Word: meribah
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...early going, God responds to the Israelites' want with a string of gifts. When the waters at Marah are bitter, Moses throws in a piece of wood and they become magically sweet. A similar shortage at Meribah is solved when God directs Moses to strike a rock with his staff, and water pours forth. When food runs out in the wilderness, he promises to "rain down bread for you from the sky." Of all the biblical wonders, manna may admit to the most exact scientific explanation. (Its name is derived from the Israelites' reaction and may best be translated, "Whatta...
...deny Moses entry? In God's own words, "You disobeyed my command about the waters of Meribah." In a close replay of an earlier crisis, the people run out of water and "join against" their now 119-year-old leader. As before, God advises Moses, telling him to gather the people with his staff and "order the rock to yield its water." As he has done previously, Moses strikes the rock with his rod and out flows the water. His sin, as best as anyone can determine, is that he struck rather than spoke...
...incident at Meribah begins with the stark announcement, "Miriam died there and was buried there." The next sentence is, "The community was without water, and they joined against Moses and Aaron." This abrupt shift has fascinated scholars, including Hebrew Union College's Cohen. "His need is mourning," Cohen points out. "And do the people gather to comfort him? No. To complain. The same song and dance." Distraught, Moses strikes. With the blows, "he takes out everything," says Cohen. "He takes it out on the people, maybe on God, because he's lost his sister." And the Lord punishes...
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