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Numbers 17 - New English Translation (NET)

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The Budding of Aaron’s Staff

17 [a] The Lord spoke to Moses: 2 “Speak to the Israelites, and receive from them a staff from each tribe,[b] one from every tribal leader,[c] twelve staffs; you must write each man’s name on his staff. 3 You must write Aaron’s name on the staff of Levi; for one staff is for the head of every tribe.[d] 4 You must place them[e] in the tent of meeting before the ark of the covenant[f] where I meet with you. 5 And the staff of the man whom I choose will blossom; so I will rid myself of the complaints of the Israelites, which they murmur against you.”

6 So Moses spoke to the Israelites, and each of their leaders gave him a staff, one for each leader,[g] according to their tribes[h]—twelve staffs; the staff of Aaron was among their staffs. 7 Then Moses placed the staffs before the Lord in the tent of the testimony.[i]

8 On the next day Moses went into the tent of the testimony—and[j] the staff of Aaron for the house of Levi had sprouted, and brought forth buds, and produced blossoms, and yielded almonds![k] 9 So Moses brought out all the staffs from before the Lord to all the Israelites. They looked at them,[l] and each man took his staff.

The Memorial

10 The Lord said to Moses, “Bring Aaron’s staff back before the testimony to be preserved for a sign to the rebels, so that you may bring their murmurings to an end[m] before me, that they will not die.”[n] 11 So Moses did as the Lord commanded him—this is what he did.

12 The Israelites said to Moses, “We are bound to die![o] We perish, we all perish! 13 (17:28)[p] Anyone who even comes close to the tabernacle of the Lord will die! Are we all to die?”[q]

Footnotes

  1. Numbers 17:1 sn Num 17:1 in the English Bible is 17:16 in the Hebrew text (BHS). See also the note on 16:36.
  2. Numbers 17:2 tn Heb “receive from them a rod, a rod from the house of a father.”
  3. Numbers 17:2 tn Heb “from every leader of them according to their fathers’ house.”
  4. Numbers 17:3 tn Heb “one rod for the head of their fathers’ house.”
  5. Numbers 17:4 tn The verb is the Hiphil perfect of נוּחַ (nuakh, “to rest”), and so “to set at rest, lay, place, put.” The form with the vav (ו) consecutive continues the instruction of the previous verse.
  6. Numbers 17:4 tn The Hebrew text simply reads “the covenant” or “the testimony.”
  7. Numbers 17:6 tn Heb “a rod for one leader, a rod for one leader.”
  8. Numbers 17:6 tn Heb “the house of their fathers.”
  9. Numbers 17:7 tn The name of the tent now attests to the centrality of the ark of the covenant. Instead of the “tent of meeting” (מוֹעֵד, moʿed) we now find the “the tent of the testimony” (הָעֵדֻת, haʿedut).
  10. Numbers 17:8 tn Here too the deictic particle (“and behold”) is added to draw attention to the sight in a vivid way.
  11. Numbers 17:8 sn There is no clear answer why the tribe of Levi had used an almond staff. The almond tree is one of the first to bud in the spring, and its white blossoms are a beautiful sign that winter is over. Its name became a name for “watcher”; Jeremiah plays on this name for God’s watching over his people (1:11-12).
  12. Numbers 17:9 tn The words “at them” are not in the Hebrew text, but they have been added in the translation for clarity.
  13. Numbers 17:10 tn The verb means “to finish; to complete” and here “to bring to an end.” It is the imperfect following the imperative, and so introduces a purpose clause (as a final imperfect).
  14. Numbers 17:10 tn This is another final imperfect in a purpose clause.
  15. Numbers 17:12 tn The use of הֵן (hen) and the perfect tense in the nuance of a prophetic perfect expresses their conviction that they were bound to die—it was certain (see GKC 312-13 §106.n).
  16. Numbers 17:13 sn Num 17:13 in the English Bible is 17:28 in the Hebrew text (BHS). See also the note on 16:36.
  17. Numbers 17:13 tn The verse stresses the completeness of their death: “will we be consumed by dying” (הַאִם תַּמְנוּ לִגְוֹעַ, haʾim tamnu ligvoaʿ).

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17 And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses, saying, 2 `Speak unto the sons of Israel, and take from them each a rod, for a father's house, from all their princes, for the house of their fathers, twelve rods; the name of each thou dost write on his rod, 3 and Aaron's name thou dost write on the tribe of Levi...
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Numbers 17 - World English Bible (WEB)

17 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to the children of Israel, and take rods from them, one for each fathers’ house, of all their princes according to their fathers’ houses, twelve rods. Write each man’s name on his rod. 3 You shall write Aaron’s name on Levi’s rod. There shall be one rod f...
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The Budding of Aaron’s Rod17 [a] The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Speak to the people of Israel, and get from them rods, one for each fathers’ house, from all their leaders according to their fathers’ houses, twelve rods. Write each man’s name upon his rod, 3 and write Aaron’s name upon the rod of Levi....
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Numbers 17 - New Revised Standard Version, Anglicised (NRSVA)

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Numbers 17 - New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

The Budding of Aaron’s Rod17 [a]The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to the Israelites, and get twelve staffs from them, one for each ancestral house, from all the leaders of their ancestral houses. Write each man’s name on his staff, 3 and write Aaron’s name on the staff of Levi. For there sha...
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Numbers 17 - New King James Version (NKJV)

The Budding of Aaron’s Rod17 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 2 “Speak to the children of Israel, and get from them a rod from each father’s house, all their leaders according to their fathers’ houses—twelve rods. Write each man’s name on his rod. 3 And you shall write Aaron’s name on the rod ...
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Numbers 17 - New International Version - UK (NIVUK)

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Numbers 17 - New International Version (NIV)

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Numbers 17 - New Century Version (NCV)

Aaron’s Walking Stick Buds17 The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Speak to the people of Israel and get twelve walking sticks from them—one from the leader of each tribe. Write the name of each man on his stick, and 3 on the stick from Levi, write Aaron’s name. There must be one stick for the head of each t...
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