Exodus 17:2

17:2 So the people contended ¹  with Moses, and they said, “Give us water to drink!” ²  Moses said to them, “Why do you contend ³  with me? Why do you test ⁴  the Lord?”

Exodus 17:7

17:7 He called the name of the place Massah and Meribah, because of the contending of the Israelites and because of their testing the Lord, ⁵  saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?”

Exodus 23:20-21

The Angel of the Presence

23:20 ⁶ “I am going to send ⁷  an angel ⁸  before you to protect you as you journey ⁹  and to bring you into the place that I have prepared. ¹⁰  23:21 Take heed because of him, and obey his voice; do not rebel against him, for he will not pardon your transgressions, for my name ¹¹  is in him.

Numbers 21:5

21:5 And the people spoke against God and against Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness, for there is no bread or water, and we ¹²  detest this worthless ¹³  food.”

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. ¹⁴ 

Psalms 78:18

78:18 They willfully challenged God ¹⁵ 

by asking for food to satisfy their appetite.

Psalms 78:56

78:56 Yet they challenged and defied ¹⁶  the sovereign God, ¹⁷ 

and did not obey ¹⁸  his commands. ¹⁹ 

Psalms 95:9

95:9 where your ancestors challenged my authority, ²⁰ 

and tried my patience, even though they had seen my work.

Psalms 106:14

106:14 In the wilderness they had an insatiable craving ²¹  for meat; ²² 

they challenged God ²³  in the desert.

Hebrews 3:8-11

3:8 “Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, in the day of testing in the wilderness.

3:9 “There your fathers tested me and tried me, ²⁴  and they saw my works for forty years.

3:10 “Therefore, I became provoked at that generation and said, ‘Their hearts are always wandering ²⁵  and they have not known my ways.’

3:11 “As I swore in my anger, ‘They will never enter my rest!’” ²⁶ 

Hebrews 10:28-30

10:28 Someone who rejected the law of Moses was put to death ²⁷  without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. ²⁸  10:29 How much greater punishment do you think that person deserves who has contempt for ²⁹  the Son of God, and profanes ³⁰  the blood of the covenant that made him holy, ³¹  and insults the Spirit of grace? 10:30 For we know the one who said, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay,” ³²  and again, “The Lord will judge his people.” ³³ 

[17:2]  ¹ tn The verb וַיָּרֶב (vayyarev) is from the root רִיב (riv); it forms the basis of the name “Meribah.” The word means “strive, quarrel, be in contention” and even “litigation.” A translation “quarrel” does not appear to capture the magnitude of what is being done here. The people have a legal dispute – they are contending with Moses as if bringing a lawsuit.

[17:2]  ² tn The imperfect tense with the vav (ו) follows the imperative, and so it carries the nuance of the logical sequence, showing purpose or result. This may be expressed in English as “give us water so that we may drink,” but more simply with the English infinitive, “give us water to drink.”

[17:2]  ³ tn In this case and in the next clause the imperfect tenses are to be taken as progressive imperfects – the action is in progress.

[17:2]  ⁴ tn The verb נָסָה (nasah) means “to test, tempt, try, prove.” It can be used of people simply trying to do something that they are not sure of (such as David trying on Saul’s armor), or of God testing people to see if they will obey (as in testing Abraham, Gen 22:1), or of people challenging others (as in the Queen of Sheba coming to test Solomon), and of the people in the desert in rebellion putting God to the test. By doubting that God was truly in their midst, and demanding that he demonstrate his presence, they tested him to see if he would act. There are times when “proving” God is correct and required, but that is done by faith (as with Gideon); when it is done out of unbelief, then it is an act of disloyalty.

[17:7]  ⁵ sn The name Massah (מַסָּה, massah) means “Proving”; it is derived from the verb “test, prove, try.” And the name Meribah (מְרִיבָה, mÿrivah) means “Strife”; it is related to the verb “to strive, quarrel, contend.” The choice of these names for the place would serve to remind Israel for all time of this failure with God. God wanted this and all subsequent generations to know how unbelief challenges God. And yet, he gave them water. So in spite of their failure, he remained faithful to his promises. The incident became proverbial, for it is the warning in Ps 95:7-8, which is quoted in Heb 3:15: “Oh, that today you would listen as he speaks! Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, in the day of testing in the wilderness. There your fathers tested me and tried me, and they saw my works for forty years.” The lesson is clear enough: to persist in this kind of unbelief could only result in the loss of divine blessing. Or, to put it another way, if they refused to believe in the power of God, they would wander powerless in the wilderness. They had every reason to believe, but they did not. (Note that this does not mean they are unbelievers, only that they would not take God at his word.)

[23:20]  ⁶ sn This passage has some of the most interesting and perplexing expressions and constructions in the book. It is largely promise, but it is part of the Law and so demands compliance by faith. Its points are: God promises to send his angel to prepare the way before his obedient servants (20-23); God promises blessing for his loyal servants (24-33). So in the section one learns that God promises his protection (victory) and blessing (through his angel) for his obedient and loyal worshipers.

[23:20]  ⁷ tn The particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) with the active participle indicates imminent future, something God is about to do.

[23:20]  ⁸ sn The word is מַלְאָךְ (mal’akh, “messenger, angel”). This angel is to be treated with the same fear and respect as Yahweh, for Yahweh will be speaking in him. U. Cassuto (Exodus, 305-6) says that the words of the first clause do not imply a being distinct from God, for in the ancient world the line of demarcation between the sender and the sent is liable easily to be blurred. He then shows how the “Angel of Yahweh” in Genesis is Yahweh. He concludes that the words here mean “I will guide you.” Christian commentators tend to identify the Angel of Yahweh as the second person of the Trinity (W. C. Kaiser, Jr., “Exodus,” EBC 2:446). However, in addition to being a preincarnate appearance, the word could refer to Yahweh – some manifestation of Yahweh himself.

[23:20]  ⁹ tn Heb “protect you in the way.”

[23:20]  ¹⁰ tn The form is the Hiphil perfect of the verb כּוּן (kun, “to establish, prepare”).

[23:21]  ¹¹ sn This means “the manifestation of my being” is in him (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 247). Driver quotes McNeile as saying, “The ‘angel’ is Jehovah Himself ‘in a temporary descent to visibility for a special purpose.’” Others take the “name” to represent Yahweh’s “power” (NCV) or “authority” (NAB, CEV).

[21:5]  ¹² tn Heb “our souls.”

[21:5]  ¹³ tn The Israelites’ opinion about the manna was clear enough – “worthless.” The word used is קְלֹקֵל (qÿloqel, “good for nothing, worthless, miserable”).

[6:16]  ¹⁴ 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).

[78:18]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “and they tested God in their heart.” The “heart” is viewed here as the center of their volition.

[78:56]  ¹⁶ tn Or “tested and rebelled against.”

[78:56]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “God, the Most High.”

[78:56]  ¹⁸ tn Or “keep.”

[78:56]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “his testimonies” (see Ps 25:10).

[95:9]  ²⁰ tn Heb “where your fathers tested me.”

[106:14]  ²¹ sn They had an insatiable craving. This is described in Num 11:4-35.

[106:14]  ²² tn Heb “they craved [with] a craving.”

[106:14]  ²³ tn Heb “they tested God.”

[3:9]  ²⁴ tn Grk “tested me by trial.”

[3:10]  ²⁵ tn Grk “they are wandering in the heart.”

[3:11]  ²⁶ tn Grk “if they shall enter my rest,” a Hebrew idiom expressing an oath that something will certainly not happen.

[10:28]  ²⁷ tn Grk “dies.”

[10:28]  ²⁸ sn An allusion to Deut 17:6.

[10:29]  ²⁹ tn Grk “tramples under foot.”

[10:29]  ³⁰ tn Grk “regarded as common.”

[10:29]  ³¹ tn Grk “by which he was made holy.”

[10:30]  ³² sn A quotation from Deut 32:35.

[10:30]  ³³ sn A quotation from Deut 32:36.