Numeri 20:13

13 Quest’è l’acqua della contesa, della quale i figliuoli d’Israele contesero col Signore; ed egli fu santificato fra loro.

Numeri 20:13 Meaning and Commentary

Numbers 20:13

This is the water of Meribah
Or "strife": this is the name by which the water had in this place, and from this rock, was called; and which is the same name given to the place at Horeb, where a rock had been smitten, and water had flowed, as now, the first year they came out of Egypt; and to distinguish this from that, this is sometimes called Meribah-Kadesh, ( Deuteronomy 32:51 ) , this being at Kadesh, as that was at Rephidim:

because the children of Israel strove with the Lord:
for their chiding and striving with Moses was interpretatively striving with the Lord himself, whose ministers and servants they were:

and he was sanctified in them;
that is, the glory of his divine perfections was displayed in them; either in the waters fetched out of the rock, which was a proof of the almighty power of God, and of his truth and faithfulness to his promises; or in the children of Israel, in whose sight, and for whose sake this miracle was wrought: the Targum of Jonathan expressly says, in Moses and Aaron, in not sparing these his saints, but expressing severity towards them for their sin; so Jarchi and Aben Ezra interpret it.

Numeri 20:13 In-Context

11 E Mosè, alzata la mano, percosse il sasso con la sua verga due volte, e ne uscì molt’acqua; e la raunanza e il suo bestiame ne bevve.

12 Poi il Signore disse a Mosè e ad Aaronne: Perciocchè voi non mi avete creduto, per santificarmi in presenza dei figliuoli d’Israele; perciò voi non introdurrete questa raunanza nel paese che io ho lor donato.

13 Quest’è l’acqua della contesa, della quale i figliuoli d’Israele contesero col Signore; ed egli fu santificato fra loro.

14 POI Mosè mandò di Cades ambasciatori al re di Edom, a dirgli: Così dice Israele, tuo fratello: Tu sai tutti i travagli che ci sono avvenuti.

15 Come i nostri padri scesero in Egitto, e come noi siamo dimorati in Egitto lungo tempo, e come gli Egizj hanno trattato male noi e i nostri padri.