This is the water of Meribah; because the children of Israel strove with the LORD, and he was sanctified in them.

This is the Water of contradiction, where the children of Israel strove with words against the Lord, and he was sanctified in them.

These are the waters of Meribah, where the children of Israel contended with Jehovah, and he hallowed himself in them.

These are waters of Meribah, because the sons of Israel have 'striven' with Jehovah, and He is sanctified upon them.

These are the waters of Meribah; because the children of Israel went against the Lord, and they saw that he was holy among them.

These are the waters of Meribah, where the children of Israel strove with the LORD, and He was sanctified in them.

This is the Water of Contradiction, where the sons of Israel were quarreling against the Lord, and he was sanctified in them.

Istae sunt aquae jurgii, pro quibus jurgati sunt filii Israel cum Jehova, et sanctificavit se in illis.

This is the water of Meribah. This name was given: to the place in order that the ingratitude of their fathers might be detestable to their descendants, and hence the mercy of God more illustrious. Thus the Prophet, referring to it, says: "That the generation to come might know them, -- that they might not forget the works of God, -- and might not be as their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation; a generation that set not their heart aright, and whose spirit was not steadfast with God." (Psalm 78:6, 7, 8.) And elsewhere both the name of Meribah and that of Massah are employed, in order that the Israelites might learn not to imitate their fathers, (Psalm 95:8; [1] )although Moses here uses the plural number, whereas he has the singular in Exodus 17. The expression at the end of the verse, that God "was sanctified" among the children of Israel, is not used in approval, but rather in reproof, of their conduct. Israel is called elsewhere God's "holiness," [2] (Psalm 114:2,) because God magnificently displayed tits glory in their deliverance; but He is here said to have sanctified Himself in a different sense, because, by the overthrow of their iniquity and frowardness, He rescued his holy name from contempt. In fine, it was a proof of his inestimable mercy, that the water, which might have justly been destructive to them, was not only given to be the sustenance of their bodies, but also was converted into an aid for their salvation; for which reason Paul says that this was "spiritual drink." (1-Corinthians 10:4.)

Footnotes

1 - In C.'s translation of this verse he retains the proper names Meribah and Massah, which in A.V. are rendered, "in the provocation, and in the day of temptation." See C. Soc. Edit., [19]vol. 4, p. 40; and Mr. Anderson's [20]note.

2 - A.V., "Judah was his sanctuary." V. "Facta est Judaea sanctificatio ejus." See C. Soc. Edit. of Psalms, [21]vol. 4, pp. 336, 337.

The water of Meribah - i. e. "Strife." The place is called "Meribah in Kadesh" Numbers 27:14, and "Meribah-Kadesh" Deuteronomy 32:51. to distinguish it from the "Meribah" of Exodus 17:2 ff.
And he was sanctified in them - An allusion doubtless to the name "Kadesh" (holy), which though not now bestowed, acquired a new significance from the fact that God here vindicated His own sanctity, punishing Moses and Aaron who had trespassed against it.

This [is] the water of Meribah; because the children of Israel strove with the LORD, and he (h) was sanctified in them.
(h) By showing himself almighty and maintaining his glory.

This is the water of Meribah,.... Or "strife": this is the name by which the water had in this place, and from this rock, was called; and which is the same name given to the place at Horeb, where a rock had been smitten, and water had flowed, as now, the first year they came out of Egypt; and to distinguish this from that, this is sometimes called Meribah-Kadesh, Deuteronomy 32:51, this being at Kadesh, as that was at Rephidim:
because the children of Israel strove with the Lord: for their chiding and striving with Moses was interpretatively striving with the Lord himself, whose ministers and servants they were:
and he was sanctified in them; that is, the glory of his divine perfections was displayed in them; either in the waters fetched out of the rock, which was a proof of the almighty power of God, and of his truth and faithfulness to his promises; or in the children of Israel, in whose sight, and for whose sake this miracle was wrought: the Targum of Jonathan expressly says, in Moses and Aaron, in not sparing these his saints, but expressing severity towards them for their sin; so Jarchi and Aben Ezra interpret it.

This is the water of Meribah--The word "Kadesh" is added to it [Deuteronomy 32:51] to distinguish it from another Meribah (Exodus 17:7).

The account closes with the words, "This is the water of strife, about which the children of Israel strove with Jehovah, and He sanctified Himself on them." This does not imply that the scene of this occurrence received the name of "strife-water," but simply that the water which God brought out of the rock for the Israelites received that name. But God sanctified Himself on them, by the fact that, on the one hand, He put their unbelief to shame by the miraculous gift of water, and on the other hand punished Moses and Aaron for the weakness of their faith.
(Note: The assumption of neological critics, that this occurrence is identical with the similar one at Rephidim (Ex 17), and that this is only another saga based upon the same event, has no firm ground whatever. The want of water in the arid desert is a fact so constantly attested by travellers, that it would be a matter of great surprise if Israel had only experienced this want, and quarrelled with its God and its leaders, once in the course of forty years. As early as Exodus 15:22. the people murmured because of the want of drinkable water, and the bitter water was turned into sweet; and immediately after the event before us, it gave utterance to the complaint again, "We have no bread and no water" (Numbers 21:4-5). But if the want remained the same, the relief of that want would necessarily be repeated in the same or a similar manner. Moreover, the occurrences at Rephidim (or Massah-Meribah) and at Kadesh are altogether different from each other. In Rephidim, God gave the people water out of the rock, and the murmuring of the people was stayed. In Kadesh, God no doubt relieved the distress in the same way; but the mediators of His mercy, Moses and Aaron, sinned at the time, so that God sanctified Himself upon them by a judgment, because they had not sanctified Him before the congregation. (See Hengstenberg, Dissertations, vol. ii.))

Meribah - That is, strife. In them - Or, among them, the children of Israel, by the demonstration of his omnipotency, veracity, and clemency towards the Israelites, and of his impartial holiness and severity against sin even in his greatest friends and favourites.