Commentary on the Torah

by Richard Elliott Friedman

you’ll strike the rock, and water will come out of it. Moses, who was drawn from water, and whose name stands for drawing from water, now draws water from the rock. He also met his wife by defending her right to draw water; the first plague he introduced involved turning the waters (from which he had once been drawn) to blood; he initiated the splitting of the sea; and he acted to sweeten the bitter water at Marah. There will be several more incidents involving water in Moses’ life. It seems to be a key element in his destiny, which will culminate in his tragic act when he strikes a rock to get water again at a second Meribah (Numbers 20). For this act he will be forbidden to enter the promised land. His life will end, as it began, at a river, the Jordan, which he will not be permitted to cross.