MERIBAH
(Heb. “contention”, “quarrel”). (a) Name associated with that of Massah to indicate the place of Horeb, near Rephidim, where the people quarreled with Moses (Ex. 17:1-7) because of the lack of water.
There God made water come out of the rock (see MASAH). (b) Another place near Kadesh-barnea (cf. Josh. 14:6, 7) in the desert of Sin; The people rebelled again against Moses and against Jehovah.
Moses became angry and, instead of speaking to the rock as Jehovah had commanded him, he struck it twice. Because of this, God did not let them enter the promised land at the end of the pilgrimage in the desert (Num. 20:1-13; cf. Deut. 3:23-29).
For an examination of the important typological consequences of this incident, cf. Mackintosh, C. H.: “Numbers” (Ed. “The Good News”, Montebello, Calif., 1953, PP. 241-246).
It is not surprising that the lack of water caused numerous episodes of discontent, in distant places, throughout the almost forty years of pilgrimage through the desert.