“These are the waters of dispute, where the children of Israel quarreled with the Lord, and He was sanctified through them” (Numbers 20:13). “These are the waters of dispute” – from here you learn that from ancient times it was determined that Moses would be punished due to water. See what is written: “They turned back, and came to Ein Mishpat, which is Kadesh, and smote the entire field of the Amalekites, as well as the Emorites, who lived in Ḥatzetzon Tamar” (Genesis 14:7) – the spring [ein] of the judgment [mishpat] of Moses.
“These are the waters of dispute” – this is analogous to the son of kings who took a stone and blinded his eye. His father would say regarding every stone: This is the one that blinded my son’s eye. That is why it is stated: “These are the waters of dispute.”51This is an expression of sorrow, just like the statement of the king that the rock blinded his son is an expression of sorrow.