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Numbers

About this book
Chapter 21

1 When the Canaanite king of Arad who lived in the Negev heard that Israel was approaching along the road to Atharim, he fought against Israel and took some of them prisoner. 2 So Israel made a vow to the Lord and said, “If you will indeed deliver this people into our hand, then we will utterly destroy their cities.”⁠ 3 The Lord listened to the voice of Israel and delivered up the Canaanites, and they utterly destroyed them and their cities. So the name of the place was called Hormah.⁠ 4 Then they traveled from Mount Hor by the road to the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom, but the people became impatient along the way. 5 And the people spoke against God and against Moses, “Why have you brought us up from Egypt to die in the wilderness, for there is no bread or water, and we detest this worthless food.”⁠ 6 So the Lord sent venomous snakes among the people, and they bit the people; many people of Israel died.⁠ 7 Then the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you. Pray to the Lord that he would take away the snakes from us.” So Moses prayed for the people. 8 The Lord said to Moses, “Make a poisonous snake and set it on a pole. When anyone who is bitten looks at it, he will live.”⁠ 9 So Moses made a bronze snake and put it on a pole, so that if a snake had bitten someone, when he looked at the bronze snake he lived.⁠ 10 The Israelites traveled on and camped in Oboth. 11 Then they traveled on from Oboth and camped at Iye Abarim, in the wilderness that is before Moab on the eastern side. 12 From there they moved on and camped in the valley of Zered. 13 From there they moved on and camped on the other side of the Arnon, in the wilderness that extends from the regions of the Amorites, for Arnon is the border of Moab, between Moab and the Amorites. 14 This is why it is said in the Book of the Wars of the Lord,⁠ “Waheb in Suphah and the wadis, the Arnon 15 and the slope of the valleys that extends to the dwelling of Ar, and falls off at the border of Moab.” 16 And from there they traveled to Beer; that is the well where the Lord spoke to Moses, “Gather the people and I will give them water.” 17 Then Israel sang this song: “Spring up, O well, sing to it! 18 The well which the princes dug, which the leaders of the people opened with their scepters and their staffs.”⁠ And from the wilderness they traveled to Mattanah;⁠ 19 and from Mattanah to Nahaliel; and from Nahaliel to Bamoth; 20 and from Bamoth to the valley that is in the country of Moab, near the top of Pisgah, which overlooks the wastelands. 21 Then Israel sent messengers to King Sihon of the Amorites, saying, 22 “Let us pass through your land; we will not turn aside into the fields or into the vineyards, nor will we drink water from any well, but we will go along the King’s Highway until we pass your borders.” 23 But Sihon did not permit Israel to pass through his border; he gathered all his forces together and went out against Israel into the wilderness. When he came to Jahaz, he fought against Israel. 24 But the Israelites defeated him in battle and took possession of his land from the Arnon to the Jabbok, as far as the Ammonites, for the border of the Ammonites was strongly defended. 25 So Israel took all these cities; and Israel settled in all the cities of the Amorites, in Heshbon, and in all its villages. 26 For Heshbon was the city of King Sihon of the Amorites. Now he had fought against the former king of Moab and had taken all his land from his control, as far as the Arnon. 27 That is why those who speak in proverbs say, “Come to Heshbon, let it be built. Let the city of Sihon be established! 28 For fire went out from Heshbon, a flame from the city of Sihon. It has consumed Ar of Moab and the lords of the high places of Arnon. 29 Woe to you, Moab. You are ruined, O people of Chemosh!⁠ He has made his sons fugitives, and his daughters the prisoners of King Sihon of the Amorites. 30 We have overpowered them; Heshbon has perished as far as Dibon. We have shattered them as far as Nophah, which reaches to Medeba.”⁠ 31 So the Israelites lived in the land of the Amorites. 32 Moses sent spies to reconnoiter Jazer, and they captured its villages and dispossessed the Amorites who were there. 33 Then they turned and went up by the road to Bashan. And King Og of Bashan and all his forces marched out against them to do battle at Edrei. 34 And the Lord said to Moses, “Do not fear him, for I have delivered him and all his people and his land into your hand. You will do to him what you did to King Sihon of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon.” 35 So they defeated Og, his sons, and all his people, until there were no survivors, and they possessed his land.

Texts in conversation

Compare Exodus 17:6 and Numbers 20:8 and Numbers 21:18 and Numbers Rabbah 1:2

Hebrew Bible · Rabbinic

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Summary

Exodus and Numbers both describe Moses bringing water from a rock during the wilderness journey. Although the places differ, the repetition connects the moments, and Numbers Rabbah explains this by describing the rock or well traveling with Israel.

Passages

Exodus 17:6

Hebrew Bible
4 Then Moses cried out to the Lord, “What will I do with this people?—a little more and they will stone me!” 5 The Lord said to Moses, “Go over before the people; take with you some of the elders of Israel and take in your hand your staff with which you struck the Nile and go. 6 I will be standing before you there on the rock in Horeb, and you will strike the rock, and water will come out of it so that the people may drink.” And Moses did so in plain view of the elders of Israel. 7 He called the name of the place Massah and Meribah, because of the contending of the Israelites and because of their testing the Lord, saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?”
750–400 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Exodus

Numbers 20:8

Hebrew Bible
6 So Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly to the entrance to the tent of meeting. They then threw themselves down with their faces to the ground, and the glory of the Lord appeared to them. 7 Then the Lord spoke to Moses: 8 “Take the staff and assemble the community, you and Aaron your brother, and then speak to the rock before their eyes. It will pour forth its water, and you will bring water out of the rock for them, and so you will give the community and their beasts water to drink.” 9 So Moses took the staff from before the Lord, just as he commanded him. 10 Then Moses and Aaron gathered the community together in front of the rock, and he said to them, “Listen, you rebels, must we bring water out of this rock for you?” 11 Then Moses raised his hand, and struck the rock twice with his staff. And water came out abundantly. So the community drank, and their beasts drank too.
750–400 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Numbers

Numbers 21:18

Hebrew Bible
16 And from there they traveled to Beer; that is the well where the Lord spoke to Moses, “Gather the people and I will give them water.” 17 Then Israel sang this song: “Spring up, O well, sing to it! 18 The well which the princes dug, which the leaders of the people opened with their scepters and their staffs.” And from the wilderness they traveled to Mattanah; 19 and from Mattanah to Nahaliel; and from Nahaliel to Bamoth; 20 and from Bamoth to the valley that is in the country of Moab, near the top of Pisgah, which overlooks the wastelands.
750–400 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Numbers

Numbers Rabbah 1:2

Rabbinic · Aggadah
The manna was due to the merit of Moses. Know that it is due to the merit of Moses; when Moses departed, “The manna ceased on the following day” (Joshua 5:12). The clouds of glory were due to the merit of Aaron. From where do we derive it? When Aaron departed, what is written: “The spirit of the people became restive on the way” (Numbers 21:4), as the sun was beating down on them. The well was due to the merit of Miriam. What is written? “Miriam died there and was buried there” (Numbers 20:1). What is written thereafter? “There was no water for the congregation” (Numbers 20:2). Of what was the well constituted? It was a boulder. It was like a beehive, and it would roll and come with them on their journeys. When the banners would encamp and the Tabernacle would stand, that boulder would come and settle in the courtyard of the Tent of Meeting. The princes would stand over it and say: “Rise, well” (Numbers 21:17).
1200 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Numbers Rabbah

References

"... In Exodus 17:1-7, the people of Israel are encamped at Rephidim but there is no water for them to drink. Because of their thirst, the people grumble against Moses, and Moses calls out to God. He is instructed to strike the rock at Horeb, whereupon water will flow from the rock. Having done this and received the water, Moses names the place Massah and Meribah. In Numbers 20:1-13, a related story is recorded. On this occasion, the people of Israel are at Kadesh, but once again they are without water. Moses is instructed to tell the rock to bring forth its water. He strikes the rock with his rod and water comes forth; in the scriptural text, it is announced that these are the waters of Meribah. That the waters from the rock at both Rephidim and Kadesh are called Meribah has apparently suggested that water from the same rock is present in both places ... The image of the well or water following Israel in the wilderness appears to stem from Numbers 21:16-18 and in Midrash Rabbah on Numbers 1:1 it is written ..."
James W. Aageson, “Paul's Use of Scripture: A Comparative Study of Biblical Interpretation in Early Palestinian Judaism and the New Testament with Special Reference to Romans 9–11” (PhD diss., Mansfield College, the University of Oxford, 1983), 264–265.
"... According to the plain sense of the biblical text, the poem begins in Numbers 21:17 and ends with the words “with their staffs” in verse 18. The words “from the wilderness (they went on to) Mattanah” to the end of the passage (verses 18–20) are a prose list of stations on Israel’s journey. The rabbinic sages, however, unanimously interpreted the list as referring to the wandering of the well, as it accompanied the camp of Israel: “The well that was with Israel in the wilderness was similar to a rock ... ascending with them to the mountains and descending with them to the valleys.” ..."
Menahem Kister, “Allegorical Interpretations of Biblical Narratives in Rabbinic Literature, Philo, and Origen: Some Case Studies,” in New Approaches to the Study of Biblical Interpretation in Judaism of the Second Temple Period and in Early Christianity: Proceedings of the Eleventh International Symposium of the Orion Center for the Study of the Dead Sea Scrolls and Associated Literature, Jointly Sponsored by the Hebrew University Center for the Study of Christianity, 9–11 January, 2007, ed. Gary A. Anderson, Ruth A. Clements, and David Satran (Leiden: Brill, 2013), 133–183.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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Exodus 17:6 and Numbers 20:8 and Numbers 21:18 and Numbers Rabbah 1:2

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