12:13 Then Moses cried to the Lord, “Heal her now, O God.” 1
“Spring up, O well, sing to it!
24:23 Then he uttered this oracle:
“O, who will survive when God does this! 3
1 tc Some scholars emend אֵל (’el, “God”) to עַל(’al, “no”). The effect of this change may be seen in the NAB: “‘Please, not this! Pray, heal her!’”
2 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.
3 tc Because there is no parallel line, some have thought that it dropped out (see de Vaulx, Les Nombres, 296).