Numbers 20:13
in Numbers 20These were the waters of Meribah, where the Israelites quarreled with the LORD, and He showed His holiness among them.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
These are the waters of Meribah; because the children of Israel strove with Jehovah, and he was sanctified in them.
KJV
This is the water of Meribah; because the children of Israel strove with the Lord, and he was sanctified in them.
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This verse in Numbers 20
Commentary
6 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
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.
This site's exposition
Because ye believed me not, to sanctify me
on Numbers 20:12-13
The reason given here is unbelief and a failure to sanctify God before Israel, and the price of it is the land. Moses tells it differently three times in Deuteronomy, at 1:37, 3:26 and 4:21, where he says the Lord was angry with him for your sakes, and both accounts stand in the canon. Verse 13 answers verse 12 with the same word, since Moses did not sanctify him and he was sanctified in them anyway. Meribah means strife, and the place is named for what the people did.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
A commentator
Philoxenus of Mabbug13 Ascetic Discourses, Discourse 7 -- Second Discourse on the Fear of God · Written before 523.
proposed
And that He might increase in them this fear, immediately, by the mouth of offence, the rod of His chastisement was revealed, and after the offence the Chastiser gave them no respite, because their servitude was not worthy of His longsuffering. Above their head the …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
51 ), to distinguish it from the other Meribah. It is the water of strife; to perpetuate the remembrance of the people's sin, and Moses's, and yet of God's mercy, who supplied them with water, and owned and honoured Moses notwithstanding. Thus he was sanctified in the, as the Holy One of Israel, so he is called when his mercy rejoices against judgment, Hos. xi.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-citation-number+unbalanced-parens
This is the water of Meribah,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
there was no water for the congregation--There was at Kadesh a fountain, En-Mishpat (Ge 14:7), and at the first encampment of the Israelites there was no want of water.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
AND HE WAS SANCTIFIED IN THEM — “in that Moses and Aaron died on account of them [i.e., the waters of Meribah ].
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
Scripture did not mention the king’s name, because there was no necessity to do so. It did, however, mention Sihon and Og, the kings of the Amorites, by name, because they were famous for their strength, and they had a name among. See II Samuel:18.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 2 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
11 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| הֵ֚מָּה | hemah | they | H1992 → | 553 times |
| מֵ֣י | mei | [were] [the] waters of | H4325 → | 581 times |
| מְרִיבָ֔ה | merivah | Meribah | H4809 → | 11 times |
| אֲשֶׁר־ | ʾasher- | where | H834 → | 5497 times |
| רָב֥וּ | ravu | they quarreled | H7378 → | |
| בְנֵֽי־ | venei- | [the] people of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | with | H854 → | 929 times |
| יְהוָ֑ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| וַיִּקָּדֵ֖שׁ | vaiyikadesh | and he showed himself holy | H6942 → | 171 times |
| בָּֽם׃ ס | bam | among <the> them |
הֵ֚מָּהthey
hemahH1992 →553 times
מֵ֣י[were] [the] waters of
meiH4325 →581 times
מְרִיבָ֔הMeribah
merivahH4809 →11 times
אֲשֶׁר־where
ʾasher-H834 →5497 times
רָב֥וּthey quarreled
ravuH7378 →
בְנֵֽי־[the] people of
venei-H1121 →4930 times
יִשְׂרָאֵ֖לIsrael
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
אֶת־with
ʾet-H854 →929 times
יְהוָ֑הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
וַיִּקָּדֵ֖שׁand he showed himself holy
vaiyikadeshH6942 →171 times
בָּֽם׃ סamong <the> them
bam
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Psalms 95:8do not harden your hearts as you did at Meribah, in the day at Massah in the wilderness,
it leads to
- 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?”
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Hebrews 3:8–9
do not harden your hearts, as you did in the rebellion, in the day of testing in the wilderness,
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Numbers 14:11
And the LORD said to Moses, “How long will this people treat Me with contempt? How long will they refuse to believe in Me, despite all the signs I have performed among them?
- Numbers 14:22
not 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—
- Hebrews 3:15–19
As it has been said: “Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts, as you did in the rebellion.”
- Exodus 17:7
Through
Deuteronomy 32:51For 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.
it leads to
- Numbers 27:14
for when the congregation contended in the Wilderness of Zin, both of you rebelled against My command to show My holiness in their sight regarding the waters.” Those were the waters of Meribah in…
- Numbers 20:11–14
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.
- Numbers 27:14
Through
Exodus 17:7He named the place Massah and Meribah because the Israelites quarreled, and because they tested the LORD, saying, “Is the LORD among us or not?”
it leads to
- Psalms 81:7
You called out in distress, and I rescued you; I answered you from the cloud of thunder; I tested you at the waters of Meribah. Selah
- Psalms 81:7
Where this verse is studied
About Numbers
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Calvin, Commentary on the Four Last Books of Moses Arranged in the Form of a Harmony; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Philoxenus of Mabbug, 13 Ascetic Discourses, Discourse 7 -- Second Discourse on the Fear of God.