Font Size
Numbers 17:8-10
New English Translation
Numbers 17:8-10
New English Translation
8 On the next day Moses went into the tent of the testimony—and[a] the staff of Aaron for the house of Levi had sprouted, and brought forth buds, and produced blossoms, and yielded almonds![b] 9 So Moses brought out all the staffs from before the Lord to all the Israelites. They looked at them,[c] and each man took his staff.
The Memorial
10 The Lord said to Moses, “Bring Aaron’s staff back before the testimony to be preserved for a sign to the rebels, so that you may bring their murmurings to an end[d] before me, that they will not die.”[e]
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 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).
- Numbers 17:9 tn The words “at them” are not in the Hebrew text, but they have been added in the translation for clarity.
- Numbers 17:10 tn The verb means “to finish; to complete” and here “to bring to an end.” It is the imperfect following the imperative, and so introduces a purpose clause (as a final imperfect).
- Numbers 17:10 tn This is another final imperfect in a purpose clause.
New English Translation (NET)
NET Bible® copyright ©1996-2017 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://netbible.com All rights reserved.