Moses responded to Israel's complaints with a question that reframed the entire conflict: "Why would you quarrel with me? Why would you try the Lord?" (Exodus 17:2). He was telling them something they had not grasped — their fight was not with him.
When you quarrel with me, Moses explained, you are actually testing God. Moses was not acting on his own authority. Every miracle he performed, every instruction he gave, came from the Holy One Blessed be He. To challenge Moses was to challenge the One who sent him.
The Mekhilta offers a second, more surprising interpretation. "Whenever you wrangle with me," Moses said, "the Holy One Blessed be He performs miracles and wonders for you, and His name is exalted in the world." In other words, every time Israel complained and Moses interceded, God responded with something spectacular. The water came. The food appeared. The enemies were defeated.
This variant reading turns the rebuke into something almost paradoxical. Israel's quarreling, terrible as it was, kept producing divine interventions that glorified God's name before the nations. Their faithlessness became the occasion for displays of faithfulness. Moses was not excusing their behavior — he was pointing out its absurd irony. They kept doubting the very God who kept proving Himself every time they doubted.