Numbers 21:16-17

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!

[21:16]  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.

[21:16]  ² sn Isa 15:8 mentions a Moabite Beerelim, which Simons suggests is Wadi Ettemed.

[21:17]  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.