When they came to Marah is literally “And they entered Marah.” Marah was neither a city nor a village but only a place where there was water and some vegetation. So Good News Translation has “they came to a place named Marah.” They could not drink the water of Marah is literally “they were not able to drink waters from Marah.” Because it was bitter describes the unpleasant taste of the water in a general sense. It was possibly caustic, with a sharp, biting taste, but was not necessarily sour as opposed to “sweet” in verse 25. And it was not poisonous. Most languages will have suitable vocabulary to describe liquid or food that has an unpleasant or bitter taste.

Therefore it was named Marah refers to the place, not to the water. The text does not indicate whether it already had that name or whether the Israelites gave it that name. A footnote here, explaining that Marah means “bitterness,” is helpful to the reader. The Hebrew mentions Marah three times, but Good News Translation mentions it only twice in order to avoid unnecessary repetition.

An alternative translation model rearranging the clauses in this verse is:

• They found water at a place named Marah but couldn’t drink it because of its unpleasant taste. That is how the place got its name Marah.

Quoted with permission from Osborn, Noel D. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Exodus. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1999. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .