Deuteronomy 6:16

Exhortation to Obey the Lord Exclusively

6:16 You must not put the Lord your God to the test as you did at Massah. ¹ 

Deuteronomy 33:8

Blessing on Levi

33:8 Of Levi he said:

Your Thummim and Urim ²  belong to your godly one, ³ 

whose authority you challenged at Massah, ⁴ 

and with whom you argued at the waters of Meribah. ⁵ 

[6:16]  ¹ sn The place name Massah (מַסָּה, massah) derives from a root (נָסָה, nasah) meaning “to test; to try.” The reference here is to the experience in the Sinai desert when Moses struck the rock to obtain water (Exod 17:1-2). The complaining Israelites had, thus, “tested” the Lord, a wickedness that gave rise to the naming of the place (Exod 17:7; cf. Deut 9:22; 33:8).

[33:8]  ² sn Thummim and Urim. These terms, whose meaning is uncertain, refer to sacred stones carried in a pouch on the breastplate of the high priest and examined on occasion as a means of ascertaining God’s will or direction. See Exod 28:30; Lev 8:8; Num 27:21; 1 Sam 28:6. See also C. Van Dam, NIDOTTE 1:329-31.

[33:8]  ³ tn Heb “godly man.” The reference is probably to Moses as representative of the whole tribe of Levi.

[33:8]  ⁴ sn Massah means “testing” in Hebrew; the name is a wordplay on what took place there. Cf. Exod 17:7; Deut 6:16; 9:22; Ps 95:8-9.

[33:8]  ⁵ sn Meribah means “contention, argument” in Hebrew; this is another wordplay on the incident that took place there. Cf. Num 20:13, 24; Ps 106:32.