21:16 And from there they traveled 1 to Beer; 2 that is the well where the Lord spoke to Moses, “Gather the people and I will give them water.” 21:17 Then Israel sang 3 this song:
“Spring up, O well, sing to it!
1 tn The words “they traveled” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied here because of English style. The same phrase is supplied at the end of v. 18.
2 sn Isa 15:8 mentions a Moabite Beerelim, which Simons suggests is Wadi Ettemed.
3 tn After the adverb “then” the prefixed conjugation has the preterite force. For the archaic constructions, see D. N. Freedman, “Archaic Forms in Early Hebrew Poetry,” ZAW 72 (1960): 101-7. The poem shows all the marks of being ancient.