Numbers 20:2-13
Christian Standard Bible
2 There was no water for the community, so they assembled against Moses and Aaron. 3 The people quarreled with Moses and said,(A) “If only we had perished when our brothers perished before the Lord.(B) 4 Why have you brought the Lord’s assembly into this wilderness(C) for us and our livestock to die here?(D) 5 Why have you led us up from Egypt to bring us to this evil place? It’s not a place of grain, figs, vines, and pomegranates,(E) and there is no water to drink!”
6 Then Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly to the doorway of the tent of meeting. They fell facedown, and the glory of the Lord appeared to them. 7 The Lord spoke to Moses, 8 “Take the staff(F) and assemble the community. You and your brother Aaron are to speak to the rock(G) while they watch, and it will yield its water. You will bring out water for them from the rock and provide drink for the community and their livestock.”
9 So Moses took the staff from the Lord’s presence(H) just as he had commanded him. 10 Moses and Aaron summoned the assembly in front of the rock, and Moses said to them, “Listen, you rebels! Must we bring water out of this rock for you?” 11 Then Moses raised his hand and struck the rock twice with his staff, so that abundant water gushed out, and the community and their livestock drank.(I)
12 But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not trust me to demonstrate my holiness in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this assembly into the land I have given them.”(J) 13 These are the Waters of Meribah,[a](K) where the Israelites quarreled with the Lord, and he demonstrated his holiness to them.(L)
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- 20:13 = Quarreling
Numbers 20:2-13
New English Translation
2 And there was no water for the community, and so they gathered themselves together against Moses and Aaron. 3 The people contended[a] with Moses, saying,[b] “If only[c] we had died when our brothers died before the Lord! 4 Why[d] have you brought up the Lord’s community into this wilderness? So that[e] we and our cattle should die here? 5 Why[f] have you brought us up from Egypt only to bring[g] us to this dreadful place? It is no place for grain, or figs, or vines, or pomegranates; nor is there any water to drink!”
Moses Responds
6 So Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly to the entrance to the tent of meeting. They then threw themselves down with their faces to the ground, and the glory of the Lord appeared to them. 7 Then the Lord spoke to Moses: 8 “Take the staff and assemble the community, you and Aaron your brother, and then speak[h] to the rock before their eyes. It will pour forth[i] its water, and you will bring water out of the rock for them, and so you will give the community and their beasts water to drink.”
9 So Moses took the staff from before the Lord, just as he commanded him. 10 Then Moses and Aaron gathered the community together in front of the rock, and he said to them, “Listen, you rebels,[j] must we bring[k] water out of this rock for you?” 11 Then Moses raised his hand, and struck the rock twice with his staff. And water came out abundantly. So the community drank, and their beasts drank too.
The Lord’s Judgment
12 Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not trust me enough[l] to show me as holy[m] before[n] the Israelites, therefore you will not bring this community into the land I have given them.”[o]
13 These are the waters of Meribah, because the Israelites contended with the Lord, and his holiness was maintained[p] among them.
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- Numbers 20:3 tn The verb is רִיב (riv); it is often used in the Bible for a legal complaint, a law suit, at least in form. But it can also describe a quarrel, or strife, like that between Abram’s men and Lot’s men in Genesis 13. It will be the main verb behind the commemorative name Meribah, the place where the people strove with God. It is a far more serious thing than grumbling—it is directed, intentional, and well-argued. For further discussion, see J. Limburg, “The Root ‘rib’ and the Prophetic Lawsuit Speeches,” JBL 88 (1969): 291-304.
- Numbers 20:3 tn Heb “and they said, saying.”
- Numbers 20:3 tn The particle לוּ (lu) indicates the optative nuance of the line—the wishing or longing for death. It is certainly an absurdity to want to have died, but God took them at their word and they died in the wilderness.
- Numbers 20:4 tn Heb “and why….” The conjunction seems to be recording another thing that the people said in their complaint against Moses.
- Numbers 20:4 tn The clause uses the infinitive construct with the preposition ל (lamed) preposition. The clause would be a result clause in this sentence: “Why have you brought us here…with the result that we will all die?”
- Numbers 20:5 tn Heb “and why.”
- Numbers 20:5 tn Here also the infinitive construct (Hiphil) forms the subordinate clause of the preceding interrogative clause.
- Numbers 20:8 tn The verb is the Piel perfect with vav (ו) consecutive, following the two imperatives in the verse. Here is the focus of the instruction for Moses.
- Numbers 20:8 tn Heb “give.” The verb is the perfect tense with vav (ו) consecutive, as are the next two in the verse. These are not now equal to the imperatives, but imperfects, showing the results of speaking to the rock: “speak…and it will…and so you will….”
- Numbers 20:10 tn The word is הַמֹּרִים (hammorim, “the rebels”), but here as a vocative: “you rebels.” It was a harsh address, although well-earned.
- Numbers 20:10 tn The word order and the emphasis of the tense are important to this passage. The word order is “from this rock must we bring out to you water?” The emphasis is clearly on “from this rock!” The verb is the imperfect tense; it has one of the modal nuances here, probably obligatory—“must we do this?”
- Numbers 20:12 tn Or “to sanctify me.”sn The verb is the main word for “believe, trust.” It is the verb that describes the faith in the Word of the Lord that leads to an appropriate action. Here God says that Moses did not believe him, meaning that what he did showed more of Moses than of what God said. Moses had taken a hostile stance toward the people, and then hit the rock twice. This showed that Moses was not satisfied with what God said, but made it more forceful and terrifying, thus giving the wrong picture of God to the people. By doing this the full power and might of the Lord was not displayed to the people. It was a momentary lack of faith, but it had to be dealt with.
- Numbers 20:12 sn Using the basic meaning of the word קָדַשׁ (qadash, “to be separate, distinct, set apart”), we can understand better what Moses failed to do. He was supposed to have acted in a way that would have shown God to be distinct, different, holy. Instead, he gave the impression that God was capricious and hostile—very human. The leader has to be aware of what image he is conveying to the people.
- Numbers 20:12 tn Heb “in the eyes of.”
- Numbers 20:12 tn There is debate as to exactly what the sin of Moses was. Some interpreters think that the real sin might have been that he refused to do this at first, but that fact has been suppressed from the text. Some think the text was deliberately vague to explain why they could not enter the land without demeaning them. Others simply, and more likely, note that in Moses there was unbelief, pride, anger, impatience—disobedience.
- Numbers 20:13 tn The form is unusual—it is the Niphal preterite, and not the normal use of the Piel/Pual stem for “sanctify/sanctified.” The basic idea of “he was holy” has to be the main idea, but in this context it refers to the fact that through judging Moses God was making sure people ensured his holiness among them. The word also forms a wordplay on the name Kadesh.
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