Psalm 106:33
New International Version
for they rebelled against the Spirit of God, and rash words came from Moses’ lips.

New Living Translation
They made Moses angry, and he spoke foolishly.

English Standard Version
for they made his spirit bitter, and he spoke rashly with his lips.

Berean Standard Bible
For they rebelled against His Spirit, and Moses spoke rashly with his lips.

King James Bible
Because they provoked his spirit, so that he spake unadvisedly with his lips.

New King James Version
Because they rebelled against His Spirit, So that he spoke rashly with his lips.

New American Standard Bible
Because they were rebellious against His Spirit, He spoke rashly with his lips.

NASB 1995
Because they were rebellious against His Spirit, He spoke rashly with his lips.

NASB 1977
Because they were rebellious against His Spirit, He spoke rashly with his lips.

Legacy Standard Bible
Because they were rebellious against His Spirit, He spoke rashly with his lips.

Amplified Bible
Because they were rebellious against His Spirit, Moses spoke recklessly with his lips.

Christian Standard Bible
for they embittered his spirit, and he spoke rashly with his lips.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
for they embittered his spirit, and he spoke rashly with his lips.

American Standard Version
Because they were rebellious against his spirit, And he spake unadvisedly with his lips.

Contemporary English Version
Then Moses got into trouble for speaking in anger.

English Revised Version
Because they were rebellious against his spirit, and he spake unadvisedly with his lips.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
since they made him bitter so that he spoke recklessly.

Good News Translation
They made him so bitter that he spoke without stopping to think.

International Standard Version
For they rebelled against him, so that he spoke thoughtlessly with his lips.

Majority Standard Bible
For they rebelled against His Spirit, and Moses spoke rashly with his lips.

NET Bible
for they aroused his temper, and he spoke rashly.

New Heart English Bible
because they were rebellious against his spirit, he spoke rashly with his lips.

Webster's Bible Translation
Because they provoked his spirit, so that he spoke unadvisedly with his lips.

World English Bible
because they were rebellious against his spirit, he spoke rashly with his lips.
Literal Translations
Literal Standard Version
For they have provoked his spirit, "" And he speaks wrongfully with his lips.

Young's Literal Translation
For they have provoked his spirit, And he speaketh wrongfully with his lips.

Smith's Literal Translation
For they embittered his spirit, and he talked idly with his lips.
Catholic Translations
Douay-Rheims Bible
because they exasperated his spirit. And he distinguished with his lips.

Catholic Public Domain Version
for they exasperated his spirit. And so he divided them with his lips.

New American Bible
They so embittered his spirit that rash words crossed his lips.

New Revised Standard Version
for they made his spirit bitter, and he spoke words that were rash.
Translations from Aramaic
Lamsa Bible
Because they provoked his spirit, so that he spoke unadvisedly with his lips.

Peshitta Holy Bible Translated
Because they bitterly provoked his spirit and they spoke by his lips.
OT Translations
JPS Tanakh 1917
For they embittered his spirit, And he spoke rashly with his lips.

Brenton Septuagint Translation
for they provoked his spirit, and he spoke unadvisedly with his lips.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Give Thanks to the LORD, for He is Good
32At the waters of Meribah they angered the LORD, and trouble came to Moses because of them. 33For they rebelled against His Spirit, and Moses spoke rashly with his lips. 34They did not destroy the peoples as the LORD had commanded them,…

Cross References
Numbers 20:10-13
Then Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly in front of the rock, and Moses said to them, “Listen now, you rebels, must we bring you water out of this rock?” / Then Moses raised his hand and struck the rock twice with his staff, so that a great amount of water gushed out, and the congregation and their livestock were able to drink. / But the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not trust Me to show My holiness in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this assembly into the land that I have given them.” ...

Deuteronomy 32:51-52
For at the waters of Meribah-kadesh in the Wilderness of Zin, both of you broke faith with Me among the Israelites by failing to treat Me as holy in their presence. / Although you shall see from a distance the land that I am giving the Israelites, you shall not enter it.”

Exodus 17:6-7
Behold, I will stand there before you by the rock at Horeb. And when you strike the rock, water will come out of it for the people to drink.” So Moses did this in the sight of the elders of Israel. / He named the place Massah and Meribah because the Israelites quarreled, and because they tested the LORD, saying, “Is the LORD among us or not?”

Numbers 27:14
for when the congregation contended in the Wilderness of Zin, both of you rebelled against My command to show My holiness in their sight regarding the waters.” Those were the waters of Meribah in Kadesh, in the Wilderness of Zin.

Hebrews 3:8-11
do not harden your hearts, as you did in the rebellion, in the day of testing in the wilderness, / where your fathers tested and tried Me, and for forty years saw My works. / Therefore I was angry with that generation, and I said, ‘Their hearts are always going astray, and they have not known My ways.’ ...

1 Corinthians 10:4-5
and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ. / Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them, for they were struck down in the wilderness.

Numbers 20:24
“Aaron will be gathered to his people; he will not enter the land that I have given the Israelites, because both of you rebelled against My command at the waters of Meribah.

Deuteronomy 1:37
The LORD was also angry with me on your account, and He said, “Not even you shall enter the land.

Numbers 14:22-23
not one of the men who have seen My glory and the signs I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness—yet have tested Me and disobeyed Me these ten times— / not one will ever see the land that I swore to give their fathers. None of those who have treated Me with contempt will see it.

Numbers 20:2-5
Now there was no water for the congregation, so they gathered against Moses and Aaron. / The people quarreled with Moses and said, “If only we had perished with our brothers before the LORD! / Why have you brought the LORD’s assembly into this wilderness for us and our livestock to die here? ...

Deuteronomy 3:26
But the LORD was angry with me on account of you, and He would not listen to me. “That is enough,” the LORD said to me. “Do not speak to Me again about this matter.

Numbers 11:4-6
Meanwhile, the rabble among them had a strong craving for other food, and again the Israelites wept and said, “Who will feed us meat? / We remember the fish we ate freely in Egypt, along with the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, and garlic. / But now our appetite is gone; there is nothing to see but this manna!”

Numbers 16:41
The next day the whole congregation of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron, saying, “You have killed the LORD’s people!”

Numbers 21:4-5
Then they set out from Mount Hor along the route to the Red Sea, in order to bypass the land of Edom. But the people grew impatient on the journey / and spoke against God and against Moses: “Why have you led us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is no bread or water, and we detest this wretched food!”

Numbers 11:1-3
Soon the people began to complain about their hardship in the hearing of the LORD, and when He heard them, His anger was kindled, and fire from the LORD blazed among them and consumed the outskirts of the camp. / And the people cried out to Moses, and he prayed to the LORD, and the fire died down. / So that place was called Taberah, because the fire of the LORD had burned among them.


Treasury of Scripture

Because they provoked his spirit, so that he spoke unadvisedly with his lips.

because

Numbers 20:10,11
And Moses and Aaron gathered the congregation together before the rock, and he said unto them, Hear now, ye rebels; must we fetch you water out of this rock? …

he spake

Psalm 39:1
To the chief Musician, even to Jeduthun, A Psalm of David. I said, I will take heed to my ways, that I sin not with my tongue: I will keep my mouth with a bridle, while the wicked is before me.

Psalm 141:3
Set a watch, O LORD, before my mouth; keep the door of my lips.

Genesis 30:1
And when Rachel saw that she bare Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister; and said unto Jacob, Give me children, or else I die.

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Psalm 106
1. The psalmist exhorts to praise God
4. He prays for pardon of sin, as God pardoned the fathers
7. The story of the people's rebellion, and God's mercy
47. He concludes with prayer and praise














For they rebelled
This phrase refers to the Israelites' repeated disobedience and defiance against God during their wilderness journey. The Hebrew root for "rebelled" is "מָרָה" (marah), which conveys a sense of bitterness and obstinacy. Historically, this rebellion is a recurring theme in the Old Testament, illustrating the Israelites' struggle to remain faithful to God despite witnessing His miracles. This rebellion is not just a physical act but a spiritual defiance against God's authority and guidance.

against His Spirit
The "Spirit" here refers to the Holy Spirit, the divine presence and guidance of God among His people. In the Hebrew context, "רוּחַ" (ruach) signifies breath, wind, or spirit, indicating a life-giving force. The rebellion against God's Spirit highlights a deeper spiritual insensitivity and rejection of His divine will. This act of rebellion is significant because it shows a direct affront to God's presence and guidance, which was meant to lead them to the Promised Land.

and Moses spoke rashly
Moses, the leader chosen by God, is depicted here in a moment of human weakness. The Hebrew word for "rashly" is "בָּטָה" (batah), which implies speaking without careful thought or consideration. This incident is a reference to Numbers 20:10-12, where Moses, frustrated with the people's complaints, strikes the rock to bring forth water instead of speaking to it as God commanded. This act of speaking rashly underscores the pressure and burden of leadership Moses faced, reminding us of the importance of patience and obedience to God's instructions.

with his lips
The phrase "with his lips" emphasizes the power and consequence of words. In the Hebrew tradition, words are not merely sounds but carry weight and authority. Moses' words, spoken in frustration, led to significant consequences, including his own inability to enter the Promised Land. This serves as a cautionary tale about the importance of controlling one's speech and the potential impact of words spoken in anger or haste.

(33) They provoked his spirit.--The natural interpretation is to take this of Moses' spirit. So LXX. and Vulg., "they embittered his spirit." The usage of the phrase is, however, in favour of referring the words to the temper of the people towards God," they rebelled against His spirit."

Spake unadvisedly.--Compare the same verb with the same addition, "with the lips," in Leviticus 5:4. This interpretation of the fault of Moses is partial. A comparison of all the historical narratives shows that it was rather for a momentary lapse into the despairing spirit of the people, than for addressing them as rebels, that Moses was excluded from the Promised Land.

Verse 33. - Because they provoked his spirit, so that he spake unadvisedly with his lips. One man's sin often leads to another's, but does not necessitate it. The people "provoked Muses' spirit" by their murmurs and reproaches (Numbers 20:3-5). Moses, being provoked, made his rash utterance (Numbers 20:10). He was vexed, impatient, carried away by a gust of passion, and made the unfitting speech, "Hear now, ye rebels; must we fetch you water out of the rock?" speaking as if the power were his own.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
For
כִּֽי־ (kî-)
Conjunction
Strong's 3588: A relative conjunction

they rebelled against
הִמְר֥וּ (him·rū)
Verb - Hifil - Perfect - third person common plural
Strong's 4784: To be contentious or rebellious

His Spirit,
רוּח֑וֹ (rū·ḥōw)
Noun - common singular construct | third person masculine singular
Strong's 7307: Wind, breath, exhalation, life, anger, unsubstantiality, a region of the sky, spirit

and [Moses] spoke rashly
וַ֝יְבַטֵּ֗א (way·ḇaṭ·ṭê)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Piel - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 981: To babble, to vociferate angrily

with his lips.
בִּשְׂפָתָֽיו׃ (biś·p̄ā·ṯāw)
Preposition-b | Noun - fdc | third person masculine singular
Strong's 8193: The lip, language, a margin


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OT Poetry: Psalm 106:33 Because they were rebellious against his spirit (Psalm Ps Psa.)
Psalm 106:32
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