Marah

Marah, a place where the Israelites found bitter water that Moses made drinkable by casting a tree into it (Exodus 15:23-25; Numbers 33:8-9).

Marah was a location on the route of the Israelites during their Exodus from Egypt. It was the first camp after crossing the Red Sea (Exodus 15:22-23; Numbers 33:8). The name Marah means "bitter" because the water there was undrinkable due to its bitterness. The Israelites grumbled against Moses, but the Lord showed him a tree which, when cast into the water, made it sweet (Exodus 15:24-25). God then tested the Israelites, promising to protect them from diseases if they obeyed His commands (Exodus 15:25-26). After Marah, the Israelites traveled to Elim, where there were twelve springs and seventy palm trees (Exodus 15:27; Numbers 33:9).

Bitterness, a fountain at the sixth station of the Israelites (Ex. 15:23, 24; Num. 33:8) whose waters were so bitter that they could not drink them. On this account they murmured against Moses, who, under divine direction, cast into the fountain “a certain tree” which took away its bitterness, so that the people drank of it. This was probably the ‘Ain Hawarah, where there are still several springs of water that are very “bitter,” distant some 47 miles from ‘Ayun Mousa.