Exodus 15:23

Hebrew Bible

21 Miriam sang in response to them, “Sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously; the horse and its rider he has thrown into the sea.” 22 Then Moses led Israel to journey away from the Red Sea. They went out to the wilderness of Shur, walked for three days into the wilderness, and found no water. 23 Then they came to Marah, but they were not able to drink the waters of Marah, because they were bitter. (That is why its name was Marah.) 24 So the people murmured against Moses, saying, “What can we drink?” 25 He cried out to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a tree. When Moses threw it into the water, the water became safe to drink. There the Lord made for them a binding ordinance, and there he tested them.

Numbers 11:1

Hebrew Bible

1 When the people complained, it displeased the Lord. When the Lord heard it, his anger burned, and so the fire of the Lord burned among them and consumed some of the outer parts of the camp. 2 When the people cried to Moses, he prayed to the Lord, and the fire died out. 3 So he called the name of that place Taberah because there the fire of the Lord burned among them. 4 Now the mixed multitude who were among them craved more desirable foods, and so the Israelites wept again and said, “If only we had meat to eat!

 Notes and References

"... Outside the Pentateuch the most extensive account of the stay in the desert is found in Psalm 78. The poet emphasizes Israel’s rebellion against YHWH (see also Ezekiel 20:13, 16, 21; Psalm 106:6, 13; Nehemiah 9:16; see further Jeremiah 7:24; Daniel 9:4; Ezra 9:6. and especially also Deuteronomy 9:7; compare 1:26; 9:24 and Numbers 14:11, 22). The grumbling of the people is mentioned in 15:24; 16:2; 17:2; Numbers 11:1, 4; 20:2; 21:5 (and also 20:24; 27:14). True, it is directed against Moses (and Aaron), but it can also be characterized as a grumbling against YHWH (16:7; 17:2, 7). The grumbling at Bitterness (15:22) is not found outside Exodus (for the healing of water see 2 Kings 2:19-22). Different from Exodus, Psalm 78 mentions the manna and the quail after the water from the rock. Though 16:2 says that the grumbling was due to hunger, according to Psalm 78 the Israelites tested God (compare verse 40) by asking if the God who could make water gush out of the rock could also spread a table in the wilderness (verses 18-20) ... according to 16:4; Deuteronomy 8:16 YHWH gave the manna to ‘test’ Israel ..."

Houtman, C. Historical Commentary on the Old Testament: Exodus (p. 202) Kok Publishing, 1993

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