Again and again they tested God and provoked the Holy One of Israel.
Parallel translations
- WEB They turned again and tempted God, and provoked the Holy One of Israel.
- KJV Yea, they turned back and tempted God, and limited the Holy One of Israel.
- NKJV Yes, again and again they tempted God, And limited the Holy One of Israel.
- NASB Again and again they tempted God, And pained the Holy One of Israel.
- NLT Again and again they tested God’s patience and provoked the Holy One of Israel.
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
They repeatedly tested God and provoked the Holy One of Israel. Their rebellion was a recurring pattern.
Overview
'They turned again and tempted God,' provoking 'the Holy One of Israel.' The title stresses God's holiness, against which their sin was an affront. Their relapsing rebellion reveals the bondage of the sinful heart and the necessity of the inward renewal that only grace can bring.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Num 14:22not one of the men who have seen My glory and the signs I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness—yet have tested Me and disobeyed Me these ten times—
- Heb 3:8–11do not harden your hearts, as you did in the rebellion, in the day of testing in the wilderness,
- Acts 7:39But our fathers refused to obey him. Instead, they rejected him and in their hearts turned back to Egypt.
- Deut 6:16Do not test the LORD your God as you tested Him at Massah.
- Ps 78:19–20They spoke against God, saying, “Can God really prepare a table in the wilderness?
- Num 14:4So they said to one another, “Let us appoint a leader and return to Egypt.”
- 2 Pet 2:21–22It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness than to have known it and then to turn away from the holy commandment passed on to them.
- 2 Kgs 19:22Whom have you taunted and blasphemed? Against whom have you raised your voice and lifted your eyes in pride? Against the Holy One of Israel!
- Mark 5:35–36While He was still speaking, messengers from the house of Jairus arrived and said, “Your daughter is dead; why bother the Teacher anymore?”
- Ps 89:18Surely our shield belongs to the LORD, and our king to the Holy One of Israel.
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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 78:41 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.