Numbers 21:16

16 And from there they continued ¹to Beer;^[a] that is the well of which the LORD said to Moses, "Gather the people together, so that ²I may give them water."

Numbers 21:16 Meaning and Commentary

Numbers 21:16

And from thence they went to Beer
A place so called from a well which sprung up here, of which the following account is given:

that is, the well whereof the Lord spake unto Moses;
promising him to give it to the children of Israel, without asking for it; which was a very singular favour, and for which they were thankful: saying to him,

gather the people together, and I will give them water;
for as they were now gone from the river Arnon, and the streams and brooks of it, they might be in want of water, though they did not murmur as they had been used to do; and without their petition for it, the Lord promises to give it to them; and that they might be witness of the miracle that would be wrought for them, they are ordered to be gathered together.

Numbers 21:16 In-Context

14 Therefore it is said in the Book of the Wars of the LORD, "Waheb in Suphah, and the valleys of the Arnon,

15 and the slope of the valleys that extends to the seat of Ar, and leans to the border of Moab."

16 And from there they continued to Beer; that is the well of which the LORD said to Moses, "Gather the people together, so that I may give them water."

17 Then Israel sang this song: "Spring up, O well!--Sing to it!--

18 the well that the princes made, that the nobles of the people dug, with the scepter and with their staffs."And from the wilderness they went on to Mattanah,

Cross References

• 1. [2 Samuel 20:14]
• 2. [Numbers 20:8; Exodus 17:6]

Footnotes

• [a]. Beer means well