Source layer behind the Book of the Wars of the Lord citation

This article describes an entity that is not directly attested as an extant recoverable work; it is inferred from source-citation traces and should not be read as ordinary documentation of a surviving text.

Epistemic status

Draft article. The source formula is directly visible in Numbers 21:14, but the source layer behind it is not extant and cannot yet be reconstructed in detail.

Summary

Numbers 21:14 invokes the Book of the Wars of the Lord as an external authority for a short war or itinerary notice. Inferpedia treats the recoverable object as a source layer behind that citation, not as a preserved book.

What is being inferred

The inferred entity is a written or archival source layer available to, or imagined by, the biblical compiler behind the Numbers citation. Its contents, date, and extent are not recoverable from the current evidence.

What is attested

The primary trace is the named source formula in Numbers 21:14. That trace supports the existence of a cited source title or source-memory, but not a full reconstruction.

Why infer this entity

A named external-source formula normally points beyond the immediate narrative voice. The citation is specific enough to warrant an Inferpedia draft, while still requiring a high reconstruction-dependence label.

Evidence ledger

• E1, Numbers 21:14: primary trace for a named Book of the Wars of the Lord citation.

Counterarguments

The formula may identify a small poetic extract or traditional citation rather than a stable book-like document. A future source-critical study could lower the specificity further.

Confidence scores

Direct attestation: 48. Existence warrant: 74. Specificity: 52. Reconstruction dependence: 82. Counterevidence: 18.

What would change the score

A source-critical treatment of the Numbers formula, manuscript evidence for variant wording, or a convincing account that the phrase is purely formulaic would change the warrant and specificity scores.