מָרָה

Numbers 20:10 הַמֹּרִ֔ים O rebels

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?”

Here: A participle used as a name: 'you defiant ones', people whose settled stance is resisting authority. It is the same root God turns on Moses and Aaron in verse 24, 'you rebelled against my word'.

Numbers 20:24 מְרִיתֶ֥ם you rebelled against

“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.

Here: Plural 'you rebelled': Moses and Aaron together. The verb is the stubborn defiance of a subordinate against a recognised authority. It is pointed: in 20:10 Moses had called the people 'you rebels' (hammōrîm) from this same root.

Numbers 27:14 מְרִיתֶ֨ם you rebelled against

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.

Here: 'You rebelled.' The 'you' is plural, meaning Moses and Aaron together, even though Aaron is already dead (Num 20:28). It is the same root Moses used when he shouted at the people, 'Listen, you rebels (hammorim)!' (Num 20:10), so the word turns back on the leaders.

Deuteronomy 1:26 וַתַּמְר֕וּ and you rebelled toward

But you were unwilling to go up; you rebelled against the command of the LORD your God.

Deuteronomy 1:43 וַתַּמְרוּ֙ and you rebelled against

So I spoke to you, but you would not listen. You rebelled against the command of the LORD and presumptuously went up into the hill country.

Here: "And you defied": stubborn, open defiance of someone with the right to command, such as a parent, a king or God. This is the exact phrase used in 1:26, when they refused to go up at all.

Deuteronomy 9:7 מַמְרִ֥ים rebelling

Remember this, and never forget how you provoked the LORD your God in the wilderness. From the day you left the land of Egypt until you reached this place, you have been rebelling against the LORD.

Here: 'Rebelling' or 'defiant.' The form describes an ongoing attitude, not one act. The word is used for refusing the spoken word of someone with rightful authority, such as a parent or an overlord.

Deuteronomy 9:23 וַתַּמְר֗וּ and you rebelled against

And when the LORD sent you out from Kadesh-barnea, He said, “Go up and possess the land that I have given you.” But you rebelled against the command of the LORD your God. You neither believed Him nor obeyed Him.

Deuteronomy 9:24 מַמְרִ֥ים rebelling

You have been rebelling against the LORD since the day I came to know you.

Deuteronomy 21:18 וּמוֹרֶ֔ה and rebellious

If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who does not obey his father and mother and does not listen to them when disciplined,

Here: "And rebelling," open defiance of rightful authority. Deuteronomy uses the same verb for Israel's rebellion against YHWH (1:26, 43; 9:7, 23–24).

Deuteronomy 21:20 וּמֹרֶ֔ה and rebellious

and say to the elders, “This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious; he does not obey us. He is a glutton and a drunkard.”

Here: 'And defiant, contrary.' In Deuteronomy this is the verb for Israel's defiance of the LORD in the wilderness (1:26, 43; 9:7, 23–24; 31:27). The son behaves towards his parents the way Israel behaved towards God.

Deuteronomy 31:27 מַמְרִ֤ים rebellious

For I know how rebellious and stiff-necked you are. If you are already rebelling against the LORD while I am still alive, how much more will you rebel after my death!

Here: A participle, a verb form that describes ongoing action: 'defying, acting defiantly'. The causative stem used here stresses deliberate, active defiance. It comes from the same root as 'defiance' earlier in the verse.

Joshua 1:18 יַמְרֶ֣ה he will rebel toward

Anyone who rebels against your order and does not obey your words, all that you command him, will be put to death. Above all, be strong and courageous!”

Here: "Defies" or "rebels against". This is the word Israel's traditions use for open defiance of God, and the word Deuteronomy uses for the defiant son (Deut 21:18). It means a deliberate refusal, not a slip.

1 Samuel 12:14 תַמְר֖וּ you will rebel against

If you fear the LORD and serve Him and obey His voice, and if you do not rebel against the command of the LORD, and if both you and the king who rules over you follow the LORD your God, then all will be well.

1 Samuel 12:15 וּמְרִיתֶ֖ם and you will rebel against

But if you disobey the LORD and rebel against His command, then the hand of the LORD will be against you as it was against your fathers.

1 Samuel 30:6 מָ֙רָה֙ it was bitter

And David was greatly distressed because the people spoke of stoning him, because the soul of every man grieved for his sons and daughters. But David found strength in the LORD his God.

Here: "Was bitter". The form belongs to the root marar, "be bitter" (H4843), not marah, "rebel" (see textual notes). Bitterness of soul is grief that has gone sour and dangerous.

1 Kings 13:21 מָרִ֙יתָ֙ you have been disobedient to

and the prophet cried out to the man of God who had come from Judah, “This is what the LORD says: ‘Because you have defied the word of the LORD and have not kept the commandment that the LORD your God gave you,

1 Kings 13:26 מָרָ֖ה he was disobedient to

When the prophet who had brought him back from his journey heard this, he said, “It is the man of God who disobeyed the command of the LORD. Therefore the LORD has delivered him to the lion, and it has mauled him and killed him, according to the word that the LORD had spoken to him.”

2 Kings 14:26 מֹרֶ֣ה rebellious

For the LORD saw that the affliction of the Israelites, both slave and free, was very bitter. There was no one to help Israel,

Nehemiah 9:26 וַיַּמְר֨וּ and they were disobedient

But they were disobedient and rebelled against You; they flung Your law behind their backs. They killed Your prophets, who had admonished them to return to You. They committed terrible blasphemies.

Here: "And they defied." Marah describes stubborn, contrary resistance, the word used for Israel's wilderness defiance of God's spoken command. Coming right after verse 25's picture of a full table, it makes an ugly reversal: they were fed, and they turned contrary.

Job 17:2 וּ֝בְהַמְּרוֹתָ֗ם and on rebelling they

Surely mockers surround me, and my eyes must gaze at their rebellion.

Here: 'And on their defying.' A verb form used as a noun, from a root usually used for defiant rebellion (most often against God). Here it means their contentious, defiant behaviour toward Job: their stubborn, hostile words. Some scholars see the bitterness root מרר behind the unusual spelling: 'their embittering'.

Psalm 5:10 מָ֥רוּ they have rebelled

Declare them guilty, O God; let them fall by their own devices. Drive them out for their many transgressions, for they have rebelled against You.

Here: "They have rebelled": the word for stubborn defiance of authority, used of Israel defying God in the wilderness (Deut 9:7, 23–24). The completed form presents the rebellion as an established fact.

Psalm 78:8 וּמֹ֫רֶ֥ה and rebellious

Then they will not be like their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, whose heart was not loyal, whose spirit was not faithful to God.

Here: "And defiant," meaning openly contrary to authority. This verb is a key word of Psalm 78, used again for Israel's rebellion against the Most High in vv. 17, 40 and 56.

Psalm 78:17 לַֽמְר֥וֹת by rebelling against

But they continued to sin against Him, rebelling in the desert against the Most High.

Psalm 78:40 יַמְר֣וּהוּ they rebelled against him

How often they disobeyed Him in the wilderness and grieved Him in the desert!

Here: "They defied him" or "they rebelled against him". The verb is used for open defiance of rightful authority, especially a son defying his father (Deut 21:18) and Israel defying God at Meribah (Num 20:10, 24). The verb form, after "how often", describes something that kept happening in the past, and the attached "him" makes God the direct target.

Psalm 78:56 וַ֭יַּמְרוּ and they rebelled against

But they tested and disobeyed God Most High, for they did not keep His decrees.

Here: 'And they defied.' This is open, stubborn resistance to someone with authority over you, the same root used for the 'rebellious son' of Deut 21:18. It is stronger than BSB's 'disobeyed'.

Psalm 105:28 מָ֝ר֗וּ they rebelled against

He sent darkness, and it became dark—yet they defied His words.

Psalm 106:7 וַיַּמְר֖וּ and they rebelled

Our fathers in Egypt did not grasp Your wonders or remember Your abundant kindness; but they rebelled by the sea, there at the Red Sea.

Here: 'And they rebelled'. The verb form moves the story on, so rebellion comes as the result of not understanding and not remembering. It is the standard word for Israel's defiance of God in the wilderness.

Psalm 106:33 הִמְר֥וּ they rebelled toward

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

Psalm 106:43 יַמְר֣וּ they rebelled

Many times He rescued them, but they were bent on rebellion and sank down in their iniquity.

Here: 'They would defy.' This is open, stubborn defiance of an authority, here God. The verb form again describes a habit: each rescue was answered with another rebellion.

Psalm 107:11 הִמְר֥וּ they had rebelled against

because they rebelled against the words of God and despised the counsel of the Most High.

Here: 'They defied' or 'they set themselves against.' This form of the verb stresses active, stubborn resistance to someone with rightful authority. It is the word for Israel's defiance in the wilderness and for the stubborn son of Deuteronomy 21:18. The Hebrew past tense here, in a clause giving the reason, points to something done before the imprisonment: 'they had defied.'

Isaiah 1:20 וּמְרִיתֶ֑ם and you will rebel

But if you resist and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword.” For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.

Here: To defy someone who has a rightful claim on you, especially a parent or Israel's God. In the Torah it is the word for Israel's rebellions in the wilderness and for the 'rebellious son' of Deut 21:18. It answers 'and obey' (literally 'and listen') in v.19.

Isaiah 3:8 לַמְר֖וֹת to rebel toward

For Jerusalem has stumbled and Judah has fallen because they spoke and acted against the LORD, defying His glorious presence.

Here: 'So as to defy / rebel against.' The verb form makes the meaning active defiance. It is the word for stubborn rebellion against rightful authority, such as Israel in the wilderness or a son against his parents.

Isaiah 50:5 מָרִ֑יתִי I have been rebellious

The Lord GOD has opened My ears, and I have not been rebellious, nor have I turned back.

Here: 'I did not rebel' or 'I was not defiant'. This is the stock word for Israel's defiance of God's spoken command, especially in the wilderness stories. The servant breaks the old pattern: he hears the word and does not resist it.

Isaiah 63:10 מָר֥וּ they rebelled

But they rebelled and grieved His Holy Spirit. So He turned and became their enemy, and He Himself fought against them.

Here: "They rebelled." This means stubborn, defiant refusal of someone with rightful authority, the word used for the wilderness generation and for the defiant son of Deuteronomy 21:18. It sharpens the irony of verse 8, where God had said, "they are sons who will not be false."

Jeremiah 4:17 מָרָ֖תָה it has been rebellious against

They surround her like men guarding a field, because she has rebelled against Me,” declares the LORD.

Jeremiah 5:23 וּמוֹרֶ֑ה and rebellious

But these people have stubborn and rebellious hearts. They have turned aside and gone away.

Lamentations 1:18 מָרִ֑יתִי I have been rebellious

The LORD is righteous, yet I rebelled against His command. Listen, all you people; look upon my suffering. My young men and maidens have gone into captivity.

Here: 'I have defied.' This is the exact wilderness phrase for Israel defying YHWH's command (Num 20:24; Deut 1:26, 43; 9:23). It means open, stubborn resistance to an authority, not a slip.

Lamentations 1:20 מָר֖וֹ מָרִ֑יתִי extremely <be rebellious>, I have been rebellious

See, O LORD, how distressed I am! I am churning within; my heart is pounding within me, for I have been most rebellious. Outside, the sword bereaves; inside, there is death.

Here: Hebrew strengthens a verb by putting this bare form of the same verb in front of it. The effect is 'I really, utterly rebelled'.

Lamentations 3:42 וּמָרִ֔ינוּ and we have rebelled

“We have sinned and rebelled; You have not forgiven.”

Ezekiel 5:6 וַתֶּ֨מֶר and it has rebelled against

But she has rebelled against My ordinances more wickedly than the nations, and against My statutes worse than the countries around her. For her people have rejected My ordinances and have not walked in My statutes.’

Ezekiel 20:8 וַיַּמְרוּ־ and they rebelled

But they rebelled against Me and refused to listen. None of them cast away the abominations before their eyes, and they did not forsake the idols of Egypt. So I resolved to pour out My wrath upon them and vent My anger against them in the land of Egypt.

Here: 'And they rebelled': open defiance of a rightful authority, the word used for a defiant son (Deut 21:18) and for Israel's rebellions in the wilderness. The verb form opens a narrative sequence: this is what happened next in the story.

Ezekiel 20:13 וַיַּמְרוּ־ and they rebelled

Yet the house of Israel rebelled against Me in the wilderness. They did not follow My statutes and they rejected My ordinances—though the man who does these things will live by them—and they utterly profaned My Sabbaths. Then I resolved to pour out My wrath upon them and put an end to them in the wilderness.

Here: To be defiant or contrary, especially against what someone has said. It comes from the same root as Ezekiel's stock name for Israel, 'rebellious house' (beit meri), so the 'house of Israel' here behaves exactly as that nickname says.

Ezekiel 20:21 וַיַּמְרוּ־ and they rebelled

But the children rebelled against Me. They did not walk in My statutes or carefully observe My ordinances—though the man who does these things will live by them—and they profaned My Sabbaths. So I resolved to pour out My wrath upon them and vent My anger against them in the wilderness.

Here: "And they rebelled." This is the stubborn, defiant resistance of a son to a father, the same verb behind Ezekiel's name for Israel, "a rebellious house" (bet meri). Placed first in the sentence, it sets the tone for everything after it.

Hosea 13:16 מָרְתָ֖ה it has rebelled

Samaria will bear her guilt because she has rebelled against her God. They will fall by the sword; their little ones will be dashed to pieces, and their pregnant women ripped open.

Here: 'She has rebelled.' The word means stubborn defiance against rightful authority. In the Pentateuch it describes Israel defying God in the wilderness, and Deuteronomy 21:18 uses a related form for the defiant son who brings the death penalty on himself.