 One possible reason for the punishment is that Moses had struck the rock twice, rather than just speaking to it as he had been told to do; another possibility is that he had rashly addressed the Israelites by the phrase "you rebels".Yet another reason may be that Moses attributes the miracle to his own power and fails to mention the Lord.According to Deuteronomy, which textual scholars attribute to a writer who was pro-Moses and anti-Aaron, the punishment was due to the lack of trust in Yahweh that had been exhibited by the Israelites, rather than by Moses.