1God commandeth the rods of the tribes to be brought before the testimony. 6They are laid up, and Aaron's rod only flourisheth. 10It is left for a monument against the rebels.
1AND the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
2Speak unto the children of Israel, and 1take of every one of them a rod according to the house of their fathers, of all their 2princes according to the house of their fathers twelve rods: write thou every man's name upon his rod.
1 Hebr. take from by them rod, rod, according to the father’s house, etc.
2 See Numbers 2.
3And thou shalt write Aaron's name upon the rod of Levi: for one rod shall be for the 3head of the house of their fathers.
3 That is, for each head, for each prince of the fatherly or parental house. The meaning is: Although I have distinguished and divided the tribe of Levi in two, namely, the priestly line of Aaron and that of the Levites, yet in this case they shall be jointly accounted under one head, namely Aaron.
4And thou shalt lay them up in the tabernacle of the congregation before the 4testimony, wherea I will meet 5with you.
4 That is, before the ark of the covenant, wherein were laid up the tables of the covenant, being a testimony of the will of God.
a Exod. 25:22.
5 Or, assemble with, unto or by you, or, shall be assembled, to speak with you of whatsoever you are to make known to the children of Israel; whereof the tent of the congregation has principally its name. See Exod. 25:22.
5And it shall come to pass, that the man's rod, whom I shall 6choose, shall 7blossom: and I will make to cease 8from me the murmurings of the children of Israel, whereby they murmur against 9you.
6 For the priesthood.
7 Or, bud forth, sprout, shoot up, and so verse 8.
8 Hebr. from over, or from against Me, or, still from Me, or, cause to cease, that is, avert and pacify; there being more such like words in the Hebrew language which carry and imply the sense of two words at once. See Gen. 12 on verse 15. The meaning is: I shall make them to cease and give over their murmuring against Me and you also; for as much as their murmuring is against you, it is an actual murmuring against Me. See verse 10.
9 Moses and Aaron.
6¶And Moses spake unto the children of Israel, and every one of their princes gave him 10a rod apiece, for each prince one, according to their fathers' houses, even twelve rods: and the rod of Aaron was 11among their rods.
10 Hebr. for a prince or duke a rod, for a prince one.
11 Hebr. in the midst of their rods.
7And Moses laid up the rods 12before the LORD in the tabernacle of witness.
12 See on verse 4.
8And it came to pass, that on the morrow Moses went into the tabernacle of witness; and, behold, the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi was budded, and brought forth buds, and bloomed blossoms, and 13yielded almonds.
13 Other, ripened almonds, that is, produced almonds that were ripening, or growing by degrees to ripeness and maturity.
9And Moses brought 14out all the rods from before the LORD unto all the children of Israel: and they looked, and took every man his rod.
14 That is, out of the most Holy place, where they had lain before the ark.
10¶And the LORD said unto Moses, Bringb Aaron’s rod again before the testimony, to be kept for a token against the 15rebels; and thou shalt 16quite take away their murmurings from me, that they die not.
b Heb. 9:4.
15 Hebr. children of rebellion.
16 Hebr. end their murmurings from Me, or, from over against Me, that is, make an end, and avert it from Me, cause it to cease, and make them that they murmur no more against Me. See on verse 5.
11And Moses did so: as the LORD commanded him, so did he.
12And the children of Israel spake unto Moses, saying, Behold, we 17die, we perish, we all perish.
17 Or, we faint, swoon, expire, and so in the next verse. Thus they expressed a great terror and astonishment, fearing that they all would perish as the assembly of Korah; whereas the LORD, on the contrary, did warn them by this very means to beware of destruction, showing His mercy and longsuffering thereby. See verses 5, 10.
13Whosoever cometh 18any thing near unto the tabernacle of the LORD shall die: 19shall we be consumed with dying?
18 Hebr. whoso draweth nigh, whoso draweth nigh.
19 Other, shall we then utterly, totally, altogether or all at once perish? Or, have they made an end of perishing? That is, shall there be no end then of perishing?