Numbers 21:16

16 From that place (they went to where) the well appeared, of which the Lord spake to Moses, Gather thou together the people, and I shall give water to it. (From there they went to Beer, that is, The Well, of which the Lord spoke to Moses, and said, Gather thou the people together, and I shall 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 Wherefore it is said in the book of battles of the Lord, As he did in the Red Sea, so he shall do in the strands of (the) Arnon; (And so it is said in the Book of the Battles of the Lord, As he did at the Red Sea, so he also did at the Arnon River,)
15 the hard rocks of the strands were bowed down, that they shall rest in Ar, or abide there, and should lie in the coasts of Moabites. (and from the cliffs of the river, down to the city of Ar, that sitteth on the border of Moab.)
16 From that place (they went to where) the well appeared, of which the Lord spake to Moses, Gather thou together the people, and I shall give water to it. (From there they went to Beer, that is, The Well, of which the Lord spoke to Moses, and said, Gather thou the people together, and I shall give them water.)
17 Then Israel sang this song, The water of the well, ascend up; they sang together, (Then Israel sang this song, Go ye up, water of the well; yea, we sing to thee,)
18 The well which the princes digged, and the dukes of the multitude made ready, in the giver of the law, and in their staves (The well from the Giver of the Law, which the leaders dug, yea, which the leaders of the multitude brought forth with their staffs). And (then) they went forth from the wilderness to Mattanah,
Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.