Numbers 17

1 And the Lord spake to Moses, saying,

2 Speak thou to the sons of Israel, and take thou rods, by their kindreds, by each kindred one rod, take thou of all the princes of the lineages twelve rods; and thou shalt write the name of each lineage upon his rod; (Speak thou to the Israelites, and take thou staffs, from their kindreds, one staff from each kindred, yea, take thou twelve staffs from all the leaders, or all the chief men, of the tribes; and thou shalt write the name of each leader on his staff;)

3 soothly the name of Aaron shall be written in the lineage of Levi, and one rod shall contain all the families of Levi. (and Aaron's name shall be written on the staff of Levi; yea, one staff shall be for the head of each family.)

4 And thou shalt put those rods in the tabernacle of [the] bond of peace, before the witnessing, where I shall speak with thee; (And thou shalt put those staffs in the Tabernacle of the Covenant, before the Ark of the Witnessing, that is, the Box containing the tablets of the Law, where I speak with thee;)

5 the rod of him shall burgeon, whom I shall choose of them to the office of priesthood; and I shall thereby refrain, or quench, from me the complainings, or grouchings, of the sons of Israel, by which they grouch against you. (and the staff of him shall sprout, whom I shall choose out of them for the office, or for the duties, of the priesthood; and I shall thereby quench the complaints, or the grumblings, of the Israelites, by which they grumble against you.)

6 And Moses spake to the sons of Israel; and all the princes gave to him rods, by all their lineages; and the rods were twelve, without the rod of Aaron. (And Moses spoke to the Israelites; and each leader from each tribe gave him a staff; and so there were twelve staffs, and Aaron's staff was among them.)

7 And when Moses had put those rods before the Lord, in the tabernacle of witnessing, (And when Moses had put those staffs before the Lord, in the Tabernacle of the Witnessing,)

8 he went again in the day following, and found that the rod of Aaron, in the house of Levi, had burgeoned; and when [the] knops were great, the blossoms had broken out, which were alarged in (the) leaves, and were formed into almonds. (he went back on the following day, and found that Aaron's staff, for the house of Levi, had sprouted; and first the buds grew great, and then the blossoms broke out, and enlarged themselves amid the leaves, and then they were formed into almonds.)

9 Therefore Moses brought forth all the rods from the sight of the Lord to all the sons of Israel; and they saw, and received each his rod. (And so Moses brought out all the staffs from before the Lord to all the Israelites; and they looked at all of them, and then each man received back his own staff.)

10 And the Lord said to Moses, Bear thou again the rod of Aaron into the tabernacle of witnessing, that it be kept there into a token of the rebel sons of Israel, and that their complainings, or grouchings, cease from me, lest they die. (And the Lord said to Moses, Bring thou back Aaron's staff into the Tabernacle of the Witnessing, so that it can be kept there as a sign, or as a warning, to all the rebellious Israelites, so that their complaints, or their grumblings, cease, or else they shall die.)

11 And Moses did, as the Lord commanded.

12 Soothly the sons of Israel said to Moses, Lo! we be wasted, all we have perished; (And the Israelites said to Moses, Lo! we be destroyed, and we all shall perish;)

13 whoever nigheth to the tabernacle of the Lord, he dieth; whether we shall all be done away unto the death? (whoever cometh near to the Tabernacle of the Lord, he dieth; we all shall be done away unto death!)

Numbers 17 Commentary

Chapter 17

Twelve rods laid up before the Lord. (1-7) Aaron's rod buds, and is kept for a memorial. (8-13)

Verses 1-7 It is an instance of the grace of God, that, having wrought divers miracles to punish sin, he would work one more to prevent it. Twelve rods or staves were to be brought in. It is probable that they were the staves which the princes used as ensigns of their authority; old dry staves, that had no sap in them. They were to expect that the rod of the tribe, or prince, whom God chose to the priesthood, should bud and blossom. Moses did not object that the matter was sufficiently settled already; he did not undertake to determine it; but left the case before the Lord.

Verses 8-13 While all the other rods remained as they were. Aaron's rod became a living branch. In some places there were buds, in others blossoms, in others fruit, at the same time; all this was miraculous. Thus Aaron was manifested to be under the special blessing of Heaven. Fruitfulness is the best evidence of a Divine call; and the plants of God's setting, and the boughs cut off them, will flourish. This rod was preserved, to take away the murmurings of the people, that they might not die. The design of God, in all his providences, and in the memorials of them, is to take away sin. Christ was manifested to take away sin. Christ is expressly called a rod out of the stem of Jesse: little prospect was there, according to human views, that he should ever flourish. But the dry rod revived and blossomed to the confusion of his adversaries. The people cry, Behold, we die, we perish, we all perish! This was the language of a repining people, quarrelling with the judgments of God, which by their own pride and obstinacy they brought upon themselves. It is very wicked to fret against God when we are in affliction, and in our distress thus to trespass yet more. If we die, if we perish, it is of ourselves, and the blame will be upon our own heads. When God judges, he will overcome, and will oblige the most obstinate gainsayers to confess their folly. And how great are our mercies, that we have a clearer and a better dispensation, established upon better promises!

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO NUMBERS 17

In this chapter the priesthood of Aaron is further confirmed and established by the budding and blossom of his rod, as it lay among the princes of the several tribes, when theirs did not, Nu 17:1-9; which rod of Aaron was ordered to be laid up before the ark, as a token against the rebels, and to put an end to all murmurings against Aaron for the future; which was accordingly done, Nu 17:10,11; upon which the people expressed their fear of perishing because of their sins, Nu 17:12,13.