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.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
And all the community of the {Israelites} set out from the desert of Sin for their journeys according to the command of Yahweh, and they camped in Rephidim, and there was no water for the people to drink. And the people quarreled with Moses, and they said, "Give us water so that we can drink." And Moses said to them, "Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test Yahweh?" read more. And the people thirsted for water, and the people grumbled against Moses and said, "Why {ever} did you bring us up from Egypt to kill me and my sons and my cattle with thirst?" And Moses cried out to Yahweh, saying, "What will I do with this people? A little longer and they will stone me." And Yahweh said to Moses, "Go on before the people and take with you [some] from the elders of Israel, and the staff with which you struck the Nile take in your hand, and go. Look, I [will be] standing before you there on the rock in Horeb, and you will strike the rock, and water will come out from it, and the people will drink." And Moses did so before the eyes of the elders of Israel. And he called the name of the place Massah and Meribah because of the quarrel of the {Israelites} and because of their testing Yahweh [by] saying, "Is Yahweh in our midst or not?"
Those [were] the waters of Meribah, where the {Israelites} quarreled with Yahweh, and he showed himself holy among them. From Kadesh Moses sent messengers to the king of Edom: "Thus your brother Israel has said, 'You know all the hardship that has found us;
because you rebelled against my word in the desert of Zin when the community quarreled regarding my holiness at the waters." (These [are] the waters of Meribah-Kadesh [in] the desert of Zin.)
because [of the fact] that you broke faith with me in the midst of Israel at the waters of Meribah Kadesh, [in] the desert of Zin, because {you did not treat me as holy} in the midst of the {Israelites}.
And of Levi he said, "Your Thummim and your Urim [are] for {your faithful one}, {whom you tested at Massah}; you contended [with] him at the waters of Meribah.
And of Levi he said, "Your Thummim and your Urim [are] for {your faithful one}, {whom you tested at Massah}; you contended [with] him at the waters of Meribah.
In this trouble you called, and I rescued you. Within [the] secret place of thunder I answered you; I tested you at the waters of Meribah. Selah
They also angered [God] at the waters of Meribah, and it went badly for Moses on account of them,
{And on the south side the border} [will run] from Tamar up to the waters [of] Meribot Kadesh [and along] the wadi to the Great Sea. And this [is] {the boundary to the south}.
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 community of the {Israelites} set out from the desert of Sin for their journeys according to the command of Yahweh, and they camped in Rephidim, and there was no water for the people to drink. And the people quarreled with Moses, and they said, "Give us water so that we can drink." And Moses said to them, "Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test Yahweh?" read more. And the people thirsted for water, and the people grumbled against Moses and said, "Why {ever} did you bring us up from Egypt to kill me and my sons and my cattle with thirst?" And Moses cried out to Yahweh, saying, "What will I do with this people? A little longer and they will stone me." And Yahweh said to Moses, "Go on before the people and take with you [some] from the elders of Israel, and the staff with which you struck the Nile take in your hand, and go. Look, I [will be] standing before you there on the rock in Horeb, and you will strike the rock, and water will come out from it, and the people will drink." And Moses did so before the eyes of the elders of Israel. And he called the name of the place Massah and Meribah because of the quarrel of the {Israelites} and because of their testing Yahweh [by] saying, "Is Yahweh in our midst or not?"
Then the entire community of the {Israelites} came [to] the desert of Zin on the first month, and the people stayed in Kadesh; Miriam died and was buried there. There was no water for the community, and they were gathered before Moses and Aaron. read more. And the people quarreled with Moses and spoke, saying, "If only we died when our brothers were dying {before} Yahweh! Why have you brought the assembly of Yahweh, us and our livestock, into this desert to die here? Why have you brought us from Egypt to bring us to this bad place? It is not a place of seed or figs or vines or pomegranate trees, and there is not water to drink." And Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly to the doorway of the tent of assembly. They fell on their faces, and the glory of Yahweh appeared to them. Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, "Take the staff and summon the community, you and Aaron your brother, and speak to the rock before their eyes, and it will give water. Bring out for them water from the rock, and let the community and their livestock drink." So Moses took the staff from {before} Yahweh just as he command him, and Moses and Aaron summoned the assembly to the presence of the rock, and he said to them, "Please listen, you rebels; can we bring out water for you from this rock?"
and Moses and Aaron summoned the assembly to the presence of the rock, and he said to them, "Please listen, you rebels; can we bring out water for you from this rock?" Then Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock with his staff twice. And abundant water went out, and the community and their livestock drank.
Then Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock with his staff twice. And abundant water went out, and the community and their livestock drank. But Yahweh said to Moses and Aaron, "Because you have not trusted in me, to regard me as holy {in the sight of} the {Israelites}, you will not bring this assembly into the land that I have given to them."
But Yahweh said to Moses and Aaron, "Because you have not trusted in me, to regard me as holy {in the sight of} the {Israelites}, you will not bring this assembly into the land that I have given to them." Those [were] the waters of Meribah, where the {Israelites} quarreled with Yahweh, and he showed himself holy among them. read more. From Kadesh Moses sent messengers to the king of Edom: "Thus your brother Israel has said, 'You know all the hardship that has found us; our ancestors went down to Egypt, and we lived in Egypt {a long time}, and the Egyptians mistreated us and our ancestors. Then we cried to Yahweh, and he heard our voice; he sent an angel and brought us out from Egypt. And look, we [are] in Kadesh, a city on the edge of your territory. Please let us go through your land. We will not go through a field or vineyard, and we will not drink water from a well. We will go along the road of the king; we will not turn aside right or left until we have gone through your territory.'" Then Edom said to him, "You will not pass through us lest {we will go out} to meet you with the sword." The {Israelites} said to him, "We will go up on the main road, and if we and our livestock drink your water, we will pay [for it]. It is only a small matter; let us pass through on our feet." But he said, "You will not go through." And Edom went out to meet {them} with a large army and a strong hand. So Edom refused to give Israel passage through his territory, and Israel turned aside from him. And they set out from Kadesh. The {Israelites}, the whole community, came [to] Mount Hor. Yahweh said to Moses and to Aaron on Mount Hor, on the boundary of the land of Edom, saying, "Let Aaron be gathered to his people; he will not come into the land that I have given to the {Israelites} because you rebelled against {my word} at the waters of Meribah.
because you rebelled against my word in the desert of Zin when the community quarreled regarding my holiness at the waters." (These [are] the waters of Meribah-Kadesh [in] the desert of Zin.)
because [of the fact] that you broke faith with me in the midst of Israel at the waters of Meribah Kadesh, [in] the desert of Zin, because {you did not treat me as holy} in the midst of the {Israelites}.
And of Levi he said, "Your Thummim and your Urim [are] for {your faithful one}, {whom you tested at Massah}; you contended [with] him at the waters of Meribah.
In this trouble you called, and I rescued you. Within [the] secret place of thunder I answered you; I tested you 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.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
And the people grumbled against Moses, saying, "What shall we drink?" And he cried out to Yahweh, and Yahweh showed him [a piece of] wood, and he threw [it] into the water, and the water became sweet. There he made a rule and regulation for them, and there he tested them.
And he called the name of the place Massah and Meribah because of the quarrel of the {Israelites} and because of their testing Yahweh [by] saying, "Is Yahweh in our midst or not?"
Then the entire community of the {Israelites} came [to] the desert of Zin on the first month, and the people stayed in Kadesh; Miriam died and was buried there. There was no water for the community, and they were gathered before Moses and Aaron. read more. And the people quarreled with Moses and spoke, saying, "If only we died when our brothers were dying {before} Yahweh! Why have you brought the assembly of Yahweh, us and our livestock, into this desert to die here? Why have you brought us from Egypt to bring us to this bad place? It is not a place of seed or figs or vines or pomegranate trees, and there is not water to drink." And Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly to the doorway of the tent of assembly. They fell on their faces, and the glory of Yahweh appeared to them. Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, "Take the staff and summon the community, you and Aaron your brother, and speak to the rock before their eyes, and it will give water. Bring out for them water from the rock, and let the community and their livestock drink." So Moses took the staff from {before} Yahweh just as he command him, and Moses and Aaron summoned the assembly to the presence of the rock, and he said to them, "Please listen, you rebels; can we bring out water for you from this rock?" Then Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock with his staff twice. And abundant water went out, and the community and their livestock drank. But Yahweh said to Moses and Aaron, "Because you have not trusted in me, to regard me as holy {in the sight of} the {Israelites}, you will not bring this assembly into the land that I have given to them." Those [were] the waters of Meribah, where the {Israelites} quarreled with Yahweh, and he showed himself holy among them.
From there [they went] to Beer, which is the water well where Yahweh spoke to Moses, "Gather the people, that I may give them water."
because you rebelled against my word in the desert of Zin when the community quarreled regarding my holiness at the waters." (These [are] the waters of Meribah-Kadesh [in] the desert of Zin.)
because [of the fact] that you broke faith with me in the midst of Israel at the waters of Meribah Kadesh, [in] the desert of Zin, because {you did not treat me as holy} in the midst of the {Israelites}.
"Do not harden your heart as [at] Meribah, as [in] the day of Massah in the wilderness,
They also angered [God] at the waters of Meribah, and it went badly for Moses on account of them, because they rebelled against his Spirit, and he spoke thoughtlessly with his lips.
And the people did not turn to the one who struck it, and they did not seek Yahweh of hosts.
Jesus said to him, "On the other hand it is written, 'You are not to put the Lord your God to the test.'"
the one who believes in me. Just as the scripture said, 'Out of his belly will flow rivers of living water.'"
and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual rock that followed [them], and the rock was Christ.
and not in order that he can offer himself many times, as the high priest enters into the sanctuary {year by year} with blood not his own, since it would have been necessary for him to suffer many times from the foundation of the world, but now he has appeared once at the end of the ages for the removal of sin by the sacrifice of himself. read more. And {just as} it is destined for people to die once, and after this, judgment, thus also Christ, having been offered once in order to bear the sins of many, will appear for the second time without reference to sin to those who eagerly await him for salvation.
by which will we are made holy through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
For by one offering he has perfected for all time those who are made holy.
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
Those [were] the waters of Meribah, where the {Israelites} quarreled with Yahweh, and he showed himself holy among them.
"Let Aaron be gathered to his people; he will not come into the land that I have given to the {Israelites} because you rebelled against {my word} at the waters of Meribah.
because you rebelled against my word in the desert of Zin when the community quarreled regarding my holiness at the waters." (These [are] the waters of Meribah-Kadesh [in] the desert of Zin.)
because [of the fact] that you broke faith with me in the midst of Israel at the waters of Meribah Kadesh, [in] the desert of Zin, because {you did not treat me as holy} in the midst of the {Israelites}.