'Rock' in the Bible

Then their father Israel said to them, “If it must be so, then do this; take some of the choicest products of the land in your sacks, and carry it as a present [of tribute] to the man [representing Pharaoh], a little balm and a little honey, aromatic spices or gum, resin, pistachio nuts, and almonds.

“But his bow remained firm and steady [in the Strength that does not fail],For his arms were made strong and agileBy the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob,(By the name of the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel),

Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb; there you shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it, so that the people may [have something to] drink.” And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel.

Then the Lord said, “Behold, there is a place beside Me, and you shall stand there on the rock;

and while My glory is passing by, I will put you in a cleft of the rock and protectively cover you with My hand until I have passed by.

And the shaphan, because it chews the cud but does not divide the hoof; it is unclean to you.

“Take the rod; and you and your brother Aaron assemble the congregation and speak to the rock in front of them, so that it will pour out its water. In this way you shall bring water for them out of the rock and let the congregation and their livestock drink [fresh water].”

and Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly before the rock. Moses said to them, “Listen now, you rebels; must we bring you water out of this rock?”

Then Moses raised his hand [in anger] and with his rod he struck the rock twice [instead of speaking to the rock as the Lord had commanded]. And the water poured out abundantly, and the congregation and their livestock drank [fresh water].

And Balaam looked at the Kenites and took up his [sixth] discourse (oracle) and said:“Strong is your dwelling place,And you set your nest in the cliff.

He led you through the great and terrible wilderness, with its fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty ground where there was no water; it was He who brought water for you out of the flinty rock.

“The Rock! His work is perfect,For all His ways are just;A God of faithfulness without iniquity (injustice),Just and upright is He.

“He made him (Israel) ride on the high places of the earth,And he ate the produce of the field;And He made him suck honey from the rock,And [olive] oil from the flinty rock,

“But Jeshurun (Israel) became fat and kicked [at God].You became fat, thick, sleek, and obstinate!Then he abandoned God who had made him,And scorned the Rock of his salvation.

“You were unmindful of the Rock who bore you,And you forgot the God who gave you birth.

“How could one chase a thousand,And two put ten thousand to flight,Unless their Rock had sold them,And the Lord had given them up?

“For their rock is not like our Rock,Even our enemies themselves judge this.

“And He will say, ‘Where are their gods,The rock in which they took refuge?

The border of the Amorites ran from the ascent of Akrabbim, from Sela (rock) and upward.

The Angel of God said to him, “Take the meat and unleavened bread and lay them on this rock, and pour out the broth [over them].” And he did so.

Then the Angel of the Lord put out the end of the staff that was in His hand and touched the meat and the unleavened bread; and fire flared up from the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened bread. Then the Angel of the Lord vanished from his sight.

Then the men of Ephraim took the two leaders of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb, and they killed Oreb at the rock of Oreb, and they killed Zeeb at the wine press of Zeeb, and pursued Midian; and they brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon from across the Jordan.

So Manoah took the young goat with the grain offering and offered it on the rock to the Lord, and He performed miracles while Manoah and his wife looked on.

Then he struck them without mercy, a great slaughter; and he went down and lived in the cleft of the rock of Etam.

Then three thousand men of Judah went down to the cleft of the rock of Etam and said to Samson, “Have you not known that the Philistines are rulers over us? What is this that you have done to us?” He said to them, “As they did to me, so I have done to them.”

So they said to him, “No, we will [only] bind you securely and place you into their hands; but we certainly will not kill you.” So they bound him with two new ropes and brought him up from the rock [of Etam].

The survivors [of Benjamin] turned and fled toward the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon, and Israel caught five thousand of them on the roads and overtook them at Gidom and killed two thousand of them.

But six hundred men turned and fled toward the wilderness to the rock of Rimmon and stayed at the rock of Rimmon for four months.

Then the whole congregation sent word to the [surviving] sons of Benjamin who were at the rock of Rimmon, and proclaimed peace to them.

“There is no one holy like the Lord,There is no one besides You,There is no Rock like our God.

Then Saul and his men went to search for him. When David was told about it, he went down to the rock and stayed [there] in the Wilderness of Maon. When Saul heard it, he pursued David in the Wilderness of Maon.

So Saul returned from pursuing David and went to meet the Philistines; therefore they called that place the Rock of Escape.

Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth and spread it out for herself on the rock, from the beginning of harvest [in the spring] until [the autumn] rain fell on them; and she allowed neither the birds of the sky to rest on their bodies by day, nor the beasts of the field [to feed on them] by night.

He said:“The Lord is my rock and my fortress [on the mountain] and my rescuer;

My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge;My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold and my refuge,My Savior—You save me from violence.

“For who is God, besides the Lord?And who is a rock, besides our God?

“The Lord lives, and blessed be my rock,And exalted be my God, the rock of my salvation.

“The God of Israel,The Rock of Israel spoke to me,‘He who rules over men righteously,Who rules in the fear of God,

Amaziah killed 10,000 [men] of Edom in the Valley of Salt, and took Sela (rock) by war, and renamed it Joktheel, to this day.

Three of the thirty chief men went down to the rock to David, into the cave of Adullam, while the army of the Philistines was camped in the Valley of Rephaim.

“You gave them bread from heaven for their hunger,And brought water for them out of a rock for their thirst,And You told them to enter and take possession ofThe land that You swore to give them.

“But as a mountain, if it falls, crumbles into nothing,And as the rock is moved from its place,

“You who tear yourself apart in anger,Is the earth to be abandoned for your sake,Or the rock to be moved out of its place?

“That with an iron stylus and [molten] leadThey were engraved in the rock forever!

“They are wet from the rain of the mountainsAnd cling to the rock for lack of shelter.

“Man puts his hand on [and tears apart] the flinty rock;He overturns the mountains at the base [looking for treasure].

When my steps [through rich pastures] were washed with butter and cream [from my livestock],And the rock poured out for me streams of oil [from my olive groves].

“Do you know the time when the wild goats of the rock give birth [to their young]?Do you observe the calving of the deer?

“On the cliff he dwells and remains [securely],Upon the point of the rock and the inaccessible stronghold.

The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and the One who rescues me;My God, my rock and strength in whom I trust and take refuge;My shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower—my stronghold.

For who is God, but the Lord?Or who is a rock, except our God,

The Lord lives, blessed be my rock;And may the God of my salvation be exalted,

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heartBe acceptable and pleasing in Your sight,O Lord, my [firm, immovable] rock and my Redeemer.

For in the day of trouble He will hide me in His shelter;In the secret place of His tent He will hide me;He will lift me up on a rock.

To you I call, O Lord,My rock, do not be deaf to me,For if You are silent to me,I will become like those who go down to the pit (grave).

Incline Your ear to me, deliver me quickly;Be my rock of refuge,And a strong fortress to save me.

Yes, You are my rock and my fortress;For Your name’s sake You will lead me and guide me.

He brought me up out of a horrible pit [of tumult and of destruction], out of the miry clay,And He set my feet upon a rock, steadying my footsteps and establishing my path.

I will say to God my rock, “Why have You forgotten me?Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?”

From the end of the earth I call to You, when my heart is overwhelmed and weak;Lead me to the rock that is higher than I [a rock that is too high to reach without Your help].

He alone is my rock and my salvation,My defense and my strong tower; I will not be shaken or disheartened.

He only is my rock and my salvation;My fortress and my defense, I will not be shaken or discouraged.

On God my salvation and my glory rest;He is my rock of [unyielding] strength, my refuge is in God.

Be to me a rock of refuge and a sheltering stronghold to which I may continually come;You have given the commandment to save me,For You are my rock and my fortress.

My flesh and my heart may fail,But God is the rock and strength of my heart and my portion forever.

You broke open fountains and streams;You dried up ever-flowing rivers.

He brought streams also from the rock [at Rephidim and Kadesh]And caused waters to run down like rivers.

“Behold, He struck the rock so that waters gushed outAnd the streams overflowed;Can He give bread also?Or will He provide meat for His people?”

And they remembered that God was their rock,And the Most High God their Redeemer.

“But I would feed Israel with the finest of the wheat;And with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.”

“He will cry to Me, ‘You are my Father,My God, and the rock of my salvation.’

[They are living memorials] to declare that the Lord is upright and faithful [to His promises];He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him.

But the Lord has become my high tower and defense,And my God the rock of my refuge.

O come, let us sing joyfully to the Lord;Let us shout joyfully to the rock of our salvation.

He opened the rock and water flowed out;It ran in the dry places like a river.

Who turned the rock into a pool of water,The flint into a fountain of water.

How blessed will be the one who seizes and dashes your little onesAgainst the rock.

Blessed be the Lord, my Rock and my great strength,Who trains my hands for warAnd my fingers for battle;

The way of an eagle in the air,The way of a serpent on a rock,The way of a ship in the middle of the sea,And the way of a man with a maid.

(The Bridegroom)“O my dove, [here] in the clefts in the rock,In the sheltered and secret place of the steep pathway,Let me see your face,Let me hear your voice;For your voice is sweet,And your face is lovely.”

Go among the rocks and hide in the dustFrom the terror of the Lord and from the splendor of His majesty.

“Then He shall be a sanctuary [a sacred, indestructible shelter for those who fear and trust Him];But to both the houses of Israel [both the northern and southern kingdoms—Israel and Judah, He will be] a stone on which to stumble and a rock on which to trip,A trap and a snare for the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

The Lord of hosts will brandish a whip against them like the slaughter of Midian at the rock of Oreb; and His staff will be over the [Red] Sea and He will lift it up the way He did in [the flight from] Egypt.

Because you [Judah] have forgotten the God of your salvationAnd have not remembered the Rock of your Stronghold—Therefore you plant lovely plantsAnd set the grounds with vine slips of a strange god,

‘What business do you have here?And whom do you have here,That you have hewn out a tomb here for yourself,You who hew a sepulcher on the height,You who carve a resting place for yourself in the rock?

“Trust [confidently] in the Lord forever [He is your fortress, your shield, your banner],For the Lord God is an everlasting Rock [the Rock of Ages].

You will have a song as in the night when a holy feast is kept,And joy of heart as when one marches [in procession] with a flute,To go to the [temple on the] mountain of the Lord, to the Rock of Israel.

“His rock [his stronghold] will pass away because of panic,And his princes will be terrified at the [sight of the battle] standard,”Declares the Lord, whose fire is in Zion and whose furnace is in Jerusalem.

Each [one of them] will be like a hiding place from the windAnd a shelter from the storm,Like streams of water in a dry land,Like the shade of a huge rock in a parched and weary land [to those who turn to them].

Let the wilderness and its cities lift up their voices,The villages where Kedar lives.Let the inhabitants of Sela shout for joy,Let them shout joyfully from the tops of the mountains.

‘Do not tremble nor be afraid [of the violent upheavals to come];Have I not long ago proclaimed it to you and declared it?And you are My witnesses.Is there a God besides Me?There is no other Rock;I know of none.’”

They did not thirst when He led them through the deserts.He made the waters flow out of the rock for them;He split the rock and the waters flowed.

“Listen to Me, you who pursue righteousness (right standing with God),Who seek and inquire of the Lord:Look to the rock from which you were cutAnd to the excavation of the quarry from which you were dug.

O Lord, do not Your eyes look for truth?You [have seen their faithless heart and] have stricken them,But they did not weaken;You have consumed them,But they refused to take correction or instruction.They have made their faces harder than rock;They have refused to repent and return to You.

“Get up and take the waistband that you have bought, which is [wrapped] around your loins, and go to the [river] Euphrates and hide it there in a crevice of the rock.”

“Understand this, I am against you, O inhabitant of the valley,O rock of the plain,” says the Lord—“You who say, ‘Who will come down against us?Or who will enter into our dwelling places?’

“Is not My word like fire [that consumes all that cannot endure the test]?” says the Lord, “and like a hammer that breaks the [most stubborn] rock [in pieces]?

“As for Your terror,The pride and arrogance of your heart have deceived you,O you who live in the clefts of the rock (Sela also called Petra),Who hold and occupy the height of the hill.Though you make your nest as high as the eagle’s,I will bring you down from there,” says the Lord.

“For her blood [that she has shed] remains in her midst;She put it on the bare rock;She did not pour it on the groundTo cover it with dust.

“That it may cause wrath to come up to take vengeance,I have put her blood [guilt for her children sacrificed to Molech] on the bare rock,That it may not be covered.”