Numbers 17:3

3 Write Aaron's name on Levi's staff, for there will be one staff for the leader of each household.

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.

---

FOOTNOTES:

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

Numbers 17:3 In-Context

1 The LORD spoke to Moses:

2 Speak to the Israelites and take from them a staff from each household, from each of the chiefs of their households, twelve staffs. Write each person's name on his staff.

3 Write Aaron's name on Levi's staff, for there will be one staff for the leader of each household.

4 Then you will place them in the meeting tent in front of the chest containing the covenant, where I meet you.

5 The staff of the person I choose will sprout. Then I will rid myself of the Israelites' complaints that they make against you.