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Numbers Chapter
Seventeen
New King James Version (NKJV)
INTRODUCTION TO NUMBERS 17
In
this chapter the priesthood of Aaron is further confirmed and established by
the budding and blossom of his rod, as it lay among the princes of the several
tribes, when theirs did not, Numbers 17:1; which
rod of Aaron was ordered to be laid up before the ark, as a token against the
rebels, and to put an end to all murmurings against Aaron for the future; which
was accordingly done, Numbers 17:10; upon
which the people expressed their fear of perishing because of their sins, Numbers 17:12.
Numbers 17:1 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
YLT
1And Jehovah speaketh unto
Moses, saying,
And the Lord spake unto Moses,.... After the plague
ceased, for the further confirmation of the priesthood in Aaron's family,
another method is directed to by the Lord:
saying: as follows.
Numbers 17:2 2 “Speak to
the children of Israel, and get from them a rod from each father’s house, all
their leaders according to their fathers’ houses—twelve rods. Write each man’s
name on his rod.
YLT
2`Speak unto the sons of
Israel, and take from them each a rod, for a father's house, from all their
princes, for the house of their fathers, twelve rods; the name of each thou
dost write on his rod,
Speak unto the children of Israel,.... The principal men
among them of the several tribes:
and take of everyone of them; not of every individual
of the people of Israel, but of their princes, as afterwards explained:
a rod, according to the house of their fathers; or
"father", of whom their house or tribe was called, as Reuben, Simeon,
&c. this rod was either a common walking staff, as some think, or rather
the ensign of their princely office and dignity, peculiar to each tribe; though
some think it was now freshly cut off from an almond tree, and that all the
rods were of one and the same tree; but supposing they were all of the almond
kind, as JosephusF4Antiqu. l. 4. c. 4. sect. 2. thinks, yet being
dry rods, and of long use, served to make the miracle appear the greater:
of all their princes, according to the house of their fathers,
twelve rods; this explains who they were to be taken of, the princes of the
several tribes, whose names are given, Numbers 1:5; and
the number of them twelve, according to the number of the twelve tribes:
write thou every man's name upon his rod; the name of
each prince, or head of a tribe, either by cutting it into the rod, or
fastening a writing to it, after the manner of those times; as, for instance,
the name of Elizur for the tribe of Reuben; by which it was to be made and was
made to appear, that to none of these tribes belonged the priesthood, but to
the tribe of Levi, and to none of that tribe but the family of Aaron; whereby
it should seem that some of all the tribes made pretensions to it, as being all
holy, and especially the chief firstborn of every tribe, as such their princes
were.
Numbers 17:3 3 And you shall write Aaron’s name on the rod of Levi.
For there shall be one rod for the head of each father’s house.
YLT
3and Aaron's name thou dost
write on the tribe of Levi; for one rod [is] for the head of their fathers'
house:
And thou shalt write Aaron's name upon the rod of Levi,.... Or upon
the rod that was for the tribe of Levi; the name of "Aaron" was to be
written, not the word "Levi", or a "Levite", as JosephusF5Antiqu.
l. 4. c. 4. sect. 2. ; for that would not have decided the controversy about
the priesthood, which chiefly lay between the Levites and the family of Aaron,
who were of the same tribe:
for one rod shall be for the head of the house of their
fathers; one rod for the head or prince of every tribe, every prince
representing his own tribe he was the head of, and the rod the prince; and
though the tribe of Levi was divided into two families, the family of the
priests, and the family of the Levites; yet, as Jarchi observes, they were but
one tribe, and so one rod for them, as for the other tribes.
Numbers 17:4 4 Then you
shall place them in the tabernacle of meeting before the Testimony, where I
meet with you.
YLT
4and thou hast placed them
in the tent of meeting, before the testimony, where I meet with you.
And thou shalt lay them up in the tabernacle of the congregation,.... In the
most holy place:
before the testimony; that is, the ark in
which the testimony or the law was; here they were laid as in the presence of
God, who was in a miraculous way to decide the controversy by them, and put an
end to it; for upon the ark was the mercy seat, over which were the cherubim,
the seat of the divine Majesty, and where none could come at them, and where no
fraud could be supposed to be committed:
where I will meet with you; not with the people in
person, who might not go at any time into the most holy place; nor with Aaron,
who only might go into it on the day of atonement; but with Moses, the chief
ruler and representative of the whole body of the people, and who might go in
there at any time, to consult with God about matters of moment and difficulty,
and where the Lord had said he would meet him, Exodus 25:22; and
now would, in a miraculous way, clearly show him, and the people of Israel by
him, who was the priest he had chosen of all the tribes.
Numbers 17:5 5 And it shall be that the rod of the man whom I
choose will blossom; thus I will rid Myself of the complaints of the children
of Israel, which they make against you.”
YLT
5`And it hath come to pass,
the man's rod on whom I fix doth flourish, and I have caused to cease from off
me the murmurings of the sons of Israel, which they are murmuring against you.'
And it shall come to pass, that the man's rod whom I shall choose,.... Or make
it manifest that he had chosen him, and so confirm the choice he had made of
him and his family, for the priesthood to be and continue in:
shall blossom; bud and blossom, and yield fruit, as it
afterwards did, which is here declared beforehand, that the miracle might
appear the greater, exactly answering to a prediction delivered out before of
it:
and I will make to cease from me the murmurings of the children of
Israel, whereby they murmur against you; against Moses for
setting up his brother as an high priest, and establishing the priesthood in
his family; and against Aaron for accepting of it, and officiating in it; but
by this method now taken, God would for ever silence their murmurings, so that
they should never be able, with any face, to object any more to the authority of
the Aaronic priesthood, which should appear by the predicted miracle beyond all
dispute and contradiction.
Numbers 17:6 6 So Moses spoke to the children of Israel, and each of
their leaders gave him a rod apiece, for each leader according to their fathers’
houses, twelve rods; and the rod of Aaron was among their rods.
YLT
6And Moses speaketh unto the
sons of Israel, and all their princes give unto him one rod for a prince, one
rod for a prince, for their fathers' house, twelve rods, and the rod of Aaron
[is] in the midst of their rods;
And Moses spake unto the children of Israel,.... What the
Lord had bid him say unto them concerning the rods, which they hearkened unto
and observed:
and everyone of their princes gave him a rod apiece, for each prince
one; every prince of the several tribes, and so a rod for every
tribe, as well as for each prince:
according to their father's houses, even twelve rods; there being
twelve tribes named after their fathers, or the patriarchs, the twelve sons of
Jacob; and Joseph having two tribes which sprung from him, called after his two
sons Ephraim and Manasseh, there were twelve rods besides that of Aaron; and so
the Vulgate Latin version renders the words with the next clause,"and
there were twelve rods besides the rod of Aaron;'in all thirteen; though the
Jews say there were but twelve with it, allowing but one rod for Joseph, under
whom were comprehended Ephraim and Manasseh, and reckoning the tribe of Levi
one of the twelve so Aben Ezra observes, that the rod of Levi was among the
twelve and Joseph had but one rod:
and the rod of Aaron was among their rods: in the middle
of them, and was so placed, as Jarchi thinks, that it might not be said,
because it was put on the side of the Shechinah or divine Majesty, therefore it
budded; but being in the middle of them there could be no difference in that
respect.
Numbers 17:7 7 And Moses placed the rods before the Lord in the tabernacle of witness.
YLT
7and Moses placeth the rods
before Jehovah, in the tent of the testimony.
And Moses laid up the rods before the Lord in the tabernacle of
witness. In that part of the tabernacle where the testimony or witness
was, that is, the law, which was in the ark, over which was the mercy seat,
with the cherubim between which Jehovah dwelt, and this was the most holy
place; and the rods being laid here, might be said to be laid before the Lord,
who, by making a difference in one of those rods from the rest, would decide
the controversy about the priesthood, which was the end of their being laid
before him.
Numbers 17:8 8 Now it came to pass on the next day that Moses went
into the tabernacle of witness, and behold, the rod of Aaron, of the house of
Levi, had sprouted and put forth buds, had produced blossoms and yielded ripe almonds.
YLT
8And it cometh to pass, on
the morrow, that Moses goeth in unto the tent of the testimony, and lo, the rod
of Aaron hath flourished for the house of Levi, and is bringing out
flourishing, and doth blossom blossoms, and doth produce almonds;
And it came to pass, that on the morrow Moses went into the
tabernacle of witness,.... Where none but he could go at any time; this was the day
after the rods had been placed there:
and, behold, the rod of Aaron, for the house of Levi; the rod that
had Aaron's name upon it, which was to represent the tribe of Levi, of which he
was:
was budded, and brought forth buds; knobs of blossom, such
that are seen on trees before they open; for the almond tree puts forth its
blossoms before its leaves; though the Targum of Jonathan renders it
"branches", as do some versions; and some think this is to be
understood of its putting out its leaves first, contrary to the nature of the
almond tree, and so makes the miracle the greater; thus Ben Melech:
and blossomed blossoms; open flowers or
blossoms, such as appear on the almond tree in the spring, and look very
beautiful:
and yielded almonds; ripe almonds, in their
full perfection, as the Targums of Jerusalem and Jonathan; the latter of which
is,"in the same night it perfected and brought forth almonds:'the word
used has the signification of weaning, and alludes to children grown up to some
ripeness and maturity, Genesis 21:8; the
case seems to be this, that in one part of the rod were buds, swelling and just
putting out, in another part open flowers quite blown, and in others full ripe
fruit: now this clearly showed it to be supernatural, since the almond tree,
though quick and early in its production of buds and flowers, yet never has
those and ripe fruit on it at the same time; to which may be added, that this
was not the time of year the almond tree blossoms; not the spring, but rather
autumn, as it should seem, since it was after the affair of the spies and the
murmurs of the people on their report; now it was the time of the first ripe
grapes, when they went into the land, and they were forty days searching it,
and it was after their return the insurrections before recorded were: the
design of this was to confirm the priesthood in Aaron's family, and show that
it would continue there, in a flourishing condition, and that there would be a
succession of priests from him to the time of the Messiah, as there were; and
the almond tree having its name in Hebrew from watchfulness and haste, see Jeremiah 1:11; may
denote the vigilance of the priests in their office, and the haste punishment
makes to come upon such that should oppose them, or usurp the priesthood, as in
the case of Uzziah; so Jarchi remarks: this rod of Aaron's may be an emblem of
the Gospel ministry of that rod that should come out of Zion, Psalm 110:2; which
in the eyes of men is mean and despicable, like a dry stick, but becomes a
fruitful one through the power of divine grace; and an almond tree rod may
denote the vigilance and watchfulness of Gospel ministers over themselves and
others, and their doctrine; and oftentimes whom God puts into the ministry he
early calls them by his grace, and frequently makes the first part of their
ministry most useful, and fruit is brought forth which remains: moreover, this
rod may be considered as a type of Christ; it being a dry rod or stick, may
denote the meanness of his descent and appearance in the world, and the
unpromising aspect of his being the King, Messiah, and Saviour of men; and being
an almond tree rod, may signify his speedy incarnation in the fulness of time,
which the Lord hastened; his being the firstborn, and his right to the
priesthood, and his vigilance in it; its lying among other rods, and budding,
and blossoming, and bringing forth fruit, may point at Christ's assuming the
common nature or man, his being cut off by death, his resurrection from the
dead, and the fruits arising from thence, justification, peace, pardon, and
eternal life; and as Aaron's priesthood was confirmed by the budding, &c.
of this rod, so the deity and Messiahship of Christ are, by his resurrection
from the dead; See Gill on Hebrews 9:4.
Numbers 17:9 9 Then Moses brought out all the rods from before the Lord to all the children of Israel; and they looked, and each man took
his rod.
YLT
9and Moses bringeth out all
the rods from before Jehovah, unto all the sons of Israel, and they look, and
take each his rod.
And Moses brought out all the rods from before the Lord, unto all
the children of Israel,.... He brought them out of the holy place, and showed them to
the princes of the several tribes:
and they looked, and took every man his rod; which they
knew by their names upon them; by their own handwriting, as Aben Ezra; for
though Moses is bid to write their names on them, Numbers 17:2; yet
no more may be meant by that than that he should order them to be written, and
take care that they were.
Numbers 17:10 10 And the Lord said to
Moses, “Bring Aaron’s rod back before the Testimony, to be kept as a sign
against the rebels, that you may put their complaints away from Me, lest they
die.”
YLT
10And Jehovah saith unto
Moses, `Put back the rod of Aaron, before the testimony, for a charge, for a
sign to the sons of rebellion, and thou dost remove their murmurings from off
me, and they do not die;'
And the Lord said unto Moses,.... After the rods had
been viewed, and every prince took his rod, and full satisfaction was given
that the priesthood belonged to Aaron, by the budding and blossoming of his
rod, when the rest remained as they were:
bring Aaron's rod again before the testimony; before the
ark, in which the testimony or law was; here it was placed and continued, but
how long cannot be said with certainty; no doubt for many ages; which increases
the wonder, that it should, as it probably did, continue with its buds,
blossoms, and fruit on it: the apostle speaks of it, as in the holy of holies,
with the ark, the pot of manna, and the tables of the covenant, Hebrews 9:4; the Jews
sayF6Kimchi in 2 Chron. xxxv. 3. Maimon. Hilchot. Beth Habechirah,
c. 4. sect. 1. , that when Josiah the king ordered the ark to be laid up in
that place which Solomon had built, that it might not be carried with the
captives into captivity, as it is said, 2 Chronicles 35:3,
"put the holy ark", &c. they hid with the ark the rod of Aaron,
and the pot of manna, and the anointing oil, and which were not in the second
temple; and they sayF7T. Hieros. Shekalim, c. 6. fol. 49. 3. ,
particularly of Aaron's rod, that at the time it was laid up by Josiah it had
its buds and almonds: now this was ordered to be put in the most holy place
before the ark:
to be kept for a token against the rebels; to be a token
of their sin and wickedness in rebelling against God, his ordinance and
ministers; which occasioned this miracle to be wrought, for the confirmation of
the priesthood in Aaron's family, which they opposed, and to be a caution to
others not to attempt anything against it for the future; so Christ and the
Gospel ministry will be swift witnesses against the opposers of him and that;
see Malachi 3:5,
and thou shalt quite take away their murmurings from me, that they
die not; quite silence all the murmurings of the people with respect to
the priesthood being so fully convinced by this miracle of the divine authority
Aaron and his family had to exercise the priestly office, and they only, and so
such destruction of the people be prevented as had been lately made.
Numbers 17:11 11 Thus did Moses; just as the Lord had commanded him, so he did.
YLT
11and Moses doth as Jehovah
hath commanded him; so he hath done.
And Moses did so; as the Lord commanded him, even so did he. Took Aaron's
rod, and laid it up before the ark for the purpose mentioned, being a faithful
servant to God in all his house.
Numbers 17:12 12 So the children of Israel spoke to Moses, saying,
“Surely we die, we perish, we all perish!
YLT
12And the sons of Israel
speak unto Moses, saying, `Lo, we have expired; we have perished; we have all
of us perished;
And the children of Israel spake unto Moses,.... The
princes of the tribes, who had seen the miracle of the rod, and knew that it
was laid up in the most holy place, and for what purpose, which gave them a
sensible concern: these, and as many as were acquainted with it, addressed
Moses upon it, as follows:
saying, behold, we die, we perish, we all perish; which being
expressed without the copulative, and in different words, show that they were
spoken quick and in haste, and discover the passion of mind and distress they
were in, and the sense they had of their sin and danger, fearing they should
all die and perish, as many had already; it has respect, as some think, to
punishments past and future, so the Targum of Jonathan,"some of us have
been consumed by flaming fire, and others of us have been swallowed up in the
earth and are lost, and, lo, we are accounted as if all of us would perish.'
Numbers 17:13 13 Whoever even comes near the tabernacle of the Lord must die. Shall we all utterly die?”
YLT
13any who is at all drawing
near unto the tabernacle of Jehovah dieth; have we not been consumed -- to
expire?'
Whosoever cometh anything near unto the tabernacle of the Lord
shall die,.... They who before were so bold and daring as to think the
priesthood was common to them with Aaron, or they had as good a right to it,
and might go into the sanctuary of the Lord where he did, are now so frightened
at the rod being laid up as a token against them, that they thought they must
not come near the tabernacle at all, and, if they did, would be in the utmost danger
of death:
shall we be consumed with dying? such violent deaths,
until there are none left of us? but the Syriac and Arabic versions render the
words affirmatively; we are near or about to be consumed; and so the Targum of
Onkelos, lo, we are to be consumed; which agrees best with the preceding
clause, for they would scarcely make a question of what they had affirmed.
──《John Gill’s
Exposition of the Bible》