two words, pp and y, are both under the government of the same preposition 1. The one as well as the other properly signifies a sceptre, or staff of authority. It is probable, therefore, that the first as well as the second is the name of some thing which was used as a tool in digging the well. The Samaritan has the copulative prefixed to the latter of the two words; and in the copies used by the LXX, the first as well as the second had the pronoun of the third person plural suffixed. Read, therefore, Chisobi Dmppn01; "with their sceptres, and with their staves." Bp. Patrick.-14 In the book of the wars of the Lord.] A proof of this [i. e., of the fact that the Israelites invaded none of the Moabites' possessions except what was now possessed by the Amorites] Moses thought good to allege out of an authentic record in those countries, containing the history of all the wars that had been in those parts; which are here called the wars of the Lord, because he is the great Governor of the world (as Abarbanel interprets it), "from whom and by whom are all things, who putteth down one, and setteth up another (as the Psalmist speaks) at his good pleasure." This book, he thinks, was written by some of the wise men of those nations (and so thinks Nachmanides), who, looking upon this conquest made by Sihon as a very memorable thing, put it down in their Annals; which, after the way of those countries, were written, he thinks, in a poetical manner. There are those who are of opinion, that this book was written by Moses himself; who left in it directions to Joshua how to proceed in the wars of the Lord, when he conquered Canaan. So Dr. Lightfoot conjectures: and Bonfrerius doth not much differ from him. But I take the former account to be the more probable, that Moses justifies what he writes concerning this conquest out of their own books; which he quotes just as St. Paul, in the New Testament, doth one of the Greek poets. (see Deut. i. 1). Others understand by Vaheb the place where Sihon gave the Moabites this blow; which he did by falling upon them on a sudden, with a terrible fury. So Nachmanides understands these words besuphah; he stormed the city, and made a furious assault, when they thought not of it: for Supheh signifies a whirlwind, or stormy tempest (Isa. v. 28). In the brooks of Arnon.] The same Nachmanides takes the word veeth, which we translate and in, to signify rather and with ; and these being still the words of the book before-mentioned, the sense is this: In the same manner he smote the brooks or torrents of Arnon; upon which he fell like a tempest, and carried all before him. 15 At the stream of the brooks.] None, I think, hath given a better account of these words than the same Nachman, who by esched hannechalim (which we translate the streams of the brooks"), understands either a cliff from whence the torrents flowed (as Ashdod and Happisgah, Deut. iii. 17, are the hills from whence the springs gushed), or the valley through which the torrents ran; where they made a great broad water, which is here called an effusion of torrents, as R. Levi ben Gersom interprets the Hebrew words, esched hannechalim. That goeth down to the dwelling of Ar.] Which extends itself as far as Ar, a city of Moab (ver. 28). R. Levi ben Gersom takes the word shebet (which we translate dwelling) to signify a place as well as Ar, towards which these torrents bent their course. Lieth upon the borders of Moab.] Which leaneth or belongeth unto Moab, being in the border of that country. Thus far are the words of the book of the wars of the Lord: and the meaning of them is, that the king of the Amorites took all these places by a sudden, furious invasion; which Moses therefore punctually recites, to show that the country of the Moabites now reached no further than Arnon all the What he did in the Red Sea.] These are brooks, or torrents, and all the effusions of the words of the book, out of which he water as far as Arnon (i. e., all the country quotes a small fragment: and the marginal about them), being taken from them by the translation of them is most proper, Vaheb in Amorites, in whose possession it now was, Supheh, only the word eth is omitted; which and, perhaps, had been a long time. And makes the sense to be this, "against Vaheb, therefore the Israelites took nothing from in Supheh; that is, he came (some such the Moabites when they conquered this word must be understood) against Vaheb (a country (as was said before), nor from the king of the Moabites), and overthrew him Ammonites neither; part of whose country in Supheh, a place in the frontiers of Moab, the Amorites also had got from them (Deut. iii. 11), and the Israelites took from the Amorites, when they conquered Sihon and Og; and it fell to the share of the Gadites (Josh. xiii. 25). 16 They went to Beer.] A place which took its name from the pit, or well, which was here digged by God's order, as the next words tell us. That is the well whereof the Lord spake unto Moses.] That is, saith Abarbinel, that place was remarkable for the well that God gave us, of his own accord, without our petition; which he prevented by bidding Moses dig it for us. 17 Sing ye unto it.] Or, as it is in the margin, answer unto it. The manner of the Hebrews was anciently to sing their songs of praise alternately, as appears from Exod. XV. 20. And so one company having said, Spring up, O well (which it is likely they repeated often), they called to the rest to answer to them; which they did, I suppose, in the following words. 18 The princes.] i. e., the seventy elders, and heads of the tribes. The nobles of the people digged it.] The other side of the choir, perhaps, took up the song again, repeating the sense of what the former company had said. By the direction of the lawgiver.] Or, “to gether with the lawgiver," who began the work, and whose example they followed. 1 19 From Mattanah to Nahaliel, &c.] This, as well as the place next mentioned in this verse, seems to have been on the borders of Moab. 20 From Bamoth in the valley.] Rather "from Bamoth (which signifies a very high place) to the valley." Or, as it may be translated, "from Bamoth a valley (that is, there is a valley) in the field of Moab, &c." unto which they came next; for some such thing must be understood. That is in the country of Moab.] Or near to it. To the top of Pisgah.] Or, to the beginning (as the Hebrew word rosh may be interpreted) of the high Mount Pisgah; that is, they pitched at the foot of it, where the mountain began: which mountain was part of the mountains of Abarim, as appears from Deut. xxxii. 49; xxxiv. 1. a Or, Which looketh toward Jeshimon.] "towards the wilderness." For so R. Levi ben Gersom interprets it; to a land that was shemumah, untilled and desolate, viz., to the wilderness of Kedemoth: where they pitched and settled their camp; and from thence sent messengers to Sihon. Ken.-This chapter proceeds with saying, that after defeating the Canaanites at Mount Hor, they journeyed from Mount Hor by the way of the Red Sea (in the road from Ammon, Midian, &c., to the eastern gulph of the Red Sea) to compass the land of Edom-that, on their murmuring for want both of bread and of water, they were With their staves.] With no more labour but only thrusting their staves into the ground and turning up the earth. For, as R. Levi ben Gersom takes it, the ground punished by fiery serpents after which, here being sandy and very soft, was easily they marched to Oboth, and thence to Ijepenetrated, though they were not likely to abarim, in the wilderness east of Moab. find water in it. But they believing Moses, The encampments of the Israelites, amountand following his direction, God sent it ing to forty-two, are recorded all together, copiously unto them; and with no more in historical succession, in chap. xxxiii.; pains than a scribe takes when he writes where Ije-abarim is the thirty-eighth; Diwith his pen. For so he translates the bongad, thirty-ninth; Almon-Diblathaim, Hebrew word mechokek (which we render fortieth; mountains of Abarim, forty-first; lawgiver), a scribe, or doctor of the law. and the plains of Moab, by Jordan, fortyFrom the wilderness.] Mentioned ver. 13. second. This regular detail in chap. xxxiii. They went to Mattanah.] This and the has occasioned great perplexity, as to chap. place following are otherwise named in the xxi.; where, after the stations at Oboth and thirty-third chapter, as the forenamed ben Ije-abarim, in verses 10 and 11, we have in Gersom understands it. But others think verses 19 and 20 the words Mattanah, these were no stations (which alone Moses Nahaliel, and Bamoth; which are usually gives an account of in the thirty-third chapter), where the Israelites pitched their tents, but places through which they passed, till they came to the station from whence they sent to Sihon for leave to pass through his country. considered as the proper names of three places, but widely different from the three proper names after Ije-abarim, in the catalogue at chap. xxxiii. But there is, in reality, no inconsistence here. In the plain and historical catalogue were (Nahaliel) blessed streams, by which (chap. xxxiii.) the words are strictly the they passed, till they came to (Bamoth) the proper names of the three places; but here high places, from which, perhaps, these the words Mattanah, Nahaliel, and Bamoth streams descended. And the thanksgiving follow some lines of poetry, and seem to ends where the blessing was no longer form a continuation of the song. They wanted,- -on their coming down into the evidently express figurative and poetical valley, along the banks of Arnon, which ideas. The verbs journeyed from, and was then the north boundary of Moab. pitched in, are not found here, though The Israelites had spent no less than necessary to prose narration; see ver. 10 thirty-eight years in coming from Kadeshand 11 here, and ch. xxxiii. Lastly, verse barnea to their encampment north of Zared. the 20th (in this 21st chapter) usually sup- Here, at this fortieth station, they were posed to express the last encampment, does commanded to pass through Moab, by, not. Pisgah signifies a hill; and the Israel- Ar, the chief city; but were not to stop, till ites could not encamp on the top of any they came to the valley on the south of single hill, such as this is described. Balak Arnon. At this last station but one they took Balaam to the top of Peor, which probably continued no longer than was looketh toward Jeshimon (xxiii. 28), which necessary for sending messengers to Sihon, Peor undoubtedly was in Moab. He took him to another hill in Moab, when he took him (xxiii. 14) to the top of Pisgah, in the field of Zophim. And if the Pisgah, or hill, in xxi. 20, was in the country of Balak, it could not point out the last encampment, which was not in Balak's country, but north, of Arnon. king of the Amorites, at Heshbon, and receiving his answer. They then crossed the Arnon; and, having vanquished Sihon and Og, took possession of the forty-second and last encampment. This one chapter has three pieces of poetry, either fragments, or complete. And poetry, seldom found in an historical narraThe word Mattanah probably alludes to a tive, may be here accounted for, from the place distinguished by some gift or blessing exuberance of joy, which must have affected from God. Fagius says, Nomen loci, ab these wearied travellers, when arriving thus What eventu aquarum quas Dominus ibi dedit, happily near their journey's end. occurs first is in verse 14, and has often sic appellati; nam significat donum.' Nahaliel,, is torrentes Dei, i.e., streams been called the fragment of an old Amorite particularly seasonable or salutary. And song. But it may have been Amorite or Bamoth, (ver. 28), may point out any Moabite, or either or neither, for the subject high places, of signal benefit, in the country matter of it, as it is generally understood; of Moab; or it may answer to the last if, indeed, it can be said to be understood station but one, which was the mountains of at all. The words usually supposed to conAbarim. If, therefore, these words were tain this fragment, do not signify, as in our meant to express poetically some eminent English version-What he did in the Red blessing, what blessing was so likely to be Sea, and in the brooks of Arnon. Without then celebrated, as copious streams of water? enumerating the many interpretations given And, after they had wandered near forty by others, I shall offer a new one, which years, through many a barren desert, and seems to make good sense, and a sense very after (comp. Deut. viii. 15) having passed pertinent. Observe, first, that there must through that great and terrible wilderness, have been a place called Suph, near the wherein were fiery serpents and drought, conflux of the Arnon and Jordan; because where there was no water, 'tis no wonder, Moses, whilst in that last station, begins they should shout for joy at finding water in Deuteronomy with saying, he was on this plenty; and finding it almost on the banks side (i.e., east) of Jordan, over against of Arnon, the last river they were to pass, Suph. By this word is not here meant the in the way to their last station, east of Red Sea; partly, because that has every Jordan. No wonder they should sing, in where else the word for sea before it, and poetic rapture, that after the wilderness was (Mattanah) the gift of God; meaning the great well in Moab, dug by public authority; and no wonder that after such a gift, there partly because of the great distance of the Red Sea now from Moses. The single word therefore signifies here some place, in itself obscure, because nowhere mentioned but in these two passages. And yet we cannot wonder that Moses should mention it twice; as the word Suph, introduced in speaking of the two last encampments, recalled to mind the sea of Suph, so glorious to Israel, near the beginning of their march towards Canaan. Ged.-14-20 Hence, in a narrative of the wars it is said, "The Lord came in a tempest, and poured forth the streams of Arnon: streams that extended to Shebeth-Ar, and reclined on the borders of Moab: and thence was obtained a well." This is the well of which the LORD said to Moses: Moses had now led Israel from the Red" Assemble the people, and I will give them Sea to the river Arnon; through many water." Then sang the Israelites this song: dreadful dangers, partly from hostile nations, "A well hath sprung up [Sam., see below]. partly from themselves,—such dangers as Resound applause! A well, which the no other people ever experienced, and such chiefs discovered; which the volunteers of as no people could have surmounted, without the people digged, by delving with their the signal favour of the Almighty. And staves: from the wilderness to Mattanah; here, just before the battles with Sihon and from Mattanah to Nahaliel; from Nahaliel Og, he reminds them of Pharaoh, &c. And to Bamoth; and from Bamoth to the vale he asserts, that in the history of the wars in the territory of Moab, where appeareth it shall be recorded, that Jehovah, who had the top of Pisgah, which is opposite to Jetriumphantly brought Israel through the sea shimon." of Suph near Egypt at first, had now conducted him to Suph near Arnon: that— Jehovah went with him to Suph; And he came to the streams of Arnon. [Ken. reads, # יהוה אתו הבב סופה ו ואתה נהלים ארנון The general meaning of the next piece of poetry seems to be this: that at some distance from the city of Ar, by which the Israelites were to pass (Deut. ii. 18), they came to a well, of uncommon size and magnificence, which seems to have been sought out, built up, and adorned, for the public, by the rulers of Moab. And 'tis no wonder, that, on their arrival at such a well, they should look upon it as a blessing from heaven, and speak of it, as a new miracle in their favour. 17 Then Israel sang this song. Spring up, O well! sing ye thereto! ment. So after the wilderness, was Mattanah! 19 And after Mattanah, were Nahaliel! And after Nahaliel, were Bamoth! 20 And after Bamoth, was the valley; Where, in the country of Moab, Appeareth the top of Pisgah, Which is over against Jeshimon. *This version removes the difficulties unged by Hobbs, p. 266, fol., 1750; by Spinoza, p. 108, 4to., 1670; and retailed in a Deistical pamphlet, called, "The Doubts of the Infidels," p. 4, 8vo., 14, &c. I read 2 in one word, with seven MSS., and exclude the rau before TER with the Sam. copy. I then point after , and thus distribute the remainder: יהוה אתוהב בסיפה' ואת הנהלים ארנון אשד' הנהלים אשר נטה לשבת ער' ונשען לגבול מואב. A tem Dominus se dedit in turbine, et torrentes Arnon effudit; torrentes quæ deflexerunt ad Sheboth-Ar, et declinarunt ad limitem Moab. The people were in want of water. pest of rain swelled the Arnon, the channel of which was probably dry before; and this torrent sinking along the adjacent plain afforded wells of water wheresoever they dug for it, from Mattanah to the vale of | Moab. This, I think, explains the whole passage from ver. 13 to the end of the chapter. I can see but two critical objections that can be made to my version. The first is, that 8 is not in the Hebrew but in the Aramean form. But this is not the only place where this form is observed: and here we may consider it as an archaism. It may also be objected, that I give to and a plural signification: but every scholar knows that, in Hebrew, this is no uncommon enallage; especially when words are used distributively. Thus, Job xii. 7, “Ask the beasts, and it (that is, each of the beasts) will teach thee." So Jerem. xxxv. 14, "The words (i.e., every word) of Jonadab was confirmed."-Verse 17 A well hath sprung I take the Samaritan reading, 7, up. 1781. And as to this version, see my "Gen. to be here the true reading, although here Dissert., p. 113.-Ken. + See Vitringa, on Isaiah xv. 8.-Ken. anomalous: as is elsewhere a feminine, and the syntax would require n Geddes. Booth.-14 Hence it is said [Ken., it shall be recorded; see above] in a book of the wars: Jehovah came with him to Suph fuisse ; posset itaque legi mm. Vel in libro Amoræo forsan scriptum fuissem, hoc autem a librariis oscitantibus in tanquam magis notum immutatum fuisse. Sed nihil est opus hac conjectura, quum omnis illa sententia de Amoræo libri hic laudati And marched to the streams of the scriptore, atque de consilio, quo locus ex illo From the wilderness to Mattanah, they 19 And from Mattanah to Nahaliel; 20 And from Bamoth to the valley, Which is in the country of Moab, Where appeareth the top of Pisgah, libro hic adducitur, nulla ratione nitatur, et nihil habeat probabilitatis. LXX verba Hebræa alia, qua Masorethæ, ratione interstinxere, vertunt enim ita: dià TOûTO λéyetaι ἐν βίβλω πόλεμος Κυρίου, κ.τ.λ., quod intelligi potest vel ita: in libro, qui inscriptus est bellum Domini; vel: in libro (aliquo) narratur, bellum Domini consumsisse, etc. ie, Bella Jove haud alia esse possunt, quam quæ Israelitæ, Jovæ populus, gesserunt. Talis liber vero, in quo facta fuisset mentio eorum, quæ ad Arnonem ab Israelitis, Mose duce, gerebantur, ejus ætate nondum exstare potuit. Quare duos hosce versus a seriore manu insertos esse necesse est. Pro LXX legerunt ; verterunt enim τὴν Ζούβ ἐφλόγισε. Νonnulli Kennicottiani Codices conjunctim legunt, Which is opposite to Jeshimon [so Ged.]. tanquam unicum vocabulum (778), quod Rosen.-14 Ut probetur, Arnonem tan- jam Kimchius in libris veteribus se invenisse gere Moabitarum fines, vel, quæ aliorum testatur. Hoc autem ex dialecto Aramæa est sententia, ut Israelitas ad Arnonem usque dedit. victricia arma protulisse, testimonio fide esset forma Ethpaal verbi 277, digno confirmetur, e libro bellorum Jova Placuit id Geddesio, qui in notis ad verlocus quidam affertur, sed e medio contextu sionem V. T. Anglicam a se Londin. 1792 desumtus, filoque orationis abrupto, quare edit., nomen a divellens, verba totus hic locus (vs. 14, 15) non potest non ita reddit: Jova dedit, i. e., perquam obscurus manifestavit se in turbine. Quod ab usu עַל כֵּן יֵאָמַר בְּסֵפֶר esse. Sed mim pente, Hinc dicitur in libro bellorum sermonis Hebræi prorsus alienum est. Jove. Qui qualis fuerit, sententiæ ad-, in longe plurimis iisque emendatissimis comodum variant. Sunt, qui illo indicari dicibus duæ voces divisim scripta existiment scriptum Amoritarum continens leguntur. Vocis 27 vero variæ sunt expliNonnulli putant nomen regis epinicia propter Sihonis victorias, ex quo cationes. Moses quæ sequuntur excerpserit. Librum Moabitarum, quem Sichon, Amoræorum rex, ab Amoræo conscriptum intelligendum esse, devicerit, et ex lubitu hunc locum ita supVir quidam et J. D. Michaëlis contendit hoc potissimum plent: Fakebum vicit Sichon. argumento motus, quod quum Moses contra doctus in Biblioth. Orient. Nova a J. D. Moabitas probare voluerit, fines eorum non Michaële edita p. vii., p. 111, Alexandrini ultra Arnonem extendi; huic consilio non interpretis interpungendi rationem sequutus, consentaneum fuisset, si verba excitasset e hune vs. sie vertit: quare legitur in libro scriptore Israelitico, cujus nulla apud Cana- (quo fortassis veterum canticorum syntagma næos auctoritas fuisset. Quum vero non aliquod designetur): Jova bella cum Vahebo, credibile sit, librum a scriptore exotico con- i. e., contra Vahebum, in Sufa, atque in Clericus nomen fectum, in quo bella Amoræos inter et valles ad Arnonem. Moabitas enarrata essent, librum bellorum proprium loci alicujus existimat, et quidem Jove inscriptum fuisse; idem Michaëlis con- ejusdem, qui infra vs. 18 2 vocatur, ubi jicit in Bibl. Orient. Nova, p. iii., p. 234, not. confer. Sane dubium vix est, ut hic esse verbum; nam pro a Ca-et is, ita et nanææis, uti adhuc a Syris, pronunciatum rentis, præpositum vero esse accusativi esse nomen loci aut tor |