effect (see 1 Sam. 3:4–10). It can also be for emphasis (for example, Gen. 24:12–27, 34–38). Repetition can have a didactic purpose.3 What possible purpose could a duplicate story of bringing water from the rock have? First, we need to note that the two passages bracket the entire episode of the wilderness wanderings; thus this theme forms an inclusio for the desert stories. And we also need to understand that the episode recorded in Exodus focused on the first generation of Israelites coming out