After the death of Miriam, the Jewish people had no water for themselves or their cattle. God tells Moses and Aaron how to bring them the needed water.
Introduction
Here are the relevant verses:
7. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
8. Take the rod, and gather the assembly [Hebrew: eidah] together, you, and Aaron your brother, and speak to the rock before their eyes; and it shall give forth its water, and you shall bring forth to them water out of the rock; so you shall give the assembly [Hebrew: eidah] and their beasts drink.
9. And Moses took the rod from before the Lord, as He commanded him.
10. And Moses and Aaron gathered the congregation [Hebrew: kahal] together before the rock, and he said to them, Hear now, you rebels: shall we bring forth water for you from this rock?
11. And Moses lifted up his hand, and with his rod he struck the rock twice; and the water came forth abundantly, and the assembly [Hebrew: eidah] drank, and their beasts also.
12. And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, Because you did not believe Me to sanctify Me in the eyes of the people of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this congregation [Hebrew: kahal] into the land which I have given them.
The Jewish commentators struggle to explain the events recorded in these few verses.
For example, Abarbanel in his commentary lists 10 explanations offered up to his time. He also explains why each of those explanations is not satisfactory. He then offers his own explanation.
In studying these verses I came across the Malbim’s explanation. He suggests an approach that I had not seen before.
Everything in this article is based on the Malbim. I’ve translated parts of his commentary and condensed parts. Also, I’ve added some explanatory notes and grammar clarifications.
Numbers 20:8 – God’s Command to Moses
Take the rod – This command is because he will be using the rod to strike the rock.
In other words, according to Malbim, God did intend for Moses to strike the rock.
and speak to the rock before their eyes; and it shall give forth its water – God is clarifying to Moses that he must speak to the rock before striking it.
You are to command the rock with words that it should expel the water that was previously absorbed in it.
This water is not meant to be drunk by the assembly. Rather it will come out, flow away, and evaporate.
After the rock is drained of all it’s absorbed water, then …
and you shall bring forth to them water out of the rock – After speaking to the rock, then Moses is to strike the rock with his rod. Striking the rock transforms it. That is, he will turn the “earth” that’s in it into water.
Ancient philosopher scientists considered that the physical world consisted of 4 elements:
- earth
- water
- air
- fire
Malbim’s language here and in other comments is “element of earth” and “element of water.”
To indicate when he is writing about the “element of earth” I will enclose the word “earth” in quotation marks.
This command is specifically for Moses to fulfill. The rock will not give out water on its own, because it requires an outside force. Why is Moses the one to deliver the outside force? Because he is the one who God used in the past to bring water to the people (Exodus 17:5-6).
so you shall give the assembly [Hebrew: eidah] and their beasts drink – This is not the water that will come out when Moses speaks to the rock. This is the water that comes out after Moses strikes the rock and turns the “earth” into water. This is the 2nd miracle.
Numbers 20:9 – Understanding and Intention
And Moses took the rod from before the Lord – This verse indicates that Moses understood God’s command and all of its details. There are 4 parts to God’s command:
- First Moses is to speak to the rock and release the water that was absorbed inside of it. He is not to strike it with his rod. Sticking the rock first would merely open the spring.
- This “natural” water is to be spilled on the ground and the assembly is not meant to drink it.
- Next he is to strike the rock with his rod and turn the “earth” inside the rock into water.
- This water is for the assembly to drink.
as He commanded him – This phrase indicates that Moses understood what he was supposed to do and it was his intention to fulfill God’s command.
Numbers 20:10 – Moses Speaks
And Moses and Aaron gathered the congregation [Hebrew: kahal] together before the rock – Now the Torah relates what Moses innovated and how he deviated from God’s command.
God commanded Moses and Aaron to gather the “assembly” [Hebrew: eidah] but Moses gathered the “congregation” [Hebrew: kahal].
According to Malbim there is a significant difference between eidah / assembly compared to kahal / congregation.
Eidah indicates that the people are moving in proper order with the elders and leaders in front of the rest of the people. In particular, the members of the eidah are the elders and the Sanhedrin (the main court of 70 judges).
Kahal indicates that the people have gathered as a multitude or mob without respecting the leadership.
Why did God command that they gather together the eidah / assembly? God is about to perform a significant miracle of changing “earth” into water. It is only proper that such a miracle be performed in front of the elders who are spiritually prepared for and worthy of such an experience.
But Moses saw that actually the people came to the rock as a kahal / congregation, akin to an unruly mob. The leaders were not in front leading the people.
The elders were supposed to be the ones in front close to where the miracle would happen.
The people were acting as a mob and being rebellious toward their leaders. This is how they initially gathered against Moses and Aaron (Numbers 20:2) when they realized they had no water.
They came as a mob and accused Moses and Aaron of bringing them into the wilderness to die and not bringing them into the Land of Israel (Numbers 20:4-5).
With regard to God’s command to Moses, according to Malbim, Moses did call to the Sanhedrin and the other leaders of the people, the eidah. But then Moses saw that multitude were rebelling and complaining against the leaders.
The multitude inserted themselves in front of the leaders. But the multitude was not worthy of having this miracle (changing “earth” into water) performed for them.
Therefore, Moses spoke before the kahal / congregation and said:
Hear now, you rebels – since you are rebelling and complaining against your leaders.
shall we bring forth water for you from this rock? – How is it possible that a great miracle of changing “earth” to water can be done before you?
Moses used the phrase “shall we bring forth” because this was what God commanded him when He said “you shall bring forth” (verse 8).
Numbers 20:11 – A Miracle Happens
And Moses lifted up his hand – Moses perceived that it was impossible for him to fulfill God’s command. Under these circumstances, it was not possible to perform the miracle of “earth” changing into water.
Even to bring out the water that was already absorbed in the rock was not possible. Why? Because that miracle was to be performed by speaking to the rock in the presence of the eidah / assembly gathered before the rock.
and the water came forth abundantly – The phrase “came forth” is the translation of the Hebrew va’yeitzu. But, the verse does not use the Hebrew va’yotzi, which would be translated as “he brought forth.”
The water “came forth” on its own because Moses struck the rock and opened the spring that was under it. The water coming out was the natural result of opening the spring.
This was not the miracle that God commanded that Moses would bring forth (va’yotzi) water by first speaking to the rock and then striking it and thus turning its “earth” into water.
Numbers 20:12 – Punishment
And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, Because you did not believe Me – God tells Moses that he sinned in this matter and that he should not have changed what God told him to do.
Even though it was not the eidah / assembly that gathered before the rock, but rather the kahal / congregation. And even though a significant miracle of changing an element into another element should only be performed in front of those who are prepared and worthy of having such a miracle performed before them.
But sometimes God may chose to perform a miracle not for the honor of the Jewish people, but rather for His honor. He would do this so that they would be brought to believe in Him by means of the signs that He did before them.
That was the situation here. God saw that the people were growing weak in their faith and the hearts of the congregation were faint.
Therefore, He commanded Moses that he should “bring forth to them water out of the rock” via the great miracle so that he would be sanctified in their eyes.
So it was fitting that this miracle should be done before the kahal / congregation because their faith was small.
Because you did not believe Me – God is telling Moses and Aaron, this is the result, because you did not do the thing that would cause them to believe in Me
to sanctify Me in the eyes of the people of Israel – You, Moses and Aaron, can’t claim that you didn’t perform the miracle because the leaders were not in front of the rock.
To the contrary, this miracle was fitting to be done in front of the kahal / congregation more so than in front of the eidah / assembly.
Maybe it was not fitting to decree a punishment against Moses and Aaron, since God did command to do the miracle in front of the eidah / assembly. But it was not up to them based on their own reasoning to not perform the miracle as commanded.
Conclusion
Malbim seeks to explain why Moses was commanded to take his rod with him if he was only expected to speak to the rock.
He also explains why the Torah uses both eidah / assembly and kahal / congregation.
Finally, he offers an explanation of why what Moses and Aaron did failed to sanctify God.
Even so, there are weaknesses in his approach.
One lesson we can take away from this episode is to strive to be careful in our actions so that we can sanctify God’s name.