Commento su Numeri 21:14

על כן יאמר WHEREFORE IT IS SAID (more lit., about this it will be said) — About this encampment and the miracles that were wrought at it, it will be told בספר מלחמות ה׳ IN THE NARRATIVE (lit., THE BOOK) OF THE WARS OF THE LORD — whenever people narrate the miracles that were wrought for our fathers they will declare את והב.

The simple meaning of [the expression] in the book of the wars of the Eternal²⁵⁹Ibid.: Therefore it is said in the book of the wars of the Eternal. is that there were wise men in those generations who used to write down the history of great wars, for such was [the custom] in all generations. These authors were called moshlim (they that speak in parables),²⁶⁰Further, Verse 27. because they wrote in them [their books] by means of proverbs and figures of speech, and when there were victories which they considered wonderful, they ascribed those wars to G-d, to Whom they are in truth [to be attributed]. Now the victory of Sihon over Moab was marvellous in their eyes,²⁶¹See Psalms 118:23. therefore they wrote it down in a book, speaking of it in figurative language, Eth Vahev b’suphah etc.,²⁶²Verse 14. and writing about it in a proverb — Come ye to Heshbon etc.²⁶³Further, Verse 27. Now the name of one city of those that belonged to Moab was Vahev. And the pouring forth of the brooks²⁶⁴Verse 15. — [this refers to] the slope of the brook, because the streams [of water] flow down continuously from the slopes of Pisgah.²⁶⁵Deuteronomy 4:49. Similarly, in the hill-country, and in the lowland, and in the Arabah, and in ‘the slopes.’²⁶⁶Joshua 10:40. B’suphah,²⁶²Verse 14. [this word is] of [the root] ‘b’suphah’ (in the whirlwind) and in the storm.²⁶⁷Nahum 1:3. Thus when Sihon captured the cities of Moab, those who wrote in parables recorded in the book which they called “the Wars of the Eternal”: Eth Vahev b’suphah [meaning: “The city of Vahev He destroyed in a whirlwind”], or they wrote: “G-d warred against Vahev in a whirlwind.” And the slope of the brooks²⁶⁴Verse 15. which belonged to Arnon, and the downpour of the brooks that inclineth toward the seat of Ar,²⁶⁴Verse 15. and the slope that leaneth upon the border of Moab²⁶⁴Verse 15. — all these the Eternal destroyed in the whirlwind and in the storm,²⁶⁷Nahum 1:3. for Sihon came upon them [the Moabites] suddenly, his horses’ hoofs were counted like flint, and his wheels like a whirlwind.²⁶⁸Isaiah 5:28. Similarly those [who spoke in parables] said: For a fire is gone out from Heshbon, a flame from the city of Sihon etc.²⁶⁹Further, Verse 28. Thus Scripture is bringing a proof from the book of “the Wars [of the Eternal”] that Arnon is on the border of Moab, and was forbidden to Israel [to capture],²⁷⁰Deuteronomy 2:9. whereas the brooks and all the slopes as far as Arnon they were allowed [to take], for Sihon had captured from the king of Moab all his land until Arnon, but not Arnon itself. Thus Arnon remained part of Moab, and constituted its border, as it is written, And unto the Reubenites and unto the Gadites I gave from Gilead even unto the valley of Arnon, the middle of the valley for a border.²⁷¹Ibid., 3:16. And so also did Jephthah say, and they [the Israelites] pitched on the other side of the Arnon, but they came not within the border of Moab, for Arnon was the border of Moab.²⁷²Judges 11:18.

בספר מלחמות ה' את והב בסופה, [if I understand the author correctly he suggests that the waters of the rock at Massah Umerivah which he described as flowing upstream, anti gravity like, were the reason why Sichon did not attempt to oppose the Israelites at the time when they first entered territory which was under his sovereignty. Ed.] Some of these miraculous events are recorded in what are known as the book of G’d’s wars. Examples of such miracles were what happened here and how these waters described a turn returning to their origin, i.e. the well that originated at Massah and Merivah. The reason why the Torah is so vague about these miracles is out of consideration for Moses and Aaron. The reason for these miracles was only in order to demonstrate to the Israelites what kind of miracles they had not been shown because Moses and Aaron had decided not to speak to the rock at the time. The people only found out in retrospect that the waters which had come forth from that rock were not natural waters, subject to the laws of nature such as the laws of gravity. These waters also did not behave according to the laws of centrifugality, i.e. of instead displaying a tendency of flowing towards the center. This is why these waters ascended with the Jewish people in their journeys through mountainous regions. [I have summarised the author’s commentary on these verses in order for the reader not to lose track of the main thrust of this commentary. Ed.]