Because ye trespassed against me among the children of Israel,.... By their unbelief, doubting whether God would give water or no to such a rebellious people, and by giving way to passion and wrathful expressions: and this was done at the waters of Meribahkadesh; so called, to distinguish it from another Meribah, where also there was a contention on account of water, Num 20:13, in the wilderness of Zin; where Kadesh was, and further describes and distinguishes this place; of the one we read in Exo 17:7; and of the other, which is here referred to, in Num 20:1, because ye sanctified me not in, the midst of the children of Israel; through their unbelief and disagreeable behaviour, they sanctified him not themselves, and gave no honour to him, nor were the cause of his being sanctified by the Israelites; and this was the reason why Moses and Aaron might not enter into the land of Canaan, Num 20:12.