MARAH (; -11, bitterness; Sept. Mapci). The Israelites, in departing from Egypt, made some stay on the shores of the Red Sea, at the place where it had been crossed by them. From this spot they proceeded southward for three days with out finding any water, and then came to a well, the waters of which were so bitter, that, thirsty as they were, they could not drink them (Exod. xv. 22-24 ; Num. xxxiii. 8). The well was called Marah, from the quality of its waters. Unaccustomed as yet to the hardships of the desert, and having been in the habit of drinking of the best water in the world, they were much distressed by the scarcity of water in the region wherein they now wandered ; and in their disappointment of the relief expected from this well, they murmured greatly against Moses for having brought them into such a dry wilderness, and asked him, What shall we drink ?' On this, Moses cried to Jehovah, who indicated to him a certain tree,' on throwing the branches of which into the well, its waters became sweet and fit for use. Attempts have been made to set aside the miraculous character of this transaction by the dis covery of some tree belonging to that district the wood or fruit of which has the property of render Mg bitter water sweet. No such, however, has
been discovered (Kitto, Pictorial Hirt. of Palestine, p. 209, 210). As respects the locality of this trans action, since Burckhardt's time the fountain Ho warah, situated in the Wady el-Amarah, has been generally regarded as probably the Marah of the Israelites, though some think it should rather be sought in the neighbouring Wady Ghurundel. The latter, however, is probably the Elim of Scripture (Robinson, i. 96-100). The water of the Howfirah fountain is unpleasant to the taste, saltish and bitter, so that the Arabs use it only when hard pressed, though camels drink it freely ; and this has been generally relied on as a proof of the identity of this fountain with Marah. This is valid, however, only on the supposition that the change produced by Moses was of temporary dura tion; a supposition to which the miraculous cha racter of the transaction is somewhat opposed (comp. 2 Kings ii. 21). Tradition identifies Marah with the 'Ayun ilfzlsa or Fountains of Moses, but these are too near to the Red Sea to correspond with a place which it took the Israelites three days to reach.