BIBLE DICTIONARY + WORD STUDY
How to read this: there is rarely one magic “true meaning” hidden behind an English word. A lexicon records a word’s semantic range. The intended meaning is narrowed by grammar, sentence, author, historical usage and context.
HEBREW / ARAMAIC · H4809
me.ri.vah — Meribah
§ Meribah = "strife" or "contention" 1) a fountain at Rephidim, in the desert of Sin; so called because the Israelites murmured against God 2) the name of the water supply at Kadesh on the southern border of the promised land; the people also murmured here against God
9 tagged verse occurrences · see every occurrence →HEBREW / ARAMAIC · H4532
mas.sah — Massah
§ Massah = "temptation" the place in the wilderness where the Israelites tested Jehovah also 'Meribah'
5 tagged verse occurrences · see every occurrence →GREEK · G3894
parapikrasmos — rebellion
παρα-πικρασμός, -οῦ, ἁ (παραπικραίνω) [in LXX: Psa.95:8 (מְרִיבָה elsewhere rendered Λοιδόρησις, Exo.17:7; ἀντιλογία, Deu.33:8, al.; λοιδορία, Num.20:24)* ;] provocation: ἐν τῷ π. (Heb. at Meribah), Heb.3:8, 15" (LXX) .† (AS)
2 tagged verse occurrences · see every occurrence →Quarrel or strife. (1.) One of the names given by Moses to the fountain in the desert of Sin, near Rephidim, which issued from the rock in Horeb, which he smote by the divine command, “because of the chiding of the children of Israel” (Ex. 17:1-7). It was also called Massah (q.v.). It was probably in Wady Feiran, near Mount Serbal. (2.) Another fountain having a similar origin in the desert of Zin, near to Kadesh (Num. 27:14). The two places are mentioned together in Deut. 33:8. Some think the one place is called by the two names (Ps. 81:7). In smiting the rock at this place Moses showed the same impatience as the people (Num. 20:10-12). This took place near the close of the wanderings in the desert (Num. 20:1-24; Deut. 32:51).
Source: Easton’s Bible Dictionary (1897). Historical dictionary wording reflects the scholarship and language of its era.
