Quarreling with God
Numbers 20:13
Israelites quarreled with the LORD But they had quarreled only with Moses (v. 3).
Elsewhere Israel’s quarrel with Moses implies that their real object is God (14:2–4, 11, 27, esp. v. 9).25 Indeed, the next quarrel (21:5) makes this explicit. Moreover, Deuteronomy bears the tradition that the people are responsible for Moses’ punishment (Deut. 1:37; 3:26; 4:21) as does Psalms 106:32–33, “They provoked wrath at the waters of Meribah and Moses suffered on their account, because they rebelled against Him [or “embittered his spirit”] and he spoke rashly.”26 Psalms 95:7–11 bears yet another variant tradition: Israel’s forty years in the wilderness was due to its sin at Massah-Meribah (see Exod. 17:7 and Excursus 50) and not to the scout episode (14:26–35; Deut. 1:34–35). Hence, Moses and Aaron must die with them in the wilderness.27
Milgrom, Jacob. Numbers. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1990. Print. The JPS Torah Commentary.
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