Numbers 20:10-12
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
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[a] with his staff, and water came out in abundance, and the community and their livestock drank. 12 [b]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.
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- 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.
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