Numbers 17:3

3 and the name of Aaron on the staff of Levi, because one staff [is] for the head of [each of] {their families}.

Numbers 17:3 Meaning and Commentary

Numbers 17:3

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 ^F5; 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.

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FOOTNOTES:

F5 Antiqu. l. 4. c. 4. sect. 2.

Numbers 17:3 In-Context

1 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,

2 "Speak to the {Israelites}, and take from among them twelve staffs, {a staff from each family} from among all their leaders according to their families' households. Write the name of each man on his staff,

3 and the name of Aaron on the staff of Levi, because one staff [is] for the head of [each of] {their families}.

4 You must then put them in the tent of assembly {before} the testimony where I meet with you.

5 And it will happen, the man whom I will choose, his staff will blossom, and so I will rid from upon myself the grumblings of the {Israelites}, who [are] grumbling against you."

Footnotes

• [a] Literally "the house of their fathers"