Texts in Conversation
The Damascus Document in the Dead Sea Scrolls, and the writings of Philo interpret the “well” in Numbers 21 allegorically. For both the well becomes a symbol of the Torah, and for Philo, it also represents divine wisdom accessible to the virtuous.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
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;
CD 6:3
Damascus Document
Dead Sea Scrolls, Sectarian and Community Texts
2 God. But God remembered the covenant of the first ones, and he raised up from Aaron men of understanding, and from Israel 3 wise men, and he made them hear. And they dug the well: “The well that princes dug, that 4 the nobles of the people excavated with a staff.” The well is the Torah, and those who dug it are 5 the returnees of Israel who went out from the land of Judah and sojourned in the land of Damascus, 6 all of whom God called princes, for they sought him, and their renown was not 7 turned back by the mouth of anyone. And the staff is the interpreter of the Torah, of whom 8 Isaiah said, “He brings out a tool for his work.” And the nobles of the people are 9 those who come to excavate the well with the staffs that the staff decreed,
Philo, Allegorical Interpretation
Classical
wilderness, and the drought of the passions seizes it, until God sends forth the stream from His strong wisdom and quenches with unfailing health the thirst of the soul that had turned from Him. For the flinty rock is the wisdom of God, which He marked off from His powers as highest and chief, and from which He satisfies the thirsty souls that love God. And when they have been given water to drink, they are filled also with the manna, the most generic of substances, for the manna is called “somewhat,” and that suggests the summum genus. But the primal existence is God, and next to Him is the Word of God; all other things subsist in word only, and in their active effects some of them are as good as non-subsisting.
Date: 20–50 CE (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... The final, and perhaps most interesting, link in our discussion is supplied by the Damascus Document 6:3-4. It is written: "And they dug the well: 'the well which the princes dug, which the nobles of the people delved with the stave'. The well is the Law Not only does the writer quote Numbers 21:18, but he identifies the well as the law. This demonstrates that the covenanters had equated the well with the law and had related Numbers 21:18 to the task of Torah interpretation. While it cannot be established with certainty that this identification was known at an early date beyond the confines of the Qumran community, there are indications which suggest that it was. What we do know for certain, however, is that by Paul's day the connection between the well and the interpretation of the Torah was suggested, at least among the covenanters, by Numbers 21:18. And, as we have indicated, there is considerable evidence to show that the well and the rock had come to be associated in the language and imagery of Jewish tradition. Therefore, it is quite possible, even probable, that Paul was aware of a figurative connection or association between the rock from which water flowed and the Torah ..."
Aageson, James W.
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
(pp. 266-267) Mansfield College, the University of Oxford, 1983
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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