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Numbers 17:6-8
New English Translation
Numbers 17:6-8
New English Translation
6 So Moses spoke to the Israelites, and each of their leaders gave him a staff, one for each leader,[a] according to their tribes[b]—twelve staffs; the staff of Aaron was among their staffs. 7 Then Moses placed the staffs before the Lord in the tent of the testimony.[c]
8 On the next day Moses went into the tent of the testimony—and[d] the staff of Aaron for the house of Levi had sprouted, and brought forth buds, and produced blossoms, and yielded almonds![e]
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Numbers 17:6 tn Heb “a rod for one leader, a rod for one leader.”
- Numbers 17:6 tn Heb “the house of their fathers.”
- Numbers 17:7 tn The name of the tent now attests to the centrality of the ark of the covenant. Instead of the “tent of meeting” (מוֹעֵד, moʿed) we now find the “the tent of the testimony” (הָעֵדֻת, haʿedut).
- Numbers 17:8 tn Here too the deictic particle (“and behold”) is added to draw attention to the sight in a vivid way.
- Numbers 17:8 sn There is no clear answer why the tribe of Levi had used an almond staff. The almond tree is one of the first to bud in the spring, and its white blossoms are a beautiful sign that winter is over. Its name became a name for “watcher”; Jeremiah plays on this name for God’s watching over his people (1:11-12).
New English Translation (NET)
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