Bible Strands
Psalms 78:15
He split the rocks in the wilderness and gave them drink as abundant as the seas.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The psalmist addresses Israel, recounting God’s provision during the Exodus journey.
The words — יְבַקַּע (ye.va.Ka') = he split open and תְהֹמֹת (t.ho.Mot) = deeps.
The thread — This event echoes the Exodus strikes at Horeb and Rephidim, and is recalled in Psalms 105:41 as a repeated pattern of wilderness provision.
Why it lands — The text states that God physically fractured desert stone to supply drink, demanding recognition of his direct intervention rather than natural chance.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
He clave the rocks in the wilderness, and gave them drink as out of the great depths.
Cross-references
- Exodus 17:6 Behold, I will stand there before you by the rock at Horeb. And when you strike the rock, water will come out of it for the people to drink.” So Moses did this in the sight of the elders of Israel.
- Numbers 20:11 Then Moses raised his hand and struck the rock twice with his staff, so that a great amount of water gushed out, and the congregation and their livestock were able to drink.
- Psalms 105:41 He opened a rock, and water gushed out; it flowed like a river in the desert.
- 1 Corinthians 10:4 and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ.
- Psalms 114:8 who turned the rock into a pool, the flint into a fountain of water!
- Isaiah 41:18 I will open rivers on the barren heights, and fountains in the middle of the valleys. I will turn the desert into a pool of water, and the dry land into flowing springs.
- Isaiah 43:20 The beasts of the field will honor Me, the jackals and the ostriches, because I provide water in the wilderness and rivers in the desert, to give drink to My chosen people.
- Isaiah 48:21 They did not thirst when He led them through the deserts; He made water flow for them from the rock; He split the rock, and water gushed out.
- Revelation 22:1 Then the angel showed me a river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb
- Revelation 22:17 The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” Let the one who hears say, “Come!” And let the one who is thirsty come, and the one who desires the water of life drink freely.