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Selected Verse: Numbers 20:13 - Strong Concordance

Verse	Translation	Text
Nu 20:13	Strong Concordance	This is [01992] the water [04325] of Meribah [04809]; because the children [01121] of Israel [03478] strove [07378] with the LORD [03068], and he was sanctified [06942] in them.
	King James	This is the water of Meribah; because the children of Israel strove with the LORD, and he was sanctified in them.

Summary Of Commentaries Associated With The Selected Verse

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A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]
This is the water of Meribah--The word "Kadesh" is added to it [Deu 32:51] to distinguish it from another Meribah (Exo 17:7).

A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]

This is the water of Meribah--The word "Kadesh" is added to it [Deu 32:51] to distinguish it from another Meribah (Exo 17:7).

Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834]
The water of Meribah - i. e. "Strife." The place is called "Meribah in Kadesh" Num 27:14, and "Meribah-Kadesh" Deu 32:51. to distinguish it from the "Meribah" of Exo 17:2 ff. And he was sanctified in them - An allusion doubtless to the name "Kadesh" (holy), which though not now bestowed, acquired a new significance from the fact that God here vindicated His own sanctity, punishing Moses and Aaron who had trespassed against it.

Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78]
The account closes with the words, "This is the water of strife, about which the children of Israel strove with Jehovah, and He sanctified Himself on them." This does not imply that the scene of this occurrence received the name of "strife-water," but simply that the water which God brought out of the rock for the Israelites received that name. But God sanctified Himself on them, by the fact that, on the one hand, He put their unbelief to shame by the miraculous gift of water, and on the other hand punished Moses and Aaron for the weakness of their faith. (Note: The assumption of neological critics, that this occurrence is identical with the similar one at Rephidim (Ex 17), and that this is only another saga based upon the same event, has no firm ground whatever. The want of water in the arid desert is a fact so constantly attested by travellers, that it would be a matter of great surprise if Israel had only experienced this want, and quarrelled with its God and its leaders, once in the course of forty years. As early as Exo 15:22. the people murmured because of the want of drinkable water, and the bitter water was turned into sweet; and immediately after the event before us, it gave utterance to the complaint again, "We have no bread and no water" (Num 21:4-5). But if the want remained the same, the relief of that want would necessarily be repeated in the same or a similar manner. Moreover, the occurrences at Rephidim (or Massah-Meribah) and at Kadesh are altogether different from each other. In Rephidim, God gave the people water out of the rock, and the murmuring of the people was stayed. In Kadesh, God no doubt relieved the distress in the same way; but the mediators of His mercy, Moses and Aaron, sinned at the time, so that God sanctified Himself upon them by a judgment, because they had not sanctified Him before the congregation. (See Hengstenberg, Dissertations, vol. ii.))

Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78]

The account closes with the words, "This is the water of strife, about which the children of Israel strove with Jehovah, and He sanctified Himself on them." This does not imply that the scene of this occurrence received the name of "strife-water," but simply that the water which God brought out of the rock for the Israelites received that name. But God sanctified Himself on them, by the fact that, on the one hand, He put their unbelief to shame by the miraculous gift of water, and on the other hand punished Moses and Aaron for the weakness of their faith.

(Note: The assumption of neological critics, that this occurrence is identical with the similar one at Rephidim (Ex 17), and that this is only another saga based upon the same event, has no firm ground whatever. The want of water in the arid desert is a fact so constantly attested by travellers, that it would be a matter of great surprise if Israel had only experienced this want, and quarrelled with its God and its leaders, once in the course of forty years. As early as Exo 15:22. the people murmured because of the want of drinkable water, and the bitter water was turned into sweet; and immediately after the event before us, it gave utterance to the complaint again, "We have no bread and no water" (Num 21:4-5). But if the want remained the same, the relief of that want would necessarily be repeated in the same or a similar manner. Moreover, the occurrences at Rephidim (or Massah-Meribah) and at Kadesh are altogether different from each other. In Rephidim, God gave the people water out of the rock, and the murmuring of the people was stayed. In Kadesh, God no doubt relieved the distress in the same way; but the mediators of His mercy, Moses and Aaron, sinned at the time, so that God sanctified Himself upon them by a judgment, because they had not sanctified Him before the congregation. (See Hengstenberg, Dissertations, vol. ii.))

Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible, by John Wesley [1754-65]
Meribah - That is, strife. In them - Or, among them, the children of Israel, by the demonstration of his omnipotency, veracity, and clemency towards the Israelites, and of his impartial holiness and severity against sin even in his greatest friends and favourites.

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⁷ And he called [07121] the name [08034] of the place [04725] Massah [04532], and Meribah [04809], because of the chiding [07379] of the children [01121] of Israel [03478], and because they tempted [05254] the LORD [03068], saying [0559], Is [03426] the LORD [03068] among [07130] us, or not?

⁵¹ Because ye trespassed [04603] against me among [08432] the children [01121] of Israel [03478] at the waters [04325] of Meribah-Kadesh [04808] [06946], in the wilderness [04057] of Zin [06790]; because ye sanctified [06942] me not in the midst [08432] of the children [01121] of Israel [03478].

² Wherefore the people [05971] did chide [07378] with Moses [04872], and said [0559], Give [05414] us water [04325] that we may drink [08354]. And Moses [04872] said [0559] unto them, Why chide [07378] ye with me? wherefore do ye tempt [05254] the LORD [03068]?

¹⁴ For ye rebelled [04784] against my commandment [06310] in the desert [04057] of Zin [06790], in the strife [04808] of the congregation [05712], to sanctify [06942] me at the water [04325] before their eyes [05869]: that is the water [04325] of Meribah [04809] in Kadesh [06946] in the wilderness [04057] of Zin [06790].

⁴ And they journeyed [05265] from mount [02022] Hor [02023] by the way [01870] of the Red [05488] sea [03220], to compass [05437] the land [0776] of Edom [0123]: and the soul [05315] of the people [05971] was much discouraged [07114] because of the way [01870].
⁵ And the people [05971] spake [01696] against God [0430], and against Moses [04872], Wherefore have ye brought us up [05927] out of Egypt [04714] to die [04191] in the wilderness [04057]? for there is no bread [03899], neither is there any water [04325]; and our soul [05315] loatheth [06973] this light [07052] bread [03899].

²² So Moses [04872] brought [05265] Israel [03478] from the Red [05488] sea [03220], and they went out [03318] into the wilderness [04057] of Shur [07793]; and they went [03212] three [07969] days [03117] in the wilderness [04057], and found [04672] no water [04325].