Exo 15:26 | KD | STEP | When Moses cried to the Lord in consequence, He showed him some wood which, when thrown into the water, took away its bitterness. The Bedouins, who know the neighbourhood, are not acquainted with such a tree, or with any other means of making bitter water sweet; and this power was hardly inherent in the tree itself, though it is ascribed to it in Ecclus. 38:5, but was imparted to it through the word and power of God. We cannot assign any reason for the choice of this particular earthly means, as the Scripture says nothing about any “evident and intentional contrast to the change in the Nile by which the sweet and pleasant water was rendered unfit for use” ( Kurtz ). The word עץ “ wood ” (see only Num 19:6), alone, without anything in the context to explain it, does not point to a “living tree” in contrast to the “dead stick.” And if any contrast had been intended to be shown between the punishment of the Egyptians and the training of the Israelites, this intention would certainly have been more visibly and surely accomplished by using the staff with which Moses not only brought the plagues upon Egypt, but afterwards brought water out of the rock. If by עץ we understand a tree, with which ויּשׁלך, however, hardly agrees, it would be much more natural to suppose that there was an allusion to the tree of life, especially if we compare and with , “the leaves of the tree of life were for the healing of the nations,” though we cannot regard this reference as established. All that is clear and undoubted is, that by employing these means, Jehovah made Himself known to the people of Israel as their Physician, and for this purpose appointed the wood for the healing of the bitter water, which threatened Israel with disease and death (2Ki 4:40). By this event Jehovah accomplished two things: ( a ) “ there He put (made) for it (the nation) an ordinance and a right, ” and ( b ) “ there He proved it .” The ordinance and right which Jehovah made for Israel did not consist in the words of God quoted in , for they merely give an explanation of the law and right, but in the divine act itself. The leading of Israel to bitter water, which their nature could not drink, and then the sweetening or curing of this water, were to be a חק for Israel, i.e., an institution or law by which God would always guide and govern His people, and a משׁפּט or right, inasmuch as Israel could always reckon upon the help of God, and deliverance from every trouble. But as Israel had not yet true confidence in the Lord, this was also a trial, serving to manifest its natural heart, and, through the relief of its distress on the part of God, to refine and strengthen its faith. The practical proof which was given of Jehovah’s presence was intended to impress this truth upon the Israelites, that Jehovah as their Physician would save them from all the diseases which He had sent upon Egypt, if they would hear His voice, do what was right in His eyes, and keep all His commandments.

‏ Exodus 15:26

When Moses cried to the Lord in consequence, He showed him some wood which, when thrown into the water, took away its bitterness. The Bedouins, who know the neighbourhood, are not acquainted with such a tree, or with any other means of making bitter water sweet; and this power was hardly inherent in the tree itself, though it is ascribed to it in Ecclus. 38:5, but was imparted to it through the word and power of God. We cannot assign any reason for the choice of this particular earthly means, as the Scripture says nothing about any “evident and intentional contrast to the change in the Nile by which the sweet and pleasant water was rendered unfit for use” (Kurtz). The word עץ “wood” (see only Num 19:6), alone, without anything in the context to explain it, does not point to a “living tree” in contrast to the “dead stick.” And if any contrast had been intended to be shown between the punishment of the Egyptians and the training of the Israelites, this intention would certainly have been more visibly and surely accomplished by using the staff with which Moses not only brought the plagues upon Egypt, but afterwards brought water out of the rock. If by עץ we understand a tree, with which ויּשׁלך, however, hardly agrees, it would be much more natural to suppose that there was an allusion to the tree of life, especially if we compare Gen 2:9 and Gen 3:22 with Rev 22:2, “the leaves of the tree of life were for the healing of the nations,” though we cannot regard this reference as established. All that is clear and undoubted is, that by employing these means, Jehovah made Himself known to the people of Israel as their Physician, and for this purpose appointed the wood for the healing of the bitter water, which threatened Israel with disease and death (2Ki 4:40).

By this event Jehovah accomplished two things: (a) “there He put (made) for it (the nation) an ordinance and a right,” and (b) “there He proved it.” The ordinance and right which Jehovah made for Israel did not consist in the words of God quoted in Exo 15:26, for they merely give an explanation of the law and right, but in the divine act itself. The leading of Israel to bitter water, which their nature could not drink, and then the sweetening or curing of this water, were to be a חק for Israel, i.e., an institution or law by which God would always guide and govern His people, and a משׁפּט or right, inasmuch as Israel could always reckon upon the help of God, and deliverance from every trouble. But as Israel had not yet true confidence in the Lord, this was also a trial, serving to manifest its natural heart, and, through the relief of its distress on the part of God, to refine and strengthen its faith. The practical proof which was given of Jehovah’s presence was intended to impress this truth upon the Israelites, that Jehovah as their Physician would save them from all the diseases which He had sent upon Egypt, if they would hear His voice, do what was right in His eyes, and keep all His commandments.