well that Abraham demanded back from Abimelech, king of the
Philistines, after the king's servants had violently taken it away.
But when Abimelech pretended not to know anything about it,
saying, "I wot not who hath done this thing," Abraham said: "Thou
and I will send sheep to the well, and he shall be declared the
rightful owner of the well, for whose sheep the water will spout
forth to water them. And," continued Abraham, "from that same
well shall the seventh generation after me, the wanderers in the
desert, draw their supply." [128]

This well was in the shape of a sieve-like rock, out of which water
gushes forth as from a spout. It followed them on all their
wanderings, up hill and down dale, and wherever they halted, it
halted, too, and it settled opposite the Tabernacle. Thereupon the
leaders of the twelve tribes would appear, each with his staff and
chant these words to the well, "Spring up, O well, sing ye unto it;
nobles of the people digged it by the direction of the lawgiver with
their staves." Then the water would gush forth from the depths of
the well, and shoot up high as pillars, then discharge itself into
great streams that were navigable, and on these rivers the Jews
sailed to the ocean, and hauled all the treasures of the world
therefrom. [129]

The different parts of the camp were separated by these rivers, so
that women, visiting each other, were obliged to make use of
ships. Then the water discharged itself beyond the encampment,
where it surrounded a great plain, in which grew every conceivable
kind of plant and tree; [130] and these trees, owing to the
miraculous water, daily bore fresh fruits. [131] This well brought
fragrant herbs with it, so that the women had no need of perfumes