex 19:2).

The Itinerary in Numbers

The retrospective itinerary of Numbers 33 places Rephidim in the sequence and repeats the detail that defines it. "And they journeyed from Alush, and encamped in Rephidim, where was no water for the people to drink" (Nu 33:14). "And they journeyed from Rephidim, and encamped in the wilderness of Sinai" (Nu 33:15). The summary preserves both halves of the encampment's identity: the place of no water, and the last stop before Sinai.