מַסָּה

From the study of Deuteronomy 33:8

Range of meaning

Place names with meanings: 'Testing' and 'Quarrel/Contention'. Exod 17:1–7 gives both names to one site near Rephidim. Num 20:1–13 has a second 'waters of Meribah' at Kadesh (also 'Meribath-Kadesh', Deut 32:51).

Against the English

English transliterates the names, so the wordplay disappears. A reader cannot see that 'tested … at Massah' and 'contended … at Meribah' each repeat their own roots.

Used elsewhere in the period

The pair recurs as a byword for Israel's rebellion: Deut 6:16; 9:22; Ps 81:7; 95:8 (quoted in Heb 3:8–11). The Septuagint translates rather than transliterates ('in testing', 'water of contradiction'), keeping the meaning but losing the place names.

From the study of Psalm 95:8

Range of meaning

From nasah, 'to test, try, put to the proof'. As a common noun it means a trial or testing (Deut 4:34; 7:19, 'the great trials'). As a place-name it means the place where Israel tested the LORD.

Against the English

The KJV's 'the day of temptation' uses 'temptation' in its older English sense of 'testing, trial'. A modern reader hears 'temptation' as being lured into sin, which is not the meaning. The point is that Israel put God to the test. God was not enticing them, and they were not being enticed.

How it drifted

Latin temptatio and early modern English 'temptation' both meant 'trial, proof'. Since then the English word has narrowed to mean enticement to wrongdoing.

Used elsewhere in the period

Exodus 17:2, 7; Deuteronomy 6:16 ('Do not test the LORD your God as you tested him at Massah'), quoted by Jesus in Matthew 4:7 and Luke 4:12; Deuteronomy 9:22; 33:8. Verse 9 here takes up the root directly: 'your fathers tested me (nissuni)'.

From the study of Deuteronomy 6:16

Range of meaning

A noun from nasah, 'testing, trial.' As a common noun it appears for God's 'trials,' the plagues and signs in Egypt (Deut 4:34; 7:19; 29:3). As a place-name it is the spot near Rephidim where Israel quarreled for water (Exod 17:1–7), also called Meribah, 'Quarreling.'

Against the English

English versions transliterate it as 'Massah,' so the reader loses the pun. The Hebrew hearer heard 'Do not test … as you tested at Testing.' The Septuagint translated the name: 'in the Testing' (en tō Peirasmō).

Used elsewhere in the period

Exod 17:7: '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?"' Deut 9:22 lists Massah among the places of rebellion; Ps 95:8 pairs Meribah and Massah. Deut 33:8 puts the episode differently, with God testing Levi 'at Massah.' Notice too the irony that massah also names God's own 'trials' in Egypt (Deut 4:34): God had already proved himself by mighty testings, and Israel answered by testing him.