Numbers 21:18

_THE PRINCES DIGGED THE WELL, THE NOBLES OF THE PEOPLE DIGGED IT, BY THE DIRECTION OF THE LAWGIVER, WITH THEIR STAVES. AND FROM THE WILDERNESS THEY WENT TO MATTANAH:_ By the direction of the lawgiver, х_ BIMªCHOQEEQ_ (H2710)] - by a staff or sceptre (cf. Genesis 49:10; Psalms 60:9). The word sometimes occurs in the sense of "lawgiver" (Deuteronomy 33:21; Isaiah 33:22); but we think it cannot bear this meaning here. Our translators seem to have assumed that 'the princes and nobles' compelled the people, by their authority, to dig the well, acting at the same time as

10-20 We have here the removes of the children of Israel, till they came to the plains of Moab, from whence they passed over Jordan into Canaan. The end of their pilgrimage was near. "They set forward." It were well if we did thus; and the nearer we come to heaven, were so much the more active and abundant in the work of the Lord. The wonderful success God granted to his people, is here spoken of, and, among the rest, their actions on the river Arnon, at Vaheb in Suphah, and other places on that river. In every stage of our lives, nay, in every step, we should notice what God has wrought for us; what he did at such a time, and what in such a place, ought to be distinctly remembered. God blessed his people with a supply of water. When we come to heaven, we shall remove to the well of life, the fountain of living waters. They received it with joy and thankfulness, which made the mercy dou...

Verse Numbers 21:18. _THE PRINCES DIGGED THE WELL - WITH THEIR STAVES._] This is not easily understood. Who can suppose that the princes dug this well with their _staves_? And is there any other idea conveyed by our translation? The word חפרו _chapharu_, which is translated _they digged_, should be rendered _they searched out_, which is a frequent meaning of the root; and במשענתם _bemishanotham_, which we render _with their staves_, should be translated _on their borders_ or _confines_, from the root שען _shaan_, to _lie along_. With these corrections the whole song may be read thus: -...

This song, recognized by all authorities as dating from the earliest times, and suggested apparently by the fact that God in this place gave the people water not from the rock, but by commanding Moses to cause a well to be dug, bespeaks the glad zeal, the joyful faith, and the hearty cooperation among all ranks, which possessed the people. In after time it may well have been the water-drawing song of the maidens of Israel. Numbers 21:18 BY THE DIRECTION OF THE LAWGIVER - Some render, with the lawgiver’s scepter; i. e. under the direction and with the authority of Moses; compare Genesis 49:10, and note....

EXPOSITION THE END OF JOURNEYS, THE BEGINNING OF VICTORIES (Numbers 21:10 Numbers 22:1). NUMBERS 21:10 THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL SET FORWARD, and pitched in Oboth. In the list of Numbers 33:1, there occur two other stations, Zahnonah and Phunon, between Mount Hor and Oboth. Phunon may be the Pinou of Genesis 36:41, but it is a mere conjecture. All we

THE PRINCES DIGGED THE WELL,.... The princes and heads of the several tribes: THE NOBLES OF THE PEOPLE DIGGED IT; the seventy elders, according to the Targum of Jonathan: BY THE DIRECTION OF THE LAWGIVER; either the Lord himself, the lawgiver of his people, who pointed out the spot, and directed the princes where to dig, that is, be did this by Moses; and who, as Jarchi thinks, is the lawgiver, and not amiss: the Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem render the word by Scribes, in the plural number, and interpret them of Moses and Aaron: and this the princes and nobles "dug with their staves"; either their walking sticks, or their rods, the ensigns of their authority; with these they smote the ground, or stuck them in a soft and sandy place, upon which the waters bubbled up and flowed out. Dr. Shaw n chooses to render the words, "with their united applause", or "clapping of hands", as the...

CHAPTER 21 Murmuring and Conquest _ 1. Opposition of King Arad (Numbers 21:1)_ 2. Murmuring and the fiery serpents (Numbers 21:4) 3. The serpent of brass (Numbers 21:8) 4. Journeying and singing again (Numbers 21:10) 5. Sihon and Og (Numbers 21:21) The first victory is here recorded. The Lord delivered Canaanites into the hands of Israel, and according to their vow they utterly destroyed them and their cities. But in spite of this victory the people became again discouraged because of the w

AN ITINERARY. This continues Numbers 21:4 (and they journeyed from Mount Hor), but the immediate place of departure in Numbers 21:10 is omitted. In Numbers 33:42 f. two stations are inserted between Hor and Oboth. NUMBERS 21:10 F. OBOTH. IYE-ABARIM: both unknown. BEFORE MOAB: _i.e._ E. of Moab. Numbers 21:12. the valley of Zered: probably the Wâ dy el Ahsa at the SE. angle of the Dead Sea. Numbers 21:13. the other s

THEY WENT. No mention is made of any of these places in the itinerary in Numbers 33. Why not supply "[the waters or streams] went" into all these places? See Numbers 21:16. The Structure shows the scope of this member to be an "event"; "journeys" are the subject of the preceding member. Compare note on Exodus 15:27. Note the _Alternation,_ which gives the interpretation: The princes digged the well; The nobles of the people digged it, With the lawgiver [They digged it] with their staves....

Numbers 21:12. J E The Israelites arrived at a spot on the S.E. border of Moab, and then, having travelled northwards along its eastern boundary, penetrated westward till they reached the cliffs which fall to the Dead Sea. Notice that the formula used in the itinerary has changed; in Numbers 21:10 it is -and they journeyed from and encamped in," as throughout ch. 33; but here it is -from thence they journeyed, and encamped in," or some shorter expression. On the whole of this section see G. A. Smith, _Hist. Geogr._557 66, and his article -Moab" in _Enc. Bibl.[Note: nc. Bibl. Encyclopaedia Biblica.]_ __...