8587. And he called the name of the place Massah. That this signifies the quality of the state of the temptation, is evident from the signification of “name” and of “calling by name,” as being the quality (see n. 144, 145, 1754, 1896, 2009, 2628, 2724, 3006, 3421, 6674, 6887); and from the signification of “the place,” as being the state (n. 2625, 2837, 3356, 3387, 4321, 4882, 5606, 7381). That the quality of the state of the temptation is meant, is because temptation is the subject treated of; the quality of the state of it is signified by “Massah.” Moreover in the original tongue “Massah” means “temptation.” Its quality will be described in what now follows.
Psalms 95:8-11
8
Don't harden your heart, as at Meribah, as in the day of Massah in the wilderness,
9
when your fathers tempted me, tested me, and saw my work.
10
Forty long years I was grieved with that generation, and said, "It is a people that errs in their heart. They have not known my ways."
11
Therefore I swore in my wrath, "They won't enter into my rest."
