But Moses’ hands [were] heavy; and they took a stone, and put [it] under him, and he sat thereon; and Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands, the one on the one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun.
12. steady ] Heb. steadiness (G.-K. 141d); elsewhere always in a moral sense, steadfastness, faithfulness. See the writer’s note on Hab 2:4 in the Century Bible.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Until the going down of the sun – The length of this first great battle indicates the strength and obstinacy of the assailants. It was no mere raid of Bedouins, but a deliberate attack of the Amalekites, who had been probably thoroughly trained in warfare by their struggles with Egypt.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Not that both hands were erected and joined together, which was not a fit posture for one holding a rod in his hand; but that Moses shifted the rod out of one hand into the other when the former was weary, and that
Aaron and Hur did each of them with both hands hold up that hand which was next to them, successively, that they also might relieve one the other.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
But Moses’s hands were heavy,…. And hung down through weariness, holding up the rod first in one hand, and then in another, for so long a time; and thus sometimes, through infirmity, the best of men grow remiss in prayer, their hands are weak and hang flown through the corruptions of their hearts, the power of unbelief, the temptations of Satan, and want of immediate answers of prayer, or through long delays of it, and then the enemy gets an advantage over them:
and they took a stone, and put it under him, and he sat thereon; so that it seems not only that his hands were heavy, but he could not well stand on his feet any longer, being a corpulent man as well as in years, as Ben Gersom suggests; and therefore Aaron and Hur took a stone that lay on the mount for him to sit upon, where he might be raised as high, and be as well seen, as standing: this stone may be an emblem of Christ the stone of Israel, the foundation of his people, their prop and support, which sustains and upholds them, their Ebenezer, or stone of help in all their times of difficulty and distress:
and Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands, the one on the one side, and the other on the other side; the one was on his right, and the other on his left; and when the rod was in his right hand, he that was on that side held up that; and when it was in his left hand, he that was on the left side supported that: these may be an emblem of Christ, and of the Spirit of Christ, from whom the saints have their supports and assistance in prayer: Aaron the priest may represent Christ, from whose blood, righteousness, and sacrifice, and from whose advocacy, mediation, and intercession, the people of God receive much encouragement and strength in their addresses at the throne of grace: and Hur, who has his name from a word which signifies freedom and liberty, may be an emblem of the Holy Spirit of God; who helps the saints in prayer under all their infirmities, and makes intercession for them, by filling their hearts and mouths with arguments, and is a free spirit to them; by whom they are upheld, and where he is there is liberty, and a soul can come forth in prayer to God, and in the exercise of grace with freedom:
and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun; when the victory was decided in favour of Israel; this may denote steadiness of faith in prayer, the constant performance of it, and continuance in it as long as a man lives.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(12) Moses hands were heavy.Moses writes with a clear remembrance of his feelings at the time. His hands, long stretched to heaven, grew weary, heavy, feeble; he could no longer raise them up, much less stretch them out, by his own muscular energy. They sank down, and dropped by his sides. If the battle was not to be lost, it was necessary to find some remedy. Apparently, Aaron and Hur bethought themselves of an effective remedy, none being suggested by Moses.
They took a stone.Partly to give him a certain amount of rest, but, perhaps, mainly to enable them the better to sustain his hands. The fact is one of those little ones, which none but one engaged in the transactions would have been likely to have been acquainted with. (See Introduction, 5)
Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands.Left to himself, Moses had become exhausted both mentally and bodily, and when his hands dropped, had ceased to pray. Sustained physically by his two companions, his mind recovered itself, and was able to renew its supplications and continue them. The result was the victory.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
If we consider this in a spiritual sense, it will teach us how faint and frail our nature is in all its best soul exercises. Joshua was not faint that we read of in fighting, but yet Moses was, in holding up his hands in prayer. Reader! what an encouraging thought is that of God our Father? Isa 40:28-31 . And what a precious thought is that respecting the Lord Jesus Christ? Heb 7:24-25 . Doth not Aaron and Hur suggest to us, how Jesus by his support, and the Holy Ghost by his reviving influences, stay up the drooping minds of the Lord’s people?
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Exo 17:12 But Moses’ hands [were] heavy; and they took a stone, and put [it] under him, and he sat thereon; and Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands, the one on the one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun.
Ver. 12. But Moses’s hands were heavy.] It is a praise proper to God, that “his hand is stretched out still”: as for men, even the best, though “the spirit” in them be “willing, yet the flesh is weak,” Mat 26:41 and will not suffer any long intention.
And Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
heavy = weary.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Moses’ hands: Mat 26:40-45, Mar 14:37-40, Eph 6:18, Col 4:2
stayed up his hands: Psa 35:3, Isa 35:3, 2Co 1:11, Phi 1:19, 1Th 5:25, Heb 12:12, Jam 1:6
Reciprocal: Exo 17:10 – Hur Exo 24:14 – Hur Jos 8:26 – drew not