So Moses cried out to the Lord for help, and the Lord showed him a piece of wood. Moses threw it into the water, and this made the water good to drink. It was there at Marah that the Lord set before them the following decree as a standard to test their faithfulness to him.
Parallel translations
- WEB Then he cried to Yahweh. Yahweh showed him a tree, and he threw it into the waters, and the waters were made sweet. There he made a statute and an ordinance for them, and there he tested them;
- KJV And he cried unto the LORD; and the LORD shewed him a tree, which when he had cast into the waters, the waters were made sweet: there he made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there he proved them,
- BSB And Moses cried out to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a log. And when he cast it into the waters, they were sweetened. There the LORD made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there He tested them,
- NKJV So he cried out to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a tree. When he cast it into the waters, the waters were made sweet. There He made a statute and an ordinance for them, and there He tested them,
- NASB Then he cried out to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a tree; and he threw it into the waters, and the waters became sweet. There He made for them a statute and regulation, and there He tested them.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Moses cried to Yahweh, who showed him a tree to cast into the waters to make them sweet, and there God tested Israel with a statute.
Overview
God answers prayer by providing means, the tree, to heal the bitter waters, showing His care amid trial. The episode becomes a test and a place of instruction, a 'statute and ordinance' for the people. Many Christian readers have seen in the tree that sweetens bitter waters a foreshadowing of the cross, though the text itself emphasizes God's provision and the call to trust and obey.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 22
- Deut 8:2You shall remember all the way which Yahweh your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, to prove you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments, or not.
- Ps 66:10For you, God, have tested us. You have refined us, as silver is refined.
- Judg 3:1Now these are the nations which Yahweh left, to test Israel by them, even as many as had not known all the wars of Canaan;
- Judg 3:4They were left to test Israel by them, to know whether they would listen to Yahweh’s commandments, which he commanded their fathers by Moses.
- Judg 2:22that by them I may test Israel, to see if they will keep the Yahweh’s way to walk therein, as their fathers kept it, or not.”
- Exod 16:4Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Behold, I will rain bread from the sky for you, and the people shall go out and gather a day’s portion every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in my law, or not.
- Deut 8:16who fed you in the wilderness with manna, which your fathers didn’t know; that he might humble you, and that he might prove you, to do you good at your latter end:
- 2 Kgs 2:21He went out to the spring of the waters, and threw salt into it, and said, “Yahweh says, ‘I have healed these waters. There shall not be from there any more death or barren wasteland.’”
- 1 Pet 1:6–7Wherein you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been put to grief in various trials,
- Ps 91:15He will call on me, and I will answer him. I will be with him in trouble. I will deliver him, and honor him.
- Ps 50:15Call on me in the day of trouble. I will deliver you, and you will honor me.”
- 1 Cor 1:18For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are dying, but to us who are saved it is the power of God.
- Prov 17:3The refining pot is for silver, and the furnace for gold, but Yahweh tests the hearts.
- Josh 24:21–25The people said to Joshua, “No, but we will serve Yahweh.”
- Jer 9:7Therefore Yahweh of Armies says, “Behold, I will melt them, and try them; for how should I deal with the daughter of my people?
- Exod 14:10When Pharaoh came near, the children of Israel lifted up their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them; and they were very afraid. The children of Israel cried out to Yahweh.
- 2 Kgs 4:41But he said, “Then bring meal.” He threw it into the pot; and he said, “Serve it to the people, that they may eat.” And there was nothing harmful in the pot.
- Exod 17:4Moses cried to Yahweh, saying, “What shall I do with these people? They are almost ready to stone me.”
- Deut 13:3you shall not listen to the words of that prophet, or to that dreamer of dreams; for Yahweh your God is testing you, to know whether you love Yahweh your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
- Ps 81:7You called in trouble, and I delivered you. I answered you in the secret place of thunder. I tested you at the waters of Meribah.” Selah.
- Ps 99:6Moses and Aaron were among his priests, Samuel among those who call on his name; they called on Yahweh, and he answered them.
- Jer 15:1Then Yahweh said to me, “Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet my mind would not be toward this people. Cast them out of my sight, and let them go out!
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Christ at the center
The Passover lamb whose blood turns away death, the exodus through the sea, the manna, the rock, and the tabernacle where God dwells with his people all foreshadow Jesus — our Passover, our redemption, the bread from heaven, and God-with-us in the flesh.
How Exodus 15:25 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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