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Bible Encyclopedias
Meribah
The 1901 Jewish Encyclopedia
or 1. A place in Rephidim in the wilderness; called also "Massah and Meribah, because of the chiding of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the Lord" (Exodus 17:7). It is certainly this Meribah which is alluded to in Psalms 95:8. 2. A place at Kadesh in the wilderness, the name occurring either as "Me Meribah" (= "the water of Meribah"; Numbers 20:13,24) or as "Me Meribath-Kadesh" (= "the water of Meribah in Kadesh"; Numbers 27:14; Deuteronomy 32:51). The latter name appears as the southern limit of the land of Canaan in Ezekiel 47:19, 48:28 (= "the waters of strife in Kadesh"). It must be said, however, that the Septuagint invariably translates the word "Meribah" by λοιδÏÏηÏιÏ; and that the Targumim and the later commentators regard it as a common noun.
It may be seen that the two narratives which give the origin of the name differ only in that in Exodus 17:7 Moses is ordered by God to strike the rock, while in Numbers 27:14 he is ordered to speak to the rock, and for disobeying God's order is punished by not being allowed to enter into the promised land. Otherwise they are similar. It is for this reason that some critics regard the one narrative as a duplicate of the other.
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Singer, Isidore, Ph.D, Projector and Managing Editor. Entry for 'Meribah'. 1901 The Jewish Encyclopedia. https://www.studylight.org/encyclopedias/eng/tje/m/meribah.html. 1901.
