Wherefore it is said in the book of the wars of the LORD, What he did in the Red sea, and in the brooks of Arnon,
Wherefore it is said in the book of the wars of the Lord. A fragment or passage is here quoted from a historical poem, descriptive of the wars of the Israelites, principally with a view to decide the position of Arnon. Various opinions have been advanced respecting this book. Le Clerc, Grotius, and Dr. Patrick, instead of "book," render the original word, 'writing,' 'narrative;' so that, according to them, the passage should stand thus: 'Wherefore in the narration of the wars of the Lord,' etc.
Lightfoot supposes "the book of the wars of the Lord" to be that record which, on the defeat of the Amalekites, Moses was commanded to make as a memorial of it, and to rehearse it in the ears of Joshua (Exodus 17:14-16), with continuations for Joshua's private instructions toward the prosecution of the wars on the lawgiver's decease. Hengstenberg considers this work was of a much more comprehensive description, embracing a record of all that the Lord had done from the commencement of the plagues, which was a war against the king and the people and the gods of Egypt-the destruction of the Egyptian host at the Red Sea-the encounter with the Amalekites, the king of Arad, etc.
These victories, as they were achieved by the help of Yahweh, were celebrated in song, as Miriam's ode after the passage through, the Red Sea, (Exodus 15:1-27.) 'The triumph of the idea over the reality will always call forth poetry: and hence, there was opened a source of popular lyrical poetry, which flowed so richly even in the age of Moses that an entire collection of such songs then sprang into existence, called "the wars of the Lord." They re-echoed the impression which the Lord's dealings with His people were fitted to produce, but in a manner as different from the Psalms as the songs of Korner (or the war-song of Burns) differ from church songs' (Hengstenberg, 'Pentateuch,' vol. 2:, p. 182; also, 'Beitrage,' vol. 3:, p. 223; 'Psalms,' vol. 3:, Appendix 2:; Kurtz, 'History of the Old Covenant, vol. 3:, p. 37.
What he did in the Red sea, and in the brooks of Arnon, х 'et (H854) waaheeb (H2052) bª-Cuwpaah (H5492)]. This translation is open to several objections: How does the Red Sea come to be introduced among a number of geographical positions from which it was far distant? What did the Lord do at Arnon that could be compared with His miraculous performances at the Red Sea? The passage is obscure; and many solutions of the difficulties have been proposed. But without enumerating these, it may suffice to state that the one which appears preferable to all others assumes the first Hebrew word to be the name of a place, Waheb, in the Moabite territory, on the Arnon; and this place Le Clerc takes to be the same that is called (Numbers 21:18) Mattanah below. [Kimchi found the word in MSS. written 'etwªhab, which would be equivalent to the Hithpael of yaahab (H3051), Yahweh gave Himself in the whirlwind (Gesenius).] Hengstenberg renders the passage thus:
`Waheb (He took) in the storm And the streams of Arnon, And the lowland of the streams, Which turns to the dwelling of Ar, And leans upon (inclines to) the border of Moab.'
х Bªcuwpaah (H5492), in the (a) storm (cf. Nahum 1:3); wª'et (H853) hanªchaaliym (H5158), and at the streams (torrents).] This is a highly figurative description of the irresistible impetuosity with which the hosts of Israel, by the help of Yahweh, swept the country.