He clave the rocks in the wilderness, and gave them drink as out of the great depths.

He struck the rock in the wilderness: and gave them to drink, as out of the great deep.

He clave rocks in the wilderness, and gave them drink as out of the depths, abundantly;

He cleaved the rocks in the wilderness, and gave them drink as out of the great depths.

He cleaveth rocks in a wilderness, And giveth drink, as the great deep.

The rocks of the waste land were broken by his power, and he gave them drink as out of the deep waters.

He cleaved rocks in the wilderness, And gave them drink abundantly as out of the great deep.

He clave the rocks in the wilderness. The Psalmist produces another evidence of the fatherly love by which God testified the greatness of the care which he exercised about the welfare of this people. It is not simply said that God gave them drink, but that he did this in a miraculous manner. Streams, it is true, sometimes issue from rocks, but the rock which Moses smote was completely dry. Whence it is evident, that the water was not brought forth from any spring, but that it was made to flow from the profoundest deeps, as if it had been said, from the very center of the earth. Those, therefore, who have interpreted this passage as meaning, that the Israelites drank in the bottomless deeps, because the waters flowed in great abundance, have failed in giving the true explanation. Moses, in his history of the miracle, rather enhances its greatness, by intimating, that God commanded those waters to come gushing from the remotest veins. The same truth is confirmed in the following verse, in which it is stated, that where there had not been a single drop of water before there was a large and mighty river. Had there only sprung out of the rock a small rivulet, ungodly men might have had some apparent ground for cavilling at, and underrating the goodness of God, but when the water gushed out in such copious abundance all on a sudden, who does not see that the ordinary course of nature was changed, rather than that some vein or spring which lay hidden in the earth was opened?

He clave the rocks in the wilderness - There were two occasions on which the rock was smitten for water; one Exodus 17:6 at Mount Horeb, shortly after they came out of Egypt; and the other Numbers 20:11, when they had nearly ceased their wanderings in the wilderness. Hence, the plural term (rocks) is used here.
And gave them drink as out of the great depths - As if he had formed a lake or an ocean, furnishing an inexhaustible supply.

He clave the rocks in the wilderness,.... The one at Rephidim, Exodus 17:1, and the other at Kadesh, Numbers 20:1 both to be seen at this day; See Gill on Exodus 17:1; see Gill on Exodus 17:2; see Gill on Exodus 17:3; see Gill on Exodus 17:4; see Gill on Exodus 17:5; see Gill on Exodus 17:6; see Gill on Numbers 20:1; see Gill on Numbers 20:2; see Gill on Numbers 20:3; see Gill on Numbers 20:4; see Gill on Numbers 20:5; see Gill on Numbers 20:6; see Gill on Numbers 20:7; see Gill on Numbers 20:8; see Gill on Numbers 20:9; see Gill on Numbers 20:10; see Gill on Numbers 20:11, though of the latter no modern traveller makes mention but one, yet Jerom (b) from Eusebius affirms that it was shown in his day: they were typical of Christ, 1-Corinthians 10:4, who is frequently compared to one for height, strength, and duration, shade, shelter, and protection; and is called the Rock of Israel, the Rock of offence to both houses of Israel, the Rock of salvation, the Rock of refuge, the Rock of strength, the Rock that is higher than the saints, and on which the church is built, and who is the shadow of a great rock in a weary land. The cleaving of the rocks is ascribed to God, which was done by the hands of Moses; and so the Targum adds,
"by the rod of Moses their master;''
but Moses was only the instrument, it was the Lord that did it; Moses with his rod could never have done it, had not the power of God went along with it. This smiting and cleaving the rocks were an emblem of the sufferings of Christ, who was smitten of God with the rod of justice, according to the law of Moses, in a judicial way, for the sins of his people, and in order to obtain salvation for them:
and gave them drink as out of the great depths; such a large quantity of water flowed out of the rocks when smitten, as if it came out of the great sea, which furnished them with drink sufficient, and more than enough for them and their cattle; this was typical of the large abundance of grace, and the blessings of it, which flow freely and plentifully from Christ and his fulness, and through his sufferings and death.
(b) De loc. Hebrews. fol. 93. L.

There were two similar miracles (Exodus 17:6; Numbers 20:11).
great depths--and--rivers--denote abundance.

Wilderness - In Rephidim, and again in Kadesh.