Mer´ibah (quarrel, strife), one of the names given by Moses to the fountain in the desert of Sin, on the western gulf of the Red Sea, that issued from the rock which he smote by the divine command (). He called the place, indeed, Massa (temptation) and Meribah, and the reason is assigned 'because of the chiding of the children of Israel, and because they did there tempt the Lord' [WANDERING].
Meribah, 2
Mer´ibah, another fountain produced in the same manner, and under similar circumstances, in the desert of Zin (Wady Arabah), near Kadesh; and to which the name was given with a similar reference to the previous misconduct of the Israelites (;; ). In the last text, which is the only one where the two places are mentioned together, the former is called Massah only, to prevent the confusion of the two Meribahs, 'Whom thou didst prove at Massah, and with whom thou didst strive at the waters of Meribah.' Indeed this latter Meribah is almost always indicated by the addition of 'waters,' i.e. 'waters of Meribah,' as if further to distinguish it from the other (; ); and still more distinctly 'waters of Meribah in Kadesh' (;; ). Only once is this place called simply Meribah ().