The Israelites are said to have travelled through Massah and Meribah during the Exodus, although the continuous list of visited stations in Numbers 33 does not mention this.
The episode recounted in Exodus 17 features the Israelites quarreling with Moses about the lack of water, and Moses rebuking the Israelites for testing Yahweh;[6] verse 7 states that it was on this account that the place gained the name Massah, meaning testing, and the name Meribah meaning quarreling.
[10] The episode recounted by the Book of Numbers features the Israelites quarreling with Moses and Aaron about the lack of water and food crops;[11] the text states that Moses and Aaron responded by consulting Yahweh at the Tabernacle door, while prostrating themselves, and that Yahweh told them to take the rod, and speak to a particular rock while the people are gathered together in view of it.
[21] According to Deuteronomy, which textual scholars attribute to a writer who was pro-Moses and anti-Aaron,[22] the punishment was due to the lack of trust in Yahweh that had been exhibited by the Israelites, rather than by Moses.
[23] Some Biblical scholars see the narrative about Massah and Meribah as having originated as aetiological myths seeking to justify their names.