Exodus 15 · Verse 23

Exodus 15:23

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.

Exodus 15:23, King James Version

Exodus 15:23 in other translations

BSB	And when they came to Marah, they could not drink the water there because it was bitter. (That is why it was named Marah.)
WEB	When they came to Marah, they couldn’t drink from the waters of Marah, for they were bitter. Therefore its name was called Marah.
ASV	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.
YLT	and they come in to Marah, and have not been able to drink the waters of Marah, for they are bitter; therefore hath one called its name Marah.
DARBY	And they came to Marah, and could not drink the waters of Marah, for they were bitter; therefore the name of it was called Marah.
BBE	And when they came to Marah, the water was no good for drinking, for the waters of Marah were bitter, which is why it was named Marah.
Webster	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.

What does Exodus 15:23 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown

23. when they came to Marah, they could not drink of the waters--Following the general route of all travellers southward, between the sea and the tableland of the Tih ("valley of wandering"), Marah is almost universally believed to be what is now called Howarah, in Wady Amarah, about thirty miles from the place where the Israelites landed on the eastern shore of the Red Sea--a distance quite sufficient for their march of three days. There is no other perennial spring in the intermediate space. The water still retains its ancient character, and has a bad name among the Arabs, who seldom allow their camels to partake of it.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary

Verse 23 Marah - So called from the bitter waters found there. Dr. Shaw conjectures that this place is the same as that now called Corondel, where there is still a small rill which, if not diluted with dews or rain, continues brackish. See his account at the end of Exodus (Exo 40:38 (note)).

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Exodus 15:22-27

In the wilderness of Shur the Israelites had no water. At Marah they had water, but it was bitter; so that they could not drink it. God can make bitter to us that from which we promise ourselves most, and often does so in the wilderness of this world, that our wants, and disappointments in the creature, may drive us to the Creator, in whose favour alone true comfort is to be had. In this distress the people fretted…

Read the full comment on Exodus 15:22-27 →

Exodus 15:23 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

וַיָּבֹ֣אוּvai.ya.Vo.'uand they cameH935

מָרָ֔תָהma.Ra.tahMarah towardsH4785

וְלֹ֣אve.Lo'and notH3808

יָֽכְל֗וּya.khe.Luthey were ableH3201

לִשְׁתֹּ֥תlish.Totto drinkH8354

מַ֙יִם֙ma.yimwatersH4325

מִמָּרָ֔הmi.ma.Rahfrom MarahH4785

כִּ֥יkiforH3588

מָרִ֖יםma.Rim[were] bitterH4751

הֵ֑םHemtheyH1992

עַל\־'al-there-H5921

כֵּ֥ןken-foreH3651

קָרָֽא\־ka.ra'-someone calledH7121

שְׁמָ֖הּshe.Mahname itsH8034

מָרָֽה\׃ma.RahMarahH4785

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Exodus 15:23

Ruth 1:20
And she said unto them, Call me not Naomi, call me Mara: for the Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me.
Numbers 33:8
And they departed from before Pi–hahiroth, and passed through the midst of the sea into the wilderness, and went three days’ journey in the wilderness of Etham, and pitched in Marah.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

Marah.
Nu 33:8
Marah. i.e., bitterness.
Ru 1:20

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

Exodus 15:22
So Moses brought Israel from the Red sea, and they went out into the wilderness of Shur; and they went three days in the wilderness, and found no water.
Exodus 15:23
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.
Exodus 15:24
And the people murmured against Moses, saying, What shall we drink?

Read all of Exodus 15

Exodus 15:23 in other languages

Spanish Reina-Valera 1909	Y llegaron á Mara, y no pudieron beber las aguas de Mara, porque eran amargas; por eso le pusieron el nombre de Mara.
French Bible J.N. Darby 1885	Et ils vinrent à Mara; mais ils ne pouvaient boire des eaux de Mara, car elles étaient amères: c’est pourquoi son nom fut appelé Mara.
German Elberfelder 1871	Und sie kamen nach Mara; aber sie konnten das Wasser von Mara nicht trinken, denn es war bitter: darum gab man ihm den Namen Mara.
Latin Clementine Vulgate	Et venerunt in Mara, nec poterant bibere aquas de Mara, eo quod essent amaræ: unde et congruum loco nomen imposuit, vocans illum Mara, id est, amaritudinem.