Numbers 21:16

16 From there they went on to Beer, ^[a] the well where the LORD said to Moses, “Gather the people so that I 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 stated in the Book of the Wars of the LORD: “Waheb in Suphah and the wadis of the Arnon,

15 even the slopes of the wadis that extend to the site of Ar and lie along the border of Moab.”

16 From there they went on to Beer, the well where the LORD said to Moses, “Gather the people so that I may give them water.”

17 Then Israel sang this song: “Spring up, O well, all of you sing to it!

18 The princes dug the well; the nobles of the people hollowed it out with their scepters and with their staffs.” From the wilderness the Israelites went on to Mattanah,

Footnotes

• [a]. Beer means well.