Numbers 27:14
in Numbers 27for 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 Kadesh, in the Wilderness of Zin.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
because ye rebelled against my word in the wilderness of Zin, in the strife of the congregation, to sanctify me at the waters before their eyes. (These are the waters of Meribah of Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin.)
KJV
For ye rebelled against my commandment in the desert of Zin, in the strife of the congregation, to sanctify me at the water before their eyes: that is the water of Meribah in Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin.
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This verse in Numbers 27
Commentary
6 notes on this verseIf Aaron and Moses (who seemed to waver at the waters of contradiction) did not deserve to enter the Promised Land, does it not stand to reason that we, bent under the burden of sin, shall be far less able to cross the river Jordan and reach Gilgal, the place of circumcision, if we shall cause one of these little ones to sin?
This site's exposition
For ye rebelled against my commandment
The reason given here is the strife at Meribah in the desert of Zin, where Moses was told to speak to the rock at Numbers 20:8 and struck it twice instead. This verse charges him with rebelling against the commandment and with failing to sanctify God at the water before their eyes, and Numbers 20:12 puts it as unbelief. Moses himself gives it differently when he tells Israel at Deuteronomy 1:37, 3:26 and 4:21 that the LORD was angry with him for your sakes. Both accounts stand in the canon and neither chapter reconciles them.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
A commentator
Gregory the DialogistRegister of Epistles Book 11, Epistle XXVIII · Written before 604.
proposed
But when the land of promise had at length been reached, [Moses] was called into the mountain and heard of the fault which he had committed eight and thirty years before, as I have said, in that he had doubted about drawing water from the rock. And for this reason he was told that he might not enter the land of promise. Herein it is for us to consider how formidable is the judgment of the almighty God, who did so many signs through that servant of his whose fault he still bore in remembrance for so long a time.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
For ye rebelled against my commandment the desert of Zin,....
He tells Moses of his death. His death was the punishment of his sin, and yet notice is given him of it in such a manner as might best serve to sweeten and mollify the sentence, and reconcile him to it. (1.) Moses must die, but he shall first have the satisfaction of seeing the land of promise,
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Ye rebelled against my commandment - See the notes on Num 20:12.
The words behind it
16 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כַּאֲשֶׁר֩ | kaasher | <as> since | H834 → | 5497 times |
| מְרִיתֶ֨ם | meritem | you rebelled against | H4784 → | 45 times |
| פִּ֜י | pi | mouth my | H6310 → | 498 times |
| בְּמִדְבַּר־ | bemidbar- | in [the] wilderness of | H4057 → | 270 times |
| צִ֗ן | tzin | Zin | H6790 → | 10 times |
| בִּמְרִיבַת֙ | bimrivat | in [the] strife of | H4808 → | |
| הָֽעֵדָ֔ה | haedah | the congregation | H5712 → | 149 times |
| לְהַקְדִּישֵׁ֥נִי | lehakdisheni | to treat as holy me | H6942 → | 171 times |
| בַמַּ֖יִם | vamayim | at the waters | H4325 → | 581 times |
| לְעֵינֵיהֶ֑ם | leeineihem | to eyes their | H5869 → | 887 times |
| הֵ֛ם | hem | they | H1992 → | 553 times |
| מֵֽי־ | mei- | [were] [the] waters of | H4325 → | 581 times |
| מְרִיבַ֥ת | merivat | Meribath | H4809 → | 11 times |
| קָדֵ֖שׁ | kadesh | Kadesh | H6946 → | 18 times |
| מִדְבַּר־ | midbar- | [the] wilderness of | H4057 → | 270 times |
| צִֽן׃ פ | tzin | Zin | H6790 → | 10 times |
כַּאֲשֶׁר֩<as> since
kaasherH834 →5497 times
מְרִיתֶ֨םyou rebelled against
meritemH4784 →45 times
פִּ֜יmouth my
piH6310 →498 times
בְּמִדְבַּר־in [the] wilderness of
bemidbar-H4057 →270 times
צִ֗ןZin
tzinH6790 →10 times
בִּמְרִיבַת֙in [the] strife of
bimrivatH4808 →
הָֽעֵדָ֔הthe congregation
haedahH5712 →149 times
לְהַקְדִּישֵׁ֥נִיto treat as holy me
lehakdisheniH6942 →171 times
בַמַּ֖יִםat the waters
vamayimH4325 →581 times
לְעֵינֵיהֶ֑םto eyes their
leeineihemH5869 →887 times
הֵ֛םthey
hemH1992 →553 times
מֵֽי־[were] [the] waters of
mei-H4325 →581 times
מְרִיבַ֥תMeribath
merivatH4809 →11 times
קָדֵ֖שׁKadesh
kadeshH6946 →18 times
מִדְבַּר־[the] wilderness of
midbar-H4057 →270 times
צִֽן׃ פZin
tzinH6790 →10 times
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
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 95:8
do not harden your hearts as you did at Meribah, in the day at Massah in the wilderness,
- Numbers 20:13
These were the waters of Meribah, where the Israelites quarreled with the LORD, and He showed His holiness among them.
- Deuteronomy 9:22
You continued to provoke the LORD at Taberah, at Massah, and at Kibroth-hattaavah.
- Psalms 81:7
Through
Deuteronomy 1:37The LORD was also angry with me on your account, and He said, “Not even you shall enter the land.
it leads to
- Numbers 20:12
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…
- Deuteronomy 4:21
The LORD, however, was angry with me on account of you, and He swore that I would not cross the Jordan to enter the good land that the LORD your God is giving you…
- Deuteronomy 34:4
And the LORD said to him, “This is the land that I swore to give Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob when I said, ‘I will give it to your descendants.’ I have let you see…
- Numbers 27:13–14
After you have seen it, you too will be gathered to your people, as your brother Aaron was;
- Numbers 20:12
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Numbers
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Gregory the Dialogist, Register of Epistles Book 11, Epistle XXVIII; Jerome, HOMILY 90; 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 and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.