Text: Psalm 106:32
OT Text Referred to: Numbers 20:12
Subject: Moses' sin
Source: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Reference Type: Allusion
Connection Method(s): None
Significance: Numbers 20:12 pronounces Moses's exclusion from the promised land for failing to trust God at Meribah. Psalm 106:32 recalls this same event: "At the waters of Meribah they angered the LORD, and trouble came to Moses because of them." The psalm's phrase "trouble came to Moses" (וַיֵּרַע לְמֹשֶׁה, vayyera' le-Mosheh) interprets Moses's punishment as caused by the people's provocation, partially exonerating Israel's greatest prophet by emphasizing the congregational context. The connection demonstrates how Israel's liturgical tradition processed the troubling reality that even Moses, the faithful servant, was barred from entering the land because of a single act of unfaithfulness at מְרִיבָה (Meribah, "quarreling").