Numbers 17:2

2 “Speak to the Israelites and get twelve staffs from them, one from the leader of each of their ancestral tribes. Write the name of each man on his staff.

Numbers 17:2 in Other Translations

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.

2 "Speak to the people of Israel, and get from them staffs, one for each fathers' house, from all their chiefs according to their fathers' houses, twelve staffs. Write each man's name on his staff,

2 “Tell the people of Israel to bring you twelve wooden staffs, one from each leader of Israel’s ancestral tribes, and inscribe each leader’s name on his staff.

2 "Speak to the People of Israel. Get staffs from them - twelve staffs in all, one from the leader of each of their ancestral tribes. Write each man's name on his staff.

2 "Speak to the Israelites and take one staff from them for each ancestral house, 12 staffs from all the leaders of their ancestral houses. Write each man's name on his staff.

Numbers 17:2 Meaning and Commentary

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 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 ^F4 thinks, yet being dry rods, and of long use, served to make the miracle appear the greater:

of all their princes, according to the house of their fathers, twelve
rods;
this explains who they were to be taken of, the princes of the several tribes, whose names are given, ( Numbers 1:5-15 ) ; and the number of them twelve, according to the number of the twelve tribes:

write thou every man's name upon his rod;
the name of each prince, or head of a tribe, either by cutting it into the rod, or fastening a writing to it, after the manner of those times; as, for instance, the name of Elizur for the tribe of Reuben; by which it was to be made and was made to appear, that to none of these tribes belonged the priesthood, but to the tribe of Levi, and to none of that tribe but the family of Aaron; whereby it should seem that some of all the tribes made pretensions to it, as being all holy, and especially the chief firstborn of every tribe, as such their princes were.

---

FOOTNOTES:

F4 Antiqu. l. 4. c. 4. sect. 2.

Numbers 17:2 In-Context

1 The LORD said to Moses,

2 “Speak to the Israelites and get twelve staffs from them, one from the leader of each of their ancestral tribes. Write the name of each man on his staff.

3 On the staff of Levi write Aaron’s name, for there must be one staff for the head of each ancestral tribe.

4 Place them in the tent of meeting in front of the ark of the covenant law, where I meet with you.

5 The staff belonging to the man I choose will sprout, and I will rid myself of this constant grumbling against you by the Israelites.”

Cross References

• 1. S Genesis 32:10; S Exodus 4:2
• 2. Numbers 1:4