Moses is instructed by God to have each Israelite tribe bring a rod or staff to the Tabernacle. The name of each tribe's leader is to be written on their rod. Aaron's rod, representing the tribe of Levi, is also brought. God declares that the rod of the tribe he has chosen for the priesthood will bud overnight while the others remain unchanged. This miracle is intended to put an end to the murmurings and disputes among the Israelites over which tribe should be given the priesthood. The next day, only Aaron's rod has budded, flowering almonds and confirming his tribe's role as the priests of Israel.

1. NUMBERS 17 COMMENTARY
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
The Budding of Aaron’s Staff
1 [a]The Lord said to Moses,
GILL, "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:
HENRY 1-5, "Here we have, I. Orders given for the bringing in of a rod for
every tribe (which was peculiarly significant, for the word here used for a
rod sometimes signifies a tribe, as particularly Num_34:13), that God by a
miracle, wrought on purpose, might make it known on whom he had
conferred the honour of the priesthood. 1. It seems then the priesthood was
a preferment worth seeking and striving for, even by the princes of the
tribes. It is an honour to the greatest of men to be employed in the service of
God. Yet perhaps these contended for it rather for the sake of the profit and
power that attended the office than for the sake of that in it which was
divine and sacred. 2. It seems likewise, after all that had been done to settle
this matter, there were those who would be ready upon any occasion to
contest it. They would not acquiesce in the divine appointment, but would
make an interest in opposition to it. They strive with God for the dominion;
and the question is whose will shall stand. God will rule, but Israel will not
be ruled; and this is the quarrel. 3. It is an instance of the grace of God that,
having wrought divers miracles to punish sin, he would work one more on
purpose to prevent it. God has effectually provided that the obstinate shall
be left inexcusable, and every mouth shall be stopped. Israel were very
prone to murmur both against God and against their governors. “Now,” said
God, “I will make to cease from me the murmurings of the children of
Israel, Num_17:5. If any thing will convince them, they shall be convinced;
and, if this will not convince them, nothing will.” This was to be to them, as
Christ said the sign of the prophet Jonas (that is, his own resurrection)
should be to the men of that generation, the highest proof of his mission
that should be given them. The directions are, (1.) That twelve rods or staves
should be brought in. It is probable that they were not now fresh cut out of a
tree, for then the miracle would not have been so great; but that they were
the staves which the princes ordinarily used as ensigns of their authority (of
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2. which we read Num_21:18), old dry staves, that had no sap in them, and it is
probable that they were all made of the almond-tree. It should seem they
were but twelve in all, with Aaron's, for, when Levi comes into the account,
Ephraim and Manasseh make but one, under the name of Joseph. (2.) That
the name of each prince should be written upon his rod, that every man
might know his own, and to prevent contests. Writing is often a good
preservative against strife, for what is written may be appealed to. (3.) That
they should be laid up in the tabernacle, for one night, before the testimony,
that is, before the ark, which, with its mercy seat, was a symbol, token, or
testimony, of God's presence with them. (4.) They were to expect, being told
it before, that the rod of the tribe, or prince, whom God chose to the
priesthood, should bud and blossom, Num_17:5. It was requisite that they
should be told of it, that it might appear not to be casual, but according to
the counsel and will of God.
K&D 1-5, ". The outcry of the people hereupon (Num_17:12, Num_17:13):
Behold, we die, we perish, we all perish. Shall we be consumed with dying?
This may be considered as the language either, 1. Of a repining people
quarrelling with the judgments of God, which, by their own pride and
obstinacy, they had brought upon themselves. They seem to speak
despairingly, as if God was a hard Master, that sought advantage against
them, and took all occasions to pick quarrels with them, so that if they trod
every so little awry, if they stepped ever so little beyond their bounds, they
must die, they must perish, they must all perish, basely insinuating that God
would never be satisfied with their blood and ruin, till he had made an end
of them all and they were consumed with dying. Thus they seem to be like a
wild bull in a net, full of the fury of the Lord (Isa_51:20), fretting that God
was too hard for them and that they were forced to submit, which they did
only because they could not help it. Note, It is a very wicked thing to fret
against God when we are in affliction, and in our distress thus to trespass
yet more. If we die, if we perish, it is owing to ourselves, and the blame will
lie upon our own heads. Or, 2. Of a repenting people. Many interpreters
take it as expressing their submission: “Now we see that it is the will of God
we should keep our distance, and that it is at our peril if we draw nearer
than is appointed. We submit to the divine will in this appointment; we will
not contend any more, lest we all perish:” and they engage Moses to
intercede for them, that they may not be all consumed with dying. Thus the
point was gained, and in this matter God quite took away their murmurings,
and henceforward they acquiesced. Note, When God judges he will
overcome, and, one way or other, will oblige the most obstinate gainsayers
to confess their folly sooner or later, and that wherein they dealt proudly he
was above them. Vicisti Galilaee - O Galilaean, thou hast conquered!
CALVIN, "Verse 1
1.And the Lord spoke unto Moses. Howsoever stubborn the Israelites might be, yet
their hardness of heart being now subdued, and their pride broken down, they
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3. ought to have acknowledged the authority of the priesthood, and to have perpetually
held it in pious reverence. But it is plain from the confirmation of it, which is now
added, that they were not yet thoroughly overcome. For God never appoints
anything in vain; the remedy, therefore, was necessary, that He now applied to that
disease of obstinacy which He perceived still to maintain its secret hold upon their
hearts. Herein we also behold His inestimable goodness, when He not only had
regard to the relief of their infirmity, but even struggled with their depravity and
perverseness, in order to restore them to their senses. In the same way also He now
deals with us, for he not only strengthens the weakness of our faith by many aids,
but He puts constraint upon our light and inconstant minds, and retains us in the
path of duty though we strive against Him. He likewise anticipates our willfulness,
so as to keep us from growing presumptuous, or rouses us up when we are disposed
to be slothful. In fact, his our business so to apply to our use whatever helps to faith
and piety He sets before us, as to be assured that they are so many pieces of evidence
to convict us of unbelief Although, therefore, the majesty of the priesthood had been
already sufficiently, and more than sufficiently established, still God saw float in the
extreme perversity of the people there would be no end to their murmurs and
rebellions, unless the final ratification were added, and that, too, in a season of
repose, inasmuch as, whilst the sedition was in progress, they were not so disposed
and ready to learn. By this confirmation, then, He set aside whatever doubts could
at any time arise, when Aaron’s rod, severed as it was from the tree, was the only
one of the twelve which blossomed. For it was no natural circumstance that a
branch which derived no sap from the root, and which at that season of the year
would have been dry upon the tree, should produce flowers and fruit, when it was
east before the Ark of the Covenant, whilst the others, although altogether similar,
remained dry and dead.
COFFMAN, ""And Jehovah spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of
Israel, and take of them rods, one for each father's house, of all their princes
according to their father's houses, twelve rods: write thou every man's name upon
his rod. And thou shalt write Aaron's name upon the rod of Levi; for there shall be
one rod for each head of their fathers' houses. And thou shalt lay them up in the
tent of meeting before the testimony, where I meet with you. And it shall come to
pass, that the rod of the man whom I shall choose shall bud: and I will make to cease
from me the murmurings of the children of Israel, which they murmur against you.
And Moses spake unto the children of Israel; and all their princes gave him rods,
for each prince one, according to their fathers' houses, even twelve rods: and the rod
of Aaron was among their rods. And Moses laid up the rods before Jehovah in the
tent of the testimony."
"Rods ..." mentioned extensively here, to all intents and purposes were walking
canes, exactly the type of staff that men of all generations have carried. It was the
rod of Moses that became the "Rod of God" to lead Israel out of slavery, and the
test proposed here, coming of God Himself, was exactly the type of thing that could
have decided forever the question of WHERE the priesthood of Israel was to be
centered.
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4. We are not at all impressed by the so-called "examples" cited by the critics
comparing this to such fables as that of Hercules, whose club of wild olive wood was
leaned up against the statue of the god Hermes, promptly sprouted and has been
growing ever since,[1] or to that of Joseph of Arimathea's stick which was placed in
the ground of Weary-All hill, and became the remarkable thorn of Glastonbury.[2]
Plutarch has a similar yarn regarding the spear of Romulus, the legendary founder
of Rome.[3] Such things only show that the impressive truth of this narrative in
Numbers resulted in the invention of similar tales by the pagans and by some
superstitious Christians of later ages.
Ancient literature, indeed all ancient civilizations, placed a remarkable weight of
significance upon "the staff." Homer, for example, gave an account of the oath
sworn by Achilles in his rage against Agamemnon in these words:
But hearken: I swear a solemn oath;
By this same sceptre which shall never bud,
Nor boughs bring forth as once; which having left
Its parent on the mountain top, what time
The woodman lopped off its foliage green,
And stripped its bark, shall never grow again.[4]
Sceptres, or staves, or walking sticks, were considered to be of the greatest
importance. "Kings swore by them,"[5] and Judah was condemned by Tamar, using
his "staff" as invincible proof (Genesis 38:18). Esther touched only the sceptre of
King Ahasuerus, but it saved her life (Esther 4:11). The Holy Messiah was identified
by Zechariah as the one, above all others, who would have both a rod, and a staff, a
thought also echoed in the Shepherd Psalm, "Thy rod and thy staff they comfort
me" (Psalms 23:4) The ancient authority and symbolism of the rod are still evident
today in that impressive remnant of it called The Mace, by which Parliament itself is
opened in London, and by the symbolical Sceptres belonging to the regalia of
royalty in all ages. Today, one may see the Sceptre of the English monarch in the
Tower of London.
Thus, it was no ordinary rod that each prince of Israel brought to Moses. The
symbolical authority and concurrence of all of them in the test was thus achieved.
EBC, "A widespread rebellion, an organised rebellion, not homogeneous, but with
many elements in it tending to utter confusion, is what we see. Suppose it to have
succeeded, the unity of worship would have been destroyed completely. Each tribe
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5. with its own cultus would have gone its own way so far as religion was concerned. In
a very short time there would have been as many debased cults as there were
wandering companies. Then the claim of autonomy, if not of right to lead the tribes,
made on behalf of Reuben, involved a further danger. Moses had not only the
sagacity but the inspiration which ought to have commanded obedience. The princes
of Reuben had neither. Whether all under the lead of Reuben or each tribe led by its
own princes, the Israelites would have travelled to disaster. Futile attempts at
conquest, strife or alliance with neighbouring peoples, internal dissension, would
have worn the tribes piecemeal away. The dictatorship of Moses, the Aaronic
priesthood, and the unity of worship stood or fell together. One of the three
removed, the others would have given way. But the revolutionary spirit, springing
out of ambition and a disaffection for which there was no excuse, was blind to
consequences. And the stern suppression of this revolt, at whatever cost, was
absolutely needful if there was to be any future for Israel.
It has been supposed that we have in this rebellion of Korah the first example of
ecclesiastical dissension, and that the punishment is a warning to all who
presumptuously intrude into the priestly office. Laymen take the censer; and the
fire of the Lord burns them up. So, let not laymen, at any time in the Church’s
history, venture to touch the sacred mysteries. If ritual and sacramentarian miracle
were the heart of religion; if there could be no worship of God and no salvation for
men now unless through a consecrated priesthood, this might be said. But the old
covenant, with its symbols and shadows, has been superseded. We have another
censer now, another tabernacle, another way which has been consecrated for ever
by the sacrifice of Christ, a way into the holiest of all open to every believer. Our
unity does not depend on the priesthood of men, but on the universal and eternal
priesthood of Christ. The co-operation of Aaron as priest was needful to Moses, not
that his power might be maintained for his own sake, but that he might have
authority over the host for Israel’s sake. It was not the dignity of an order or of a
man that was at stake, but the very existence of religion and of the nation. This bond
snapped at any point, the tribes would have been scattered and lost.
A leader of men, standing above them for their temporal interests, can rarely take
upon him to be the instrument of administering the penalty of their sins. What king,
for instance, ever invoked an interdict on his own people, or in his own right of
judging for God condemned them to pay a tax to the Church, because they had done
what was morally wrong? Rulers generally have regarded disobedience to
themselves as the only crime it was worth their while to punish. When Moses stood
against the faithless spirit of the Israelites and issued orders by way of punishing
that bad spirit, he certainly put his authority to a tremendous test. Without a sure
ground of confidence in Divine support, he would have been foolhardy in the
extreme. And we are not surprised that the coalition against him represented many
causes of discontent. Under his administration the long sojourn in the desert had
been decreed, and a whole generation deprived of what they held their right-a
settlement in Canaan. He appeared to be tyrannising over the tribes; and proud
Reubenites sought to put an end to his rule. The priesthood was his creation, and
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6. seemed to be made exclusive simply that through Aaron he might have a firmer hold
of the people’s liberties. Why was the old prerogative of the headmen in religious-
matters taken from them? They would reclaim their rights. Neither Levi nor
Reuben should be denied its priestly autonomy any longer. In the whole rebellion
there was one spirit, but there were also divided counsels; and Moses showed his
wisdom by taking the revolt not as a single movement, but part by part.
First he met the Levites, with Korah at their head, professing great zeal for the
principle that all the congregation were holy, every one of them. A claim made on
that ground could not be disproved by argument, perhaps, although the holiness of
the congregation was evidently an ideal, not a fact. Jehovah Himself would have to
decide. Yet Moses remonstrated in a way that was fitted to move the Levites, and
perhaps did touch some of them. They had been honoured by God in having a
certain holy office assigned to them. Were they to renounce it in joining a revolt
which would make the very priesthood they desired common to all the tribes? From
Jehovah Himself the Levites had their commission. It was against Jehovah they
were fighting; and how could they speed? They spoke of Aaron and his dignity. But
what was Aaron? Only a servant of God and of the people, a man who personally
assumed no great airs. By this appeal some would seem to have been detached from
the rebellion, for in Numbers 26:9-11, when the judgment of Korah and his
company is referred to, it is added, "Notwithstanding the children of Korah died
not." From 1 Chronicles 6:1-81 we learn that in the line of Korah’s descendants
appeared certain makers and leaders of sacred song, Heman among them, one of
David’s singers, to whom Psalms 88:1-18, is ascribed.
With the Reubenites Moses deals in the next place, taking their cause of discontent
by itself. Already one of the three Reubenite chiefs had withdrawn, and Dathan and
Abiram stood by themselves. Refusing to obey the call of Moses to a conference, they
stated their grievance roughly by the mouth of a messenger; and Moses could only
with indignation express before God his blamelessness in regard to them: "I have
not taken one ass from them, neither have I hurt one of them." Neither for his own
enrichment, nor in personal ambition had he acted. Could they maintain, did the
people think, that the present revolt was equally disinterested? Under cover of
opposition to tyranny, are they not desiring to play the part of tyrants and
aggrandise themselves at the expense of the people?
It is singular that not a word is said in special condemnation of the two hundred and
fifty because they were in possession of censers and incense. May it be the case that
the complete reservation of the high-priestly duties to the house of Aaron had not as
yet taken effect, that it was a purpose rather than a fact? May it not further be the
case that the rebellion partly took form and ripened because an order had been
given withdrawing the use of censers from the headmen of the tribes? If there had
as yet been a certain temporary allowance of the tribal priesthood and ritual, we
should not have to ask how incense and censers were in the hands of the two
hundred and fifty, and why the brass of their vessels was held to be sacred and put
to holy use.
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7. The prayer of Moses in which he interceded for the people, Numbers 16:22 is
marked by an expression of singular breadth, "O God, the God of the spirits of all
flesh." The men, misled on the fleshly side by appetite (Numbers 16:13), and
shrinking from pain, were against God. But their spirits were in His hand. Would
He not move their spirits, redeem and save them? Would He not look on the hearts
of all and distinguish the guilty from the innocent, the more rebellious from the less?
One man had sinned, but would God burst out on the whole congregation? The
form of the intercession is abrupt, crude. Even Moses with all his justice and all his
pity could not be more just, more compassionate, than Jehovah. The purpose of
destruction was not as. the leader thought it to be.
Regarding the judgments, that of the earthquake and that of the fire, we are too
remote in time to form any proper conception of what they were, how they were
inflicted. "Moses," says Lange, "appears as a man whose wonderful presentiment
becomes a miraculous prophecy by the Spirit of revelation." But this is not
sufficient. There was more than a presentiment. Moses knew what was coming,
knew that where the rebels stood the earth would open, the consuming fire burn.
The plague, on the other hand, which next day spread rapidly among the excited
people and threatened to destroy them, was not foreseen. It came as if straight from
the hand of Divine wrath. But it afforded an opportunity for Aaron to prove his
power with God and his courage. Carrying the sacred fire into the midst of the
infected people he became the means of their deliverance. As he waved his censer,
and its fumes went up to heaven, faith in Jehovah and in Aaron as the true priest of
Jehovah was revived in the hearts of men. Their spirits came again under the
healing power of that symbolism which had lost its virtue in common use, and was
now associated in a grave crisis with an appeal to Him who smites and heals, who
kills and makes alive.
It has been maintained by some that the closing sentences of chapter 17 should
follow chapter 16 with which they appear to be closely connected, the incident of the
budding of Aaron’s rod seeming to call rather for a festal celebration than a lament.
The theory of the Book of Numbers we have seen reason to adopt would account for
the introduction of the fresh episode, simply because it relates to the priesthood and
tends to confirm the Aaronites in exclusive dignity. The symbolic test of the claim
raised by the tribes corresponds closely to the signs that were used by some of the
prophets, such as the girdle laid up by the river Euphrates, and the basket of
summer fruits. The rod on which Aaron’s name was written was of almond, a tree
for which Syria was famous. Like the sloe it sends forth blossoms before the leaves;
and the unique way in which this twig showed its living vigour as compared with the
others was a token of the choice of Levi to serve and Aaron to minister in the holiest
office before Jehovah.
The whole circumstances, and the closing cry of the people, leave the impression of a
grave difficulty found in establishing the hierarchy and. centralising the worship. It
was a necessity-shall we call it a sad necessity?-that the men of the tribes should be
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8. deprived of direct access to the sanctuary and the oracle. Earthly, disobedient, and
far from trustful in God, they could not be allowed, even the hereditary chiefs
among them, to offer sacrifices. The ideas of the Divine holiness embodied in the
Mosaic law were so far in advance of the common thought of Israel, that the old
order had to be superseded by one fitted to promote the spiritual education of the
people, and prepare them for a time when there shall be "on the bells of the horses,
HOLY UNTO THE LORD and every pot in Judah shall be holy unto the Lord of
hosts, and all they that sacrifice shall come and take of them and seethe therein."
The institution of the Aaronic priesthood was a step of progress indispensable to the
security of religion and the brotherhood of the tribes in that high sense for which
they were made a nation. But it was at the same time a confession that Israel was not
spiritual, was not the holy congregation Korah declared it to be. The greater was the
pity that afterwards in the day of Israel’s opportunity, when Christ came to lead the
whole.people into the spiritual liberty and grace for which prophets had longed, the
priestly system was held tenaciously as the pride of the nation. When the law of
ritual and sacrifice and priestly mediation should have been left behind as no longer
necessary because the Messiah had come, the way of higher life was opened in vain.
Sacerdotalism held its place with full consent of those who guided affairs. Israel as a
nation was blinded, and its day shone in vain.
Of all priesthoods as corporate bodies, however estimable, zealous, and spiritually-
minded individual members of them may be, must it not be said that their existence
is a sad necessity? They may be educative. A sacerdotal system now may, like that of
the Mosaic law, be a tutor to bring men to Christ. Realising that, those who hold
office under it may bring help to men not yet fit for liberty. But priestly dominance
is no perpetual rule in any church, certainly not in the Kingdom of God. The
freedom with which Christ makes men free is the goal. The highest duty a priest can
fulfil is to prepare men for that liberty; and as soon as he can he should discharge
them for the enjoyment of it. To find in episodes like those of Korah’s revolt and its
suppression a rule applicable to modern religious affairs is too great an
anachronism. For whatever right sacerdotalism now has is purely of the Church’s
tolerance, in the measure not of Divine right, but of the need of uninstructed men.
To the spiritual, to those who know, the priestly system with its symbols and
authoritative claim is but an interference with privilege and duty.
Can any Aaron now make an atonement for a mass of people, or even in virtue of
his office apply to them the atonement made by Christ? How does his absolution
help a soul that knows Christ the Redeemer as every Christian soul ought to know
Him? The great fault of priesthoods always is, that having once gained power, they
endeavour to retain it and extend it, making greater claims the longer they exist.
Affirming that they speak for the Church, they endeavour to control the voice of the
Church. Affirming that they speak for Christ, they deny or minimise His great gift
of liberty. Freedom of thought and reason was to Cardinal Newman, for example,
the cause of all deplorable heresies and infidelities, of a divided Church and a
ruined world. The candid priest of our day is found making his claim as largely as
ever, and then virtually explaining it away. Should not the vain attempt to hold by
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9. Judaic institutions cease? And although the Church of Christ early made the
mistake of harking back to Mosaism, should not confession now be made that
priesthood of the exclusive kind is out of date, that every believer may perform the
highest functions of the consecrated life?
The Divine choice of Aaron, his confirmation in high religious office by the budding
of the almond twig as well as by the acceptance of his intercession, have their
parallels now. The realities of one age become symbols for another.
Like the whole ritual of Israel, these particular incidents may be turned to Christian
use by way of illustration. But not with regard to the prerogative of any arch-
hierarch. The availing intercession is that of Christ, the sole headship, over the
tribes of men is that which He has gained by Divine courage, love, and sacrifice.
Among those who believe there is equal dependence on the work of Christ. When we
come to intercession which they make for each other, it is of value in consideration
not of office but of faith. "The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth
much." It is as "righteous" men, humble men, not as priests they prevail. The
sacraments are efficacious, "not from any virtue in them or in him that administers
them," but through faith, by the energy of the omnipresent Spirit.
Yet there are men chosen to special duty, whose almond twigs bud and blossom and
become their sceptres. Appointment and ordination are our expedients; grace is
given by God in a higher line of calling and endowment. While there are blessings
pronounced that fall upon the ear or gratify the sensibility, theirs reach the soul. For
them the world has need to thank God. They keep religion alive, and make it
bourgeon and yield the new fruits for which the generations hunger. They are new
branches of the Living Vine. Of them it has often to be said, as of the Lord Himself,
"The stone which the builders rejected the same has become head of the corner; this
is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes."
PETT, "ntroduction
Chapter 17 The Rod That Budded .
In Numbers 16 the question has been dealt with as to who could act as a mediator
between Israel and God in the offering of incense. Now the further question is dealt
with as to who may enter the Holy Place.
b). Who Has The Right To Enter The Sanctuary? - Issues of Life and Death
Evidenced By The Rod That Budded (chapter 17).
Here those with the right to enter the Sanctuary are determined once and for all as
the sons of Aaron. We are given no background to the incident, although it may well
have followed not long after the preceding event, and is clearly connected with it.
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10. This is the third in the trio of incidents which confirm the Aaronic priesthood, the
first two of which overlap. Each of them covers two days (Numbers 16:1-50;
Numbers 17:1-13), and each of them ends with the thought of the people being
consumed (Numbers 16:21; Numbers 16:45-48; Numbers 17:13).
a Yahweh commands each tribe to lay a rod before Him in the Tent of Testimony
one for each head of their father’s house (Numbers 17:1-3).
b The rods to be laid up in the Tent of meeting before the Testimony (Numbers
17:4).
c The rod of the chosen one will bud and put an end to murmuring (Numbers 17:5).
d All the chieftains give rods including Aaron (Numbers 17:6).
d The rods are placed in the Tent of Testimony (Numbers 17:7).
c Aaron’s Rod buds and flowers in the Tent of Testimony, and the budded and
unbudded rods are revealed to all the people who look on them (so that murmuring
will cease) (Numbers 17:8-9).
b Aaron’s rod is laid up ‘before the Testimony’ to put an end to their murmuring
(Numbers 17:10).
a The people recognise that none but Aaron’s house may enter the Tabernacle for
they alone can enter the Sanctuary and live, and the rod which is evidence for the
fact is laid up before the Testimony (Numbers 17:12-13).
Verses 1-3
Yahweh Commands Each Tribe to Lay a Rod Before Him in the Tent of Testimony
One For Each Head of Their Father’s House (Numbers 17:1-3)
Numbers 17:1
‘And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,’
Again it is emphasised here that we have the words of Yahweh as spoken to Moses.
BI 1-13, "Write Aaron’s name upon the rod of Levi.
Aaron’s rod
I. Instructive to the Israelites.
1. An end hereby put to murmuring. By an incontrovertible sign they
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11. knew who was the true priest.
2. A preventative furnished against future rebellion. Miracles apt to be
forgotten; of this the evidence was to be preserved. Kept for a token.
II. Suggestive to Christians. Every man has some rod on which he leans. The
Christian’s is faith. Like Aaron’s rod, faith flourishes—
1. Most in the sanctuary. There are strengthening influences, and a
Divine power. It will become a barren stock elsewhere.
2. Under circumstances in which other rods cannot live. The almond
flourishes even before the winter is fully past. Faith budding in
adversity.
3. Produces fruit and flowers on the bare stock of adversity.
4. Bears fruit speedily when God causes His blessing to rest upon it.
“Believe and be saved.”
5. Stirs the Christian up to vigilance. Almond-tree a symbol of
watchfulness.
III. Typical of Christ.
1. For it is perpetual. Aaron’s rod laid up as a lasting remembrance.
2. It bore fruit on a barren stock. Jesus, a root out of a dry ground.
3. It was distinguished among the sceptres of the princes. Christ’s
kingdom and sceptre rule over all. He is a plant of renown.
4. It was the object of special favour. So in Jesus, He “was well pleased.”
He was “elect and precious.”
IV. Symbolical of a true teacher.
1. His home the house of God.
2. Presents himself constantly before the testimony.
3. In himself dry and barren.
4. Relies upon God for fruitfulness.
5. Produces by Divine help not flowers only, but fruit also.
6. As a dry and lifeless stock he receives quickening power from God; so
with his flowers and fruit he presents himself before God, and offers all
his works to Him.
Learn—
1. The wisdom of God in choice of methods.
2. To seek a strong and living and practical faith.
3. To rejoice in and rely upon the perpetual high priesthood of Christ.
4. To endeavour, like the almond-tree, to bring forth fruit early. (J. C.
Gray.)
11

12. Aaron’s rod that budded
This is our subject: the miraculous conversion of Aaron’s rod into a living,
blossoming, and fruit-bearing plant. It must have been a most convincing
prodigy for the purpose it was designed to answer, for the people no sooner
saw it than they cried out in remorse for their wavering allegiance, “Behold,
we die! we perish! we all perish!” But beyond the age wherein the marvel
occurred, this putting vegetable life into that dry staff has frequently been
borrowed and used for other objects. Thus Achilles, in classic poetry, when
enraged against Agamemnon, is made by Homer to refer to this miracle:—
“But hearken! I shall swear a solemn oath
By this same sceptre, which shall never bud,
Nor boughs bring forth, as once ; which, having left
Its stock on the high mountains at what time
The woodman’s axe lopt off its foliage green
And stript its bark, shall never grow again :-
By this I swear!”
And amongst Latin literature you will, some of you, remember that a certain
king confirms a covenant with AEneas by a similar oath.
I. We begin by reminding you that among the greatest of our blessings in
this world is our strict obligation to do the Divine will and to keep the Divine
law. It is far more worth our while to sing of God’s statutes than it is to sing
of God’s promises. Where should we be in a country without human
authority, and a human authority founded on a reverence for the Divine?
Very truly does Bushnell say that, “without law, man does not live, he only
grazes.” If he had no government he would never discern any reason for
existence, and would soon not care to exist. How different is the world of
Voltaire from the world of Milton I The one finds nothing but this clay world
and its material beauties, flashes into a shallow brilliancy of speech, and,
weaving a song of surfaces, empties himself into a book of all that he has felt
or seen. But the other, at the back of all and through all visible things,
beholds a spirit and a Divinity. Now is there not a very beautiful picture of
the comeliness and the beneficence of law in the old miracle that was
wrought upon the rod of Aaron? That staff, as we have put it to you, was
selected as the sign of authority. This was a declaration, first, that no law
was perfect that did not display life and beauty and fertility; and a
declaration, secondly, that by God’s choice that perfect law dwelt in the high
priest. But apart from the imagery as a message to the children of Israel, I
cling to that blooming staff as the very best type I can find anywhere of what
God’s rule is amongst us and in His Church. I find myself taught by this
early prodigy on Aaron’s staff that God’s dominion is the dominion of the
almond-branch. It is a rod; alas! for us, if there were no rod. But it is a rod
displaying all the three several pledges and gradations of life; and thus—oh!
beautiful coincidence, if it be nothing more—God turns His law towards the
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13. children of men into what the forbidden tree so falsely appeared to the first
transgressor—“pleasant to the eye, and good for food.” Of course I know
that the staff or the sceptre is the symbol of authority, because a staff is that
with which one person smites another. The ultimate significance of a rod is
a blow. But is it nothing to be taught by God’s picture-alphabet of the Old
Testament that He smites only with buds, and with flowers, and with fruit?
This seems to change, even to any child’s apprehension, the whole character
of the sovereignty under which we bow in the modern camp of the Church.
You tremble as you read the chapter of hard duties. Turn the leaf, and you
will come upon the chapter of precious promises. There is not a verse in the
Bible that is not in flower with some comfort; aye, though it be a verse that
smites you with a difficult commandment. You are never to tell a man to do
a single thing in religion without telling him that God will help him to do it.
You are never to command a sacrifice from me for Christ’s sake without
comforting me with the assurance that “God is able to give me much more
than this.” If you have a strong, rough, hard stick of responsibility, you must
show it to me bursting out all over with the rich petals and the hanging
clusters of the sovereignty of Divine grace. Aye, for I want you to mark well
that here was a miracle within a miracle. The natural almond-branch never
has upon it at one time buds, blossoms, and fruit. But I seem to be taught by
this accumulation of successive life all at once on one stem that there is no
element of mercy wanting in the code by which I am to be managed. But
remember that if we deserve nothing but the rod, and yet if God never uses
the rod save with the buds, the blossoms, and the fruit, “He may well record
it against us if either we despise the chastening of the Lord, or faint when
we are rebuked of Him.”
II. But now the real and only proper commentary on the facts of the
Pentateuch will be found in the doctrines of the Epistle to the Hebrews. Do
you believe that all those lives would have been lost, and all that commotion
would have been made about the prerogative of Aaron’s priesthood, but for
that other Priest on whom the whole world was to rely—the Priest for ever—
“made, not after the law of a carnal commandment, but after the power of
an endless life”? It is not by one Scripture, it is by scores, that I find myself
pointed, through that staff, to the real government of this world in the rod
out of the stem of Jesse. “He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant,
and as a root out of a dry ground, without form or comeliness.” And yet, all
the while, He was the “rod out of the stem of Jesse.” And when I read, in the
Book of Numbers, how the Hebrews rose up against Aaron and put him to
shame, I can only take it for a foreshadowing of another rebellion, when
they insulted another Sceptre, who was “despised and rejected of men.” We
preach to you Christ, a stumbling-block to the Jews. And scarcely can you
wonder that so long as the rod was only the root out of a dry ground, the Son
of the carpenter and the Friend of sinners, there was “ no beauty in Him
that they should desire Him.” But that is not the staff with which, this day,
God governs His Church. No, no! He hath declared that lowly peasant
preacher to be “the Son of God with power, in that He hath raised Him from
the dead.” Ah, that night in which they concealed Aaron’s rod in the
tabernacle of witness, it was never less living, never less blossoming, than
then. But it was not left in darkness, neither did it see corruption. And on
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14. the appointed morning men found it, marked by the choice of the
Omnipotent with the buds, the blossoms, and the fruit. In like manner the
coldest, darkest, least living period in Immanuel’s career was when they hid
Him, among all the other millions of the dead, in the tomb cut out of the
rock in the garden of Joseph. “But now is Christ risen from the dead, and
become the first-fruits of them that slept.” He was raised up “a plant of
renown.” And from that glorious Easter morning the “rod out of the stem of
Jesse” has been “the tree whose leaves are for the healing of the nations,”
and “filling the face of the world with fruit.” Men can be governed by a
Mediator and yet not perish. “The soul that sinneth, it shall die.” That is a
rod, but “if any man sin we have an Advocate with the Father,” that is,
“Aaron’s rod that budded”—the rod of the Priest. Reuben, Gad, and all the
rest have rods. Christianity is not alone in the sternness of its government
or the severity of its sanctions. But it is alone in telling me how I can receive
remission of sins that are past, and how I can obtain the strongest of
motives for a life of obedience in the time to come. (H. Christopherson.)
Aaron’s rod blossoming and bearing fruit
I. As the priesthood of Aaron was a type of the priesthood of Christ, there is
here a suggestion of facts which must have their counterpart in Christ’s life
and history.
1. The atonement and death of our Lord Jesus were matters of Divine
appointment. The whole work of our salvation originated with God.
2. But more than this—which is the essential truth here enshrined—we
see here that God often manifests Himself in unexpected forms of beauty
and of grace. The dry rod blossomed and bare fruit. The powers of Divine
salvation were enshrined in the person of the Carpenter of Nazareth.
There was life for a dead world in the Cross and in the grave of the dead
Christ.
II. There are suggestions here concerning Christian life.
1. Christian life begins with God.
2. The Christian life manifests itself in unfavourable conditions. It is in
human souls a power of active benevolence, or it is nothing at all. It takes
hold of human misery with a healing hand, and it changes it into
blessing. Where sin abounded there grace does much more abound.
3. There is beauty associated with the developments of Christian life and
character. There is nothing half so winning as Christian grace.
III. Suggestions in relation to the gospel ministry.
1. There is a Divine designation of men to the highest service of the
Church.
2. But what is the qualification of men thus sent? Evidently the
possession of Divine life, the gift which is to be imparted to those
needing it. To be a Christian teacher a man must be a Christian and must
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15. know the things of Christ.
3. How, then, are we to judge a man’s Divine call and authority? Only and
solely by the blossoms and fruit—by the spiritual results of his ministry.
IV. Last of all, there are here suggestions concerning Christian humiliation.
1. The world has not known its best benefactors. It has always had a
scornful word for the saintly and the true-hearted. It has always risen up
in rebellion against the anointed of the Lord.
2. Here is a word of encouragement to all weak and mistrustful and
diffident and self-emptied souls. “I am but a dry rod,” says the old
labourer in the Master’s vineyard, and the holy matron whose life has
been careful and troubled about many things, but who has ever been
anxious to honour and serve her dear Lord in lowliest ways and
household duties. “I am but a dry rod,” says the saint, waiting dismission
to rest, who has not done what he would or been as useful as he desired
and hoped and prayed to be. “I am but a dry rod,” says one whose
strength has been weakened by the way, and whose unfinished purposes
lie sadly enough at his feet, fallen out of hands which could not longer
hold them or fashion them into completeness. “We are but dry rods,” say
many earnest, anxious, longing souls who hardly dare to trust for the
future, because so often when they would do good evil is present with
them. We are not saved by trust in our own righteousness or by
satisfaction with our own goodness and deeds. But God’s grace is all-
sufficient, and He can work miracles of beauty and fruitfulness where
human might is feeblest, and self mistrust is greatest, and humility of
spirit is deepest. (W. H. Davison, D. D.)
The Divine plan for vindicating the high priesthood of Aaron, and its moral
teaching
I. That true ministers of religion are elected by God.
II. It is of great importance that men should know that their ministers of
religion are called by God.
1. In order that they may regard them with becoming respect.
2. In order that they may take heed to their message.
III. The vitality of sin is of dreadful tenacity. “Many men’s lips,” says Trapp,
“like rusty hinges, for want of the oil of grace and gladness, move not
without murmuring and complaining.” It is a thing of extreme difficulty to
eradicate any evil disposition from the human heart. “For such is the
habitual hardness of men’s hearts, as neither ministry, nor misery, nor
miracle, nor mercy can possibly mollify. Nothing can do it but an
extraordinary touch from the hand of Heaven.”
IV. God is engaged in eradicating sin from human hearts. (W. Jones.)
15

16. Aaron’s rod an illustration of the true Christian ministry
I. The characteristics of the true Christian ministry.
1. Life,
2. Beauty.
3. Fruitfulness.
II. The origin of the true Christian ministry. God’s creation, and gift to the
Church.
III. The influence of the true Christian ministry. Abiding. (W. Jones.)
The budded rod, a type of Christ
The rod in many graphic tints shows Jesus. The very name is caught by
raptured prophets (Isa_11:1; Zec_6:12-13). Thus faith gleans lessons from
the very title—Rod. But the grand purport of the type is to reject all rivals. It
sets Aaron alone upon the priestly seat. The parallel proclaims, that
similarly Jesus is our only Priest. God calls, anoints, appoints, accepts, and
ever hears Him; but Him alone. In His hands only do these functions live.
Next, the constant luxuriance has a clear voice. In nature’s field, buds,
blossoms, fruit, soon wither. Not so this rod. Its verdure was for ever green;
its fruit was ever ripe. Beside the ark it was reserved in never-fading beauty.
Here is the ever-blooming Priesthood of our Lord (Psa_110:4; Heb_7:24).
Mark, moreover, that types of Jesus often comprehend the Church. It is so
with these rods. The twelve at first seem all alike. They are all sapless twigs.
But suddenly one puts forth loveliness; while the others still remain
worthless and withered. Here is a picture of God’s dealings with a sin-slain
race. Since Adam’s fall, all are born lifeless branches of a withered stock.
When any child of man arises from the death of sin, and blooms in grace,
God has arisen with Divine almightiness. Believer, the budded rod gives
another warning. It is a picture of luxuriance. Turn from it and look inward.
Is your soul thus richly fertile? Instead of fruit, you often yield the thorn
(Joh_15:8). Whence is the fault? (Joh_15:4) Perhaps your neglectful soul
departs from Christ. Meditate in God’s law day and night; (Psa_1:3). But if
the budded rod rebukes the scanty fruit in the new-born soul, what is its
voice to unregenerate worldlings? (Heb_6:8.) (Dean Law.)
The rod of Aaron
Buds are evidence of life. A nominal Christian is like a dead trunk, and he
cannot bud unless the sap of Divine grace courses through him. Spiritual
life is an attribute of the converted Christian. The spiritual life of a being is
his presiding sentiment or disposition—the chief inspiration of his soul—
that which gives motion and character to his mental and moral being.
I. Life is a resistless force. The smallest blade of grass that raises its tiny
head into light, or the feeblest insect that sports in the sunbeam, displays a
16

17. force superior to that which governs the ocean or controls the stars. Man
stands erect, the tree rises, and the bird soars, because of life.
II. Life is an appropriating force. Vegetable and animal existences have a
power of appropriating to themselves all surrounding elements conducive
to their well-being, just as the life of the plant converts the various gases
around it into nutriment to promote its strength and development.
Wherever there is true religion, there is a power to render all external
circumstances subservient to its own strength and growth; all things work
together for its good.
III. Life is a propagating force. It has “the seed in itself.” Forests start from
acorns, and boundless harvests from the solitary grain. It is said that the
grateful Israelites, anxious to carry away a bud, a blossom, or almond as a
memento of the occasion, the flowers and fruit on the rod were repeatedly
and miraculously renewed for that purpose. Be that as it may, wherever
there is religious life it will spread; it scatters broadcast the incorruptible
seed which liveth and abideth for ever.
IV. Life is a beautifying force. There are two kinds of beauty—the
sensational and the moral. Nature in her ten thousand forms of loveliness,
and art in her exquisite expressions of taste, are ministries to the former,
whilst spiritual truth, moral goodness, and the holiness of God address the
latter. The one is the poetry of the eye and ear ; the other, of the soul. The
beauty that appeals to the religious nature of man is the beauty of holiness—
the beauty of the Lord—the glory of God in His goodness.
V. Life is a fructifying force. The true Christian not only lives and unfolds a
noble disposition, but is really useful. St. Paul speaks of “the fruit of the
Spirit”—righteousness, goodness, truth. The first, as opposed to all injustice
and dishonesty; the second, as opposed to the ten thousand forms of
selfishness; the third, as opposed to all that is erroneous and false in the
doctrines and theories of men. (G. L. Saywell.)
Aaron’s rod
Here are three miracles in one:—
1. That a dry rod—made of the almond tree—should bring forth buds in a
moment.
2. That those buds should presently become blossoms anal flowers.
3. That these should immediately become ripe fruit, and that all at once,
or at least in a little space.
Nature makes no such leaps. All this was supernatural to these ends.
1. For a testimony of God’s calling Aaron to the priesthood.
2. For a type of Christ, the Branch (Isa_11:1).
3. For a figure of the fruitfulness of a gospel ministry.
4. For a lively representation of a glorious resurrection. (C. Ness.)
17

18. Lessons from the budding rod
A wonderful work of God, which sundry ways may profit us.
1. As first to consider that if the power of God can do this in a dry stick,
cannot He make the barren woman to bare, and be a joyful mother of
children? Can He not do whatsoever He will do? By this power the sea is
dried, the rock gives water, the earth cleaveth under the feet of men, fire
descends whose nature is to ascend, raiseth the dead, and calleth things
that are not as if they were. In a word, He is able to do exceeding
abundantly above all that we ask or think, &c.
2. This rod is a notable type of Christ, His person and office. Of His
person, in that He was born of the Virgin Mary, who, though He
descended of the royal blood, yet was now poor and mean, as that royal
race was brought exceeding low, nothing remaining but as it were a root
only. Now the said Virgin flourisheth again as Aaron’s rod did, and
beareth such fruit as never woman bear. Of this speaks Isaiah the
prophet, when he saith, “There shall come a rod forth of the stock of
Jesse, and a graft shall grow out of his roots.” Of His office both priestly
and kingly. His priestly office is figured in that being offered upon the
cross He was as Aaron’s dried rod, or as the Psalm saith, “dried up like a
potsherd.” But when He rose again He became like Aaron’s budding and
fruit-bearing rod, bringing forth to man, believing on Him, remission of
sins, righteousness, and eternal life. His kingly office, in that He
governeth His Church with a rod or sceptre of righteousness, as it is in
the Psalm: “The sceptre of Thy kingdom is a right sceptre.” Which rod
and sceptre is the preaching of the gospel, &c.
3. Again, it was a resemblance of true ministers, and of all faithful men
and women, for none of all these ought to be dry and withered sticks, but
bear and bring forth buds and fruit according to their places.
4. It is a shadow also of our resurrection by which we should grow green
again, and flourish with a new and an eternal glory, having like dead
seed lain in the ground, and we shall bring forth ripe almonds, that is,
the praise of God’s incomprehensible goodness to us for ever and ever.
5. It resembleth our reformation and amendment of life, for when our
heart feeleth what is amiss, this is as the bud; when it resolveth of a
change and a future amendment, this is the blossom; and when it
performeth the same by a new reformed life indeed, this is as the ripe
almonds of Aaron’s rod.(Bp. Babington.)
The priesthood divinely selected
What matchless wisdom shines in this arrangement! How completely is the
matter taken out of man’s hands and placed where alone it ought to be,
namely, in the hands of the living God! It was not to be a man appointing
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19. himself, or a man appointing his fellow, but God appointing the man of His
own selection. In a word, the question was to be definitively settled by God
Himself, so that all murmurings might be silenced for ever, and no one be
able again to charge God’s high priest with taking too much upon him. The
human will had nothing whatever to do with this solemn matter. The twelve
rods, all in a like condition, were laid up before the Lord ; man retired and
left God to act. There was no room, no opportunity, because there was no
occasion for human management. In the profound retirement of the
sanctuary, far away from all man’s thinkings, was the grand question of
priesthood settled by Divine decision; and, being thus settled, it could never
again be raised. (C. H. Mackintosh.)
Aaron’s fruitful rod
Striking and beautiful figure of Him who was “declared to be the Son of God
with power by resurrection from the dead!” The twelve rods were all alike
lifeless; but God, the living God, entered the scene, and, by that power
peculiar to Himself, infused life into Aaron’s rod, and brought it forth to
view, bearing upon it the fragrant fruits of resurrection. Who could gainsay
this? The rationalist may sneer at it, and raise a thousand questions. Faith
gazes on that fruit-bearing rod, and sees in it a lovely figure of the new
creation in the which all things are of God. Infidelity may argue on the
ground of the apparent impossibility of a dry stick budding, blossoming,
and bearing fruit in the course of one night. But to whelm does it appear
impossible? To the infidel, the rationalist, the sceptic. And why? Because he
always shuts out God. Let us remember this. Infidelity invariably shuts out
God. God can do as He pleases. The One who called worlds into existence
could make a rod to bud, blossom, and bear fruit in a moment. Bring God in,
and all is simple and plain as possible. Leave God out, and all is plunged in
hopeless confusion. (C. H. Mackintosh.)
The rods contrasted
Ponder the difference between the rod of Moses and the rod of Aaron. We
have seen the former doing its characteristic work in other days and amid
other scenes. We have seen the land of Egypt trembling beneath the heavy
strokes of that rod. Plague after plague fell upon that devoted scene in
answer to that outstretched rod. We have seen the waters of the sea divided
in answer to that rod. In short, the rod of Moses was a rod of power, a rod of
authority. But it could not avail to hush the murmurings of the children of
Israel, nor yet to bring the people through the desert. Grace alone could do
that; and we have the expression of pure grace—free, sovereign grace—in
the budding of Aaron’s rod. Nothing can be more forcible, nothing more
lovely. That dry, dead stick was the apt figure of Israel’s condition, and
indeed of the condition of every one of us by nature. There was no sap, no
life, no power. One might well say, “What good can ever come of it?” None
whatever, had not grace come in and displayed its quickening power. So was
it with Israel, in the wilderness; and so is it with us now. How were they to
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20. be led along from day to day? How were they to be sustained in all their
weakness and need? How were they to be borne with in all their sin and
folly? The answer is found in Aaron’s budding rod. If the dry, dead stick was
the expression of nature’s barren and worthless condition, the buds,
blossoms, and fruit set forth that living and life-giving grace and power of
God on which was based the priestly ministry that alone could bear the
congregation through the wilderness. Grace alone could answer the ten
thousand necessities of the militant host. Power could not suffice. Authority
could not avail. Priesthood alone could supply what was needed; and this
priesthood was instituted on the foundation of that efficacious grace which
could bring fruit out of a dry rod. Thus it was as to priesthood of old; and
thus it is as to ministry now. All ministry in the Church of God is the fruit of
Divine grace—the gift of Christ, the Church’s Head. (C. H. Mackintosh.).
2 “Speak to the Israelites and get twelve staffs
from them, one from the leader of each of their
ancestral tribes. Write the name of each man on
his staff.
BARNES, "Compare Eze_37:16 ff.
CLARKE, "And take of every one of them a rod - ‫מטה‬ matteh, the staff or
scepter, which the prince or chief of each tribe bore, and which was the sign
of office or royalty among almost all the people of the earth.
GILL, "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
20

21. 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 Josephus
(d) 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, Num_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.
JAMISON 2-5, "Speak unto the children of Israel — The controversy with
Moses and Aaron about the priesthood was of such a nature and magnitude
as required a decisive and authoritative settlement. For the removal of all
doubts and the silencing of all murmuring in the future regarding the
holder of the office, a miracle was wrought of a remarkable character and
permanent duration; and in the manner of performing it, all the people
were made to have a direct and special interest.
take of every one ... princes ... twelve rods — As the princes, being the
oldest sons of the chief family, and heads of their tribes, might have
advanced the best claims to the priesthood, if that sacred dignity was to be
shared among all the tribes, they were therefore selected, and being twelve
in number - that of Joseph being counted only one - Moses was ordered to
see that the name of each was inscribed - a practice borrowed from the
Egyptians - upon his rod or wand of office. The name of Aaron rather than
of Levi was used, as the latter name would have opened a door of
controversy among the Levites; and as there was to be one rod only for the
head of each tribe, the express appointment of a rod for Aaron determined
him to be the head of that tribe, as well as that branch or family of the tribe
to which the priestly dignity should belong. These rods were to be laid in the
tabernacle close to the ark (compare Num_17:10 and Heb_9:4), where a
divine token was promised that would for all time terminate the dispute.
CALVIN, "2.Speak unto the children of Israel. They are mistaken who suppose that
to the twelve rods there was another added for the tribe of Levi; (103) for, since
there was no question here as to the possession of the land, there was no occasion at
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22. all for the division of the tribe of Joseph into two parts. We know, too, that it was
endowed with a double portion, because the Levites had no inheritance; and in this
case the circumstances were different, because all the other tribes were contending
for the priesthood with the tribe of Levi alone. Hence it was, then, that rods were
given to each of them, in accordance with the origin of their race. But, when Aaron’s
rod is said to have been “in the midst of them,” (104) it is in the usual phrase of the
Hebrew language, because it was mixed with them as one of their number. And this
is expressly stated, to show us that all ground for caviling might be taken from the
ungodly, since all the rods were east promiscuously into the same bundle, so that
none should be distinguished above the others, and thus nothing could be ascribed
to the collusion of men. If any should object that by these means the rivalry was not
extinguished which the other Levites had with the house of Aaron, since his own
name alone was inscribed upon the rod, so that there would be no comparison
between the families; I reply, that since the power of God manifested itself distinctly
in the name of Aaron, the rejection of the others was sufficiently shown forth by his
election; for, if this honor had been common to the others, God would have
defrauded them by giving distinction to him alone. Besides, no other plan could have
been adopted for putting an end to this quarrel; for if there had been several rods
for one tribe, the whole people would have complained of the inequality. It was
necessary, then, that all should be brought to the contest on equal terms, so that the
difference between them might be seen to depend upon God’s good pleasure. But if
the name of Levi had been inscribed, all its families would have claimed the right of
succession, as if common to them all. There was, therefore, no other course open but
that God should prefer to the whole people one individual chosen from amongst the
members of his own kindred and tribe.
COKE, "Numbers 17:2. Take of every one of them a rod— The minds of a
considerable number of the people having been poisoned by the insinuations of
Korah and his accomplices, against Aaron and his family upon the account of the
priesthood, God is pleased to add another signal miracle, in confirmation of his
priest's authority; accordingly, the head of each tribe is ordered to take a rod, and
bring it before the Lord. Some have supposed that these were the ordinary rods, or
batoons, which the princes of the tribes bore: while, from the 8th verse of this
chapter, others infer that these were twigs, or branches, from one and the same
almond tree: whichever was the case, the miracle was sufficiently great to
demonstrate the extraordinary interposition of Providence.
BENSON. "Numbers 17:2. Take of every one — Not of every person, but of every
tribe. A rod — A twig, or branch, from one and the same almond-tree, as some infer
from Numbers 17:8. Or, according to others, the ordinary rods which the princes of
the tribes carried in their hands, as tokens of their dignity and authority, Numbers
21:18. And indeed the miracle would appear the greater, if neither Aaron’s rod, nor
any of the rest, was of the almond-tree. But the miracle was sufficiently great either
way to demonstrate the extraordinary interposition of Providence. Every man’s
name — Every prince’s: for they being the firstborn, and the chief of their tribes,
might, above all others, pretend to the priesthood, if it was communicable to any of
22

23. their tribes; and besides, the prince represented all his tribe: so that this was a full
decision of the question. And this place seems to confirm the opinion, that not only
Korah and the Levites, but also those of other tribes, contended with Moses and
Aaron about the priesthood, as that which belonged to all the congregation, they
being all holy.
ELLICOTT, "(2) And take of every one of them . . . —Better, And take of them a
rod for each father’s house.
Twelve rods.—Some suppose that Aaron’s rod was not included amongst the twelve.
Others suppose that one rod only was taken for the tribes of Ephraim and
Manasseh. The latter supposition is more accordant with the terms here employed
than the former, and is supported by Deuteronomy 27:12-13, where Joseph stands
for the two tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh, and Levi is included amongst the
twelve tribes.
Write thou every man’s name upon his rod.—This was in accordance with an
Egyptian custom. (See Wilkinson’s Ancient Egyptians, III. 388.) The prophet
Ezekiel received a similar injunction (Ezekiel 37:16).
POOLE, " Speak unto the children of Israel, that I may fully and finally satisfy all
their scruples, and take away all pretence and cause of murmuring.
Of every one of them; not of every person, but of every tribe, as it follows.
A rod; either an ordinary walking staff; or rather, that staff or rod which the
princes carried in their hand as tokens of their dignity and authority, as may be
gathered from Numbers 21:18, compared with Psalms 110:2 Jeremiah 48:16,17.
According to the house of their fathers, i.e. according to each family proceeding
from the patriarch or father of that tribe.
Every man’s name, i.e. every prince’s; for they being the first-born, and the chief of
their tribes, might above all others pretend to the priesthood, if it was
communicable to any of their tribes, and besides each prince represented and acted
for all his tribe; so that this was a full decision of the whole question. And this plate
seems to confirm what was before observed, that not only Korah and the Levites,
but also those of other tribes, contested with Moses and Aaron about the priesthood,
as that which belonged to all the congregation, they being all holy, as they said,
Numbers 16:3.
WHEDON, " 2. A rod — Each chief prince of the twelve tribes bore a staff or
sceptre as the sign of office. Such rods were often hereditary, and of great antiquity.
That such dry staves should blossom and bear fruit again is so improbable that the
Greeks were accustomed to swear by their sceptres. Thus Achilles:
23

24. “But hearken, I will swear a solemn oath,
By this sceptre, which shall never bud,
Nor boughs bring forth, as once.”
Write… every man’s name — To identify beyond dispute the rod of Aaron after the
trial. The illiteracy of Moses and his generation as alleged by some modern writers
is here abundantly confuted. Since there were twelve rods, including Levi’s, it is
evident that the tribes of Manasseh and Ephraim are here counted as one tribe —
that of Joseph.
PETT, "Numbers 17:2
‘Speak to the children of Israel, and take of them rods, one for each fathers’ house,
of all their princes according to their fathers’ houses, twelve rods. You write every
man’s name on his rod.’
All the men of Israel were to be involved in this. It is possible that Levi were
included among ‘the twelve’ and that Manasseh and Ephraim were for this event
treated as one tribe, the rods representing the ‘households’ of the original
patriarchal fathers. But a rod was taken for each of their fathers’ houses, and the
names of each of the chieftains of those fathers’ houses was written on the rods. This
would suggest in the light of previous references to twelve chieftains that the
‘twelve’ rods were in contrast with Aaron’s rod. (Alternately one rod may have
represented Joseph, including both Ephraim and Manasseh. It was Joseph who was
to be ‘a fruitful bough’ (Genesis 49:22), but not as pertaining to the priesthood).
The word for ‘rods’ also indicates ‘tribes, and can in fact be used to indicate either.
Thus the rods symbolised each tribe.
PULPIT, "Numbers 17:2
Take of every one of them a rod. Literally, "take of them a rod, a rod," i.e; a rod
apiece, in the way immediately particularized. hsilgnE:egaugnaL ‫ה‬ֶ‫טּ‬ ַ‫מ‬ } is used for
the staff of Judah (Genesis 38:18) and for the rod of Moses (Exodus 4:2). It is also
used in the sense of "tribe" (Numbers 1:4, Numbers 1:16). Each tribe was but a
branch, or rod, out of the stock of Israel, and, therefore, was most naturally
represented by the rod cut from the tree. ‘The words used for scepter in Genesis
49:10, and in Psalms 45:7, and for rod in Isaiah 11:1, and elsewhere are different,
but the same imagery underlies the use of all of them. Of all their princes … twelve
rods. These princes must be those named in Isaiah 22-2:1 and Isaiah 25-7:1 . Since
among these are to be found the tribe princes of Ephraim and Manasseh, standing
upon a perfect equality with the rest, it is evident that the twelve rods were exclusive
24

25. of that of Aaron. The joining together of Ephraim and Manasseh in Deuteronomy
27:12 was a very different thing, because it could not raise any question as between
the two.
3 On the staff of Levi write Aaron’s name, for
there must be one staff for the head of each
ancestral tribe.
BARNES, "Thou shalt write Aaron’s name upon the rod of Levi - The
Levites had taken part in the late outbreak. It was therefore necessary to
vindicate the supremacy of the house of Aaron over them; and accordingly
his name was written on the rod of Levi, although being the son of Kohath,
the second son of Levi (Exo_6:16 ff), he would not be the natural head of the
tribe.
GILL, "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 Josephus (e); 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.
ELLICOTT, "(3) And thou shalt write Aaron’s name upon the rod of Levi.—Aaron
was descended from the second son of Levi. He was not, therefore, the natural, but
the divinely-appointed head of his father’s house, and hence it would not have
sufficed for the purpose contemplated to have inscribed the name of Levi upon the
rod. Aaron was constituted the head alike of the priests and of the Levites, into
which two classes the tribe of Levi was divided.
25

26. BENSON, "Numbers 17:3. Aaron’s name — Rather than Levi’s, for that would
have left the controversy undecided between Aaron and the other Levites, whereas
this would justify the appropriation of the priesthood to Aaron’s family. One rod —
There shall be in this, as there is in all the other tribes, only one rod, and that for the
head of their tribe, who is Aaron in this tribe: whereas it might have been expected
that there should have been two rods, one for Aaron and another for his competitors
of the same tribe. But Aaron’s name was sufficient to determine both the tribe, and
that branch or family of the tribe to whom this dignity should be affixed.
POOLE, " Aaron’s rather than Levi’s name, for that would have left the
controversy undecided between Aaron and the other Levites, whereas this would
justify the appropriation of the priesthood to Aaron’s family.
For the head of the house of their fathers; i.e. there shall be in this, as there is in all
the other tribes, only one rod, and that for the head of their tribe, who is Aaron in
this tribe; whereas it might have been expected that there should have been two
rods, one for Aaron, and another for his competitors of the same tribe. But Aaron’s
name was sufficient to determine both the tribe, and that branch or family of the
tribe, to whom this dignity should be affixed.
PETT, "Numbers 17:3
‘And you shall write Aaron’s name on the rod of Levi, for there shall be one rod for
each head of their fathers’ houses.’
On the rod of Levi the name of Aaron was to be written. There was to be one for
each head of their fathers’ houses. In the light of the earlier divisions in chapters 1-4
we are probably therefore to see that there were thirteen rods, the twelve which
represented Israel in contrast with the Levites, and the one that specifically
represented Aaron.
Here Aaron is depicted as the head of the house of Levi. That may well be why
earlier he was called ‘the Levite’ as the head of the family (Exodus 4:14).
PULPIT, "Numbers 17:3
Thou shalt write Aaron's name upon the rod of Levi. There was no tribe prince of
Levi, and it is not probable that either of the three chiefs of the sub-tribes (Numbers
3:24, Numbers 3:30, 55) was called upon to bring a rod. This rod was, therefore,
provided by Moses himself, and inscribed by him with the name of Aaron, who
stood by Divine appointment (so recently and fearfully attested) above all his
brethren. For the significance of the act cf. Ezekiel 37:16-28. For one rod … for the
head of the house of their fathers. For Levi, therefore, there must be, not three rods
inscribed with the names of the chiefs, but one only bearing the name of Aaron, as
26

27. their common superior.
4 Place them in the tent of meeting in front of the
ark of the covenant law, where I meet with you.
GILL, "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, Exo_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.
CALVIN, "4.And thou shalt lay them up in the tabernacle. The place itself had not
a little to do with the effectual decision of the matter; because it was clearly
manifested that God was the author of the miracle, and consequently that the
priesthood proceeded from Him. For we have elsewhere said that the whole
government of the Church so entirely depends upon His decree, that men are not
permitted to interfere with it. Wherefore He set the ark of the covenant in
opposition to the voices of the whole people, in order to testify that no further
dispute was to be raised respecting the priest, whom He had appointed by His own
declaration and authority. At the same time, it had the effect of consoling the people,
and silencing their complaints that the rods of all the tribes were brought in
common into the sanctuary before God; for, although a peculiar dignity was
accorded to that of Aaron alone, still the people ceased not to be a priestly kingdom.
Hence it follows, that the honorable privilege conferred on one family contributed to
the public welfare of all; so far was it from being the case that their inferiority ought
to have caused them pain or envy.
27

28. POOLE, " Before the testimony, i.e. before the ark of the testimony; either
mediately, close by the veil behind which the ark stood; or rather immediately,
within the veil in the most holy place, close by the ark, as may be gathered by
comparing this place with Numbers 17:10, and with Hebrews 9:4.
I will meet with you, and manifest my mind to you for the ending of this dispute.
PETT, " The Rods Are To Be Laid Up in the Tent of Meeting before the Testimony
(Numbers 17:4).
Numbers 17:4
‘And you shall lay them up in the tent of meeting before the testimony, where I meet
with you.’
These were then to be ‘laid up in the Tent of meeting, before the testimony’, in the
place where Yahweh meets with His people. This probably meant in front of the veil
behind which was the Ark of the covenant of Yahweh, ‘the testimony’ indicating the
presence of the covenant tablets in the Ark and their testimony to the covenant.
5 The staff belonging to the man I choose will
sprout, and I will rid myself of this constant
grumbling against you by the Israelites.”
CLARKE, "The man’s rod, whom I shall choose, shall blossom - It was
necessary that something farther should be done to quiet the minds of the
people, and for ever to settle the dispute, in what tribe the priesthood
should be fixed. God therefore took the method described in the text, and it
had the desired effect; the Aaronical priesthood was never after disputed.
GILL, "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:
28

29. 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.
CALVIN, "5.And it shall come to pass, that the man’s rod. Aaron, indeed, had been
previously chosen; but the expression here refers to his manifestation; (105) because
God is said again to choose those, whom He has chosen by His secret counsel, when
He brings them forth into the sight of men with their peculiar marks of distinction;
and this not once only, but as often as he confirms their election by new indications.
And this seems to be spoken of by way of concession, as if God would pass over all
His former decrees, and invite the people afresh to take cognizance of the matter.
With this view tie states that He will put an end to all the malevolent and noisy
detractions of the people, so that Aaron may henceforth exercise his office without
controversy; for, although not even thus was their perverseness altogether cured,
still their insolence was restrained.
ELLICOTT, "(5) The man’s rod, whom I shall choose, shall blossom.—Or, shall
sprout forth or put forth—i.e., leaves or blossoms. Achilles, when enraged against
Agamemnon, is made to swear a solemn oath by his sceptre which, having once left
its stock on the mountains, shall never again grow. King Latinus is represented by
Virgil as confirming his covenant with Æneas by a similar oath.
WHEDON, " 5. Whom I shall choose — That is, select for the priesthood.
Cease… murmurings — Suppress them beyond all possibility of a revival. Jehovah’s
claims are set forth in his word with such cogency that there is no just ground for
gainsaying. On all questions of duty there is a redundancy of evidence.
PETT, " The Rod of the Chosen One Will Bud and Put an End to Murmuring
(Numbers 17:5).
Numbers 17:5
‘And it will come about, that the rod of the man whom I shall choose will bud, and I
will make to cease from me the murmurings of the children of Israel, which they
29

30. murmur against you.’
Then Yahweh would make the rod of the man that Yahweh had chosen spring to life
and bud. This final display on Yahweh’s initiative should cause all further
murmurings against Moses and Aaron on the question of who had the right of
priesthood to cease.
6 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.
BARNES, "The whole number of rods was twelve exclusive of Aaron’s, as
the Vulgate expressly states.
GILL, "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
30

31. 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.
JAMISON, "the rod of Aaron was among their rods — either one of the
twelve, or, as many suppose, a thirteenth in the midst (Heb_9:4). The rods
were of dry sticks or wands, probably old, as transmitted from one head of
the family to a succeeding.
K&D, "Num_17:6-11
Moses carried out this command. And when he went into the tabernacle
the following morning, behold Aaron's rod of the house of Levi had
sprouted, and put forth shoots, and had borne blossoms and matured
almonds. And Moses brought all the rods out of the sanctuary, and gave
every man his own; the rest, as we may gather from the context, being all
unchanged, so that the whole nation could satisfy itself that God had chosen
Aaron. Thus was the word fulfilled which Moses had spoken at the
commencement of the rebellion of the company of Korah (Num_16:5), and
that in a way which could not fail to accredit him before the whole
congregation as sent of God.
So far as the occurrence itself is concerned, there can hardly be any need
to remark, that the natural interpretation which has lately been attempted
by Ewald, viz., that Moses had laid several almond rods in the holy place,
which had just been freshly cut off, that he might see the next day which of
them would flower the best during the night, is directly at variance with the
words of the text, and also with the fact, that a rod even freshly cut off, when
laid in a dry place, would not bear ripe fruit in a single night. The miracle
which God wrought here as the Creator of nature, was at the same time a
significant symbol of the nature and meaning of the priesthood. The choice
of the rods had also a bearing upon the object in question. A man's rod was
the sign of his position as ruler in the house and congregation; with a prince
the rod becomes a sceptre, the insignia of rule (Gen_49:10). As a severed
branch, the rod could not put forth shoots and blossom in a natural way.
But God could impart new vital powers even to the dry rod. And so Aaron
had naturally no pre-eminence above the heads of the other tribes. But the
priesthood was founded not upon natural qualifications and gifts, but upon
the power of the Spirit, which God communicates according to the choice of
His wisdom, and which He had imparted to Aaron through his consecration
with holy anointing oil. It was this which the Lord intended to show to the
people, by causing Aaron's rod to put forth branches, blossom, and fruit,
through a miracle of His omnipotence; whereas the rods of the other heads
of the tribes remained as barren as before. In this way, therefore, it was not
without deep significance that Aaron's rod not only put forth shoots, by
which the divine election might be recognised, but bore even blossom and
ripe fruit. This showed that Aaron was not only qualified for his calling, but
administered his office in the full power of the Spirit, and bore the fruit
expected of him. The almond rod was especially adapted to exhibit this, as
31

32. an almond-tree flowers and bears fruit the earliest of all the trees, and has
received its name of ‫ד‬ ֵ‫ק‬ ָ‫,שׁ‬ “awake,” from this very fact (cf. Jer_1:11).
God then commanded (Num_17:10, Num_17:11) that Aaron's rod should
be taken back into the sanctuary, and preserved before the testimony, “for a
sign for the rebellious, that thou puttest an end to their murmuring, and
they die not.” The preservation of the rod before the ark of the covenant, in
the immediate presence of the Lord, was a pledge to Aaron of the
continuance of his election, and the permanent duration of his priesthood;
though we have no need to assume, that through a perpetual miracle the
staff continued green and blossoming. In this way the staff became a sign to
the rebellious, which could not fail to stop their murmuring.
PETT, " All the Chieftains Give Rods Including Aaron (Numbers 17:6).
Numbers 17:6
‘And Moses spoke to the children of Israel, and all their princes gave him rods, for
each prince one, according to their fathers’ houses, even twelve rods, and the rod of
Aaron was among their rods.’
So Moses did as Yahweh commanded and requested rods from each of the chieftains
of the twelve tribes. These rods may well have been their symbols of authority. Thus
twelve rods were gathered and Aaron’s rod was placed among them.
PULPIT, "And the rod of Aaron was among the rods. As there was no prince from
whom this rod could have come, and as there were twelve rods without it, this must
mean that Moses did not keep Aaron's rod separate (which might have caused
suspicion), but let it be seen amongst the others.
7 Moses placed the staffs before the Lord in the
tent of the covenant law.
GILL, "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
32

33. before him.
HENRY, " The preparing of the rods accordingly. The princes brought
them in, some of them perhaps fondly expecting that the choice would fall
upon them, and all of them thinking it honour enough to be competitors
with Aaron, and to stand candidates, even for the priesthood (Num_17:7);
and Moses laid them up before the Lord. He did not object that the matter
was sufficiently settled already, and enough done to convince those that
were not invincibly hardened in their prejudices. He did not undertake to
determine the controversy himself, though it might easily have been done;
nor did he suggest that it would be to no purpose to offer satisfaction to a
people that were willingly blind. But, since God will have it so, he did his
part, and lodged the case before the Lord, to whom the appeal was made by
consent, and left it with him.
WHEDON, " 7. Witness — The Hebrew is the same as that for testimony in
Numbers 17:4. The reason for choosing this place may have been that no one would
suspect the performance of any legerdemain or jugglery in the holy of holies, a
sanctuary too awful for any man to enter but the high priest one day in the year.
Moses entered on this occasion by express command.
PETT, " The Rods Are Placed In the Tent of Testimony (Numbers 17:7).
Numbers 17:7
‘And Moses laid up the rods before Yahweh in the tent of the testimony.’
The rods were then laid up ‘before Yahweh’ in ‘the Tent of the testimony’. Note the
change in name for the Tent. Emphasis is placed here on the fact that the Tent
testifies to Yahweh and His covenant. As we have already suggested, this probably
meant that they were placed before the veil behind which was the Ark of the
covenant of Yahweh, although it may be that Moses uniquely had access into the
Holy of Holies itself.
8 The next day Moses entered the tent and saw
that Aaron’s staff, which represented the tribe of
Levi, had not only sprouted but had budded,
blossomed and produced almonds.
33

34. BARNES, "Yielded almonds - “Ripened almonds,” i. e. “brought forth ripe
almonds.” The name almond in Hebrew denotes the “waking-tree,” the
“waking-fruit;” and is applied to this tree, because it blossoms early in the
season. It serves here, as in Jer_1:11-12, to set forth the speed and certainty
with which, at God’s will, His purposes are accomplished. So again the
blossoming and bearing of Aaron’s rod, naturally impotent when severed
from the parent tree, may signify the profitableness, because of God’s
appointment and blessing, of the various means of grace (e. g. the
priesthood, the sacraments), which of themselves and apart from Him
could have no such efficacy. Compare Isa_4:2; Isa_11:1; Isa_53:2; Jer_33:5;
Zec_6:12.
CLARKE, "The rod of Aaron - was budded, etc. - That is, on the same rod
or staff were found buds, blossoms, and ripe fruit. This fact was so
unquestionably miraculous, as to decide the business for ever; and probably
this was intended to show that in the priesthood, represented by that of
Aaron, the beginning, middle, and end of every good work must be found.
The buds of good desires, the blossoms of holy resolutions and promising
professions, and the ripe fruit of faith, love, and obedience, all spring from
the priesthood of the Lord Jesus. It has been thought by some that Aaron’s
staff (and perhaps the staves of all the tribes) was made out of the
amygdala communis, or common almond tree. In a favorable soil and
climate it grows to twenty feet in height; is one of the most noble,
flourishing trees in nature: its flowers are of a delicate red, and it puts them
forth early in March, having begun to bud in January. It has its name ‫שקד‬
shaked from shakad, to awake, because it buds and flowers sooner than most
other trees. And it is very likely that the staves of office, borne by the chiefs
of all the tribes, were made of this tree, merely to signify that watchfulness
and assiduous care which the chiefs should take of the persons committed,
in the course of the Divine providence, to their keeping.
Every thing in this miracle is so far beyond the power of nature, that no
doubt could remain on the minds of the people, or the envious chiefs, of the
Divine appointment of Aaron, and of the especial interference of God in this
case. To see a piece of wood long cut off from the parent stock, without bark
or moisture remaining, laid up in a dry place for a single night, with others
in the same circumstances - to see such a piece of wood resume and evince
the perfection of vegetative life, budding, blossoming, and bringing forth
ripe fruit at the same time, must be such a demonstration of the peculiar
interference of God, as to silence every doubt and satisfy every scruple. It is
worthy of remark that a scepter, or staff of office, resuming its vegetative
life, was considered an absolute impossibility among the ancients; and as
34

35. they were accustomed to swear by their sceptres, this circumstance was
added to establish and confirm the oath. A remarkable instance of this we
have in Homer, Iliad, lib. i., ver. 233, etc., where Achilles, in his rage against
Agamemnon, thus speaks: -
Αλλ’ εκ τοι ερεω, και επι μεγαν ὁρκον ομουμαι·
Ναι μα τοδε σκηπτρον, το μεν ουποτε φυλλα και οζους
Φυσει, επειδη πρωτα τομην εν ορεσσι λελοιπεν,
Ουδ’ αναθηλησει· περι γαρ ῥα ἑ χαλκος ελεψε
Φυλλα τε και φλοιον·
ὁ δε τοι μεγας εσσεται ὁρκος.
But hearken: I shall swear a solemn oath:
By this same scepter which shall never bud,
Nor boughs bring forth, as once; which, having left
Its parent on the mountain top, what time
The woodman’s axe lopp’d off its foliage green,
And stripp’d its bark, shall never grow again.
Cowper.
Virgil represents King Latinus swearing in the same way, to confirm his
covenant with Aeneas: -
Ut Sceptrum hoc (dextra sceptrum nam forte gerebat)
Nunquam fronde levi fundet virgulta neque umbras,
Cum semel in silvis imo de stirpe recisum.
Matre caret, posuitque comas et brachia ferro;
Olim arbos, nunc artificis manus aere decoro
Inclusit, patribusque dedit gestare Latinis,
Talibus inter se firmabant foedera dictis.
Aen., lib. xii., ver. 206-12.
Even as this royal Sceptre (for he bore
A scepter in his hand) shall never more
Shoot out in branches, or renew the birth;
An orphan now, cut from the mother earth
By the keen axe, dishonor’d of its hair,
And cased in brass, for Latian kings to bear.
And thus in public view the peace was tied
With solemn vows, and sworn on either side.
Dryden.
When the circumstance of the rod or scepter being used anciently in this
way, and the absolute impossibility of its reviviscence so strongly appealed
to, is considered, it appears to have been a very proper instrument for the
present occasion, for the change that passed on it must be acknowledged as
an immediate and incontestable miracle.
35

36. GILL, "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, Gen_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 Jer_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, Psa_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
36

37. 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 Heb_9:4.
HENRY 8-9, "Here is, I. The final determination of the controversy
concerning the priesthood by a miracle, Num_17:8, Num_17:9. The rods or
staves were brought out from the most holy place where they were laid up,
and publicly produced before the people; and, while all the rest of the rods
remained as they were, Aaron's rod only, of a dry stick, became a living
branch, budded, and blossomed, and yielded almonds. In some places there
were buds, in others blossoms, in others fruit, at the same time. This was
miraculous, and took away all suspicion of a fraud, as if in the night Moses
had taken away Aaron's rod, and put a living branch of an almond tree in
the room of it; for no ordinary branch would have buds, blossoms, and
fruits upon it, all at once. Now,
1. This was a plain indication to the people that Aaron was chosen to the
priesthood, and not any other of the princes of the tribes. Thus he was
distinguished from them and manifested to be under the special blessing of
heaven, which sometimes yields increase where there is neither planting
nor watering by the hand of man. Bishop Hall here observes that
fruitfulness is the best evidence of a divine call, and that the plants of God's
setting, and the boughs cut off from them, will flourish. See Psa_92:12-14.
The trees of the Lord, though they seem dry trees, are full of sap.
2. It was a very proper sign to represent the priesthood itself, which was
hereby confirmed to Aaron. (1.) That it should be fruitful and serviceable to
the church of God. It produced not only blossoms, but almonds; for the
priesthood was designed, not only for an honour to Aaron, but for a blessing
to Israel. Thus Christ ordained his apostles and ministers that they should
go and bring forth fruit, and that their fruit should remain, Joh_15:16. (2.)
That there should be a succession of priests. Here were not only almonds
for the present, but buds and blossoms promising more hereafter. Thus has
Christ provided in his church that a seed should serve him from generation
to generation. (3.) That yet this priesthood should not be perpetual, but in
process of time, like the branches and blossoms of a tree, should fail and
wither. The flourishing of the almond-tree is mentioned as one of the signs
of old age, Ecc_12:5. This character was betimes put upon the Mosaic
priesthood, which soon became old and ready to vanish away, Heb_8:13.
3. It was a type and figure of Christ and his priesthood: for he is the man,
the branch, that is to be a priest upon his throne, as it follows (Zec_6:12);
and he was to grow up before God, as this before the ark, like a tender
37

38. plant, and a root out of a dry ground, Isa_53:2.
JAMISON, "Moses went into the tabernacle — being privileged to do so on
this occasion by the special command of God. And he there beheld the
remarkable spectacle of Aaron’s rod - which, according to Josephus, was a
stick of an almond tree, bearing fruit in three different stages at once - buds,
blossoms, and fruit.
CALVIN, "8.And it came to pass, that on the morrow. It is not without cause that,
the time is notified, for by no skill could it be brought about that a rod should
blossom in the lapse of a single night. Again, all suspicion of fraud was removed by
the fact that Moses departed when he had placed the rods in the sanctuary, and,
returning on the next day, brought out the bundle of rods before them all. But in
this respect was the power of God principally shown forth, that in so short a space
of time not only flowers, but fruits also, were formed upon a dry bough, which could
not have occurred but by the reversal of the order of nature. And further, the time
of year is to be taken into account, which was by no means in accordance with such
maturity, Now, by this miracle the dignity of the typical priesthood was
undoubtedly ratified to the ancient people under the Law; but, in so much as the
truth itself is more excellent than its figure or image, the intention of God
unquestionably was to assert the priesthood of His only-begotten Son rather than
that of Aaron. Hence the profit to be derived from this miracle most especially
pertains to us,(“Nous appartient plus qu’aux Juifs;” pertains to us more than to the
Jews. — Fr.) in order that we may embrace the Priest presented to us by God with
the veneration He deserves. I pass by the frivolous allegories (106) in which others
take delight. And in fact it ought to be abundantly sufficient for us, that the power
of God which might direct the people to the Mediator, appeared of old under a
visible symbol; but when the Son of God came, whatever He then represented to
their sight was spiritually revealed in Him: for not only was He a sprout (surculus)
from the stem of Jesse, as He is called by Isaiah (Isaiah 11:1); and a stone hewn
without the art or labor of man, under which form he was shown to Daniel (Daniel
2:34); but by His resurrection tie was separated from the whole human race. For
this, too, we must diligently observe, that it is not enough that He should obtain with
us the prerogative and title of Priest, unless He is so only and indivisibly. Hence it is
plain that His honor is in the Papacy torn in pieces by foul and intolerable sacrilege,
when they invent innumerable mediators.
“Symbolice et tropologice, (he says,) this rod signifies what sort of person a pontifex
and pastor ought to be, viz., watchful, active, laborious, and austere, such as were
St. Nicholas of Myra, St. Andrew the Carmelite, Pius II., and Cardinal Julian
Cesarinus.
“Allegorice, it is Christ; or the Virgin Mary, whose flower is Christ.
“Anagogice, it is a symbol of’ the resurrection.”
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39. COFFMAN, ""And it came to pass on the morrow, that Moses went into the tent of
the testimony; and behold, the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi was budded, and
put forth buds, and produced blossoms, and bare ripe almonds. And Moses brought
out all the rods from before Jehovah unto all the children of Israel: and they looked,
and took every man his rod. And Jehovah said unto Moses, Put back the rod of
Aaron before the testimony, to be kept for a token against the children of rebellion;
that thou mayest make an end of their murmurings against me, and that they die
not. Thus did Moses: as Jehovah commanded him, so did he."
Of many supernatural events in the O.T., surely this one must rank as one of the
greatest. It had the utility of establishing permanently the High Priesthood and
preeminence of Aaron.
COKE, "Numbers 17:8. Was budded, and brought forth buds, &c.— i.e. as Bishop
Patrick ingeniously observes, in some places there was an appearance of buds
coming forth: in some, those buds were fully thrust out; in others, they were opened
into blossoms; in other parts, knotted and grown into almonds; and all this in the
space of one night: a miracle so great and convincing, that we find it had its effect,
the authority of Aaron's priesthood never being afterwards (that we hear of) called
in question. Grotius has a curious remark here respecting the propriety of
producing almonds, in preference to any other fruit. It was intended, says he, to
signify the vigilance immediately requisite in the high priest; for the word ‫שׁקד‬
sheked, signifies both that fruit, and this virtue: fructum illum, et hanc virtutem.
The almond-tree is so called in the Hebrew, says Parkhurst, because it first of the
trees waketh, and riseth from its winter repose: it flowers in the month of January,
and by March brings its fruit to maturity; that is, in the warm southern countries.
The forwardness of this fruit-bearing tree is intimated to us by the vision of
Jeremiah, ch. Numbers 12-1:11 and also Pliny's Nat. Hist. lib. 16: cap. 25. It would
be endless to recount here the fabulous stories respecting the rod of Aaron: those
who are inclined to inquiries of this sort, may find their curiosity gratified by
referring to Parkhurst and Saurin's 61st Dissertation.
ELLICOTT, " (8) Behold, the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi was budded . . . —
As the budding of Aaron’s rod was the divinely appointed proof of the
establishment of the priesthood in his person and in his posterity, so our Lord
proved Himself to be the true High Priest over the House of God by coming forth as
“a rod [or shoot] out of the stem of Jesse” (Isaiah 11:1), and as “a root out of a dry
ground” (Isaiah 53:2). The miraculous shooting forth of Aaron’s dry rod may be
regarded as a type of the mode of the Spirit’s operation in the Church, and more
especially in the work of the ministry; “Not by might, nor by power, but by my
spirit, saith the Lord of hosts” (Zechariah 4:6).
And yielded almonds.—Better, and brought almonds to maturity, or yielded ripe
39

40. almonds. The word shaked (almond-tree) is a cognate form of the verb shakad—to
keep watch. The name is supposed to have been given to the almond-tree because it
blossoms at a time when vegetation is lying in the sleep of winter. (See Jeremiah
1:11-12; also, The Land and the Book, p. 319.)
POOLE, " Into the tabernacle of witness; into the most holy place, which he might
safely do under the protection of God’s command, though otherwise none but the
high priest might enter there, and that once in a year.
Yielded almonds; this being, as Josephus with great probability affirms, a staff of an
almond tree, as the rest also were.
WHEDON. "8. Budded… bloomed… almonds — The miracle consisted in the
sudden vegetation of a dry rod in different stages of growth — buds just appearing,
full blossoms, and mature fruit, “ripe almonds,” R.V. That this effect should have
been produced upon Aaron’s lifeless rod must have been deemed an indisputable
designation of Aaron. “Sure he could not but think, Who am I, O God, that thou
shouldest choose me out of all the tribes of Israel? My weakness has been more
worthy of the rod of correction than my rod has been worthy of these blossoms.
How able art thou to defend my imbecility with the rod of thy support! How able art
thou to defend me with the rod of thy power, who hast thus brought fruit out of the
rod of my profession!” — Bishop Hall. Ewald feebly attempts to reduce this miracle
to the effect of natural causes by suggesting that the rods had just been freshly cut,
and that Moses laid them away during the night, to see which of them would flower
the best during the night. To this we reply that there is no hint of a recent cutting of
the rods; that if freshly cut they would not bud, blossom, and bear fruit in a dry
place in a few hours; and that nature has no power to discriminate in favor of the
rod of Aaron, and to pour into it extraordinary life and fruitfulness. The entire
account strongly implies that the other rods were unchanged. In this fact lies the
proof of Aaron’s election.
PETT, "Verse 8-9
Aaron’s Rod Buds and Flowers in the Tent of Testimony, and The Budded and
Unbudded Rods Are Revealed to All the People, Who Look on Them (so that
murmuring will cease) (Numbers 17:8-9).
Numbers 17:8
‘And it came about on the next day, that Moses went into the tent of the testimony,
and, behold, the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi was budded, and put forth buds,
and produced blossoms (tsits), and bare ripe almonds.’
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41. The next day Moses entered the Tent of testimony, and there he discovered that
Aaron’s rod had budded. Indeed it had not only produced buds, but had also burst
into flower and borne ripe almonds. The same word (tsits) which indicates
‘blossoms’ also signifies the golden ‘plate’ which was part of the High Priest’s
headdress (Exodus 28:36; Leviticus 8:9). Assuming them to be almond flowers they
would have been pinky white. Jeremiah 1:11-12 associates ‘almonds’ (shaked) with
‘vigilance’ and ‘watching’ (shoked). The almond was also the earliest tree to
blossom. Thus the budding was evidence of new life, the flowers symbolised the
High Priestly ‘holiness to Yahweh’ in the whiteness of purity and righteousness, and
the almonds indicated that Yahweh watched over him with vigilance.
The lampstand in the Dwellinglace of Yahweh represented an almond tree (Exodus
25:33-34). Thus the rod that produced almonds was seen as, as it were, an offshoot
of the One represented by the lampstand.
The message was clear. The rod of Aaron lived in the presence of Yahweh, but the
rods of the tribes remained dead. Only Aaron and his sons could be in the presence
of Yahweh in the Holy Place and live. Only Aaron could ‘produce fruit’ in the Holy
Place.
PULPIT, "Numbers 17:8
Was budded: or "sprouted." ‫ח‬ ַ‫ר‬ָ‫.פּ‬ And yielded almonds. Rather, "matured
almonds." This particular rod had been cut from an almond tree, and it would seem
probable that it had on it shoots and flowers and fruit at once, so that the various
stages of its natural growth were all exemplified together. The almond has its
Hebrew name ‫ד‬ֵ‫ק‬ ָ‫,שׁ‬ "awake," from the well-known fact of its being the first of all
trees to awake from the winter sleep of nature, and to herald the vernal resurrection
with its conspicuous show of snow-white blossoms, which even anticipate the leaves
(cf. Ecclesiastes 12:5 ). Thus the "rod of an almond-tree" ( ‫ד‬ֵ‫ק‬ ָ‫שׁ‬ ‫ל‬ֵ‫קּ‬ ַ‫)מ‬ was shown to
the prophet Jeremiah (Jeremiah 1:11) as the evident symbol of the vigilant haste
with which the purposes of God were to be developed and matured. It is possible
that all the tribe princes had official "rods" of the almond-tree to denote their
watchful alacrity in duty, and that these were the rods which they brought to Moses.
In any case the flowering and fruiting of Aaron's rod, while it was an
unquestionable miracle (for if not a miracle, it could only have been a disgraceful
imposture), was a σημεῖον, in the true sense, i.e; a miracle which was also a parable.
Aaron's rod could no more blossom and fruit by nature than any of the others, since
it also had been severed from the living tree; and so in Aaron himself was no more
power or goodness than in the rest of Israel. But as the rod germinated and matured
its fruit by the power of God, supernaturally starting and accelerating the natural
forces of vegetable life, even so in Aaron the grace of God was quick and fruitful to
put forth, not the signs only and promise of spiritual gifts and energies, but the
ripened fruits as well.
41

42. 9 Then Moses brought out all the staffs from the
Lord’s presence to all the Israelites. They looked
at them, and each of the leaders took his own
staff.
GILL, "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, Num_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.
PETT, "Numbers 17:9
‘And Moses brought out all the rods from before Yahweh to all the children of
Israel, and they looked, and took every man his rod.’
Then Moses brought all the rods out ‘from before Yahweh’ and brought them to the
children of Israel, and they looked and saw, and each chieftain took his rod. Nothing
further needed to be said. The rods spoke for themselves. They were taken back to
the tribe with an account of what had happened and no doubt carefully examined.
10 The Lord said to Moses, “Put back Aaron’s
staff in front of the ark of the covenant law, to be
kept as a sign to the rebellious. This will put an
end to their grumbling against me, so that they
42

43. will not die.”
GILL, "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.
HENRY 10-11, "The record of this determination, by the preserving of the
rod before the testimony, in perpetuam rei memoriam - that it might be
had in perpetual remembrance, Num_17:10, Num_17:11. It is probable that
the buds, and blossoms, and fruit, continued fresh; the same divine power
that produced them in a night preserved them for ages, at least so long as it
was necessary for a token against the rebels. So it was a standing miracle,
and the continuance of it was an undeniable proof of the truth of it. Even the
leaf of God's trees shall not wither, Psa_1:3. This rod was preserved, as the
censers were, to take away their murmurings, that they die not. Note, 1.
The design of God in all his providences, both mercies and judgments, and
in the memorials of them, is to take away sin, and to prevent it. These things
are done, these things written, that we sin not, 1Jo_2:1. Christ was
manifested to take away sin. 2. What God does for the taking away of sin is
done in real kindness to us, that we die not. All the bitter potions he gives,
and all the sharp methods he uses with us, are for the cure of a disease
which otherwise would certainly be fatal. Bishop Hall observes here that the
tables of the law, the pot of manna, and Aaron's rod, were preserved
together in or about the ark (the apostle takes notice of them all three
together, Heb_9:4), to show to after-ages how the ancient church was
taught, and fed, and ruled; and he infers how precious the doctrine,
sacraments, and government, of the church are to God and should be to us.
The rod of Moses was used in working many miracles, yet we do not find
that this was preserved, for the keeping of it would serve only to gratify
men's curiosity; but the rod of Aaron, which carried its miracle along with
it, was carefully preserved, because that would be of standing use to
convince men's consciences, to silence all disputes about the priesthood,
and to confirm the faith of God's Israel in his institutions. Such is the
difference between the sacraments which Christ has appointed for
edification and the relics which men have devised for superstition.
CALVIN, "10.And the Lord said unto Moses. What God had prescribed concerning
the censers, He now commands as to the rod, i.e., that it should be preserved as a
monument for future ages; because men are forgetful and slow to consider His
works, and not only so, but because they bury their memory as if of deliberate
malice, he bids, therefore, and not without reproach, that this sign should be laid up
in safety, saying, that this is done on account of their perverseness. At the same time,
however, He commends His paternal love and pity, in that, whilst tie chastises their
43

44. pride, He provides for their welfare. For, as they were given to rebellion, they would
still have provoked His wrath by new murmurings. He says, then, that He
anticipates them, and restrains their impetuous fury, lest they should die. Thus in
humbling us, tie not only punishes our transgressions, but tie has regard to what is
profitable for us, and proves that He cares for us.
ELLICOTT, " (10) Bring Aaron’s red again before the testimony.—Better, Put
back (literally, make to return) Aaron’s rod . . . It is not stated here that the rod was
put within the ark. Nor is it so stated in Exodus 16:33 with regard to the pot of
manna. Neither of these was within the ark when it was brought into Solomon’s
temple (1 Kings 8:9); but this statement is by no means inconsistent with that
contained in Hebrews 9:4, inasmuch as the assertion that there was nothing but the
tables of the law in the ark at that time does not prove that there were not other
things in it at an earlier period, and may be thought to suggest the inference that
such was actually the case. The Jews have a tradition that when King Josiah
ordered the ark to be put in the house which King Solomon built, the rod of Aaron
and the pot of manna and the anointing oil were hidden with the ark, and that at
that time the rod of Aaron had buds and almonds.
WHEDON, "10. To be kept for a token — Probably the buds, blossoms, and fruit
remained upon the rod fresh from age to age, a standing miracle and token of the
presence and inworking of the Spirit of God in the priestly office, making its
ministrations efficacious for the salvation of obedient Israel.
pett, "Verse 10-11
Aaron’s Rod Is Laid Up ‘Before the Testimony’ to Put an End to Their Murmuring
(Numbers 17:10-11).
Numbers 17:10
‘And Yahweh said to Moses, “Put back the rod of Aaron before the testimony, to be
kept for a token against the children of rebellion, that you may make an end of their
murmurings against me, that they die not.” ’
Then Yahweh told Moses to put Aaron’s rod back ‘before the testimony’. It would
be a permanent token to the rebellious, in order that their murmurings might cease,
so that they would not need to die.
SIMEON, "AARON’S ROD THAT BUDDED
Numbers 17:10. And 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
44

45. their murmurings from me, that they die not.
ONE cannot read one page in the Bible without seeing abundant evidence that God
delighteth in the exercise of mercy. Judgment is with great truth called, “his strange
act:” it is an act to which he never resorts but from absolute necessity: but mercy is
his darling attribute; and to that he is inclined, even when the conduct of his
enemies calls most loudly for tokens of his displeasure. Of this we have a surprising
instance in the chapter before us. The competitors with Aaron for the high-
priesthood had been struck dead by fire whilst they were in the very act of
presenting their offerings to God; whilst their associates in rebellion, with their
whole families, were swallowed up by an earthquake. These judgments produced a
murmuring throughout the camp; and fourteen thousand seven hundred were swept
off by a plague, which was stopped only by the interposition of Aaron. The people
now were dumb: but God knew that, though intimidated, they were not so
convinced, but that they would on some future occasion renew their pretensions to
the priesthood, and thereby provoke him to destroy them utterly. Of his own rich
mercy therefore he proposed to give them a sign, which should for ever silence their
murmurings and preclude the necessity of heavier judgments.
In opening this subject we shall shew,
I. What God did to confirm the Aaronic priesthood—
He commanded the head of every tribe to bring a rod or staff to Moses, who
inscribed on every one of them the owner’s name. These all together were placed
before the ark: and the people were taught to expect, that the rod belonging to that
tribe which God had chosen for the priesthood, should blossom; whilst all the other
rods should remain as they were. On the morrow the rods were all brought forth.
The owners severally took their own: and Aaron’s was distinguished from the rest
by the mark proposed; “it was budded, and brought forth buds, and blossomed
blossoms, and yielded almonds.” The controversy being thus decided, God
commanded that Aaron’s rod should be brought again before the ark, and “be kept
for a token against the rebels.” How long it was preserved, cannot be ascertained;
but that it was for a very long period, is certain; because St. Paul speaks of that, and
the golden pot that had manna, as known appendages to the ark. [Note: Hebrews
9:4.] Thus its use was not confined to that generation: it remained to future ages,
1. An evidence of God’s decision—
[The change wrought upon the rod in one single night, together with its having at
once all the different stages of vegetation, “buds, blossoms, fruit,” this was sufficient
to convince the most incredulous: no room could hereafter be left for doubt upon
the subject. Nor do we find from this time even to the days of King Uzziah, that any
one dared to usurp again the priestly office.]
2. A memorial of his mercy—
45

46. [Justly might the people have been utterly destroyed for their continued
murmurings against God. But God here shewed, that “he desireth not the death of
sinners, but rather that they should turn from their wickedness and live.” This was
the avowed design of the test which God proposed; “It shall quite take away their
murmurings from me, that they die not.” What astonishing condescension! Was it
not enough for him to make the appointment, but must he use such methods to
convince unreasonable men; to convince those, whom neither mercies nor
judgments had before convinced? Had it been given, like Gideon’s fleece, to assure a
doubting saint, we should the less have wondered at it; but when it was given as a
superabundant proof to silence the most incorrigible rebels, it remained a
monument to all future ages, that God is indeed “full of compassion, slow to anger,
and of great kindness.”]
3. A witness for him, in case he should be hereafter compelled to inflict his
judgments upon them—
[It is well called “a token against the rebels.” God might at all future periods point
to it, and ask, “What could have been done more for my people, than I have done
for them [Note: Isaiah 5:3-4.]?” Have they not procured my judgments by their own
wilful and obstinate transgressions [Note: Jeremiah 2:17; Jeremiah 4:18.]? — — —
By this means, whatever judgments he should from that time inflict, he would “be
justified in what he ordained, and be clear when he judged [Note: Psalms 51:4.].”]
If we bear in mind that the Aaronic priesthood was typical, we shall see the
propriety of considering,
II. What he has done to confirm the priesthood of Christ—
The whole Epistle to the Hebrews is written to shew that the Aaronic priesthood
typified that of the Lord Jesus, and was accomplished by it. This will account for the
jealousy which God manifested on the subject of the Aaronic priesthood, and the
care that he took to establish it on an immovable foundation. Whether there was
any thing typical in the peculiar means by which it was established, we will not
pretend to determine: but certain it is that there is a striking correspondence
between the blossoming of Aaron’s rod, and those things by which Christ’s
priesthood is established. Two things in particular we shall mention as placing
beyond all doubt the appointment of the Lord Jesus to the priestly office:
1. The resurrection of Christ—
[Christ is expressly called, “a rod out of the stem of Jesse [Note: Isaiah 11:1.];” and
so little prospect was there, according to human appearances, that he should ever
flourish, that it was said of him, “He shall grow up as a tender plant, and as a root
out of the dry ground:” “He is despised and rejected of men [Note: Isaiah 53:2-3.].”
If this was his state whilst yet alive, how much more must it be so when he was dead
46

47. and buried! His enemies then triumphed over him as a deceiver, and his followers
despaired of ever seeing his pretensions realized. But behold, with the intervention
of one single day, this dry rod revived, and blossomed to the astonishment and
confusion of all his adversaries. Now indeed it appeared that God had “appointed
him to be both Lord and Christ [Note: Acts 2:32; Acts 2:36.].” Now it was proved,
that “his enemies should become his footstool [Note: Acts 2:34-35.].” On his
ascension to heaven he was laid up, as it were, beside the testimony in the immediate
presence of his God, to be “a token against the rebels.” There is he “a token,” that
God desires to save his rebellious people: that “he has laid help for them upon one
that is mighty:” that all which is necessary for their salvation is already
accomplished: that their great High-Priest, having made atonement fur them, is
entered within the veil; and that “he is able to save to the uttermost all that come
unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.” If any shall
now reject him, he will be “a swift witness against them;” and God will be justified,
yea he will glorify himself in their eternal condemnation.]
2. The spread of the Gospel—
[The Gospel is represented by God as “the rod of his strength [Note: Psalms
110:2.]:” and in reference, as it should seem, to the very miracle before us, its
miraculous propagation through the earth is thus foretold: “God shall cause them
that come of Jacob to take root: Israel shall blossom and bud, and fill the face of the
world with fruit [Note: Isaiah 27:6 with Matthew 24:14.].” Consider how the Gospel
militated against all the prejudices and passions of mankind, and by whom it was to
be propagated, (a few poor fishermen,) and it will appear, that the blossoming of
Aaron’s rod was not a more unlikely event than that Christianity should be
established in the world. Yet behold, a very short space of time was sufficient for the
diffusion of it throughout the Roman empire; and, from its first propagation to the
present moment, not all the efforts of men or devils have been able to root it out.
The spread of Mahometanism affords no parallel to this; because that was
propagated by the sword, and tended rather to gratify, than counteract, the sinful
passions of mankind. The doctrine of the cross not only gained acceptance through
the world, but transformed the very natures of men into the divine image. Such
operations, visible in every place, and in every stage of their progress from their
first budding to the production of ripe fruit, could not but prove, that the priesthood
which it maintained was of divine appointment; that the doctrine which it published
was suited to our necessities; and that all who embraced it should be saved by it. In
this view every individual believer is a witness for God, and “a token against the
rebels;” inasmuch as he manifests to all the power and efficacy of the gospel
salvation: he is “an epistle of Christ, known and read of all men;” and, by his
earnestness in the ways of God, he says to all around him, “How shall ye escape, if
ye neglect so great salvation?” Yes; every soul that shall have found mercy through
the mediation of our great High-Priest, will, in the last day, rise up in judgment
against the despisers of his salvation, and condemn them: nor will the condemned
criminals themselves be able to offer a plea in arrest of judgment.]
47

48. Address,
1. Those who are unconscious of having rejected Christ—
[It is not necessary in order to a rejection of Christ that we should combine against
him as the Israelites did against Aaron: we reject him, in fact, if we do not receive
him for the ends and purposes for which he was sent. Our inquiry then must be, not,
Have I conspired against him, and openly cast him off? but, Am I daily making
HIM the one medium of my access to God, and expecting salvation through him
alone? — — — If we have not thus practically regarded him in his mediatorial
character, we are decided rebels against God.]
2. Those who begin to he sensible of their rebellion against him—
[Men are apt to run to extremes: the transition from presumption to despondency is
very common. See how rapidly it took place in the rebellious Israelites I No sooner
did they see the controversy decided, than they cried, “Behold we die, we perish, we
all perish! Whosoever cometh any thing near unto the tabernacle of the Lord shall
die: shall we be consumed with dying [Note: ver. 12, 13.]?” What consternation and
terror did they here express! Just before, they would be priests, and come to the
very altar of God: and now, they will not “come any thing near the tabernacle,”
though it was their duty to bring their sacrifices to the very door thereof. So it is too
often with us. Before we are convinced of sin, we cast off all fear of God’s
judgments; and, when convinced, we put away all hope of his mercy. Let it not be
thus. The very means which God has used for our conviction, are proofs and
evidences of his tender mercy — — — Only let us come to him through Christ, and
all our past iniquities shall be “blotted out as a morning cloud.”]
3. Those who confess him as their divinely appointed Mediator—
[From this time the Israelites never presumed to approach the Lord but through the
mediation of the high-priest. Whether they offered sacrifices or gifts, they equally
acknowledged the unacceptableness of them in any other than the appointed way.
Thus must we do. Not any thing must be presented to God, or be expected from him,
but in and through the Lord Jesus Christ. If we approach God in any other way, we
shall find him “a consuming fire.” Let this be remembered by us: it cannot possibly
be too deeply engraven on our minds. If God manifested such indignation against
those who disregarded the shadow, what must be the fate of those who disregard the
substance? If we reject Christ, we have nothing to hope for; if we cleave unto him,
we have nothing to fear.]
PULPIT, "Numbers 17:10
Before the testimony. By comparison with Numbers 17:7 this should mean before
the ark in which the "testimony" lay. In Hebrews 9:4, however, the rod is said to
48

49. have been in the ark, although before Solo-men's time it had disappeared (1 Kings
8:9). We may suppose that after it had been inspected by the princes it was
deposited for safer preservation and easier conveyance inside the sacred chest. To
be kept for a token against the rebels. Rather, "against the rebellious," literally,
"children of rebellion" (cf. Ephesians 2:2, Ephesians 2:3). It could only serve as a
token as long as it retained the evidences of having sprouted and fruited, either
miraculously in a fresh state, or naturally in a withered state. As a fact, however, it
does not appear that the lesson ever needed to be learnt again, and therefore we may
suppose that the rod was left first to shrivel with age, and then to be lost through
some accident.
11 Moses did just as the Lord commanded him.
GILL, "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.
PETT, "Numbers 17:11
‘Thus did Moses, as Yahweh commanded him, so did he.’
And Moses did all that Yahweh had commanded him.
12 The Israelites said to Moses, “We will die! We
are lost, we are all lost!
BARNES, "A new section should begin with these verses. They are
connected retrospectively with Num. 16; and form the immediate
introduction to Num. 18. The people were terror-stricken by the fate of the
company of Korah and by the plague. Presumption passed by reaction into
49

50. despair. Was there any approach for them to the tabernacle of the Lord?
Was there any escape from death, except by keeping aloof from His
presence? The answers are supplied by the ordinances which testified that
the God of judgment was still a God of grace and of love.
CLARKE, "Behold, we die, we perish, we all perish - ‫גוענו‬ gavaenu signifies
not so much to die simply, as to feel an extreme difficulty of breathing,
which, producing suffocation, ends at last in death. See the folly and
extravagance of this sinful people. At first, every person might come near to
God, for all, they thought, were sufficiently holy, and every way qualified to
minister in holy things. Now, no one, in their apprehension, can come near
to the tabernacle without being consumed, Num_17:13. In both cases they
were wrong; some there were who might approach, others there were who
might not. God had put the difference. His decision should have been final
with them; but sinners are ever running into extremes.
GILL, "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.''
HENRY 12-13, ". The outcry of the people hereupon (Num_17:12, Num_
17:13): Behold, we die, we perish, we all perish. Shall we be consumed with
dying? This may be considered as the language either, 1. Of a repining
people quarrelling with the judgments of God, which, by their own pride
and obstinacy, they had brought upon themselves. They seem to speak
despairingly, as if God was a hard Master, that sought advantage against
them, and took all occasions to pick quarrels with them, so that if they trod
every so little awry, if they stepped ever so little beyond their bounds, they
must die, they must perish, they must all perish, basely insinuating that God
would never be satisfied with their blood and ruin, till he had made an end
of them all and they were consumed with dying. Thus they seem to be like a
wild bull in a net, full of the fury of the Lord (Isa_51:20), fretting that God
was too hard for them and that they were forced to submit, which they did
only because they could not help it. Note, It is a very wicked thing to fret
50

51. against God when we are in affliction, and in our distress thus to trespass
yet more. If we die, if we perish, it is owing to ourselves, and the blame will
lie upon our own heads. Or, 2. Of a repenting people. Many interpreters
take it as expressing their submission: “Now we see that it is the will of God
we should keep our distance, and that it is at our peril if we draw nearer
than is appointed. We submit to the divine will in this appointment; we will
not contend any more, lest we all perish:” and they engage Moses to
intercede for them, that they may not be all consumed with dying. Thus the
point was gained, and in this matter God quite took away their murmurings,
and henceforward they acquiesced. Note, When God judges he will
overcome, and, one way or other, will oblige the most obstinate gainsayers
to confess their folly sooner or later, and that wherein they dealt proudly he
was above them. Vicisti Galilaee - O Galilaean, thou hast conquered!
JAMISON 12-13, "Behold, we die, we perish — an exclamation of fear, both
from the remembrance of former judgments, and the apprehension of
future relapses into murmuring.
K&D, "Num_17:12-13
This miracle awakened a salutary terror in all the people, so that they
cried out to Moses in mortal anguish, “behold, we die, we perish, we all
perish! Every one who comes near to the dwelling of Jehovah dies; are we
all to die?” Even if this fear of death was no fruit of faith, it was fitted for all
that to prevent any fresh outbreaks of rebellion on the part of the rejected
generation.
CALVIN, "12.And the children of Israel spoke unto Moses. It was indeed somewhat
better to be alarmed by admiration of God’s power than as if they had despised it in
brutal stupidity; but there is a medium between torpor or obstinacy, and
consternation. It is true that believers tremble at the judgments of God, and, in
proportion as each of us has advanced in piety, so we are the more affected by a
sense of His anger. But this fear humbles believers in such a manner that they
nevertheless seek after God; whilst the reprobate so tremble as fretfully to desire to
drive God far away from them. Hence it arose that the Israelites, stunned as it were
by God’s severity, which they deemed excessive, deplored their wretched lot; for,
inasmuch as they had no sense of God’s goodness, the chastisement to them was like
a gibbet rather than a medicine. They exclaim, therefore, that they are destroyed,
because God so severely avenges His polluted worship; as if all such instances of
rigor were not profitable for the purpose of rendering them more heedful and
cautious. No doubt this servile fear sometimes prepares men for repentance; but
nothing is more perilous than to rest in it, because it first engenders bitterness and
indignation, and at length drives them to despair, Howsoever formidable, then, may
be God’s severity, let us learn at the same time to apprehend His mercy, so that we
may be prepared to endure willingly with meek and quiet minds the punishments
51

52. which we have deserved. In short, this passage shows how little progress the
Israelites had made, since the rods of God so greatly exasperated them, that they cut
themselves off from all hope of salvation. For this is the meaning of the words,
“Shall we be consumed with dying?” as if it were not the case that God, on the
contrary, was preserving them from death, when in His paternal solicitude He
warned them of their danger.
COFFMAN.""And the children of Israel spake unto Moses, saying, Behold, we
perish, we are undone, we are all undone. Every one that cometh near, that cometh
near unto the tabernacle of Jehovah, dieth; shall we perish all of us?"
We agree with Longacre that the fear of death expressed by Israel following the
astounding wonders of this chapter and the preceding one did not afford any
evidence of deep repentance on Israel's part but was rather the expression of, "a
natural fear in view of the events just recounted."[6] Whatever the source of their
fear, however, the effective discipline of these wonders quelled completely this
rebellion, described by Keil as "the most important" of the wilderness
wanderings.[7]
BENSON, "Verse 12-13
Numbers 17:12-13. Behold we die, we perish — Words of consternation, arising
from the remembrance of these severe and repeated judgments, from the
threatening of death upon any succeeding murmurings, and from the sense of their
own guilt and weakness, which made them fear lest they should relapse into the
same miscarriages, and thereby bring the vengeance of God upon themselves.
Near — Nearer than he should do; an error which we may easily commit. Will God
proceed with us according to his strict justice, till all the people be cut off?
ELLICOTT, "Verse 12-13
(12, 13) And the children of Israel spake unto Moses . . . —The special
manifestations of Divine power which the Israelites had witnessed excited within
them salutary emotions of awe and of anxious apprehension, but do not seem to
have awakened within them any corresponding sense of gratitude either for their
deliverance from the plague, or for the privileges which they enjoyed by reason of
the Divine presence amongst them. The true answer to their inquiry whether they
were doomed utterly to perish is contained in the following chapter, in which the
priesthood of Christ is typically set forth as bearing the iniquity of the sanctuary,
and thus making reconciliation for the sins and securing the acceptance of the
imperfect service of His people.
POOLE, "Words of consternation arising, partly, from the remembrance of these
severe and repeated judgments; partly, from the threatening of death upon ally
52

53. succeeding murmurings; partly, from the sense of their own guilt and weakness,
which made them fear lest they should relapse into the same miscarriages, and
thereby bring the vengeance of God upon themselves.
WHEDON, " 12. We all perish — This miracle made a deeper impression upon the
people than any other wrought in the wilderness except the terrific display of power
at the giving of the law on Mount Sinai. Nor were they so alarmed by the
supernatural judgments of Jehovah: such as the slaying of Nadab and Abihu, of the
ten faithless spies, the engulfing of a part of Korah’s conspirators, and the burning
of the 250 at the tabernacle, and the recent plague-stroke that swept away 14,700 of
Israel at once.
PETT, "Verse 12-13
The People Recognise that None But Aaron’s House May Enter the Tabernacle.
They Alone Can Enter the Sanctuary and Live (Numbers 17:12-13)
Numbers 17:12-13
‘And the children of Israel spoke to Moses, saying, “Behold, we perish, we are
undone, all of us are undone. Every one who comes near, who comes near to the
tabernacle of Yahweh, dies. Shall we perish all of us?” ’
The people examined the dead rods that represented the tribes, in contrast with the
living rod of Aaron, and their consciences smote them as they remembered their
recent past. They must have asked themselves, what did this signify? Terror took
hold of them, and spread. Their rod had come back dead. They panicked. Was this
an omen, an indication of their coming fate, that Yahweh was handing them over to
death? They understood the message that was given, that they could not enter the
near presence of Yahweh lest they die, that to come too near to the Sanctuary was
death, as Moses had already warned (Numbers 1:51; Numbers 1:53). But they
feared that death was upon them, as they recognised that they had been
approaching His Dwellingplace so lightly. Were they then doomed? Was this the
harbinger of a ghastly fate? Moses no doubt reassured them of what the true
significance of the rods was, but for the reader, held in suspense, the answer is given
in Numbers 18:2. The iniquity of the Sanctuary and the priesthood would be borne
by Aaron and his sons.
So once the initial panic had subsided the people learned in a never to be forgotten
way that the Sanctuary was holy and the inner Sanctuary was for the priests alone.
God had made quite plain through the rods that only Aaron and his sons could
flourish there. For all others to enter would be to perish. Note the threefold stress,
‘perish -- undone -- all undone’ indicating how distressed they were. The repetition
of ‘comes near’ indicates coming very close. To come too close to the Dwellingplace
of Yahweh would result in death, just as the rods were dead. They had to face up to
the fact that in the future all who did so would perish.
53

54. This example of the rods also pictorially made clear to them what had happened to
Korah and his band of Levites. They had thought to come too close to Yahweh in
direct disobedience to His instruction and they had died. None must ever again
make the same mistake. The same would happen to any who made the attempt.
Only Aaron and his sons had the privilege of entry into His inner Sanctuary.
For us the message is that if we would enter the presence of God we too must receive
life, and bud and produce fruit. We must receive eternal life, through Jesus Christ
(John 5:24; John 10:28; 1 John 5:12-13; 2 Corinthians 5:17), and only then we can
live before Him. For us our right of access is through the sacrifice of Christ
(Hebrews 10:19-20) and results from our being made a royal priesthood through
Him (1 Peter 2:9).
PULPIT, "And the children of Israel spake unto Moses. It is a mistake to unite these
verses specially with the following chapter, for they clearly belong to the story of
Korah's rebellion, although not particularly connected with the miracle of the rod.
These are the last wailings of the great storm which had raged against Moses and
Aaron, which had roared so loudly and angrily at its height, which was now sobbing
itself out in the petulant despair of defeated and disheartened men, cowed indeed,
but not convinced, fearful to offend, yet not loving to obey.
13 Anyone who even comes near the tabernacle of
the Lord will die. Are we all going to die?”
GILL, "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
54

55. 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.
JAMISON, "cometh any thing near — that is, nearer than he ought to do;
an error into which many may fall. Will the stern justice of God overtake
every slight offense? We shall all be destroyed. Some, however, regard this
exclamation as the symptom or a new discontent, rather than the indication
of a reverential and submissive spirit. Let us fear and sin not.
COKE, "Numbers 17:13. Whosoever cometh—near unto the tabernacle—shall
die— i.e. "We are now convinced, and firmly believe, that whosoever cometh near to
the tabernacle, to officiate as a priest, without the divine appointment, shall
certainly be struck dead by the hand of God." Nothing can more strongly paint the
consternation of the people, than the words in this and the preceding verse: they are
always in extremes, either daring and presumptuous, or abject and full of despair;
now they seem to have such a slavish fear of God upon their spirits, from the late
severe visitation, that they speak of it as extremely dangerous to engage at all in
sacred duties, left, by committing one error against the instituted forms of religion,
they should suffer death, as their brethren had done: to obviate which cavil, the
following declaration seems intended, ch. Numbers 18:1.
REFLECTIONS.—The rods are produced, and a new miracle confirms God's
appointment of Aaron.
1. His rod, alone, was teeming with life; fruit, leaves, and blossoms, all adorn it: thus
every suspicion of fraud in Moses is removed, and Aaron's office confirmed to him.
Note; (1.) They bring forth fruit abundantly whom God hath called and chosen. (2.)
Those whom Christ ordains and sends to his work he will bless. To see no souls
quickened and converted by our ministry, would be a pretty strong proof that we
have not been ordained of God.
2. Aaron's rod is said up for a memorial; that if, as is probable, the blossoms, leaves,
and fruit, continued un-withering, it served as an abiding proof of Aaron's choice,
and a constant token against the past, as well as a guard against future rebellion.
Note; The design of God in sending his Son, and in every dispensation of his grace
or providence, is the salvation of all that will believe.
3. The people, now convinced of their guilt, are ready to give up all for lost; so apt
are we to be verging to extremes, and changing presumption for despair. Trembling
at the rod laid up against them, they resolve not to come near the tabernacle of the
Lord, or ever again challenge Aaron's place, left death should accomplish the ruin
which it had begun. Note; It is never too late to repent: happy for us, if, by
experience, we are convinced of the evil and danger of sin, bow down before the
chastening rod, and with jealousy watch and pray that we may never again return
unto folly!
55

56. General Reflections on Chapters XVI. and XVII.
Among the miracles which it pleased God to perform by the ministration of Moses,
there are few which more evidently prove the truth of the Jewish religion than this
destruction of Korah and his seditious company. To give this prodigy its full force,
we ought above all things to remark, that it happened not by chance, but that Moses
predicted the punishment before it could possibly be known that such an event
would happen. That the earth should swallow up men and their dwellings had
nothing in it contrary to the powers of Nature; it is an event which has often
happened in different countries; but the miracle before us is entirely out of the
common laws of Nature: while the earth was firm and entire, Moses announced the
time when, the place where, the persons on whom, and the manner in which this
prodigy should happen; and the effect immediately followed the prediction. But
what we ought particularly to remark, is, that this miracle happened not in Sicily, in
Italy, or in a country undermined with subterraneous fire: it was not in
mountainous places, which might have been supposed to have abounded in cavities,
but it was in Arabia; a sandy desart soil, and which, like all flat places, is less
subject to earthquakes. Thus doth this severe vengeance appear to be strikingly
miraculous; and the occasion of it abundantly shews, that every one ought to abide
in his calling, and submit himself to the order which God has established: that none
ought to assume to themselves the honour of the ministry, nor exercise its functions,
unless God has called them to it.
It is observable, that the greatest part of the miracles which God wrought for the
establishment of the Jewish religion, were fearful and destructive; on the contrary,
the truth of the Gospel is founded upon an infinite number of miracles, which were
salutary no less to the enemies than to the friends of that religion. There reigned in
the ancient law a spirit of bondage which kept in fear; Romans 8:15 instead of
which, in the new Dispensation, there reigns a spirit of love; a spirit of adoption,
which fills with joy inexpressible the hearts of all true believers; and which ought,
certainly, to render them no less forward than Moses to pray for those who have
injured them, to intercede for them with God, and to labour by all means to bring
them back to their duty.
If the destruction of the rebellious Korah and his company evidently proves the
divine interposition, the blossoming of Aaron's rod is a no less striking proof of it.
Neither Nature nor Chance could occasion it: we have the order of God, his promise
and prediction, with a full completion, related in the text. To be sensible of the
greatness of this miracle, we should observe the circumstances of the time. The rod
continued exposed, not for many months or weeks, but only for the space of a day
and a night. Yesterday, without sap and perfectly dry; to-day, it is filled with
moisture: and only one of twelve, equally exposed to the powers of nature, and the
omnipotence of God, laid up in a hot climate, in a dry place, impenetrable to the
rain and dew; the only one which, in the space of one night, produced flowers and
fruit. Neither man, nor all his art, could be concerned here; nor could His hand fail
to be acknowledged, who calleth the things that are not, as though they were.
56

57. Romans 4:17. Reflections which ought for ever to silence their malignity, who
pretend that Moses employed pious frauds to procure his brother the dignity of the
high priesthood.
Every body knows, that the almond is one of those trees of which the children are
born before their parents; that at the beginning of the spring it produces flowers
before the leaves discover themselves, and that some months after it bears fruit.
Here, on the contrary, we see a branch of the almond tree, a dry rod, recovering its
verdure in one night, filled with sap, pushing forth its buds, and loaded with
flowers, leaves, and fruit. This prodigy, in my opinion, may well justify that
exclamation: Who is like unto thee, O Lord? Glorious in holiness, fearful in praises,
doing wonders!
Among the other prodigies attending the rod of Aaron, we ought to number that
perpetual miracle which preserved it green, flourishing, and full of flowers and
fruit, as a memorial of the event for which the prodigy was wrought. The same hand
which caused the rod to blossom and bring forth fruit preserved it in that state: the
table of Moses, the rod of Aaron, the miraculous manna, are proper monuments for
so holy a shrine as the ark of God; the doctrine, sacraments, and government of his
people, are precious to Him, and must be so to all men: he is willing to preserve to
all times the memory how his ancient church was led, taught, and ruled. The rod of
Moses did great miracles; yet we find it not in the ark: the rod of Aaron has this
privilege, because it carried the miracle still in itself.
We may just observe, that the twelve princes of the tribes of Israel would never have
written their names on their rods, but in the hope that they might be chosen. Had
they not thought it a high preferment, they would never have envied so much the
office of Aaron. What should we think of the change which has taken place?—Is the
evangelical administration of less worth than the Levitical? while the Testament is
better, is the service worse? Happy they who value as they ought, and fulfil as well
as they are able, the angelic duties of gospel-ministers. Such faithful stewards shall
meet a great reward from that God and master who has called them.
POOLE, " Any thing near, i.e. nearer than he should do; an error which we may
easily commit.
Shall we be consumed? will God proceed with us in these severe courses, according
to his strict justice? will he show us no mercy nor pity, till all the people be cut off
and destroyed with dying one after another.
WHEDON, "13. Shall we be consumed — Where God cannot awaken genuine faith
and obedience, as he could not in this rejected generation, he inspires a salutary
dread as a preventive of renewed rebellion. Terror must restrain those whom love
fails to win. Yet at this point lay the chief danger to faith in the theocracy, the
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58. difficulty of realizing the invisible presence of God, and of conceiving a communion
with him which should not crush or absorb the finite creature. This shrinking back
from joyful communion by reason of the divine majesty appears very often in
thoughtful Hebrews, as in Deuteronomy 5:24-27; Numbers 17:12-13; Isaiah 45:15.
See also Job 9:32-35; Job 13:21-22. Hence arose idolatry, which is an attempt to
commune with superior powers by visible symbols or images. The incarnation of the
Godhead in one true and visible man has removed all excuse for idolatry arising
from the inconceivable infinity and awfulness of Jehovah.
PULPIT, "Shall we be consumed with dying? It was a natural question, considering
all that had happened; and indeed it could only be answered in the affirmative, for
their sentence was, "In this wilderness they shall be consumed" (Numbers 14:35).
But it was not in human nature that they should calmly accept their fate.
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