And Moses built an altar and called its name, The-Lord-Is-My-Banner;
Parallel translations
- WEB Moses built an altar, and called its name Yahweh our Banner.
- KJV And Moses built an altar, and called the name of it Jehovahnissi:
- BSB And Moses built an altar and named it The LORD Is My Banner.
- NASB And Moses built an altar and named it The Lord is My Banner;
- NLT Moses built an altar there and named it Yahweh-Nissi (which means “the Lord is my banner”).
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 built an altar and named it 'Yahweh our Banner.' He credited the victory entirely to God.
Overview
By naming the altar Yahweh-Nissi, Moses confesses that the Lord himself is Israel's rallying standard in battle. The altar marks worship and remembrance, ascribing the triumph to God rather than to human strength. This banner anticipates Christ, lifted up as the one under whom God's people gather and find victory.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 4
- Gen 22:14Abraham called the name of that place Yahweh Will Provide. As it is said to this day, “On Yahweh’s mountain, it will be provided.”
- Judg 6:24Then Gideon built an altar there to Yahweh, and called it “Yahweh is Peace.” To this day it is still in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.
- Ps 60:4You have given a banner to those who fear you, that it may be displayed because of the truth. Selah.
- Gen 33:20He erected an altar there, and called it El Elohe Israel.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
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 17:15 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
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.