What Does Exodus 17:7 Mean?
And he called the name of the place Massah, the testing, and Meribah, the striving, because of the striving of the children of Israel, and because they tested the LORD, saying, Is the LORD in our midst, or not?
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
And he called the name of the place Massah, and Meribah, because of the chiding of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the LORD, saying, Is the LORD among us, or not?THE KEY
The question “Is the LORD among us?” becomes two names for the place: Massah, testing, and Meribah, contention.
THE MEANING
When the question “Is the LORD among us, or not?” rises, this verse names the moment as both testing and contention. Massah and Meribah hold that question in the place itself, making uncertainty about nearness something lived and remembered.
THE ROOT
מַסָּה
Massah
GROWS FROM
נסה
To test, try, or put to proof.
“Massah, the testing” in this verse is Massah. The name Massah and the act translated “tempted” share the root נָסָה (nasah, to test). The place-name preserves the testing as part of the place’s nature.
ALSO GROWS
nasah: To test, try, or put to proof.
נָסָה
This is the verbal root behind the people’s testing of the LORD.
Massah: A test or testing; the name of this place.
מַסָּה
The event’s testing becomes part of the place-name.
רִיב
riv
GROWS FROM
ריב
To contend or dispute.
“the striving and the striving of the children of Israel” in this verse is riv. The word translated “chiding” and the name Meribah share the root רִיב (riv, to contend). The contention is carried into the place-name, joining the people’s dispute to the testing that happens there.
ALSO GROWS
riv: To contend or dispute; a contention.
רִיב
This is the word behind the children of Israel’s chiding.
Merivah: Contention or strife; the name of this place.
מְרִיבָה
The name keeps the contention attached to the place.
בְּקִרְבֵּנוּ
bəqirbēnû
GROWS FROM
קרב
To approach or draw near; the root also carries the sense of being in the midst.
The Hebrew phrase means “in our midst,” using קֶרֶב (qerev, midst or interior), from the same root as קָרוֹב (qarov, near). The question of divine presence holds both location and nearness within the word.
ALSO GROWS
qerev: The midst or inner part.
קֶרֶב
This is the word-shape heard in “in our midst.”
qarov: Near or close.
קָרוֹב
The shared root lets nearness echo inside the question of whether the LORD is among them.
qorban: Drawing near.
קָרְבָּן
This branch carries the same root’s movement toward nearness.
THE PATTERN
When the LORD’s presence is put to the test, Scripture preserves the act and returns to it as a named memory.
You shall not test the LORD your God, as you tested him at Massah, the testing place.When your fathers tested me, tried me, and saw my work.Let us not test the Anointed One, as some of them also tested, and perished by the serpents.THE THREAD
You shall not test the LORD your God, as you tested him at Massah, the testing place.The same Hebrew root נָסָה (nasah, to test) connects the testing in Exodus with this direct mention of Massah. Deuteronomy makes the place-name a memory of the act itself.
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