Numbers 17:2

Speak unto the children of Israel, and take of every one of them a rod according to the house of their fathers, of all their princes according to the house of their fathers twelve rods: write thou every man’s name upon his rod.

King James Version · Read in your translation · Open the Explore console

Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
Speak	דַּבֵּ֣ר da.Ber	H1696	perhaps properly · verb, piel imperative, 2nd person masculine singular
children	בְּנֵ֣י be.Nei	H1121	a son (as a builder of the family name) · noun, common masculine plural construct
Israel	יִשְׂרָאֵ֗ל Yis.ra.'El	H3478	Jisrael · proper noun, a place name
take	וְקַ֣ח ve.Kach	H3947	to take (in the widest variety of applications) · conjunction + verb, qal imperative, 2nd person masculine singular
rod	מַטֶּ֣ה ma.Teh	H4294	a branch (as extending) · noun, common masculine singular absolute
house	לְבֵ֨ית le.Veit	H1004	a house (in the greatest variation of applications · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct
fathers	אָ֜ב 'av	H1	father · noun, common masculine singular absolute
princes	נְשִֽׂיאֵהֶם֙ ne.si.'e.Hem	H5387	properly · noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
house	לְבֵ֣ית le.Veit	H1004	a house (in the greatest variation of applications · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct
fathers	אֲבֹתָ֔ם 'a.vo.Tam	H1	father · noun, common feminine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
twelve	שְׁנֵ֥ים she.Neim	H8147	two · cardinal number, both genders dual absolute
rods	מַטֶּה֩ ma.Teh	H4294	a branch (as extending) · noun, common masculine singular absolute
write	תִּכְתֹּ֖ב tikh.To	H3789	to grave · verb, qal imperfect, 2nd person masculine singular
man’s	אִ֣ישׁ 'ish	H376	a man as an individual or a male person · noun, common masculine singular absolute
name	שְׁמ֔וֹ she.Mo	H8034	an appellation · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
rod	מַטּ֑וֹת ma.Tot	H4294	a branch (as extending) · noun, common feminine plural absolute

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Genesis 49:10 The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the pe…
Exodus 4:2 And the LORD said unto him, What is that in thine hand? And he said, A rod.
Exodus 4:17 And thou shalt take this rod in thine hand, wherewith thou shalt do signs.
Numbers 1:5-16 And these are the names of the men that shall stand with you: of the tribe of Reuben; Elizur the son of Shedeur.
Numbers 2:3-30 And on the east side toward the rising of the sun shall they of the standard of the camp of Judah pitch throughout their armies: and Nahshon…
Numbers 10:14-27 In the first place went the standard of the camp of the children of Judah according to their armies: and over his host was Nahshon the son o…
Psalms 110:2 The LORD shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion: rule thou in the midst of thine enemies.
Psalms 125:3 For the rod of the wicked shall not rest upon the lot of the righteous; lest the righteous put forth their hands unto iniquity.

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Numbers 17:1-7

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, af…

Read the whole note in the console

John Gill on Numbers 17:2

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 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…

Read the whole note in the console

John Calvin on Numbers 17:2-3

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 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…

The Church Fathers

We can also learn from other sources how awesome was the dignity of the priesthood. Indeed, there was a day when some wicked and evil men revolted against Aaron, quarreled with him over his position in the community and tried to drive him from his leadership. Moses, the mildest of men, wanted to persuade them by the facts themselves that he had not brought Aaron to the leadership because he was a brother, relative or member of his family but that it was in obedience to God's decree that he had entrusted the priesthood to him. So he ordered each tribe to bring a staff, and Aaron was instructed to do the same.When each tribe had brought a staff, Moses took all of them and put them inside the meeting tent. Once he had put them there, he gave orders that they await the decision of God which would come to them through those staves. Then all the other staves kept their same appearance, but a single one—Aaron's—blossomed and put forth leaves and fruit. So the Lord of nature used leaves instead of letters to teach them that he had again elected Aaron.
— John Chrysostom, DISCOURSES AGAINST JUDAIZING CHRISTIANS 6.1-2

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Aaron — The eldest son of Amram and Jochebed, a daughter of Levi (Ex. 6:20). Some explain the name as meaning mountaineer, others mountain of strength, illuminator. He was born in Egypt three years before…
Desert, Journey Of Israel Through The · God’s choice of Aaron confirmed — God’s choice of Aaron confirmed
Levites · Of the A — Of the A

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Numbers 17:2

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Numbers 17:1-7

John Gill on Numbers 17:2

John Calvin on Numbers 17:2-3

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Numbers 17:2

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Numbers 17:1-7

John Gill on Numbers 17:2

John Calvin on Numbers 17:2-3

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Numbers 17:1-13

Rashi on Numbers 17:2