Deuteronomy 6:16
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
16 You shall not put the Lord, your God, to the test, as you did at Massah.(A)
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Deuteronomy 9:22
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
22 At Taberah, at Massah, and at Kibroth-hattaavah likewise, you enraged the Lord.(A)
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Deuteronomy 32:51
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
51 because both of you broke faith with me among the Israelites at the waters of Meribath-kadesh in the wilderness of Zin: you did not manifest my holiness among the Israelites.[a](A)
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Exodus 17:1-7
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Chapter 17
Water from the Rock. 1 From the wilderness of Sin the whole Israelite community journeyed by stages, as the Lord directed, and encamped at Rephidim.(A)
But there was no water for the people to drink, 2 (B)and so they quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water to drink.” Moses replied to them, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you put the Lord to a test?” 3 Here, then, in their thirst for water, the people grumbled against Moses, saying, “Why then did you bring us up out of Egypt? To have us die of thirst with our children and our livestock?” 4 So Moses cried out to the Lord, “What shall I do with this people? A little more and they will stone me!” 5 The Lord answered Moses: Go on ahead of the people, and take along with you some of the elders of Israel, holding in your hand, as you go, the staff with which you struck the Nile. 6 I will be standing there in front of you on the rock in Horeb. Strike the rock, and the water will flow from it for the people to drink.(C) Moses did this, in the sight of the elders of Israel. 7 The place was named Massah and Meribah,[a] because the Israelites quarreled there and tested the Lord, saying, “Is the Lord in our midst or not?”(D)
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- 17:7 Massah…Meribah: Hebrew words meaning, respectively, “the place of the test” and “the place of strife, of quarreling.”
Exodus 28:30
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
30 In this breastpiece of decision(A) you shall put the Urim and Thummim,[a] that they may be over Aaron’s heart whenever he enters the presence of the Lord. Thus he shall always bear the decisions for the Israelites over his heart in the presence of the Lord.
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- 28:30 Urim and Thummim: both the meaning of these Hebrew words and the exact nature of the objects so designated are uncertain. They were apparently lots of some kind which were drawn or cast by the priest to ascertain God’s decision on particular questions. Hence, the pocket in which they were kept was called “the breastpiece of decision.”
Leviticus 8:8
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
8 He then set the breastpiece on him, putting the Urim and Thummim[a] in it.
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- 8:8 The Urim and Thummim: see Ex 28:30 and note there. Although these terms and the object(s) they refer to are still unexplained, they appear to be small objects that functioned like dice or lots to render a decision for those making an inquiry of God, perhaps originally in legal cases where the guilt of the accused could not otherwise be determined (cf. Ex 28:30; Nm 27:21; Dt 33:8; 1 Sm 28:6; Ezr 2:63; Neh 7:65).
Numbers 20:1-13
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Chapter 20[a]
Death of Miriam. 1 The Israelites, the whole community, arrived in the wilderness of Zin[b] in the first month, and the people stayed at Kadesh. It was here that Miriam died, and here that she was buried.
Need for Water at Kadesh. 2 Since the community had no water, they held an assembly against Moses and Aaron. 3 The people quarreled with Moses, exclaiming, “Would that we had perished when our kindred perished before the Lord! 4 Why have you brought the Lord’s assembly into this wilderness for us and our livestock to die here? 5 Why have you brought us up out of Egypt, only to bring us to this wretched place? It is not a place for grain nor figs nor vines nor pomegranates! And there is no water to drink!” 6 But Moses and Aaron went away from the assembly to the entrance of the tent of meeting, where they fell prostrate.
Sin of Moses and Aaron. Then the glory of the Lord appeared to them, 7 and the Lord said to Moses: 8 Take the staff and assemble the community, you and Aaron your brother, and in their presence command the rock to yield its waters. Thereby you will bring forth water from the rock for them, and supply the community and their livestock with water. 9 So Moses took the staff from its place before the Lord, as he was ordered. 10 Then Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly in front of the rock, where he said to them,(A) “Just listen, you rebels! Are we to produce water for you out of this rock?” 11 (B)Then, raising his hand, Moses struck the rock twice[c] with his staff, and water came out in abundance, and the community and their livestock drank. 12 [d]But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron: Because you did not have confidence in me, to acknowledge my holiness before the Israelites, therefore you shall not lead this assembly into the land I have given them.
13 These are the waters of Meribah,(C) where the Israelites quarreled with the Lord, and through which he displayed his holiness.
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- 20:1–29 In this chapter the deaths of the three wilderness leaders are either intimated or explicitly reported: Miriam, v. 1; Moses, v. 12; Aaron, vv. 12, 22–29.
- 20:1 The wilderness of Zin: a barren region with a few good oases, southwest of the Dead Sea. See note on 13:21. The first month: we would expect the mention also of the day and of the year (after the exodus) when this took place; cf. similar dates in 1:1; 10:11; 33:38; Dt 1:3. Here the full date is left unspecified. According to one chronology, the Israelites arrived in Kadesh in the third year after the exodus (cf. Dt 1:46). But the itinerary in chap. 33 would suggest the fortieth year, the year in which Aaron died (33:38).
- 20:11 Twice: perhaps because he did not have sufficient faith to work the wonder with the first blow. Cf. v. 12.
- 20:12–13 What lay behind Moses and Aaron’s lack of confidence is not made explicit in the text. Holiness: an allusion to the name of the place, Kadesh, which means “holy, sanctified, sacred.” Meribah means “contention.” Cf. Ex 17:7.
1 Samuel 14:41-42
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
41 And Saul said to the Lord, the God of Israel: “Why did you not answer your servant this time? If the blame for this resides in me or my son Jonathan, Lord, God of Israel, respond with Urim; but if this guilt is in your people Israel, respond with Thummim.”[a] Jonathan and Saul were designated, and the people went free.(A) 42 Saul then said, “Cast lots between me and my son Jonathan.” And Jonathan was designated.
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- 14:41 Urim…Thummim: objects, one representing a positive response and the other a negative response, kept in the front pocket of the priest’s ephod, a garment worn as a breastplate, and used to ascertain God’s will in certain instances, e.g., whether Saul should help rout the Philistines. Saul consults the priest but is too impatient to finish the consultation and hurries impulsively into battle.
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