Numbers 17:5

5 the rod of him shall burgeon, whom I shall choose of them to the office of priesthood; and I shall thereby refrain, or quench, from me the complainings, or grouchings, of the sons of Israel, by which they grouch against you. (and the staff of him shall sprout, whom I shall choose out of them for the office, or for the duties, of the priesthood; and I shall thereby quench the complaints, or the grumblings, of the Israelites, by which they grumble against you.)

Numbers 17:5 Meaning and Commentary

Numbers 17:5

And it shall come to pass, that the man's rod whom I shall
choose
Or make it manifest that he had chosen him, and so confirm the choice he had made of him and his family, for the priesthood to be and continue in:

shall blossom;
bud and blossom, and yield fruit, as it afterwards did, which is here declared beforehand, that the miracle might appear the greater, exactly answering to a prediction delivered out before of it:

and I will make to cease from me the murmurings of the children of
Israel, whereby they murmur against you;
against Moses for setting up his brother as an high priest, and establishing the priesthood in his family; and against Aaron for accepting of it, and officiating in it; but by this method now taken, God would for ever silence their murmurings, so that they should never be able, with any face, to object any more to the authority of the Aaronic priesthood, which should appear by the predicted miracle beyond all dispute and contradiction.

Numbers 17:5 In-Context

3 soothly the name of Aaron shall be written in the lineage of Levi, and one rod shall contain all the families of Levi. (and Aaron's name shall be written on the staff of Levi; yea, one staff shall be for the head of each family.)
4 And thou shalt put those rods in the tabernacle of [the] bond of peace, before the witnessing, where I shall speak with thee; (And thou shalt put those staffs in the Tabernacle of the Covenant, before the Ark of the Witnessing, that is, the Box containing the tablets of the Law, where I speak with thee;)
5 the rod of him shall burgeon, whom I shall choose of them to the office of priesthood; and I shall thereby refrain, or quench, from me the complainings, or grouchings, of the sons of Israel, by which they grouch against you. (and the staff of him shall sprout, whom I shall choose out of them for the office, or for the duties, of the priesthood; and I shall thereby quench the complaints, or the grumblings, of the Israelites, by which they grumble against you.)
6 And Moses spake to the sons of Israel; and all the princes gave to him rods, by all their lineages; and the rods were twelve, without the rod of Aaron. (And Moses spoke to the Israelites; and each leader from each tribe gave him a staff; and so there were twelve staffs, and Aaron's staff was among them.)
7 And when Moses had put those rods before the Lord, in the tabernacle of witnessing, (And when Moses had put those staffs before the Lord, in the Tabernacle of the Witnessing,)
Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.