Numbers 17:7

7 So Moses placed the staffs before the Lord in the tent of the covenant.

Numbers 17:7 Meaning and Commentary

Numbers 17:7

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 before him.

Numbers 17:7 In-Context

5 And the staff of the man whom I choose shall sprout; thus I will put a stop to the complaints of the Israelites that they continually make against you.

6 Moses spoke to the Israelites; and all their leaders gave him staffs, one for each leader, according to their ancestral houses, twelve staffs; and the staff of Aaron was among theirs.

7 So Moses placed the staffs before the Lord in the tent of the covenant.

8 When Moses went into the tent of the covenant on the next day, the staff of Aaron for the house of Levi had sprouted. It put forth buds, produced blossoms, and bore ripe almonds.

9 Then Moses brought out all the staffs from before the Lord to all the Israelites; and they looked, and each man took his staff.

Footnotes

• [a]. Or [treaty], or [testimony]; Heb [eduth]