Numbers 20:10-11

As in Numbers 20:8, part of the narrative seems to have been lost. The sin which Moses and Aaron committed is not clearly defined. In Numbers 20:10 they appear to shew anger; and that is alluded to in Psalms 106:32 f. In Numbers 20:11 Moses is said to have struck the rock twice. He may have been commanded to strike only once, or to raise the staff (cf. Exodus 8:5) and speak to the rock without striking. Whatever his sin was, the action of Moses and Aaronin these verses hardly corresponds to the expression -rebelled against my word" in Numbers 20:24 (cf. Numbers 27:14), and still less to unbelief (Numbers 20:12). The obscurity is increased by Deuteronomy 1:37 (cf. Numbers 3:26; Numbers 4:21), where we read that Moses was forbidden to enter Canaan on account of the people's sin at the return of the spies, which occurred (like the present incident) at Kadesh, but 37 years earlier.