Deuteronomy 9:22

22 “You also made the LORD angry at Taberah, Massah, and Kibroth-hattaavah.

Deuteronomy 9:22 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 9:22

And at Taberah, and at Massah, and at Kibrothhattaavah, ye
provoked the Lord to wrath.
] These places are not mentioned in the strict order in which the provocations were made at them; for they provoked the Lord at Massah by murmuring for water, before they provoked him at Taberah, by complaining as it should seem of their journeying; for Massah was before they came to Sinai, and Taberah after they departed from thence; though some, as Aben Ezra observes, say that Taberah is Massah; but it could not be the Massah in Rephidim, for that was on one side of Mount Sinai, and Taberah on another; though different places might be so called from their tempting the Lord at them; rather Taberah and Kibrothhattaavah seem to be the same; where the people died with the flesh in their mouths they lusted after, and were buried; since no mention is made of their removal at that time from the one place to the other, nor of Taberah in the account of their journeys, only Kibrothhattaavah; see ( Exodus 17:7 ) ( Numbers 11:8 Numbers 11:34 ) .

Deuteronomy 9:22 In-Context

20 The LORD was so angry with Aaron that he wanted to destroy him, too. But I prayed for Aaron, and the LORD spared him.
21 I took your sin—the calf you had made—and I melted it down in the fire and ground it into fine dust. Then I threw the dust into the stream that flows down the mountain.
22 “You also made the LORD angry at Taberah, Massah, and Kibroth-hattaavah.
23 And at Kadesh-barnea the LORD sent you out with this command: ‘Go up and take over the land I have given you.’ But you rebelled against the command of the LORD your God and refused to put your trust in him or obey him.
24 Yes, you have been rebelling against the LORD as long as I have known you.

Footnotes 3

  • [a]. Taberah means “place of burning.” See Num 11:1-3 .
  • [b]. Massah means “place of testing.” See Exod 17:1-7 .
  • [c]. Kibroth-hattaavah means “graves of gluttony.” See Num 11:31-34 .
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