Numbers 21:17-19

New English Translation

¹⁷Then Israel sang^[a] this song:

“Spring up, O well, sing to it!
¹⁸The well which the princes^[b] dug,
which the leaders of the people opened
with their scepters and their staffs.”

And from the wilderness they traveled to Mattanah; ¹⁹and from Mattanah to Nahaliel; and from Nahaliel to Bamoth;

Numbers 21:17 tn After the adverb “then” the prefixed conjugation has the preterite force. For the archaic constructions, see D. N. Freedman, “Archaic Forms in Early Hebrew Poetry,” ZAW 72 (1960): 101-7. The poem shows all the marks of being ancient.
Numbers 21:18 sn The brief song is supposed to be an old workers’ song, and so the mention of leaders and princes is unusual. Some think they are given credit because they directed where the workers were to dig. The scepter and staff might have served some symbolic or divining custom.

New English Translation (NET)