OET interlinear NUM 21:18

uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / parallelism

חֲפָר֣וּ⁠הָ שָׂרִ֗ים כָּר֨וּ⁠הָ֙ נְדִיבֵ֣י הָ⁠עָ֔ם

[which]_they,dug_it princes [which]_they,dug_it nobles_of of,the_people

These two clauses mean basically the same thing. The second emphasizes the meaning of the first by repeating the same idea with different words. If it would be helpful to your readers, you could combine them and express the emphasis in another way. Alternate translation: [the princes and nobles of the people dug it]

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / ellipsis

וּ⁠מִ⁠מִּדְבָּ֖ר מַתָּנָֽה

and,from_[the],wilderness Mattānāh

The author is leaving out some of the words that in many languages a sentence would need in order to be complete. You can supply these words from the context if that would be clearer in your language. Alternate translation: [And from the wilderness they traveled to Mattanah]

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor

בְּאֵ֞ר חֲפָר֣וּ⁠הָ שָׂרִ֗ים כָּר֨וּ⁠הָ֙ נְדִיבֵ֣י הָ⁠עָ֔ם בִּ⁠מְחֹקֵ֖ק בְּ⁠מִשְׁעֲנֹתָ֑⁠ם

well [which]_they,dug_it princes [which]_they,dug_it nobles_of of,the_people with,a_ruler's_staff with,staffs_of,their

Here, the poet could mean that: (1) the princes and nobles authorized the digging of the well using their scepters and staffs. In this case, they do not dig the well themselves. Alternate translation: [A well, princes authorized its excavation, the nobles of the people authorized its construction; they authorized it with a scepter, with their staffs] (2) the princes and nobles dig at least part of the well themselves, using scepter and staffs. Alternate translation: [A well, princes excavated it themselves, the nobles of the people dug it themselves, using a scepter, using their staffs]