Exode 17:11

La Bible Ostervald

Et il arrivait, lorsque Moïse élevait sa main, qu'Israël était le plus fort, mais quand il reposait sa main, Amalek était le plus fort.

Parallel Translations

Louis Segond (1910)
Lorsque Mo�se �levait sa main, Isra�l �tait le plus fort; et lorsqu'il baissait sa main, Amalek �tait le plus fort.

La Bible David Martin (1744)
Et il arrivait que lorsque Mo�se �levait sa main, Isra�l �tait alors le plus fort; mais quand il reposait sa main, alors Hamalec �tait le plus fort.

Darby's French Translation
Et il arrivait, lorsque Mo�se �levait sa main, qu'Isra�l avait le dessus; et quand il reposait sa main, Amalek avait le dessus.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Psalms 56:9, Luke 18:1, 1 Timothy 2:8, James 5:16

Reciprocal: Joshua 8:18 - Stretch Joshua 8:26 - drew not 1 Samuel 15:33 - As thy sword 2 Kings 13:18 - he smote thrice 1 Chronicles 5:20 - And they

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And it came to pass, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed,.... With his rod in it as a banner displayed, as some think, which inspired the Israelites with courage to fight, and they had the better of it; though Aben Ezra rejects that notion, observing, that if that had been the case, Aaron or Hur would have lifted it up, or fixed it in a high place on the mount, that it might have been seen standing; and therefore he thinks the sense of the ancients the most correct, that it was a prayer gesture. And among the Heathens, Moses was famous for the efficacy of his prayers; Numenius, the Pythagoric philosopher y, says of him, that he was a man very powerful in prayer with God: and so all the Targums interpret it, and particularly the Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem paraphrase the words,

"when Moses lift up his hands in prayer, the house of Israel prevailed, but when he restrained his hands from prayer, the house of Amalek prevailed,''

as it follows:

when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed; so that victory seemed to go sometimes on one side, and sometimes on the other, according as the hand of Moses, with the rod in it, was held up or let down; when it was held up, and Israel saw it, they fought valiantly, but when it was let down, and they could not see it, their hearts failed them, and they feared it portended ill to them, which caused them to give way to the enemy. The spiritual Israel of God are engaged in a warfare with spiritual enemies, some within, and some without; and sometimes they prevail over their enemies, and sometimes their enemies prevail over them for a while; and things go on very much as a man either keeps up or leaves off praying, which is signified by the lifting up of holy hands without wrath and doubting, 1 Timothy 2:8 and which when rightly performed, under the influence of the divine Spirit in faith, in sincerity, and with fervency and constancy, has great power with God and Christ, and against Satan and every spiritual enemy.

y Apud Euseb. Praepar, Evangel. l. 9. c. 8. p. 411.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The act represents the efficacy of intercessory prayer - offered doubtless by Moses - a point of great moment to the Israelites at that time and to the Church in all ages.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Exodus 17:11. When Moses held up his hand — We cannot understand this transaction in any literal way; for the lifting up or letting down the hands of Moses could not, humanly speaking, influence the battle. It is likely that he held up the rod of God in his hand, Exodus 17:9, as an ensign to the people. We have already seen that in prayer the hands were generally lifted up and spread out, (Exodus 9:29,) and therefore it is likely that by this act prayer and supplication are intended. The Jerusalem Targum says, "When Moses held up his hands in prayer, the house of Israel prevailed; and when he let down his hands from prayer, the house of Amalek prevailed." We may therefore conclude, that by holding up the hands in this case these two things were intended:

1. That hereby a reference was made to God, as the source whence all help and protection must come, and that on him alone they must depend.

2. That prayer and supplication to God are essentially necessary to their prevalence over all their enemies.

It is indisputably true that, while the hands are stretched out, that is, while the soul exerts itself in prayer and supplication to God, we are sure to conquer our spiritual adversaries; but if our hands become heavy - if we restrain prayer before God, Amalek will prevail - every spiritual foe, every internal corruption, will gain ground. Several of the fathers consider Moses, with his stretched-out hands, as a figure of Christ on the cross, suffering for mankind, and getting a complete victory over sin and Satan.