Text: Psalm 106:32-33
OT Text Referred to: Numbers 27:14
Subject: Meribah sin recalled in confession
Source: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Reference Type: Allusion
Connection Method(s): None
Significance: Numbers 27:14 refers back to Moses's sin at Meribah: "you rebelled against My command to honor Me as holy before their eyes at 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.