You shall write Aaron’s name on Levi’s rod. There shall be one rod for each head of their fathers’ houses.
Parallel Translations
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You shall write Aaron’s name on Levi’s rod. There shall be one rod for each head of their fathers’ houses.
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And thou shalt write Aaron’s name upon the rod of Levi: for one rod shall be for the head of the house of their fathers.
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(17-18) And thou shalt write Aaron's name upon the rod of Levi, for there shall be one rod for the head of their fathers' houses.
Cross-references (5)
Passages linked to Numbers 17:3 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Exodus 6:16 These are the names of the sons of Levi according to their generations: Gershon, and Kohath, and Merari; and the years of the life of Levi were one hundred thirty-seven years.
- Exodus 6:20 Amram took Jochebed his father’s sister to himself as wife; and she bore him Aaron and Moses. The years of the life of Amram were one hundred thirty-seven years.
- Numbers 3:2-3 These are the names of the sons of Aaron: Nadab the firstborn, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. These are the names of the sons of Aaron, the priests who were anointed, whom he consecrated to minister in the priest’s office.
- Numbers 18:1 Yahweh said to Aaron, “You and your sons and your fathers’ house with you shall bear the iniquity of the sanctuary; and you and your sons with you shall bear the iniquity of your priesthood.
- Numbers 18:7 You and your sons with you shall keep your priesthood for everything of the altar, and for that within the veil. You shall serve. I give you the service of the priesthood as a gift. The stranger who comes near shall be put to death.”
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (9 sources)
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Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Aaron’s rather than Levi’s name, for that would have…
Aaron’s rather than Levi’s name, for that would have left the controversy undecided between Aaron and the other Levites, whereas this would justify the appropriation of the priesthood to Aaron’s family.
For the head of the house of their fathers; i.e. there shall be in this, as there is in all the other tribes, only one rod, and that for the head of their tribe, who is Aaron in this tribe; whereas it might have been expected that there should have been two rods, one for Aaron, and another for his competitors of the same tribe. But Aaron’s name was sufficient to determine both the tribe, and that branch or family of the tribe, to whom this dignity should be affixed.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain And thou shalt write Aaron's name upon the rod…
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 (e); 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.
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(e) Antiqu. l. 4. c. 4. sect. 2.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Aaron's name - Rather than Levi's, for that would…
Aaron's name - Rather than Levi's, for that would have left the controversy undecided between Aaron and the other Levites, whereas this would justify the appropriation of the priesthood to Aaron's family. One rod - There shall be in this, as there is in all the other tribes, only one rod, and that for the head of their tribe, who is Aaron in this tribe: whereas it might have been expected that there should have been two rods, one for Aaron, and another for his competitors of the same tribe. But Aaron's name was sufficient to determine both the tribe, and that branch or family of the tribe, to whom this dignity should be affixed.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Num 17:3. Aaron’s name — Rather than Levi’s, for…
Num 17:3. Aaron’s name — Rather than Levi’s, for that would have left the controversy undecided between Aaron and the other Levites, whereas this would justify the appropriation of the priesthood to Aaron’s family. One rod — There shall be in this, as there is in all the other tribes, only one rod, and that for the head of their tribe, who is Aaron in this tribe: whereas it might have been expected that there should have been two rods, one for Aaron and another for his competitors of the same tribe. But Aaron’s name was sufficient to determine both the tribe, and that branch or family of the tribe to whom this dignity should be affixed.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Thou shalt write Aaron’s name upon the rod of…
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 Levi (Exo 6:16 ff), he would not be the natural head of the tribe.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 3. one staff for the head of their clans]…
3. one staff for the head of their clans] lit. ‘their fathers’ houses’ as R.V. This apparently refers not to all the tribes but to the tribe of Levi with its three divisions or clans, the Gershonites, Kohathites, and Merarites. They were to have only one representative, i.e. Aaron.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (3) And thou shalt write Aaron’s name upon the…
(3) And thou shalt write Aaron’s name upon the rod of Levi.—Aaron was descended from the second son of Levi. He was not, therefore, the natural, but the divinely-appointed head of his father’s house, and hence it would not have sufficed for the purpose contemplated to have inscribed the name of Levi upon the rod. Aaron was constituted the head alike of the priests and of the Levites, into which two classes the tribe of Levi was divided.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Thou shalt write Aaron"s name upon the rod of…
Thou shalt write Aaron"s name upon the rod of Levi. There was no tribe prince of Levi, and it is not probable that either of the three chiefs of the sub-tribes (Num_3:24, Num_3:30) was called upon to bring a rod. This rod was, therefore, provided by Moses himself, and inscribed by him with the name of Aaron, who stood by Divine appointment (so recently and fearfully attested) above all his brethren. For the significance of the act cf. Eze_37:16-28. For one rod... for the head of the house of their fathers. For Levi, therefore, there must be, not three rods inscribed with the names of the chiefs, but one only bearing the name of Aaron, as their common superior.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 Connecting Statement:
Connecting Statement:
Yahweh continues speaking to Moses.
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Levi's staff
The name Levi here refers to the tribe of Levi.
for each leader from his ancestors' tribe
Here "his" refers to "each leader."
the covenant decrees
The phrase "the covenant decrees" refers to the box that held the tablets that the covenant decrees were written on. AT: "the ark of the covenant" or "the box that holds the covenant decrees" (See: Synecdoche)
the staff of the man whom I choose will bud
"buds will start to grow on the staff of the man whom I choose"
cause the complaints from the people of Israel to stop, which they are speaking against you
Here "complaints" is an abstract noun that can be expressed as a verb. AT: "make the people of Israel stop complaining against you" (See: Abstract Nouns)
translationWords
Aaron
Levi
tent of meeting
covenant
decree
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.