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Because they rebelled against His Spirit, So that he spoke rashly with his lips.
Psalms 106:33 · New King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB because they were rebellious against his spirit, he spoke rashly with his lips.
  • KJV Because they provoked his spirit, so that he spake unadvisedly with his lips.
  • BSB For they rebelled against His Spirit, and Moses spoke rashly with his lips.
  • NASB Because they were rebellious against His Spirit, He spoke rashly with his lips.
  • NLT They made Moses angry, and he spoke foolishly.

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

Because they rebelled against God's Spirit, Moses spoke rashly. It matters because even Moses faltered under the people's provocation.

Overview

Provoked by Israel's contention, Moses spoke and acted rashly at Meribah, for which he was barred from the land (Numbers 20:10-12). The verse attributes the occasion to the people's rebellion while still acknowledging Moses's fault. It reminds us that even the best leaders are sinners needing grace, and points to the need for a flawless Mediator.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 12

  • Num 20:10–11Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock, and he said to them, “Hear now, you rebels! Shall we bring water out of this rock for you?”
  • Ps 107:11because they rebelled against the words of God, and condemned the counsel of the Most High.
  • Ps 78:40How often they rebelled against him in the wilderness, and grieved him in the desert!
  • Jas 3:2For in many things we all stumble. If anyone doesn’t stumble in word, the same is a perfect man, able to bridle the whole body also.
  • Ps 39:1For the Chief Musician. For Jeduthun. A Psalm by David. I said, “I will watch my ways, so that I don’t sin with my tongue. I will keep my mouth with a bridle while the wicked is before me.”
  • Job 2:10But he said to her, “You speak as one of the foolish women would speak. What? Shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?” In all this Job didn’t sin with his lips.
  • Ps 141:3Set a watch, Yahweh, before my mouth. Keep the door of my lips.
  • Job 40:4–5“Behold, I am of small account. What shall I answer you? I lay my hand on my mouth.
  • Gen 30:1When Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister. She said to Jacob, “Give me children, or else I will die.”
  • Job 38:2“Who is this who darkens counsel by words without knowledge?
  • Job 42:7–8It was so, that after Yahweh had spoken these words to Job, Yahweh said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “My wrath is kindled against you, and against your two friends; for you have not spoken of me the thing that is right, as my servant Job has.
  • Gen 35:16–18They traveled from Bethel. There was still some distance to come to Ephrath, and Rachel travailed. She had hard labor.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (1)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Psalms videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Psalms 106:33YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on PsalmsMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

The Psalms are Christ's own prayer book and a gallery of his portraits — the suffering one of Psalm 22, the risen Lord of Psalm 16, the priest-king of Psalm 110, the Son to whom the nations are given.

How Psalms 106:33 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

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.