That Rock Which Followed Them: The Well of Miriam and the Messiah

That Rock Which Followed Them: The Well of Miriam and the Messiah
By
James Scott Trimm

In reference to the exodus and forty years in the wilderness, Paul writes:

1 Moreover, brothers, I would not that you should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea;
2 And were all immersed unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea;
3 And did all eat the same spiritual meat;
4 And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Messiah.
(1Cor. 10:1-4)

What does Paul mean by “drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them”?

Here Paul is referring directly to the Jewish tradition of the Well of Miriam. This is a tradition which permeates Rabbinic literature. According to the tradition there was a “rock-shaped like a kind of bee-hive, and wherever they journeyed it rolled along and came with them” in the wilderness (Midrash Rabbah Numbers Rabbah 1:2)

The Tanak tells us that Moshe struck the rock that gave water twice, in two different times and places. The first was at Horeb (Sinai) Exodus 17:5-6:

5 And YHWH said unto Moses, Go on before the people, and take with you of the elders of Israel; and thy rod, wherewith thou smotest the river, take in thine hand, and go.
6 Behold, I will stand before you there upon the rock in Horeb; and thou shall smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel.
(Exodus 17:5-6)

The second was later at the desert of Zin. At the time of the death of Miriam:

1 Then came the children of Israel, even the whole congregation, into the desert of Zin in the first month: and the people abode in Kadesh; and Miriam died there, and was buried there.
2 And there was no water for the congregation: and they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron.
(Num. 20:1-2)

7 And the YHWH spake unto Moses, saying,
8 Take the rod, and gather you the assembly together, you, and Aaron your brother, and speak you unto the rock before their eyes; and it shall give forth his water, and thou shalt bring forth to them water out of the rock: so thou shall give the congregation and their beasts drink.
9 And Moses took the rod from before YHWH, as he commanded him.
10 And Moses and Aaron gathered the congregation together before the rock, and he said unto them, Hear now, you rebels; must we fetch you water out of this rock?
11 And Moses lifted up his hand, and with his rod he smote the rock twice: and the water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their beasts also.
12 And YHWH spake unto Moses and Aaron, Because you believed me not, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them.
(Num. 20:7-12)

Since the rock seems to have stopped giving water at the death of Miriam, it became known as the “Well of Miriam” since it came to be understood that it was by the merit of Miriam that the rock followed them and gave them water. As we read in the Talmud:

R. Jose the son of R. Judah says: Three good leaders had arisen for Israel, namely. Moses, Aaron and Miriam, and for their sake three good things were conferred [upon Israel], namely, the Well, the Pillar of Cloud and the Manna; the Well, for the merit of Miriam; the Pillar of Cloud for the merit of Aaron; the Manna for the merit of Moses. When Miriam died the well disappeared, as it is said, And Miriam died there,(Num. 20:1) and immediately follows [the verse], And there was no water for the congregation (Num. 20:1); and it returned for the merit of the [latter] two [Moses and Aaron].
(b.Ta’anit 9a)

There are two reasons given in Rabbinic literature for Miriam’s merit in this regard. The first is given in the Zohar, that she stationed herself afar and watched the baby Moses in the water of the Nile:

“Three celestial gifts were provided for Israel through three siblings– Moses, Aaron and Miriam… the well by the merit of Miriam… The well on account of Miriam, for she is surely called Well. In the book of Aggata: His sister stationed herself afar (Ex. 2:4)- a well of living waters.”
(Zohar 3:103a)

The second is the joy with which she praised YHWH in song at the partting of the Red Sea, as recorded in the Midrash Rabbah:

And again, the well was due to the merit of Miriam, who sang by the waters of the Red Sea; as it is said: And Miriam sang (wa-ta’an) unto them: Sing ye to the Lord (Ex. 15:21), and by the waters of the well, Then sang Israel this song,Rise up, O well, sing (‘enu) ye unto it (Num. 21:17)…. R. Berekiah, the priest, said in the name of R. Levi: … And the well was due to the merit of Miriam. For what does Scripture say? And Miriam died there, and was buried there (Num. 20:1). And what is written after that? And there was no water for the congregation5 (Num. 20:2).

How was the well constructed? It was rock-shaped like a kind of bee-hive, and wherever they journeyed it rolled along and came with them. When the standards [under which the tribes journeyed] halted and the tabernacle was set up, that same rock would come and settle down in the court of the Tent of Meeting and the princes would come and stand upon it and say, Rise up, O well (Num. 21:17), and it would rise.
(Midrash Rabbah; Numbers Rabbah 1:2)

The Well of Miriam was said to have divine healing powers, which later came to be associated with the region of the Sea of Galilee (also known as the Lake of Tiberius):

R. Tanhuma said: The Holy One, blessed be He, accomplishes His purpose even through the agency of water. An incident is related of a certain man suffering from boils who went down to bathe in Tiberias. It so happened that he floated into Miriam’s well, and he bathed there and was healed.
(Midrash Rabbah; Leviticus Rabbah 22:4)

R. Tanhuma said: Even with water the Holy One, blessed be He, fulfils His mission. It happened that a person who was afflicted with boils went down to bathe in the Lake of Tiberias. Now it chanced that just at that moment Miriam’s well gushed up in that spot, and he washed therein and was healed.
(Midrash Rabbah; Eccl. Rabbah 5:10)

(This same story is found in the Jerusalem Talmud in y.Kelayim 9:3)

Paul gives us the remarkable insight that the Well of Miriam, the rock that literally rolled along and followed Israel in the wilderness to give them water, was in fact a physical manifestation of the Messiah!

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