Numbers 17

The LORD spoke to Moses. He said:

1And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

NoteIn Hebrew Bibles this passage is numbered 17:16–28, because Hebrew chapter 17 begins at what English versions call 16:36. Readers comparing editions will find the verse numbers offset.

2"Speak to the people of Israel. Take a staff from each of them, one for each family line. Take twelve staffs in all, one from each of their leaders, one for each family line. Write each man's name on his own staff.

2Speak unto the children of Israel, and take of every one of them a rod according to the house of their fathers, of all their princes according to the house of their fathers twelve rods: write thou every man’s name upon his rod.

NoteA staff here is not a walking stick but a mark of office: a cut and finished wooden rod carried by the head of a clan or tribe, like a mace or a badge of rank. The Hebrew word for it, *matteh*, also means "tribe", the same word does both jobs, so "twelve staffs" and "twelve tribes" are the same phrase in the original. "Family line" translates "father's house," a descent group traced through the male line.

3Write Aaron's name on the staff of Levi. There must be one staff for the head of each family line.

3And thou shalt write Aaron’s name upon the rod of Levi: for one rod shall be for the head of the house of their fathers.

NoteLevi was the tribe set apart for service at the sanctuary, and Aaron was its senior figure; his name goes on Levi's staff. This test follows the dispute in the previous chapter, where Korah and others challenged whether Aaron's family alone had the right to serve as priests.

4Put the staffs inside the tent of meeting, in front of the ark of the Testimony, where I meet with you.

4And thou shalt lay them up in the tabernacle of the congregation before the testimony, where I will meet with you.

Note"The Testimony" is the pair of inscribed stone tablets kept inside the ark, the gold-covered chest in the innermost room of the sanctuary; by extension the word can mean the ark itself. The tent of meeting was the portable sanctuary the people carried with them, so named because it was where God was said to meet with Moses.

5Here is what will happen. The staff of the man I choose will sprout. In this way I will put a stop to the complaining that the people of Israel keep aiming at you."

5And it shall come to pass, that the man’s rod, whom I shall choose, shall blossom: and I will make to cease from me the murmurings of the children of Israel, whereby they murmur against you.

6So Moses spoke to the people of Israel, and each of their leaders gave him a staff, one staff for each leader, one for each family line. There were twelve staffs in all, and Aaron's staff was among them.

6And Moses spake unto the children of Israel, and every one of their princes gave him a rod apiece, for each prince one, according to their fathers’ houses, even twelve rods: and the rod of Aaron was among their rods.

7Moses placed the staffs before the LORD in the tent that holds the Testimony.

7And Moses laid up the rods before the LORD in the tabernacle of witness.

Note"The tent that holds the Testimony" (KJV "tabernacle of witness") is the same structure called the tent of meeting in verse 4, the two names are used interchangeably.

8The next day Moses went into the tent that holds the Testimony. There he saw that Aaron's staff, the one for the family line of Levi, had sprouted. It had put out buds, opened into blossoms, and grown ripe almonds.

8And it came to pass, that on the morrow Moses went into the tabernacle of witness; and, behold, the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi was budded, and brought forth buds, and bloomed blossoms, and yielded almonds.

NoteThe almond is the first tree in the land to flower, blooming in late winter before its leaves appear. Budding, blossoming and ripening fruit are separate stages spread over months; all four stages appearing on a cut staff overnight is the point of the sign. The Hebrew word for almond, *shaqed*, sounds like the word for "watching" or "being alert," *shoqed*, a play used elsewhere in the Bible.

9Moses brought all the staffs out from before the LORD to all the people of Israel. They looked at them, and each man took his own staff.

9And Moses brought out all the rods from before the LORD unto all the children of Israel: and they looked, and took every man his rod.

10The LORD said to Moses, "Put Aaron's staff back in front of the Testimony. Keep it there as a warning sign for the rebels. This will end their complaining against me, so that they do not die."

10And the LORD said unto Moses, Bring Aaron’s rod again before the testimony, to be kept for a token against the rebels; and thou shalt quite take away their murmurings from me, that they die not.

Note"A warning sign" translates a word meaning a token or piece of evidence, something kept and produced later. The staff is to be stored permanently as physical proof, so the question does not have to be reopened.

11Moses did this. He did exactly what the LORD commanded him.

11And Moses did so: as the LORD commanded him, so did he.

12Then the people of Israel said to Moses, "Look at us! We are dying! We are lost! We are all lost!

12And the children of Israel spake unto Moses, saying, Behold, we die, we perish, we all perish.

NoteThe alarm comes straight out of the previous chapter, where a large number of people died after challenging who could approach the sanctuary. The Hebrew piles up the same verb three times for emphasis, which the King James renders "we die, we perish, we all perish."

13Anyone who comes near the tabernacle of the LORD dies. Are we all going to die?"

13Whosoever cometh any thing near unto the tabernacle of the LORD shall die: shall we be consumed with dying?

Note"Come near" is a technical term here for approaching the sanctuary to perform service at it, not simply walking past. Only priests could approach the holy objects, and Levites had their own limited access; for anyone else, encroaching carried a death penalty. The people are asking whether that rule leaves any of them safe.