CHAPTER XVII _The twelve chiefs of the tribes are commanded to take their_ _rods, and to write the name of each tribe upon the rod that_ _belonged to its representative; but the name of_ Aaron _is to be_ _written on the rod of the tribe of Levi_, 1-3. _The rods are to be laid up before the Lord... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Numbers 17:2. _AND TAKE OF EVERY ONE OF THEM A ROD_] מטה _matteh_, the _staff_ or _sceptre_, which the _prince_ or _chief_ of each tribe bore, and which was the sign of _office_ or _royalty_ among almost all the people of the earth.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Numbers 17:5. _THE MAN'S ROD, WHOM I SHALL CHOOSE, SHALL BLOSSOM_] It was necessary that something _farther_ should be done to quiet the minds of the people, and for ever to settle the dispute, in what tribe the priesthood should be fixed. God therefore took the method described in the text, a... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Numbers 17:8. _THE ROD OF AARON - WAS BUDDED, C._] That is, on the same rod or staff were found _buds, blossoms_, and _ripe fruit_. This fact was so unquestionably miraculous, as to decide the business for ever and probably this was intended to show that in the _priesthood_, represented by th... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Numbers 17:12. _BEHOLD, WE DIE, WE PERISH, WE ALL PERISH._] גוענו _gavaenu_ signifies not so much to _die_ simply, as _to feel an extreme_ _difficulty of breathing_, which, producing _suffocation_, ends at last in death. See the folly and extravagance of this sinful people. At _first, every p... [ Continue Reading ]