17:9
We now get the first appearance of Joshua. Moses instructed Joshua to choose men to go out and fight the Amalekites. Moses would not be directly involved in the fighting, remember he is rather old, over eighty. Instead he would stand on top of the hill with the “staff of God” in his hand. Moses had decided that the staff God gave Him is somehow important in solving problems. It has been used in parting the Red Sea, and in bringing water from the rock.
17:10,11
Joshua went to fight the Amalekites, while Moses, Aaron and Hur went up to the top of the hill. We get the oft repeated incident of the battle going well when Moses held his hands up, and things going badly when his hands were down. This is sometimes taken as indicating prayer. Quite probably Moses was calling out to God, but given what 17:9 said it seems likely that it was his holding up of the staff that was the key.
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