The Biblical text mentions two very similar episodes that both occur at a place named
Meribah. The episode recounted in Exodus 17 features the Israelites quarreling with
Moses about the lack of water, and Moses rebuking the Israelites for testing
Yahweh; verse 7 states that it was on this account that the place gained the name
Massah, meaning
testing, and the name
Meribah meaning
quarreling. the narrative continues with Yahweh telling Moses to walk ahead of the others and strike the rock at
Horeb with his rod, and when Moses does this, it causes the rock to expel water. The episode recounted by the Book of Numbers features the Israelites quarreling with Moses
and Aaron about the lack of water
and food crops; the text states that Moses and Aaron responded by consulting Yahweh at the
Tabernacle door, while
prostrating themselves, and that Yahweh told them to take the rod, and speak to a particular rock while the people are gathered together in view of it. The narrative continues with Moses following the instructions to take Aaron's staff and to gather the Israelites, but instead of speaking to the rock, which Yahweh had stated would result in water flowing from it, Moses speaks to the
crowd and strikes the rock, doing so twice, resulting in a strong flow of water.
Some textual scholars regard the two accounts as different versions of the same events at Meribah, with the version in the Book of Exodus being from the
JE source, and the version in the Book of Numbers being from the
Priestly Source; the latter account, like the Priestly Source in general, is considered to be an attempt to supplant the JE version of the narrative, which doesn't treat
Aaron as being as important as the
Aaronid writer of the Priestly Source would have liked. and regard as the parallel of the Jahwist's account of the naming of
Massah after the testing of Yahweh by the Israelites.
The Death of Moses and Aaron In the account in the Book of Numbers, but not the account in the Book of Exodus, after the water is produced, Yahweh tells Moses and Aaron that they did not trust him sufficiently to honour him, and as a consequence both Moses and Aaron would die before entering
Canaan. It is unclear what, exactly, merited their punishment, though the text does make clear that it was Moses alone who spoke to the people and struck the rock; biblical scholars regard this as an example of the Priestly Source's usual subtle denigration of Moses, the hero of the
Shiloh priesthood (which rivaled the Aaronids). One possible reason for the punishment is that Moses had struck the rock twice, rather than just speaking to it as he had been told to do; another possibility is that he had rashly addressed the Israelites by the phrase
you rebels. According to
Deuteronomy, which textual scholars
attribute to a writer who was pro-Moses and anti-Aaron, the punishment was due to the lack of
trust in Yahweh that had been exhibited by the Israelites, rather than by Moses.
Historicity Some
Biblical scholars see the narrative about Massah and Meribah as having originated as
aetiological myths seeking to justify their names. ==Geographical location==