Bible Strands
Exodus 15:23
And when they came to Marah, they could not drink the water there because it was bitter. (That is why it was named Marah.)
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Moses guides the Israelites to Marah after three days of waterless travel through the Desert of Shur, arriving at a location where the local waters are immediately undrinkable. The narrative records the group's arrival and the physical state of the site before any complaint is voiced.
The words — The Hebrew מִ/מָּרָ֔ה (mi./ma.Rah) literally renders "from Marah," anchoring the place name to the described bitterness of the water supply.
The thread — This geographic and linguistic marker reappears in Numbers 33:8 during the wilderness transit and in Ruth 1:20 where Naomi adopts the name Mara to signify personal bitterness.
Why it lands — The text records that undrinkable water halted the group and dictated the site's name, establishing a direct, unadorned link between environmental scarcity and the immediate conditions for communal response.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And when they came to Marah, they could not drink of the waters of Marah, for they were bitter: therefore the name of it was called Marah.
Cross-references
- Numbers 33:8 They set out from Pi-hahiroth and crossed through the sea, into the wilderness, and they journeyed three days into the Wilderness of Etham and camped at Marah.
- Ruth 1:20 “Do not call me Naomi,” she replied. “Call me Mara, because the Almighty has dealt quite bitterly with me.