Reference: Meribah
American
Strife,
1. A station of the Israelites between the Red Sea and Mount Sinai, where they murmured against the Lord, and a fountain gushed from the rock for their use, Ex 17:1-7. It was also named Massah, temptation, when they tempted God there, De 33:8; Heb 3:8.
2. A similar miraculous fountain in the desert of Zin, near Kadesh, which see, Nu 20:13-14. This was the scene of the transgression of Moses and Aaron, for which they were precluded from crossing the Jordan. It is called "the waters of Meribah," De 33:8; Ps 81:7; 106:32, and also Meribah-kadesh, Nu 27:14; De 32:51; Eze 47:19.
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And all the congregation of the sons of Israel journeyed from the wilderness of Sin, after their journeys, according to the commandment of the LORD, and set up camp in Rephidim; and there was no water for the people to drink. And the people chided with Moses and said, Give us water that we may drink. And Moses said unto them, Why chide ye with me? Why do ye tempt the LORD? read more. So the people thirsted there for water; and the people murmured against Moses and said, Why hast thou brought us up out of Egypt to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst? Then Moses cried unto the LORD, saying, What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me. And the LORD said unto Moses, Go on before the people and take with thee of the elders of Israel and thy rod, with which thou didst smite the river take in thine hand and go. Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb, and thou shalt smite the rock, and water shall come out of it that the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel. And he called the name of the place Massah and Meribah because of the chiding of the sons of Israel and because they tempted the LORD, saying, Is the LORD among us, or not?
These are the waters of Meribah; over which the sons of Israel strove with the LORD, and he was sanctified in them. And Moses sent ambassadors from Kadesh unto the king of Edom, Thus saith thy brother Israel, Thou knowest all the travail that has befallen us:
For ye were rebels to my word in the desert of Zin, in the strife of the congregation, to sanctify me in the waters before their eyes. These are the waters of Meribah of Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin.
because ye trespassed against me among the sons of Israel at the waters of Meribah-Kadesh, in the wilderness of Zin, because ye did not sanctify me in the midst of the sons of Israel.
And to Levi he said, Let thy Thummim and thy Urim be with thy holy one, whom thou didst prove at Massah and with whom thou didst strive at the waters of Meribah,
And to Levi he said, Let thy Thummim and thy Urim be with thy holy one, whom thou didst prove at Massah and with whom thou didst strive at the waters of Meribah,
Thou didst call in trouble, and I delivered thee; I answered thee in the secret place of thunder; I proved thee at the waters of Meribah. Selah.
They angered him also at the waters of strife, so that it went ill with Moses for their sakes:
And to the south side southward from Tamar even to the waters of strife; from Kadesh and the river to the great sea. And this shall be the south side southward.
Easton
quarrel or strife. (1.) One of the names given by Moses to the fountain in the desert of Sin, near Rephidim, which issued from the rock in Horeb, which he smote by the divine command, "because of the chiding of the children of Israel" (Ex 17:1-7). It was also called Massah (q.v.). It was probably in Wady Feiran, near Mount Serbal.
(2.) Another fountain having a similar origin in the desert of Zin, near to Kadesh (Nu 27:14). The two places are mentioned together in De 33:8. Some think the one place is called by the two names (Ps 81:7). In smiting the rock at this place Moses showed the same impatience as the people (Nu 20:10-12). This took place near the close of the wanderings in the desert (Nu 20:1-24; De 32:51).
See Verses Found in Dictionary
And all the congregation of the sons of Israel journeyed from the wilderness of Sin, after their journeys, according to the commandment of the LORD, and set up camp in Rephidim; and there was no water for the people to drink. And the people chided with Moses and said, Give us water that we may drink. And Moses said unto them, Why chide ye with me? Why do ye tempt the LORD? read more. So the people thirsted there for water; and the people murmured against Moses and said, Why hast thou brought us up out of Egypt to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst? Then Moses cried unto the LORD, saying, What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me. And the LORD said unto Moses, Go on before the people and take with thee of the elders of Israel and thy rod, with which thou didst smite the river take in thine hand and go. Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb, and thou shalt smite the rock, and water shall come out of it that the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel. And he called the name of the place Massah and Meribah because of the chiding of the sons of Israel and because they tempted the LORD, saying, Is the LORD among us, or not?
Then came the sons 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. And there was no water for the congregation; and they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron. read more. And the people contended with Moses and spoke, saying, Oh, that we had died when our brethren died before the LORD! And why have ye caused the congregation of the LORD to come into this wilderness that we and our beasts should die here? And why have ye made us to come up out of Egypt to bring us in unto this evil place? It is not a place to plant seed or of figs or of vines or of pomegranates; there is not even any water to drink. And Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the congregation unto the door of the tabernacle of the testimony, and they fell upon their faces; and the glory of the LORD appeared upon them. And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying, Take the rod and gather the congregation together, thou and Aaron, thy brother, and speak ye unto the rock before their eyes, and it shall give forth its water, and thou shalt bring forth to them water out of the rock; so thou shalt give the congregation and their beasts drink. Then Moses took the rod from before the LORD as he commanded him. And Moses and Aaron gathered the congregation together before the rock, and he said unto them, Hear now, ye rebels; must we fetch you water out of this rock?
And Moses and Aaron gathered the congregation together before the rock, and he said unto them, Hear now, ye rebels; must we fetch you water out of this rock? Then 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.
Then 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. And the LORD spoke unto Moses and Aaron, Because ye believed me not, to sanctify me in the eyes of the sons of Israel, therefore, ye shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them.
And the LORD spoke unto Moses and Aaron, Because ye believed me not, to sanctify me in the eyes of the sons of Israel, therefore, ye shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them. These are the waters of Meribah; over which the sons of Israel strove with the LORD, and he was sanctified in them. read more. And Moses sent ambassadors from Kadesh unto the king of Edom, Thus saith thy brother Israel, Thou knowest all the travail that has befallen us: how our fathers went down into Egypt, and we were in Egypt a long time; and the Egyptians mistreated us and our fathers; and we cried unto the LORD, who heard our voice, and sent an angel and has brought us forth out of Egypt; and, behold, we are in Kadesh, a city on the edge of thy border. Let us pass, I pray thee, through thy country; we will not pass through the fields or through the vineyards, neither will we drink of the water of the wells; we will go by the king's high way, we will not turn to the right hand nor to the left until we have passed thy borders. And Edom replied unto him, Thou shalt not pass by me lest I come out against thee with the sword. And the sons of Israel said unto him, We will go by the high way; and if I and my cattle drink of thy water, then I will pay for it; I will only, without doing anything else, go through on my feet. And he said, Thou shalt not go through. And Edom came out against him with many people and with a strong hand. Thus Edom refused to give Israel passage through his border; and thus Israel turned away from him. And the sons of Israel, even the whole congregation, journeyed from Kadesh, and came unto Mount Hor. And the LORD spoke unto Moses and Aaron in Mount Hor, on the borders of the land of Edom, saying, Aaron shall be gathered unto his peoples; for he shall not enter into the land which I have given unto the sons of Israel because ye were rebels to my word at the water of Meribah.
For ye were rebels to my word in the desert of Zin, in the strife of the congregation, to sanctify me in the waters before their eyes. These are the waters of Meribah of Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin.
because ye trespassed against me among the sons of Israel at the waters of Meribah-Kadesh, in the wilderness of Zin, because ye did not sanctify me in the midst of the sons of Israel.
And to Levi he said, Let thy Thummim and thy Urim be with thy holy one, whom thou didst prove at Massah and with whom thou didst strive at the waters of Meribah,
Thou didst call in trouble, and I delivered thee; I answered thee in the secret place of thunder; I proved thee at the waters of Meribah. Selah.
Fausets
("chiding".) The designation which Moses gave the place at Rephidim where Israel, just before they reached Sinai in the second year after leaving Egypt, did chide with Moses, "give us water that we may drink," and tempted (from whence came the other name Massah) Jehovah, saying "is Jehovah among us or not?" (Ex 17:7; compare as to the sin, Mt 4:7.) The severity of Israel's trial, however, is to be remembered; our Lord's own only expression of bodily suffering on the cross was "I thirst." Thirty-eight years afterward at Kadesh, bordering on the promised laud, again, untaught by the severe discipline of the wilderness (Isa 9:13), Israel in want of water cried, "would God we had died when our brethren died before the Lord!"
God's glory appeared, and the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, "take the rod, and speak unto the rock before their eyes, and it shall give forth his water." But here Moses' old hastiness of spirit, which he had showed in the beginning of his career (Exodus 2), returned; "they provoked his spirit so that he spoke unadvisedly with his lips" (Ps 106:32-33): "ye rebels, must we (forgetting that the power was that of God alone) fetch you water out of this rock?" Then lifting up his hand he smote twice, whereas God had told him, "speak unto the rock." So Jehovah excluded Moses and Aaron from entering Canaan, for not "sanctifying" Him (Nu 20:1-13). This repetition of the miracle disproves the notion from 1Co 10:4 that the stream literally "followed" them from Rephidim (Exodus 17) to Canaan; all that is meant is a supply of water from time to time was provided naturally or miraculously, so that they never perished from thirst (so Ex 15:24-25; Nu 21:16).
Christ is the Rock (Joh 7:38); the water flowed, and the people drank, at Meribah Kadesh. Moses and Aaron typify ministers. The Rock Christ was smitten once for all, never to be so again (Heb 9:25-28; 10:10,14). If Moses was so severely chastised for smiting again in violation of the type, what peril ministers run who pretend to offer Christ the Antitype in the Eucharist again! Ps 95:8, "provocation ... temptation," alludes to Meribah Massah. Also Nu 27:14; De 32:51. The Hebrew for "rock" in Exodus 17 at Rephidim is tsur, but in Numbers 20 cela' at Kadesh, marking undesignedly the distinctness of the miracles.
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Then the people murmured against Moses, saying, What shall we drink? And he cried unto the LORD; and the LORD showed him a tree, which when he had cast it into the waters, the waters were made sweet. There he gave them statutes and rights, and there he proved them
And he called the name of the place Massah and Meribah because of the chiding of the sons of Israel and because they tempted the LORD, saying, Is the LORD among us, or not?
Then came the sons 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. And there was no water for the congregation; and they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron. read more. And the people contended with Moses and spoke, saying, Oh, that we had died when our brethren died before the LORD! And why have ye caused the congregation of the LORD to come into this wilderness that we and our beasts should die here? And why have ye made us to come up out of Egypt to bring us in unto this evil place? It is not a place to plant seed or of figs or of vines or of pomegranates; there is not even any water to drink. And Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the congregation unto the door of the tabernacle of the testimony, and they fell upon their faces; and the glory of the LORD appeared upon them. And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying, Take the rod and gather the congregation together, thou and Aaron, thy brother, and speak ye unto the rock before their eyes, and it shall give forth its water, and thou shalt bring forth to them water out of the rock; so thou shalt give the congregation and their beasts drink. Then Moses took the rod from before the LORD as he commanded him. And Moses and Aaron gathered the congregation together before the rock, and he said unto them, Hear now, ye rebels; must we fetch you water out of this rock? Then 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. And the LORD spoke unto Moses and Aaron, Because ye believed me not, to sanctify me in the eyes of the sons of Israel, therefore, ye shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them. These are the waters of Meribah; over which the sons of Israel strove with the LORD, and he was sanctified in them.
And from there they went to Beer; this is the well of which the LORD spoke unto Moses, Gather the people together, and I will give them water.
For ye were rebels to my word in the desert of Zin, in the strife of the congregation, to sanctify me in the waters before their eyes. These are the waters of Meribah of Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin.
because ye trespassed against me among the sons of Israel at the waters of Meribah-Kadesh, in the wilderness of Zin, because ye did not sanctify me in the midst of the sons of Israel.
harden not your heart, as in the provocation and as in the day of trials in the wilderness
They angered him also at the waters of strife, so that it went ill with Moses for their sakes: Because they provoked his spirit to rebel, and he spoke it with his lips.
But the people did not turn unto him that smote them, neither did they seek the LORD of the hosts.
Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.
He that believes in me, as the scripture has said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.
and did all drink the same spiritual drink, for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them; and that Rock was the Christ.
nor yet that he should offer himself many times (as the high priest enters into the sanctuary each year with blood that is not his own); otherwise it would have been necessary for him to suffer many times since the foundation of the world; but now once in the consummation of the ages he has appeared to abolish sin by the sacrifice of himself. read more. And as it is appointed unto men to die once, and after this the judgment; so also the Christ is offered once to take away the sins of many; and unto those that wait for him without sin he shall appear the second time unto saving health.
In this will, we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus, the Christ, once for all.
For by one offering he has perfected for ever those that are sanctified.
Hastings
Morish
Mer'ibah Meribahkadesh. Mer'ibah-ka'desh
See KADESH.
Smith
Mer'ibah
(strife, contention). In
we read, "he called the name of the place Massah and Meribah," where the people murmured and the rock was smitten. [For the situation see REPHIDIM] The name is also given to Kadesh,
See Rephidim
(Meribah-kadesh), because there also the people, when in want of water, strove with God.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
These are the waters of Meribah; over which the sons of Israel strove with the LORD, and he was sanctified in them.
Aaron shall be gathered unto his peoples; for he shall not enter into the land which I have given unto the sons of Israel because ye were rebels to my word at the water of Meribah.
For ye were rebels to my word in the desert of Zin, in the strife of the congregation, to sanctify me in the waters before their eyes. These are the waters of Meribah of Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin.
because ye trespassed against me among the sons of Israel at the waters of Meribah-Kadesh, in the wilderness of Zin, because ye did not sanctify me in the midst of the sons of Israel.