Numbers 20:13

Israel Meribah (of Kadesh)

¹¹ Then Moses raised his hand and struck the rock twice with his staff, so that a great amount of water gushed out, and the congregation and their livestock were able to drink.

¹² But the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not trust Me to show My holiness in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this assembly into the land that I have given them.”

These were the waters of Meribah, where the Israelites quarreled with the LORD, and He showed His holiness among them.

¹⁴ From Kadesh, Moses sent messengers to tell the king of Edom, “This is what your brother Israel says: You know all the hardship that has befallen us,

¹⁵ how our fathers went down to Egypt, where we lived many years. The Egyptians mistreated us and our fathers,

Here the Bible tells a story about someone else. Ask yourself what it can say to us today. Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.

Compare

BSB: These were the waters of Meribah, where the Israelites quarreled with the LORD, and He showed His holiness among them.
KJV: This is the water of Meribah; because the children of Israel strove with the LORD, and he was sanctified in them.
WEB: These are the waters of Meribah; because the children of Israel strove with the LORD, and he was sanctified in them.
ASV: These are the waters of Meribah; because the children of Israel strove with Jehovah, and he was sanctified in them.
DARBY: These are the waters of Meribah, where the children of Israel contended with Jehovah, and he hallowed himself in them.
BLB: Those [were] the waters of Meribah, because the sons of Israel contended with YHWH, and He was consecrated among them.

ÅB: Dette var Meribas vann, hvor Israels barn kivedes med Herren, og han helliget seg på dem.
OTB: Dette var Meribas vann, hvor israelittene trettet med Herren, og han viste seg hellig blant dem.
B1930: Dette var Meribas vann, hvor Israels barn kivedes med Herren, og han helliget sig på dem.

Study notes (Tyndale)

Original text and word study

Cross references

Psalms 95:8
do not harden your hearts as you did at Meribah, in the day at Massah in the wilderness,
Read in context
Exodus 17:7
He named the place Massah and Meribah because the Israelites quarreled, and because they tested the LORD, saying, “Is the LORD among us or not?”
Read in context
Deuteronomy 33:8
Concerning Levi he said: “Give Your Thummim to Levi and Your Urim to Your godly one, whom You tested at Massah and contested at the waters of Meribah.
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Deuteronomy 32:51
For at the waters of Meribah-kadesh in the Wilderness of Zin, both of you broke faith with Me among the Israelites by failing to treat Me as holy in their presence.
Read in context
Psalms 106:32–48
At the waters of Meribah they angered the LORD, and trouble came to Moses because of them.
Read in context
Isaiah 5:16
But the LORD of Hosts will be exalted by His justice, and the holy God will show Himself holy in righteousness.
Read in context
Ezekiel 36:23
I will show the holiness of My great name, which has been profaned among the nations—the name you have profaned among them. Then the nations will know that I am the LORD, declares the Lord GOD, when I show My holiness in you before their eyes.
Read in context
Ezekiel 38:16
You will advance against My people Israel like a cloud covering the land. It will happen in the latter days, O Gog, that I will bring you against My land, so that the nations may know Me when I show Myself holy in you before their eyes.
Read in context