Exodus 17:1

Summary

The entire community of the Israelites departs from the wilderness of Sin, moving by stages according to a directive attributed to Yehovah, and sets up camp at Rephidim, where no water is available for the people to drink.

Key words

• va-yis'u ("and they set out", H5265) — qal verb with narrative vav, marking the next event in the sequence of the story.
• 'adat ("congregation of", H5712) — feminine singular construct noun, linking to "sons of Israel" to describe the whole assembly as a collective unit.
• masa'ei-hem ("their journeyings", H4550 + H9028) — plural construct noun with 3rd person masculine plural suffix, indicating multiple stages of travel belonging to the group.
• pi ("mouth of", H6310I) — construct noun used in the idiom 'al pi ("on/according to the mouth of"), attributing the order for the stages of travel to Yehovah.
• ein ("there not", H0369) — construct particle of negation, used with mayim ("water", H4325G) to state the absence of water at the site.

What the text says

The verse opens with a narrative-chain verb, va-yis'u ("and they set out", H5265), placing this action as a direct continuation of the preceding narrative. The subject is expressed through a chain of construct nouns: kol ("all", H3605) governing 'adat ("congregation of", H5712), which governs benei ("sons of", H1121G), which governs Yisra'el ("Israel", H3478). This construct chain builds a single compound expression — "all the congregation of the sons of Israel" — describing the group as a unified collective rather than listing separate actors.

The phrase le-mas'ei-hem ("to their journeyings", H4550 + H9028) uses a plural construct noun with a possessive suffix, indicating that the movement happened in multiple stages ("journeyings") belonging to the group, rather than a single uninterrupted departure. This is followed by 'al pi Yehovah ("on the mouth of Yehovah", H5921A + H6310I + H3068G), an idiomatic construct phrase in Hebrew where "mouth" functions to indicate the source or authority behind the command, here attributed to the divine name.

The final clause uses ein ("there not", H0369), a construct particle of negation, together with mayim ("water", H4325G) and the infinitive lishtot ("to drink", H8354), to state the absence of water available for ha-'am ("the people", H5971A + H9009). The infinitive construction expresses purpose or result — water lacking "for drinking."

Differences between versions

The LXX renders 'al pi Yehovah ("on the mouth of Yehovah") as διὰ ῥήματος Τυρίου ("by the word of Tyrios" — a rendering of the divine name), preserving the sense of divine command through an idiom of "word" rather than "mouth." The Vulgate renders the same phrase as juxta sermonem Domini ("according to the word of the Lord"), also shifting from the Hebrew's "mouth" idiom to "word/speech." The Hebrew masa'ei-hem ("their journeyings") — a plural noun suggesting distinct stages — appears in the LXX as κατὰ παρεμβολὰς αὐτῶν ("according to their encampments"), shifting the image from stages of travel to camps or divisions of the group.