The rock of flint. — The rock in Horeb is called tsûr; the rock smitten in Kadesh, selagh. The first word conveys the idea of “hardness”; the other is rather a “cliff,” or “height,” and suggests the idea of inaccessibility. In Numbers 20:10, the words of Moses to the rebels, “Must we fetch you water out of this rock?” seem to help the distinction, whatever its purpose may be. On the associations of the word tsûr with flint, see Note on Joshua 5:2. The word challâmîsh, here used for flint, occurs in Deuteronomy 32:13; Job 28:9; Psalms 114:8 (an allusion to this passage), and Isaiah 1:7.
Related Commentaries of Deuteronomy 8:15
Deuteronomy 8:15
15 Who led thee through that great and terrible wilderness, wherein were fiery serpents, and scorpions, and drought, where there was no water; who brought thee forth water out of the rock of flint;