Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,
World English Bible
Numbers 20:7
This verse is examined in more than one Scripture Analysis section. Each lens is shown on its own terms, in the section's own words; GEBible reaches no verdict of its own.
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WEB World English Bible Public Domain ✓ - Modern English
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Examined in Scripture Analysis
Contradictions (3)
Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
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Where did Moses get water from a rock?
Exodus 17:1-7 locates the water-from-rock miracle at Rephidim in the wilderness of Sin ("the rock in Horeb"), with Moses naming the place Massah and Meribah. Numbers 20:1-8 (with Num 27:14 and Deut 32:51 confirming) locates it at Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin, at the waters of "Meribah-Kadesh."
Critical scholarship: Genuinely disputed among scholars.
Geography
More on this question
The proposed answers and sources for each reading are on the question page.
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How did God tell Moses to get water from a rock?
Exodus 17:5-7 has God instructing Moses to strike (smite) the rock with his rod. Numbers 20:7-8 has God instructing Moses to SPEAK to the rock — and the whole point of Numbers 20's narrative is that Moses' striking (instead of speaking) is the transgression that bars him from the promised land.
Critical scholarship: Genuinely disputed among scholars.
Historical detail
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The proposed answers and sources for each reading are on the question page.
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What angered God so much that he didn't allow Moses to enter the promised land?
Numbers 20:7-12 says YHWH barred Moses and Aaron from the promised land because Moses struck the rock at Meribah twice instead of speaking to it as commanded — failing to sanctify YHWH before the people. But Deuteronomy 3:26-27 and 4:21 have Moses tell Israel YHWH was angry with him "for your sakes" — that is, because of the people's sin, not Moses'.
Critical scholarship: Genuinely disputed among scholars.
Historical detail
More on this question
The proposed answers and sources for each reading are on the question page.
Each section sets the viewpoints side by side; you weigh the evidence. Here, "critical scholarship" means academic study, not a value judgment. How this is built →
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Cite this page
This citation refers to this GEBible page — the verse and the analysis gathered here. To cite the underlying scholarship, cite those sources directly.
"Numbers 20:7 — Scripture Analysis" GEBible, https://gebible.app/analysis/verse/numbers/20/7?version=WEB (retrieved 27 August 2026).