This song, recognized by all authorities as dating from the earliest times, and suggested apparently by the fact that God in this place gave the people water not from the rock, but by commanding Moses to cause a well to be dug, bespeaks the glad zeal, the joyful faith, and the hearty cooperation among all ranks, which possessed the people. In after time it may well have been the water-drawing song of the maidens of Israel.
By the direction of the lawgiver - Some render, with the lawgiver’s scepter; i. e. under the direction and with the authority of Moses; compare Genesis 49:10, and note.