Exodus 17:6 - Coke's Commentary on the Holy Bible

I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb— That is, "I will manifest my presence upon a certain rock in Horeb, whence water shall flow upon thy smiting the rock; as proper witnesses of which, thou art to take the elders of Israel with thee," Exodus 17:5. The word there, שׁם sham, must either denote, that God pointed out the particular part of the rock in Horeb, where he would appear; or, it may denote only, a rock there in Horeb. The LXX render it, and go where I stood before thee upon the rock in Horeb; alluding to the place where God had appeared to Moses at the first. See note on ch. Exodus 3:1. "Miracles," says Bp. Warburton, "are of two sorts: those where the laws of nature are suspended, or reversed, (such as the budding of Aaron's rod, and the raising of Lazarus from the dead:) and those which only give a new direction to its laws; (such as bringing water from the rock, and stopping the issue of blood.) Who would affirm that the water, which came from the rock at the command of Moses, was just then created to do honour to his ministry? In this case, what more would a rational believer conclude, than that GOD, by making a fissure in the rock, gave room for the water to burst out, which had before been lodged there by nature, as in its proper reservoir? And the sober critic, who proceeds in this manner, only follows that method of interpreting, which God himself useth, in working the miracle; which is, to give to nature all that nature could easily perform."