The “Shirah/Song” written in Numbers 21:18 (“CHUKAT/Statute”)

SHABBAT SHALOM!

Numbers 21:17-18 Tree of Life Version (TLV)

¹⁷Then Israel sang this song,

“Spring up, O well! Sing about it!”
¹⁸The well the princes dug,
that the nobles of the people sank
with their scepter and their staffs.”

From the wilderness they went on to Mattanah.

Compare version:

Bamidbar 21:17-18 Orthodox Jewish Bible (OJB)

¹⁷Then Yisroel sang this shirah (song), Spring up, O well; sing ye unto it.

¹⁸The sarim (princes) dug the well, the nobles of the people dug it, by the direction of the Mechokek (Lawgiver), with their rods. And from the midbar they went to Mattanah;

Compare version:

Numbers 21:17-18 Complete Jewish Bible (CJB)

¹⁷Then Isra’el sang this song:

“Spring up, oh well!
Sing to the well
¹⁸sunk by the princes,
dug by the people’s leaders
with the scepter,
with their staffs!”

From the desert they went to Mattanah,

This is a difficult verse to understand and decode or breakdown but I will try to interpret it as follows:

The reference to the “well,”

In Numbers 21:18, I see YAHUSHUA HA MASHIACH as “the well” that is being called forth. The Israelites are being encouraged to sing Praises and Thanksgiving unto that same “well” because it is a source of life. Remember that water is a source of life. One can go without food for a long time and not survive but when given water for a long period of time, it sustains life!

The reference to “Princes,”

to me, implies the Children of the Judah (Tribe of Judah) as they were the Royal Tribe of Israel, however, it could also refer to all the various Leaders of Israel as appointed by Moses with the help of Jethro. At some point in the TORAH, these leaders were referred to as Princes.

Numbers 1:5-16 King James Version (KJV)

⁵And these are the names of the men that shall stand with you: of the tribe of Reuben; Elizur the son of Shedeur.

⁶Of Simeon; Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai.

⁷Of Judah; Nahshon the son of Amminadab.

⁸Of Issachar; Nethaneel the son of Zuar.

⁹Of Zebulun; Eliab the son of Helon.

¹⁰Of the children of Joseph: of Ephraim; Elishama the son of Ammihud: of Manasseh; Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur.

¹¹Of Benjamin; Abidan the son of Gideoni.

¹²Of Dan; Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai.

¹³Of Asher; Pagiel the son of Ocran.

¹⁴Of Gad; Eliasaph the son of Deuel.

¹⁵Of Naphtali; Ahira the son of Enan.

¹⁶These were the renowned of the congregation, princes of the tribes of their fathers, heads of thousands in Israel.

Also, see:

Numbers 32:1-2 King James Version (KJV)

32 Now the children of Reuben and the children of Gad had a very great multitude of cattle: and when they saw the land of Jazer, and the land of Gilead, that, behold, the place was a place for cattle;

²The children of Gad and the children of Reuben came and spake unto Moses, and to Eleazar the priest, and unto the princes of the congregation, saying,

I believe that the leaders could be people like Moses, Joshua, Deborah, etc or the Princes themselves.

The word “sceptres” reminds of the following:

Hebrews 1:7-9 Names of God Bible (NOG)

⁷God said about the angels,

“He makes his messengers winds.
He makes his servants flames of fire.”

⁸But God said about his Son,

    “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever.
        The scepter in your kingdom is a scepter for justice.
⁹    You have loved what is right and hated what is wrong.
        That is why God, your God,
            anointed you, rather than your companions, with the oil of joy.”

Psalm 45:5-7 Names of God Bible (NOG)

⁵Your arrows are sharp in the heart of the king’s enemies.
    Nations fall beneath you.
⁶Your throne, O Elohim, is forever and ever.
    The scepter in your kingdom is a scepter for justice.
⁷You have loved what is right and hated what is wrong.
    That is why Elohim, your Elohim, has anointed you,
        rather than your companions, with the oil of joy.

Additionally,

Genesis 49:10 Tree of Life Version (TLV)

¹⁰The scepter will not pass from Judah,
nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet,^[a]
until he to whom it belongs will come.
To him will be the obedience of the peoples.^[b]

Esther 5:1-2 Tree of Life Version (TLV)

Esther’s Request of the King

5 On the third day, Esther put on her royal apparel and stood in the inner court of the palace, in front of the king’s hall. The king was sitting on his royal throne in the hall, facing the entrance. ²When the king saw Queen Esther standing in the courtyard, she found favor in his eyes, so the king held out to Esther the golden scepter in his hand and Esther approached and touched the top of the scepter.

The word “sceptre” is associated with rulership and authority. This implies that the wells were dag with authority. It is possible that reference is being made to Judah here or the various Princes who were the heads of the various Tribes of Israel.

The “staffs” can also be called “rods.” They too imply authority. Remember that YAHUVEH GOD, The LORD Of Hosts” gave staff/rod to Adam to till the ground in the Garden of Eden. Adam left with that staff/rod and it was passed down the various generations accordingly until it eventually got to Moses. Since Moses’ death, the staff is nowhere to be found. it is possible that YAHUVEH GOD buried Moses with it or took it.

So, if Adam could use the staff/rod to dig the ground, then it is very much possible that the Children of Israel used staffs/rods to dig the ground for water.

YAHUSHUA HA MASHIACH came to earth as GOD incarnate into the Lineage of YAHudah/Judah. He was therefore a Judahite/Jew. He therefore carried Royalty blood within him in the earthly sense but also in the Heavenly sense.

YAHUSHUA HA MASHIACH says that,

John 4:4-15 Tree of Life Version (TLV)

⁴But He needed to pass through Samaria. ⁵So He comes to a Samaritan town called Shechem, near the plot of land that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. ^[a] ⁶Now Jacob’s well was there. So Yeshua, exhausted from the journey, was sitting by the well. It was midday.^[b]

⁷A Samaritan woman comes to draw water. “Give me a drink,” Yeshua tells her, ⁸for His disciples had gone away to the town to buy food.

⁹Then the Samaritan woman tells Him, “How is it that You, a Jew, ask me, a Samaritan woman, for a drink?” (For Jewish people don’t deal with Samaritans.)

¹⁰Yeshua replied to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who is saying to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.”

¹¹“Sir,” the woman tells Him, “You don’t have a bucket, and the well is deep. Then from where do You get this living water? ¹²You’re not greater than our father Jacob, are You? He gave us this well. He drank out of it himself, with his sons and his cattle.”

¹³Yeshua replied to her, “Everyone who drinks from this water will get thirsty again. ¹⁴But whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never be thirsty. The water that I give him will become a fountain of water within him, springing up to eternal life!”

¹⁵“Sir,” the woman tells Him, “give me this water, so I won’t get thirsty or have to come all the way here to draw water!”