Numbers 17:2
Compare Ezekiel 37:16 ff.... [ Continue Reading ]
Compare Ezekiel 37:16 ff.... [ Continue Reading ]
THOU SHALT WRITE AARON’S NAME UPON THE ROD OF LEVI - The Levites had taken part in the late outbreak. It was therefore necessary to vindicate the supremacy of the house of Aaron over them; and accordingly his name was written on the rod of Levi, although being the son of Kohath, the second son of Le... [ Continue Reading ]
BEFORE THE TESTIMONY - See Numbers 17:10 note.... [ Continue Reading ]
The whole number of rods was twelve exclusive of Aaron’s, as the Vulgate expressly states.... [ Continue Reading ]
YIELDED ALMONDS - “Ripened almonds,” i. e. “brought forth ripe almonds.” The name almond in Hebrew denotes the “waking-tree,” the “waking-fruit;” and is applied to this tree, because it blossoms early in the season. It serves here, as in Jeremiah 1:11, to set forth the speed and certainty with which... [ Continue Reading ]
THE TESTIMONY - i. e. the two tables of the Law; compare Exodus 25:16 note. No doubt the rod lay in front of the tables within the ark. In the days of Solomon 1 Kings 8:9 there was nothing in the ark save the Two tables. Aaron’s rod was probably lost when the ark was taken by the Philistines.... [ Continue Reading ]
A new section should begin with these verses. They are connected retrospectively with Numbers 16; and form the immediate introduction to Numbers 18. The people were terror-stricken by the fate of the company of Korah and by the plague. Presumption passed by reaction into despair. Was there any appro... [ Continue Reading ]