Marah

Marah was the first stopping place the Bible names after Israel crossed the Red Sea. Three days into the wilderness of Shur without finding water, the people came to a spring they could not drink because it was bitter, and the place was called Marah, meaning 'bitter.' When the people murmured against Moses, he cried unto the LORD, who showed him a tree; when Moses cast it into the waters, the waters were made sweet. There God gave Israel a statute and a promise, revealing Himself with the words 'I am the LORD that healeth thee.' Marah became an early lesson of the wilderness years: the same God who had parted the sea could be trusted with something as ordinary as a drink of water.

0:00

Details

Region: Egypt
Modern Location: Western Sinai Peninsula, Egypt. Traditionally identified with the spring of Ain Hawarah, though the exact site is uncertain.

Strongest connections in Scripture

Exodus 15 Numbers 33

Key Passages

The Bitter Waters Made Sweet

Exodus 15:22-26

Three days after the sea, Israel meets bitter water, and God makes it sweet and names Himself the LORD who heals.

S²²o 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.

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. ²⁴ And the people murmured against Moses, saying, What shall we drink? ²⁵ And he cried unto the LORD; and the LORD shewed him a tree, which when he had cast into the waters, the waters were made sweet: there he made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there he proved them, ²⁶ And said, If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the LORD thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the LORD that healeth thee.

Marah in the Wilderness Journey

Numbers 33:8-9

Moses' record of the journey lists Marah as the first camp after the crossing, followed by Elim.

A⁸nd they departed from before Pihahiroth, 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.

⁹ And they removed from Marah, and came unto Elim: and in Elim were twelve fountains of water, and threescore and ten palm trees; and they pitched there.

Did You Know?

Marah means 'bitter' in Hebrew, the same root behind Naomi's request in Ruth to be called Mara.

Israel reached Marah after three days in the wilderness without water.

At Marah God first revealed Himself as 'the LORD that healeth thee,' often rendered Jehovah Rapha.

Key Chapters

Exodus 15 The Song of Moses 4 min read Numbers 33 Stages of Israel's Journey 6 min read