Albert Barnes Commentary Numbers 21:17-18

"Then sang Israel this song: Spring up, O well; sing ye unto it: The well, which the princes digged, Which the nobles of the people delved, With the sceptre, [and] with their staves. And from the wilderness [they journeyed] to Mattanah;" — Numbers 21:17-18 (ASV)

This song, recognized by all authorities as dating from the earliest times, and apparently suggested by the fact that God in this place gave the people water not from the rock, but by commanding Moses to have a well dug, speaks of the glad zeal, joyful faith, and hearty cooperation among people of all ranks that filled them. In later times, it may well have been the water-drawing song of the young women of Israel (Numbers 21:18).

By the direction of the lawgiver — Some translate this as "with the lawgiver’s scepter"; that is, under the direction and with the authority of Moses; compare Genesis 49:10 and the accompanying note.