Massah means trial, or temptation, being formed from the root used in Exodus 17:2 (“Wherefore do ye tempt the Lord ?”) It is the word translated by “trial” in Job 9:23, and by “temptation” in Deuteronomy 4:34; Deuteronomy 7:19; Deuteronomy 29:3, and Psalms 95:8.
Meribah means chiding, or quarrel, and is from the root rub, or rib, translated “chide” in Exodus 17:2, and rendered elsewhere generally by “strive,” or “contend.” The name Meribah was given also to the place where water was again produced miraculously by Moses striking the rock (Numbers 20:13.) It is this latter “Meribah” to which reference is made in Deuteronomy 33:8, and Psalms 81:7, and which is called by way of distinction in Deuteronomy 32:51, “Meribah-Kadesh.”