This is the water of Meribah; because the children of Israel strove with the LORD, and he was sanctified in them.
Parallel translations
- WEB These are the waters of Meribah; because the children of Israel strove with Yahweh, and he was sanctified in them.
- BSB These were the waters of Meribah, where the Israelites quarreled with the LORD, and He showed His holiness among them.
- NKJV This was the water of Meribah, because the children of Israel contended with the Lord, and He was hallowed among them.
- NASB Those were called the waters of Meribah, because the sons of Israel argued with the Lord, and He proved Himself holy among them.
- NLT This place was known as the waters of Meribah (which means “arguing”) because there the people of Israel argued with the Lord, and there he demonstrated his holiness among them.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The place was named Meribah ('quarreling') because Israel strove with the Lord, yet He showed Himself holy. God's holiness was upheld even amid the people's and leaders' failure.
Overview
The name memorializes Israel's contention, but the emphasis falls on God being 'sanctified' or shown holy. Whether through provision or through the discipline of Moses, the Lord vindicated His own holy name. God's commitment to His glory stands firm regardless of human sin.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Exod 17:7And he called the name of the place Massah, and Meribah, because of the chiding of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the LORD, saying, Is the LORD among us, or not?
- Ps 95:8Harden not your heart, as in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness:
- Deut 33:8And of 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;
- Ps 106:32–48They angered him also at the waters of strife, so that it went ill with Moses for their sakes:
- Deut 32:51Because ye trespassed against me among the children of Israel at the waters of MeribahKadesh, in the wilderness of Zin; because ye sanctified me not in the midst of the children of Israel.
- Ezek 36:23And I will sanctify my great name, which was profaned among the heathen, which ye have profaned in the midst of them; and the heathen shall know that I am the LORD, saith the Lord GOD, when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes.
- Ezek 20:41I will accept you with your sweet savour, when I bring you out from the people, and gather you out of the countries wherein ye have been scattered; and I will be sanctified in you before the heathen.
- Ezek 38:16And thou shalt come up against my people of Israel, as a cloud to cover the land; it shall be in the latter days, and I will bring thee against my land, that the heathen may know me, when I shall be sanctified in thee, O Gog, before their eyes.
- Isa 5:16But the LORD of hosts shall be exalted in judgment, and God that is holy shall be sanctified in righteousness.
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Christ at the center
In the wilderness Christ is the water from the rock, the bronze serpent lifted up that the dying might look and live (John 3:14), and the star and scepter that Balaam saw rising out of Jacob.
How Numbers 20:13 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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