The Song of the Well

Near the end of the wilderness journey, Israel came to Beer, the well where the LORD told Moses, 'Gather the people together, and I will give them water.' There the people sang a short work song: 'Spring up, O well; sing ye unto it.' They celebrated the princes and nobles who dug the well with their staves at the direction of the lawgiver. After years of complaining about thirst, Israel greeted God's provision of water with singing.

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Strongest connections in Scripture

Numbers 21

Key Passages

Spring Up, O Well

Numbers 21:16-18

Instead of murmuring for water, Israel sings as God provides it, a small sign of a people learning to trust.

A¹⁶nd from thence they went to Beer: that is the well whereof the LORD spake unto Moses, Gather the people together, and I will give them water.

¹⁷ Then Israel sang this song, Spring up, O well; sing ye unto it: ¹⁸ The princes digged the well, the nobles of the people digged it, by the direction of the lawgiver, with their staves. And from the wilderness they went to Mattanah: