Add parallel Print Page Options

17 And Hashem spoke unto Moshe, saying,

(17:17) Speak unto the Bnei Yisroel, and take of every one of them a rod according to the Bais Av, of all their Nasiim according to the Bais of their Avot twelve rods; write thou every man’s shem upon his matteh (rod, staff).

(17:18) And thou shalt write shem Aharon upon the rod of Levi; for one rod shall be for the Rosh of the Bais of their Avot.

(17:19) And thou shalt lay them up in the Ohel Mo’ed before HaEdut, where I will meet with you there.

(17:20) And it shall come to pass, that the man’s rod, whom I shall choose, shall sprout; and I will rid Myself of the murmurings of the Bnei Yisroel, whereby they murmur against you.

(17:21) And Moshe spoke unto the Bnei Yisroel, and every one of their Nasiim gave him a rod apiece, for each nasi one, according to their Bais Avot, even twelve rods; and the rod of Aharon was among their rods.

(17:22) And Moshe laid up the rods before Hashem in the Ohel HaEdut.

(17:23) And it came to pass, that the next day Moshe entered into the Ohel HaEdut; and, hinei, the rod of Aharon for the Bais Levi was budded, and brought forth buds, and bloomed blossoms, and yielded almonds.

(17:24) And Moshe brought out all the rods from before Hashem unto Kol Bnei Yisroel; and they looked, and took every man his rod.

10 (17:25) And Hashem said unto Moshe, Bring Aharon’s rod again before HaEdut, to be kept for an ot (sign) against the rebels; and thou shalt quite put an end to their murmurings against Me, that they die not.

11 (17:26) And Moshe did so; as Hashem commanded him, so did he.

12 (17:27) And the Bnei Yisroel spoke unto Moshe, saying, See, we die, we perish, we will all perish.

13 (17:28) Whoever even encroaches upon the Mishkan Hashem shall die. Shall we be consumed with dying?

The Budding of Aaron’s Staff

17 [a]The Lord said to Moses, “Speak to the Israelites and get twelve staffs(A) from them, one from the leader of each of their ancestral tribes.(B) Write the name of each man on his staff. On the staff of Levi write Aaron’s name,(C) for there must be one staff for the head of each ancestral tribe. Place them in the tent of meeting(D) in front of the ark of the covenant law,(E) where I meet with you.(F) The staff belonging to the man I choose(G) will sprout,(H) and I will rid myself of this constant grumbling(I) against you by the Israelites.”

So Moses spoke to the Israelites, and their leaders gave him twelve staffs, one for the leader of each of their ancestral tribes, and Aaron’s staff was among them. Moses placed the staffs before the Lord in the tent of the covenant law.(J)

The next day Moses entered the tent(K) and saw that Aaron’s staff,(L) which represented the tribe of Levi, had not only sprouted but had budded, blossomed and produced almonds.(M) Then Moses brought out all the staffs(N) from the Lord’s presence to all the Israelites. They looked at them, and each of the leaders took his own staff.

10 The Lord said to Moses, “Put back Aaron’s staff(O) in front of the ark of the covenant law, to be kept as a sign to the rebellious.(P) This will put an end to their grumbling against me, so that they will not die.” 11 Moses did just as the Lord commanded him.

12 The Israelites said to Moses, “We will die! We are lost, we are all lost!(Q) 13 Anyone who even comes near the tabernacle of the Lord will die.(R) Are we all going to die?”

Footnotes

  1. Numbers 17:1 In Hebrew texts 17:1-13 is numbered 17:16-28.