Later text
At the waters of Meribah they angered the LORD, and trouble came to Moses because of them. For they rebelled against His Spirit, and Moses spoke rashly with his lips.
Intertextuality Pair
Psalm 106:32-33 → Numbers 27:14
Allusion
Earlier text
for when the congregation contended in the Wilderness of Zin, both of you rebelled against My command to show My holiness in their sight regarding the waters." Those were the waters of Meribah in Kadesh, in the Wilderness of Zin.
Significance
Numbers 27:14 refers back to Moses's sin at Meribah: "both of you rebelled against My command to show My holiness in their sight regarding the waters" (מֵי מְרִיבַת קָדֵשׁ, mey Merivat Qadesh, "waters of Meribah at Kadesh"). Psalm 106:32-33 interprets this event in its historical confession: "At the waters of Meribah they angered the LORD, and trouble came to Moses because of them. For they rebelled against His Spirit, and Moses spoke rashly with his lips." Numbers 27 uses the Meribah incident to explain why Moses must die before entering the land, commissioning Joshua as successor. The psalm adds the interpretive layer that the people's rebellion against God's Spirit was the proximate cause of Moses's rash speech, distributing blame between leader and congregation.
- Found via
- Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
- Reference Type
- Allusion
- Connection Method(s)
- Redemptive-Historical Progression — Numbers 27:14 invokes Meribah to explain Moses's death outside the land and Joshua's commissioning, while Psalm 106:32-33 confesses the same waters from the congregation's side; narrative and liturgy together move the story from the barred mediator to the appointed successor — the pattern completed in the greater Joshua who leads His people into rest.
Linked Mentions 1