1 All the congregation of the children of Israel traveled from the wilderness of Sin, starting according to Yahweh’s commandment, and encamped in Rephidim ; but there was no water for the people to drink.
2 Therefore the people quarreled with Moses, and said, “Give us water to drink.” Moses said to them, “Why do you quarrel with me ? Why do you test Yahweh ?”
3 The people were thirsty for water there ; so the people murmured against Moses, and said, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us, our children, and our livestock with thirst ?”
4 Moses cried to Yahweh, saying, “What shall I do with these people ? They are almost ready to stone me.”
5 Yahweh said to Moses, “Walk on before the people, and take the elders of Israel with you, and take the rod in your hand with which you struck the Nile, and go.
6 Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock in Horeb. You shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it, that the people may drink.” Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel.
7 He called the name of the place Massah, and Meribah, because the children of Israel quarreled, and because they tested Yahweh, saying, “Is Yahweh among us, or not ?” Notesn1 Massah means testing.n2 Meribah means quarreling.
Note · Exode 17.1–7
La question de la présence au milieu d’un besoin réel
Le peuple manque d’eau et met en cause la sortie. Les noms du lieu gardent la mémoire de la contestation et de la mise à l’épreuve. Le secours reçu ne transforme pas toute question dans la détresse en faute, mais le récit interroge une exigence qui voudrait réduire Dieu à la réponse immédiate à chaque demande.
8 Then Amalek came and fought with Israel in Rephidim.
9 Moses said to Joshua, “Choose men for us, and go out to fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with God’s rod in my hand.”
10 So Joshua did as Moses had told him, and fought with Amalek ; and Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill.
11 When Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed. When he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed.
12 But Moses’ hands were heavy ; so they took a stone, and put it under him, and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held up his hands, the one on the one side, and the other on the other side. His hands were steady until sunset.
13 Joshua defeated Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.
Note · Exode 17.8–13
La victoire ne dépend pas d’un homme isolé
Josué conduit les hommes, tandis que les mains de Moïse ont besoin d’être soutenues. La fatigue du chef n’est pas cachée. Le passage ne présente pas les gestes comme une technique magique : il met en relation dépendance envers Dieu, engagement du peuple et soutien concret entre compagnons.
14 Yahweh said to Moses, “Write this for a memorial in a book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua : that I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under the sky.”
15 Moses built an altar, and called its name “Yahweh our Banner”. Notesn1 Hebrew, Yahweh Nissi
16 He said, “Yah has sworn : ‘Yahweh will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.’”
Note · Exode 17.14–16
Une mémoire de guerre à ne pas généraliser
L’écriture et l’autel fixent le souvenir de l’affrontement. La formule finale est difficile et reçoit des traductions différentes. Quelle que soit la lecture retenue, on ne peut l’utiliser pour donner à ses propres adversaires l’identité d’Amalek ou légitimer une hostilité héréditaire illimitée.