Numbers 17
17
The Budding of Aaron’s Staff
1 # 17:1 Verses 17:1-13 are numbered 17:16-28 in Hebrew text. Then the Lord said to Moses, 2“Tell the people of Israel to bring you twelve wooden staffs, one from each leader of Israel’s ancestral tribes, and inscribe each leader’s name on his staff. 3Inscribe Aaron’s name on the staff of the tribe of Levi, for there must be one staff for the leader of each ancestral tribe. 4Place these staffs in the Tabernacle in front of the Ark containing the tablets of the Covenant,#17:4 Hebrew in the Tent of Meeting before the Testimony. The Hebrew word for “testimony” refers to the terms of the Lord’s covenant with Israel as written on stone tablets, which were kept in the Ark, and also to the covenant itself. where I meet with you. 5Buds will sprout on the staff belonging to the man I choose. Then I will finally put an end to the people’s murmuring and complaining against you.”
6So Moses gave the instructions to the people of Israel, and each of the twelve tribal leaders, including Aaron, brought Moses a staff. 7Moses placed the staffs in the Lord’s presence in the Tabernacle of the Covenant.#17:7 Or Tabernacle of the Testimony; also in 17:8. 8When he went into the Tabernacle of the Covenant the next day, he found that Aaron’s staff, representing the tribe of Levi, had sprouted, budded, blossomed, and produced ripe almonds!
9When Moses brought all the staffs out from the Lord’s presence, he showed them to the people. Each man claimed his own staff. 10And the Lord said to Moses: “Place Aaron’s staff permanently before the Ark of the Covenant#17:10 Hebrew before the Testimony; see note on 17:4. to serve as a warning to rebels. This should put an end to their complaints against me and prevent any further deaths.” 11So Moses did as the Lord commanded him.
12Then the people of Israel said to Moses, “Look, we are doomed! We are dead! We are ruined! 13Everyone who even comes close to the Tabernacle of the Lord dies. Are we all doomed to die?”
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Numbers 17: NLT
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Numbers 17
17
The Budding of Aaron’s Staff
1#sn Num 17:1 in the English Bible is 17:16 in the Hebrew text (BHS). See also the note on 16:36. The Lord spoke to Moses: 2 “Speak to the Israelites, and receive from them a staff from each tribe,#tn Heb “receive from them a rod, a rod from the house of a father.” one from every tribal leader,#tn Heb “from every leader of them according to their fathers’ house.” 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.#tn Heb “one rod for the head of their fathers’ house.” 4 You must place them#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. in the tent of meeting before the ark of the covenant#tn The Hebrew text simply reads “the covenant” or “the testimony.” 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,#tn Heb “a rod for one leader, a rod for one leader.” according to their tribes#tn Heb “the house of their fathers.” – 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.#tn The name of the tent now attests to the centrality of the ark of the covenant. Instead of the “tent of meeting” (מוֹעֵד, mo’ed) we now find the “the tent of the testimony” (הָעֵדֻת, ha’edut).
8 On the next day Moses went into the tent of the testimony – and#tn Here too the deictic particle (“and behold”) is added to draw attention to the sight in a vivid way. the staff of Aaron for the house of Levi had sprouted, and brought forth buds, and produced blossoms, and yielded almonds!#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). 9 So Moses brought out all the staffs from before the Lord to all the Israelites. They looked at them,#tn The words “at them” are not in the Hebrew text, but they have been added in the translation for clarity. 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#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). before me, that they will not die.”#tn This is another final imperfect in a purpose clause. 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!#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). We perish, we all perish! 13 (17:28)#sn Num 17:13 in the English Bible is 17:28 in the Hebrew text (BHS). See also the note on 16:36. Anyone who even comes close to the tabernacle of the Lord will die! Are we all to die?”#tn The verse stresses the completeness of their death: “will we be consumed by dying” (הַאִם תַּמְנוּ לִגְוֹעַ, ha’im tamnu ligvoa’).
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