Numbers 21:16

Summary

The verse names the place "Beerah" (with directional sense "to Beer") and identifies it as "the well" about which Yehovah had spoken to Moses, instructing him to gather the people so that water could be given to them. The clause structure links a place-name to a specific well through a demonstrative pronoun, then reports Yehovah's earlier command in direct speech.

Key words

• mi.Sham ("from there", H8033G with H9006) — a prepositional adverb marking movement away from a previous location, connecting this verse to the itinerary context.
• be.'E.rah ("Beer", H0876G + directional he H9011) — the place-name carries the directional he suffix, giving the sense "to/toward Beer" rather than simple location "at Beer."
• hi' ("she/that", H1931) — a personal pronoun functioning as a copula-like demonstrative, identifying the place just named with "the well" that follows.
• 'e.Sof ("gather", H0622, qal imperative) — a direct command form addressed to Moses (masculine singular "you"), expressing an order rather than a request.
• 'e.te.Nah ("let me give", H5414G) — glossed as "let me give," this form expresses Yehovah's own intended action following the command to gather, syntactically parallel to the imperative that precedes it.

What the text says

The verse opens with u.mi.Sham ("and from there"), tying the statement to a prior movement, followed by be.'E.rah with the directional he, which indicates arrival "to Beer." The pronoun hi' ("she/that") then links this place to ha.be.'Er ("the well," H0875, definite), forming a nominal clause: "that [is] the well." This well is further specified by the relative clause introduced by 'a.Sher ("which/that," H0834A): "which Yehovah said to Moses." The verb 'a.Mar ("he said," H0559, qal perfect) marks this as a completed prior speech-act, meaning the well's name derives from something Yehovah had already spoken.

Within that reported speech, two verbal forms follow: 'e.Sof ("gather," qal imperative) instructs Moses directly, while 'e.te.Nah ("let me give") expresses Yehovah's own subsequent action once the people are gathered. The direct object marker 'et (H0853, untranslated) marks ha.'Am ("the people," H5971A) as the object of gathering, and the preposition-plus-suffix la.Hem ("to them," H9038) marks the recipients of the water (Ma.yim, H4325G, masculine plural).

Differences between versions

The Hebrew be.'E.rah with the directional he ("toward Beer") corresponds in the LXX to τὸ φρέαρ ("the well"), which does not render the place-name Beer as such but treats it as "the well" itself, differing from the Vulgate's puteus ("a well") and from translations like BSB, which restore "Beer" as a place-name ("they went on to Beer, the well"). The Hebrew 'e.te.Nah ("let me give") appears in the LXX as δώσω ("I will give") and in the Vulgate as dabo ("I will give"), both rendering it as a future statement rather than the cohortative-like nuance suggested by the Hebrew gloss.