Numbers 17
New English Translation
The Budding of Aaron’s Staff
17 [a] The Lord spoke to Moses: 2 “Speak to the Israelites, and receive from them a staff from each tribe,[b] one from every tribal leader,[c] twelve staffs; you must write each man’s name on his staff. 3 You must write Aaron’s name on the staff of Levi; for one staff is for the head of every tribe.[d] 4 You must place them[e] in the tent of meeting before the ark of the covenant[f] where I meet with you. 5 And the staff of the man whom I choose will blossom; so I will rid myself of the complaints of the Israelites, which they murmur against you.”
6 So Moses spoke to the Israelites, and each of their leaders gave him a staff, one for each leader,[g] according to their tribes[h]—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.[i]
8 On the next day Moses went into the tent of the testimony—and[j] the staff of Aaron for the house of Levi had sprouted, and brought forth buds, and produced blossoms, and yielded almonds![k] 9 So Moses brought out all the staffs from before the Lord to all the Israelites. They looked at them,[l] 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[m] before me, that they will not die.”[n] 11 So Moses did as the Lord commanded him—this is what he did.
12 The Israelites said to Moses, “We are bound to die![o] We perish, we all perish! 13 (17:28)[p] Anyone who even comes close to the tabernacle of the Lord will die! Are we all to die?”[q]
Footnotes
- Numbers 17:1 sn Num 17:1 in the English Bible is 17:16 in the Hebrew text (BHS). See also the note on 16:36.
- Numbers 17:2 tn Heb “receive from them a rod, a rod from the house of a father.”
- Numbers 17:2 tn Heb “from every leader of them according to their fathers’ house.”
- Numbers 17:3 tn Heb “one rod for the head of their fathers’ house.”
- Numbers 17:4 tn The verb is the Hiphil perfect of נוּחַ (nuakh, “to rest”), and so “to set at rest, lay, place, put.” The form with the vav (ו) consecutive continues the instruction of the previous verse.
- Numbers 17:4 tn The Hebrew text simply reads “the covenant” or “the testimony.”
- 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).
- 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.
- Numbers 17:12 tn The use of הֵן (hen) and the perfect tense in the nuance of a prophetic perfect expresses their conviction that they were bound to die—it was certain (see GKC 312-13 §106.n).
- Numbers 17:13 sn Num 17:13 in the English Bible is 17:28 in the Hebrew text (BHS). See also the note on 16:36.
- Numbers 17:13 tn The verse stresses the completeness of their death: “will we be consumed by dying” (הַאִם תַּמְנוּ לִגְוֹעַ, haʾim tamnu ligvoaʿ).
Numbers 17
World English Bible
17 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to the children of Israel, and take rods from them, one for each fathers’ house, of all their princes according to their fathers’ houses, twelve rods. Write each man’s name on his rod. 3 You shall write Aaron’s name on Levi’s rod. There shall be one rod for each head of their fathers’ houses. 4 You shall lay them up in the Tent of Meeting before the covenant, where I meet with you. 5 It shall happen that the rod of the man whom I shall choose shall bud. I will make the murmurings of the children of Israel, which they murmur against you, cease from me.”
6 Moses spoke to the children of Israel; and all their princes gave him rods, for each prince one, according to their fathers’ houses, a total of twelve rods. Aaron’s rod was among their rods. 7 Moses laid up the rods before Yahweh in the Tent of the Testimony.
8 On the next day, Moses went into the Tent of the Testimony; and behold, Aaron’s rod for the house of Levi had sprouted, budded, produced blossoms, and bore ripe almonds. 9 Moses brought out all the rods from before Yahweh to all the children of Israel. They looked, and each man took his rod.
10 Yahweh said to Moses, “Put back the rod of Aaron before the covenant, to be kept for a token against the children of rebellion; that you may make an end of their complaining against me, that they not die.” 11 Moses did so. As Yahweh commanded him, so he did.
12 The children of Israel spoke to Moses, saying, “Behold, we perish! We are undone! We are all undone! 13 Everyone who keeps approaching Yahweh’s tabernacle, dies! Will we all perish?”
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