Commentaire sur Les Nombres 21:18

באר חפרוה THE WELL, [PRINCES] DIGGED IT means: This is the well which the princes, Moses and Aaron, digged (cf. Targum Jonathan on).

UMIMIDBAR MATANAH.’ The meaning of this is as Onkelos rendered it [“and from the wilderness it was given to them”], this being an elliptical expression that is common in songs. Thus it is saying that “from the wilderness, which is a land of drought and thirst, was this gift [the well] given to us; and from this gift [of the well which descended] unto the brooks, and from these brooks [ascended] to the heights²⁷⁶Verse 19. until Pisgah, which looks down upon the land which is a complete howling wilderness²⁷⁷Deuteronomy 32:10. — Ramban here is thus explaining Verse 20 as well. — there was no other brook, nor any other spring of water except for this one.” This was the Well of Miriam in the opinion of our Rabbis,²⁷⁸Yerushalmi, Kethuboth XII, 3. See also above, Note 154. or a well which came out by word of Moses at the command of the Almighty, which Israel had not asked for. For when G-d told Moses, Gather the people together, and I will give them water,²⁷³Verse 16. streams overflowed²⁷⁹Psalms 78:20. from it [the well], and continued unto distant places.

באר חפרוה שרים, this well was not full to its brim such as wells which are filled by waters emptying into it from above.

שרים, a reference to Moses and Aaron.

באר חפרוה שרים, “a well dug by princes.” A reference to Moses and Aaron. The reason the Torah calls them by the title שרים and נדיבי העם, is because they used their staffs to dig the well. Seeing that the Torah (or the authors of the words of the song) equated Moses and Aaron by referring to them by the same titles, the Torah had to add the word במחקק, “through a lawgiver” (sing.) to teach us that after the death of Miriam the well became reactivated only through the merit of the lawgiver, i.e. Moses.

VV. 18-20. באר חפרוה, ist ja ein Brunnen, der nicht mit mechanischem Werkzeug von mechanischen Werkleuten gegraben worden. Fürsten und Edle des Volkes — Mosche וזקני העם (siehe Schmot daselbst) — hatten ihn mit dem geistigen Griffel ihrer Gesetzesstäbe geschaffen. Vom Choreb, dem Berge des Gesetzes, war er ihnen geworden (siehe daselbst). וממדבר מתנה, und nun ward er ihnen aus der Wüste zum zweitenmale geschenkt und ward zu einem Gottesstrom und begleitete sie Höhen hinan, Täler hinab, in das Moabfeldtal hinein und endlich einen Höhengipfel hinauf und schaut nun von dort auf den Wüstenplan hinab, den er durchwandert — dort, ראש הפסגה kam er zur Ruhe. Fortan bedurften sie des Wunderbrunnens nicht mehr. Sie betraten bewohntes Land und nahmen es in Besitz, wie sofort berichtet wird.

באר חפרהו שרים, “a well dug by princes.” This well was not like other wells in the Bible which had been dug by servants of slaves, as we know from Genesis 26,25, but it was especially honoured through having been dug by Moses, Aaron, as well as the elders of Israel.

The well dug by princes. In the period that they were in the Wilderness, and the well was next to the Tent of Meeting, the princes, i.e., the leaders, would dig somewhat deeply so that a river would flow to their tribe. And afterwards: The nobles of the nation excavated additionally, to make more rivulets, so there would be a lesser burden on the people. The kind hearted people of the nation would make small diggings extending from the large diggings to draw the water to their family.

חפרוה שרים, ”which the princes had dug;” the “princes” mentioned in this poetic song are Moses and Aaron, who had hit the rock. It was they that had been commanded to speak to the rock. (20,8)

במשענתם means WITH THE STAFF.

וממדבר מתנה, this phenomenon demonstrated that its waters originated in the miraculous waters flowing from the rock at Massah and Merivah.

וממדבר מתנה, according to the plain meaning of the text, these are all names of places the Israelites encountered in the course of their journeys and their encampments.

במחוקק במשענותם, “with their scepters and their staffs.” In other words, this well was not dug with ordinary tools like ordinary wells, but by employing a rod given Moses by G–d, something that had served as an instrument of producing miracles repeatedly in the past. This serves as proof, that G–d had never objected to Moses hitting the rock in chapter 20 at the waters of strife. Had He objected to that how could the people have rejoiced jubilantly over something that G–d had shown them that He objected to? According to some commentators the “lawgiver,” referred to here is not Hashem but Moses just as it is in Deuteronomy 33,21. Compare the Targum there.

במחוקק במשענותם, “with the scepter and with their staffs.” By striking the rock they made a deep impression on it, and split it. The expression מחק occurs in this sense in Ezekiel 8,10: מחוקה על הקיר, “depicted (engraved) over the whole wall.”

וממדבר מתנה AND FROM THE WILDERNESS was it given them [as a מתנה, a gift].

וממדבר מתנה, and from a place called Midbar to Matanah. This is a hint that the well just discussed was so powerful that it turned the surrounding desert area into “a gift.”

וממדבר מתנה, “and from the desert to Matanah.” This still refers to the previous phrase, i.e. ויחנו בעבר ארנון אשר במדבר, “they encamped in Ever, which is situated in the desert.”From this Ever in the desert which is identical with Almon divlataymah, they came to Matanah, which is identical with place a called Mount Haavarim in the portion of Massey (Numbers 33,47). The reason why the place was called Matanah, was that it was from here on in that the Israelites began to receive the gift of the land of Israel. The reason that the expression which we have so become used to, i.e. ויסעו ויחחנו, “they journeyed, they encamped,” is not used here, is that the people were still standing in Ever of Arnon in the desert as reported in the Book of Deuteronomy 2,26: ואשלח מלאכים ממדבר קדמות אל סיחון (Moses speaking) “I sent out messengers to Sichon from the desert k’deymot. i.e. from the desert to the east of his land, as opposed to: “from the desert to the south of his land.” In that chapter reference is made to the conquest of the lands of Sichon and Og.