Discovery BoxPsalms 95:7-11 
Context95:7 For he is our God;
we are the people of his pasture,
the sheep he owns. 1
Today, if only you would obey him! 2
95:8 He says, 3 “Do not be stubborn like they were at Meribah, 4
like they were that day at Massah 5 in the wilderness, 6
95:9 where your ancestors challenged my authority, 7
and tried my patience, even though they had seen my work.
95:10 For forty years I was continually disgusted 8 with that generation,
and I said, ‘These people desire to go astray; 9
they do not obey my commands.’ 10
95:11 So I made a vow in my anger,
‘They will never enter into the resting place I had set aside for them.’” 11
1 tn Heb “of his hand.”
2 tn Heb “if only you would listen to his voice.” The Hebrew particle אִם (’im, “if”) and following prefixed verbal form here express a wish (cf. Ps 81:8). Note that the apodosis (the “then” clause of the conditional sentence) is suppressed.
3 tn The words “he says” are supplied in the translation to clarify that the following words are spoken by the Lord (see vv. 9-11).
4 sn The name Meribah means “strife.” Two separate but similar incidents at Meribah are recorded in the Pentateuch (Exod 17:1-7; Num 20:1-13, see also Pss 81:7; 106:32). In both cases the Israelites complained about lack of water and the Lord miraculously provided for them.
5 sn The name Massah means “testing.” This was another name (along with Meribah) given to the place where Israel complained following the Red Sea Crossing (see Exod 17:1-7, as well as Deut 6:16; 9:22; 33:8).
6 tn Heb “do not harden your heart[s] as [at] Meribah, as [in] the day of Massah in the wilderness.”
7 tn Heb “where your fathers tested me.”
8 tn The prefixed verbal form is either a preterite or an imperfect. If the latter, it emphasizes the ongoing nature of the condition in the past. The translation reflects this interpretation of the verbal form.
9 tn Heb “a people, wanderers of heart [are] they.”
10 tn Heb “and they do not know my ways.” In this context the
11 tn Heb “my resting place.” The promised land of Canaan is here viewed metaphorically as a place of rest for God’s people, who are compared to sheep (see v. 7).
