Exodus 22.16-23.19

Social and Religious Laws

Social and Religious Laws / Justice For All / Sabbatical Year and Sabbath / The Annual Festivals

Yesterday's entry covered laws of the altar and personal property in Exodus 20.22-22.15. Today's entry covers social and religious laws in Exodus 22.16-23.19. Notice that in some of these the punishment for breaking the law is stated.

Social and Religious Laws: Exodus 22.16-31

A man who seduces and sleeps with an engaged virgin shall pay her bride price and make her his wife. If the father refuses to release his daughter, the man shall pay the bride price for a virgin. [This is sort of a lose-lose situation. In the "sex-marriage economy," (a term I picked up from a feminist teacher) a woman loses a good deal of her bride-price "value" if she has been deflowered. The only winner in this situation is the father.]

"You shall not permit a female sorcerer to live" (Ex. 22.18). [How could I possibly put that more succinctly?]

"Whoever lies with an animal shall be put to death" (Ex. 22.19). [Likewise...]

Israelites should not oppress resident aliens, because the Israelites too were once aliens in Egypt.

Likewise, Israelites should not abuse widows or orphans. The punishment for this is put rather eloquently:

If you do abuse them, when they cry out to me, I will surely heed their cry; my wrath will burn, and I will kill you with the sword, and your wives shall become widows and your children orphans.
(Ex. 22.23-24)

There should be interest on money loaned to other Israelites. Likewise, if you take your neighbor's coat in pawn, you should give it back before nighttime, because it might be his only clothing for sleep. If a neighbor cries out, God will listen, "for I am compassionate" (Ex. 22.27).

Do not revile God or curse a leader of the Israelites. [Respect authority]

Make offerings of the harvest and wine quickly after reaping and pressing.

The firstborn son should be given to God. The same shall be done with sheep and oxen. On the eighth day the animal should be removed from its mother and given to God. [Plague flashback! According to Exodus 13.1, all firstborns are to be consecrated, human and animal, regardless of sex. Here it seems the firstborn human is consecrated, whereas the firstborn animal is actually sacrificed. Speaking of...]

The Israelites are consecrated to God. They shall therefore not eat meat mangled by beasts in the field. That is to be given to dogs.

Justice For All: Exodus 23.1-9

[These are so succinct, I decided to just quote them directly.]

"You shall not spread a false report. You shall not join hands with the wicked to act as a malicious witness. You shall not follow a majority in wrongdoing; when you bear witness in a lawsuit, you shall not side with the majority so as to pervert justice; nor shall you be partial to the poor in a lawsuit."

"When you come upon your enemy’s ox or donkey going astray, you shall bring it back."

"When you see the donkey of one who hates you lying under its burden and you would hold back from setting it free, you must help to set it free."

"You shall not pervert the justice due to your poor in their lawsuits. Keep far from a false charge, and do not kill the innocent or those in the right, for I will not acquit the guilty. You shall take no bribe, for a bribe blinds the officials, and subverts the cause of those who are in the right."

"You shall not oppress a resident alien; you know the heart of an alien, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt." [Stated above.]

Sabbatical Year and Sabbath: Exodus 23.10-13

For six years you should reap what you sow in a field, vineyard, or olive orchard. On the seventh year, the land should rest and lie fallow. This way the poor may eat what grows in the field - and the wild animals will eat what they leave behind. [Besides representing the Sabbath, the year off also has the practical purpose of feeding the poor and allowing the land to recover its nutrients from six years straight of crops.]

You should work six days and rest on the seventh, so that your oxen, donkeys, and slaves can be refreshed. [Here the practical purpose of the law is explicated in the law itself.]

"Do not invoke the names of other gods; do not let them be heard on your lips" (Ex. 23.13). [This law goes well beyond the first commandment, "You shall have no other gods before me" (Ex. 20.3). It is not invoking other gods that is a sin, but merely uttering their names. This is still monolatry, but one step closer to monotheism. Ironically, though, in the future the divine name itself will become so holy that it cannot be uttered. Both utterly sacred and utterly profane words are forbidden.]

The Annual Festivals: Exodus 23.14-19

There are three festivals to observe every year for God, when all the males shall appear before God:

1. The festival of unleavened bread, with its command to eat unleavened bread for seven days at the appointed time in the month of Abib. No one shall come before the Lord empty-handed. [For they left with the riches of the Egyptians.]
2. The festival of the harvest of the first sown fruits.
3. The festival of ingathering at the end of the year, when the fruit is gathered

In extending of the Passover law to the other festivals, the blood of a sacrifice shall not be offered with leavened bread and the fat of festivals [their sacrifices] should not be left until morning.

In accordance with previously established laws regarding the firstborn, the choicest of the first fruits should be brought into the house of God.

Seemingly-misplaced eating regulation between the section on festivals and God's promise of the conquest of Canaan:

"You shall not boil a kid in its mother's milk" (Exodus 23.19). [This is a kosher eating regulation].

Tomorrow: God's promise of the conquest of Canaan.

Exodus 20.22-22.15

The Laws: of Altar and Property

The Law Concerning the Altar / The Law Concerning Slaves / The Law Concerning Violence / Laws Concerning Property / Laws of Restitution

Here we are at a very legalistic section of the bible, one that primarily deals with laws instead of stories. I have been thinking of a way to read this as a piece of literature, rather than a legal text. I admit that I do not have many great ideas right now, but bear with me - I will find something. Also, it might be interesting just to read these laws and prohibitions in order to discover what the author does and does not value.

Here is a bit of literature, though. This section appears soon after Jethro's advice to Moses regarding laws. Though these laws are coming down to Moses, this is the first time the reader is being exposed to them in their entirety. Just as Moses reveals the law to the people, the biblical authors reveal the law to the reader.

The Law Concerning the Altar: Exodus 20.22-26

The Israelites have seen God speaking with Moses. The Lord then gives laws concerning the altar:

No gods of silver or gold "alongside" God. All that is needed is an altar made of earth on which sacrifices will be offered. The altar can be made of stone, but they should not be hewn stones; a chisel will profane the altar.

Interesting: "In every place where I cause my name to be remembered I will come to you and bless you" (Ex. 20.24). This means that for the moment there is no central Temple; God may be worshipped anywhere that an altar is made for him. Later on, God will change his mind on this.

Also interesting: There should be no steps leading up to the altar, to prevent the sacrificer's nakedness being exposed. This differentiates Israelite cultic practices from other peoples in that there is to be no sexual aspect to any worship. The blessing of fertility, already granted by God, does not need to be invoked by the people through practice.

The Law Concerning Slaves: Exodus 21.1-11

Slavery was a profession for the ancient Hebrews, a way of paying off one's debt. Here are the laws related to this profession:

A male Hebrew slaves should serve six years. In the seventh he should go free, without debt. If he comes in single, he should leave single. If he comes in married, he should leave married. If his master gives the slave a wife while the slave is at his master's service, the slaves goes free alone, while the master retains the woman and any children she bore. [By this last decree, the law seems to protect the masters' interest rather than the slave's].

If a slave loves his master, wife and children such that he wants to remain a slave, the master shall bring him to a door or doorpost and pierce the slave's ear with an awl. The slave shall then serve his master for life. [Implicit, perhaps, is that the blood will remain on the doorpost as a sign of the slave's bondage within the house.]

Daughters are to be treated differently. If a man sells his daughter as a slave [read: concubine], and she does not please her master, he shall let her he be redeemed and may not sell her to a foreign people. If the master gives the slave to his son as a concubine, he will treat her as a daughter.

A man who takes a concubine should treat the first wife as before, without diminishing her food, clothing, or marital rights. If he does not follow through with these three things, she will leave "wihtout debt, without payment of money" (Ex. 21.11).

The Law Concerning Violence: Exodus 21.12-27

Killing is punishable by death. If it was not premeditated, but rather came about by an act of God, God will appoint a place the killer may flee to. But anyone who kills by treachery and clings to an altar for protection will be killed. [Both altars and designated cities seem to be sanctuaries.]

[Let's think back to a murderer that received protection: Cain. He was protected not because he fled to a certain city, but because he was identified with a mark. In his case, however, the murder seems to be premeditated, so had this law existed during his time, he would not have received protection.]

Whoever strikes (not kills, but strikes) or curses his father or mother will be put to death.

Whoever kidnaps a person (whether or not sold as a slave) will be put to death. [Remember the Jacob story? His brothers were lucky this legislation was not in effect.]

If one man strikes another such that the man is injured though not dead, and recovers so that he can walk with a staff, the assailant shall pay for time lost and arrange for full recovery, but otherwise be free of liability.

If a slave owner strikes a male or female slave with a rod and the slave dies immediately, the owner shall be punished. [The punishment is not specified.] If the slave survives a day or two [and then dies? - it is not specified] there is no punishment. [Again, this legislation protects the slave owner, who owns the slave as property.]

When people who are fighting injure a pregnant woman and cause a miscarriage, but she is otherwise alright, the responsible party shall be fined what the woman's husband demands, a price determined by a judge. Any harm that follows shall require "life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe" (Ex 21.23-25).

When a slave owner destroys the eye of or knocks out a tooth of a male or female slave, the owner shall let the slave go free as compensation for the eye or tooth. [Isn't that strange? A master owns a slave, but a slave owns his body parts. Furthermore, these body parts are equivalent to the price of freedom! But if the slave is only injured, there is to be no reparation.]

Laws Concerning Property: Exodus 21.28-36

An ox that gores a person to death should be stoned and not eaten, though the owner of the ox will not be liable.

An ox that has gored in the past and is not restrained by its owner should be stoned if it kills a man, woman, or child, and the owner shall be put to death unless he pays a ransom. If this ox gores a male or female slave, the owner shall pay the slave's owner 30 shekels of silver and the ox shall be stoned.

If someone leaves a pit open and an ox or donkey falls into it, the owner of the pit shall pay a restitution to the animal's owner, but keep the dead animal. [There is nothing about eating the animal.]

If one ox hurts another, the owners shall split the dead ox and sell the live one, dividing its price. But if the ox is known to have gored in the past, and is not restrained by its owner, the owner should restore the killed ox, but keep the dead one.

Laws of Restitution: Exodus 22.1-15

Someone who steals an ox or sheep who slaughters or sells it, shall make a restitution of five ox for an ox, four sheep for a sheep, if discovered. If unable to do so, the thief shall be sold. If an animal is found alive in a thief's possession, the thief will pay double.

No blood-guilt will be incurred if a thief is found breaking in to a home and is beaten to death before sunrise. After sunrise, blood-guilt will be incurred.

If someone causes a field or vineyard to be grazed over, or lets his livestock graze in someone else's field, that person shall make restitution with the best of his field or vineyard.

One who makes a fire that consumes collected grain or a field shall make full restitution.

If someone gives a neighbor money or goods for safe keeping, and they are stolen, the thief will pay double if caught. If the thief is not caught, the owner of the house shall be brought before God to determine whether the owner stole the goods.

Disputes of ownership involving oxen, donkeys, sheep, clothing, or other items shall be brought before God. The one that God condemns shall pay the other double. [How condemnation is determined, I have no idea.]

If any animal is given to another for safekeeping, and it dies or is injured or is carried off, and there is no witness, an oath shall be given before the Lord. If the oath is made, the owner shall accept the oath, and no restitution is required. If the animal is stolen, the owner shall make restitution. If it is mangled by beasts, restitution shall not be made. [I am unclear as to the difference between an animal being "carried off" and "stolen."]

One who borrows an animal that dies shall make full restitution to the owner if the owner was absent. If the owner was present, no restitution is required. If the animal was hired, only the hiring fee is due.

Tomorrow: Social and religious laws.

Exodus 20.1-21

The Ten Commandments: Exodus 20.1-21

Chapter 20 is largely comprised of the Decalogue, or Ten Commandments.

Note that there are no penalties listed for each commandment. Commandment two speaks of the punishment that may be inflicted by God, but is not necessarily linked with the command itself. Commandment three tells who the Lord will not acquit, but what any person will be acquitted from is not specified. Commandment five gives the effect of proper action, but this effect of continuance in the land is only loosely based on the commandment itself. The HarperCollins Study Bible indicates that this may be a metaphor for the peoples' relationship with God. As you honor your mother and father, so to should you honor God.

Commandments 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 are prohibitions (thou shall not).
Commandments 4, 5 are [positive] commands (thou shall).

Below are the Ten Commandments:

One: No other gods

I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; you shall have no other gods before me.

[This advocates monolatry, the worship of a single god without denying the existence of other gods. Having the Lord before all other gods does not necessarily preclude the existence of the other gods. Rather, YHWH, the Lord, is to be the only god that Israel will follow.]

Two: No idols

You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and the fourth generation of those who reject me, but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments.

Three: Don't misuse the Lord's name

You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not acquit anyone who misuses his name.

Four: Remember the sabbath

Remember the sabbath day, and keep it holy. For six days you shall labour and do all your work. But the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work—you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the alien resident in your towns. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but rested the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and consecrated it.

Five: Honor your mother and father

Honor your father and your mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.

Six: Don't kill

You shall not murder.

Seven: Don't commit adultery

You shall not commit adultery.

Eight: Don't steal

You shall not steal.

Nine: Don't lie

You shall not bear false witness against your neighbour.

Ten: Don't covet

You shall not covet your neighbour’s house; you shall not covet your neighbour’s wife, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbour.

The Rest
The people, witnessing the thunder and lightning and the trumpet sound and the mountain shaking, are afraid. They tell Moses that they will listen to him when he speaks - but don't let God speak with them; they will surely die.

Moses tells the people not to be afraid - God has come to test them and instill the fear of God in them so they do not sin.

Exodus 19.1-19.25

The Israelites Reach Mount Sinai / The People Consecrated

The Israelites Reach Mount Sinai: Exodus 19.1-9a

From Rephidim, the Israelites enter the wilderness of Sinai and camp out in from of the mountain there. Moses goes up to God, who calls out to him from the mountain:

Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the Israelites: You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. Now therefore, if you obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession out of all the peoples. Indeed, the whole earth is mine, but you shall be for me a priestly kingdom and a holy nation. These are the words that you shall speak to the Israelites.
(Ex. 19.3-6)

The first part juxtaposes the Lord's potential actions against humanity, as just demonstrated with the Egyptians and Israelites: destruction versus salvation, taking life versus ensuring it.

The second part emphasizes how the Israelites may maintain their protected status. The protection introduced with the Egypt narrative is promised, if the Israelites satisfy the conditions of obeying God's voice and keeping God's covenant. God, for is part, is keeping his covenant. And though God listened to the voices of the people when they cried out in the wilderness, God reminds the Israelites that the world and all the people in it belong to the Lord.

The Israelites have the potential to be the greatest of the people of the earth, the priests closest to God. They will be a "holy nation," which does not necessarily mean religious, but certainly carries a connotation of "apartness." Holiness, for the Israelites, is an orthoprax matter, a matter of practice. The legal commands ahead will exemplify this but here is a quick example: kosher laws forbid mixing milk with meat - they must be kept separate. Likewise, circumcision is a mark that separates the Israelites from the other people of Canaan. For the Israelites, holiness is very frequently a matter of some sort of separation of God's people. That is really what God is talking about, anyway - keeping what is "other" away from the Lord's holy nation.

Moses calls together the elders and tells them what the Lord has said. They all answer as one that they will do as the Lord has commanded. Moses goes back to the Lord and reports the words of the people. The Lord responds that he will come to Moses in a dense cloud, so that the Israelites will hear when the Lord speaks to Moses and thereby trust Moses "ever after" (Ex. 19.9).

The People Consecrated: Exodus 19.9b-25

The Lord further tells Moses that the Israelites should consecrate themselves and wash their clothes, for in two days "the Lord will come down upon Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people" (Ex. 19.11). No one is to go up the mountain - or even touch it. Those that do, animal or human, should be stoned or shot with arrows. Only when they hear a long blast of a trumpet may they go up the mountain.

The reason for all this security is that the people are impure and must be consecrated. Continuing with the theme of "holiness," there is to be no mixing of the sacred and the profane.

Moses goes down from the mountain. He consecrates the people, and they wash their clothes. Moses also commands that the men should not go near women. This command is made in order to maintain ritual purity. Again, there can be no mixing of sacred and profane. Intercourse, while it is not sinful, can cause a person to become impure because of the exchange of bodily fluids.

On the third day there is thunder and lightning and the Lord appears as a thick cloud on the mountain. The trumpet blasts so loud that the Israelites tremble at its sound.

Moses brings the people to the base of the mountain to meet God. Smoke curls around Mount Sinai, which is shaking violently. As the trumpet blasts become louder, Moses speaks with God, who answers in thunder.

The Lord then descends to the top of the mountain and summons Moses to the top. The Lord tells Moses to warn the people "not to break through to the Lord to look; otherwise many of them will perish" (Ex. 19.21). Even the priests must consecrate themselves.

Moses responds that no one is permitted up Mount Sinai; God himself made the command to "Set limits around the mountain and keep it holy" (Ex. 19.23).

The Lord then commands Moses to bring Aaron up, but that no one else should come up the mountain.

If you have been counting, Moses' journey back down the mountain represents the third time that Moses comes back down the mountain after speaking with God. That is a lot of back and forth.

Tomorrow: The Ten Commandments.

Exodus 18.1-27

Jethro's Advice: Exodus 18.1-27

Moses' father-in-law Jethro hears of all God has done for Moses and Israel, and journeys to the wilderness along with Moses' wife Zipporah and their two children, Gershom and Eliezer.

On these names
Gershom is named with Moses' explanation, "I have been an alien in a foreign land" and Eliezer with the explanation: "The God of my father was my help, and delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh." Eliezer seems a bit...anachronistic, no? This is probably because the naming ceremony occurs at a point in the story after the escape from Egypt. The name speaks to the events surrounding the naming. So in effect, it is the bible itself (or the authors at least) that name Eliezer. There is no way Eliezer could have been named what he was by Moses, because that defies the chronology of the bible. But the author does not worry about Moses' chronology. Rather, it is the story's chronology that is important. Eliezer's name makes perfect sense to this author, given the events at the time of his introduction (as opposed to his birth).

Moses goes out to meet his father-in-law and the two greet each other and go into the tent. Jethro, a priest of Midian, rejoices for all the Lord has done for Israel:

‘Blessed be the Lord, who has delivered you from the Egyptians and from Pharaoh. Now I know that the Lord is greater than all gods, because he delivered the people from the Egyptians, when they dealt arrogantly with them.’
(Ex. 18.10-11)

Jethro offers up a burnt offering sacrifice to God. Aaron and the elders join in a meal with Jethro - a communion in the non-Christian sense of the word. [And this is coming from an Egyptian priest! Do I smell a conversion? Or is that just the sacrifice?]

The next day Moses sits as a judge from morning to evening. Jethro asks him what's up, to which Moses replies that he settles disputes because he knows the statutes and instructions of God. Jethro responds that this is ridiculous - Moses will surely wear himself out! He offers some advice: teach the people the statutes of God. And also delegate responsibility among trustworthy men to settle minor disputes. Moses will still settle the major disputes, but it will be less of a burden.

Moses does so, and Jethro returns to Midian.

Tomorrow: To Mount Sinai.

Exodus 17.8-16

Amalek Attacks Israel and is Defeated: Exodus 17.8-16

Israel encounters its first attacking army in the wilderness after escaping Egypt: from the Amalekites. Amalek, of course, is a son of Esau - so this is in a way a battle between the line of Jacob/Israel and the line of Esau. Israel holds the birthright and the divine blessing of land and progeny, so should prevail in this land. But this is not as easy as it initially seems.

Moses tells Joshua to choose some men to go out to fight Amalek the next day. Moses says he will take his stff and stand on top of the hill by the place they will battle.

The next day Moses, Aaron and Hur make their way to the top of the hill. When Moses holds his hand up, Israel prevails. When he lowers his hand, Amalek prevails. It is not explicitly stated whether Moses holds a staff at all during this time. In any case, Moses' hands grow weary, so Aaron and Hur have Moses sit on a stone while they hold his hands up. By sunset, Joshua has defeated Amalek.

The tale closes:

Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Write this as a reminder in a book and recite it in the hearing of Joshua: I will utterly blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven.’ And Moses built an altar and called it, The Lord is my banner. He said, ‘A hand upon the banner of the Lord! The Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.’
(Ex. 17.14-16)

This leaves us with a quandary: If the Lord will utterly block out the remembrance of Amalek, why will war continue from generation to generation? Would it not be easier to simply blot out Amalek?

And I'm not being facetious here. There is a great irony to God saying he will blot out the remembrance of Amalek. God could simply say he will blot out Amalek, but by destroying the memory as well, he extinguishes their historical import; in fact, the Amalekites will have no history, and the Israelites will have no history of them. But the Israelites do have the history of the Amalekites. We are reading it!

Perhaps I am misreading "remembrance." Perhaps that only means contact with them. i.e. when they are gone people still remember the tribe through collective memory, but there the lack of contact eliminates this different understanding of "remembrance" by contact.

Any thoughts?

Exodus 17.1-7

Water from the Rock

Water from the Rock: Exodus 17.1-7

The Israelites journey from Sin by stages to Rephidim. There is no water there, and the people quarrel with Moses, demanding he give them water. "Why do you quarrel with me?" Moses responds. "Why do you test the Lord?" (Ex. 17.2)

Yet the people still complain: "Why did you bring us out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and livestock with thirst?" (Ex. 17.3). This parallels the congregation's accusations when there was no food: "If only we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the fleshpots and ate our fill of bread; for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger" (Ex 16.3).

In fact, the three episodes of complaint build to a climax in this chapter. When encountering bitter water, the people simply complain, "What shall we drink?" (Ex. 15.24). When there is no food they accuse Moses (and therefore the Lord) of tryign to kill them. By the time they again thirst at Rephidim, the people demand water and accuse Moses of trying to kill them. Their hostility is so great that Moses cries out to the Lord, "What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me" (17.4). We can see the anger of the Israelites building like waters behind a dam - and the dam is ready to burst.

Again the Lord has a plan. Moses is to go before the elders of Israel with the very staff he used to strike the Nile. As the Lord stands in front of the rock at Horeb, Moses is to strike it, releasing water that the people may drink.

Moses does this, and calls the place Massah (test) and Meribah (quarrel).

On Dialectical Tensions
The Moses narrative, as noted in a previous post, if fraught with dialectical tensions, and these three consecutive stories serve very well to demonstrate the these tensions - the dissonances of desires experienced between God and God's people.

God needs to work hard to keep his people believing. After the Israelites cross the Red Sea, we read:

Israel saw the great work that the Lord did against the Egyptians. So the people feared the Lord and believed in the Lord and in his servant Moses.

(Ex. 14.31)

They had complained before, but see God's power. They even sing out the triumph of the Lord in the Song of Moses that immediately follows.

Immediately afterwards the people are back at it, complaining about bitter water. After the bitter water is made sweet, the Lord makes the following "statute" and "ordinance":

If you will listen carefully to the voice of the Lord your God, and do what is right in his sight, and give heed to his commandments and keep all his statutes, I will not bring upon you any of the diseases that I brought upon the Egyptians; for I am the Lord who heals you.

(Ex. 15.26)

This does not directly address the situation. The complaint about bitter water is a matter of trust. The Israelites must trust in the Lord. What this ordinance addresses, however, is the Israelites' following of God's commands, which does not necessarily include actually trusting him to deliver water and food. God and the people are speaking about two different things. The Israelites want to be nourished, God wants them to do what is right in his sight. The two are not mutually exclusive.

They soon again complain against the Lord. And since Moses is the Lord's ambassador on earth, any complaint against Moses is also a complaint against the Lord. Here, however, Israel's disobedience, warned about in the previous chapter, is executed. Not only do the Israelites not trust in God, they do not keep the Sabbath and disobey God's command to not keep manna overnight.

This time, God has Aaron keep manna as a reminder of how the Israelites were fed in the wilderness, a symbol of the Lord's protective power. This time, God and the Israelites seem to be speaking the same language. God gives a sign (as though of a covenant) that the people will be protected.

But the people still do not feel protected and demand water at Rephidim. Even when the Israelites and God agree on the issue, there is still a tension over God's execution.

A Word on Water
Moses' staff is frequently associated with water. It turns the Nile to blood, parts the Red Sea, and releases water from a rock. But was it in fact Moses that struck the Nile, as the Lord claims? In Genesis 7, the chapter in question, the Lord in fact instructs Moses twice with what to do with his staff. This is the result of two different traditions. The first has Moses striking the river, the second has Aaron striking the river. The actual execution is ambiguous:

Moses and Aaron did just as the Lord commanded. In the sight of Pharaoh and of his officials he lifted up the staff and struck the water in the river, and all the water in the river was turned into blood.

(Ex. 7.20)

But through contextual clues we discover that in fact it is Moses that strikes the water. Aaron is commanded simply to take the staff and stretch his hands over the waters of Egypt. It is Moses who is to strike the Nile.

Tomorrow: A fight in the wilderness.