Paul Kretzmann Commentary - Numbers 17:1 - 17:5

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Paul Kretzmann Commentary - Numbers 17:1 - 17:5


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The Command Concerning the Rods

v. 1. And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

v. 2. Speak 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.
This was in accordance with the rule that the oldest son of a father's house, that is, of a patriarchate, within a tribe was considered a prince. For the member of each tribe that held this position one rod was to be chosen. These rods were small branches or twigs of trees that grew in the neighborhood, probably all, like that of Aaron, such as were taken from almond-trees.

v. 3. And thou shall write Aaron's name upon the rod of Levi,
for according to the rule Aaron was the prince of the tribe of Levi; for one rod shall be for the head of the house of their fathers. Since the tribe of Levi is here mentioned for the purposes of God's object, the chances are that Ephraim and Manasseh were in this case considered as one tribe, the tribe of Joseph.

v. 4. And thou shalt lay them, the rods, up in the Tabernacle of the Congregation before the testimony,
in the Most Holy Place, before the Ark of the Covenant, where I will meet with you.

v. 5. And it shall come to pass that the man's rod whom I shall choose shall blossom,
the Lord's aim being to counteract any further murmuring of the people against the priesthood of Aaron by this miracle; and I will make to cease from Me the murmurings of the children of Israel whereby they murmur against you. To increase the effect of the miracle Moses was carefully to guard against fraud by writing the name of each prince on the rod which represented his tribe.