The Torah · Old Testament

Numbers 17

Aaron's rod bears almonds

General context

The Lord directs Moses to collect twelve rods from the leaders of Israel's ancestral houses, with each man's name written on his rod and Aaron's name on Levi's. The rods are placed before the testimony, where the Lord will make his choice known by causing a rod to blossom. The next day Aaron's rod has buds, blossoms and almonds. Moses shows the rods to the people, and the leaders retrieve their own. Aaron's rod is then kept before the testimony as a warning to rebels. The chapter closes with the people's fear that approaching the tabernacle will bring death.

Cited passages: Numbers 17:1, Numbers 17:2, Numbers 17:3, Numbers 17:4, Numbers 17:5, Numbers 17:6, Numbers 17:7, Numbers 17:8, Numbers 17:9, Numbers 17:10, Numbers 17:11, Numbers 17:12, Numbers 17:13

Numbers 17 (KJV)

¹And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

²Speak 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.

³And 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.

⁴And thou shalt lay them up in the tabernacle of the congregation before the testimony, where I will meet with you.

⁵And it shall come to pass, that the man’s rod, whom I shall choose, shall blossom: and I will make to cease from me the murmurings of the children of Israel, whereby they murmur against you.

⁶And Moses spake unto the children of Israel, and every one of their princes gave him a rod apiece, for each prince one, according to their fathers’ houses, even twelve rods: and the rod of Aaron was among their rods.

⁷And Moses laid up the rods before the Lord in the tabernacle of witness.

⁸And it came to pass, that on the morrow Moses went into the tabernacle of witness; and, behold, the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi was budded, and brought forth buds, and bloomed blossoms, and yielded almonds.

⁹And Moses brought out all the rods from before the Lord unto all the children of Israel: and they looked, and took every man his rod.

¹⁰And the Lord said unto Moses, Bring Aaron’s rod again before the testimony, to be kept for a token against the rebels; and thou shalt quite take away their murmurings from me, that they die not.

¹¹And Moses did so: as the Lord commanded him, so did he.

¹²And the children of Israel spake unto Moses, saying, Behold, we die, we perish, we all perish.

¹³Whosoever cometh any thing near unto the tabernacle of the Lord shall die: shall we be consumed with dying?

This page shows the King James Version. In the app, reading opens in the Berean Standard Bible unless you have chosen another translation. The reader includes five translations: the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), the King James Version (KJV), the World English Bible (WEB), the Bible in Basic English (BBE), and the American Standard Version (ASV). Search covers three of them: Berean Standard, King James, and World English. Basic English and American Standard readers search the King James words.

Historical context

The arrangement identifies one rod with each ancestral house and explicitly includes Aaron's among the twelve. The chosen rod represents the house of Levi. The account places the rods in the tabernacle before the testimony, the appointed meeting place, and later returns Aaron's rod there. It names almonds in the KJV and ASV; the BBE describes buds, flowers and fruit. No cultivation method or botanical explanation is supplied.

Cited passages: Numbers 17:2, Numbers 17:3, Numbers 17:4, Numbers 17:5, Numbers 17:6, Numbers 17:7, Numbers 17:8, Numbers 17:10

Literary context

The announced test is followed by instructions carried out and then by the visible result. Names on the rods make the choice identifiable, while the kept rod gives the event an enduring material reminder. The declared aim is to end the people's murmuring and prevent death, yet the final speech is fearful: the people ask whether they will all perish. That ending leaves their alarm audible instead of describing a calm resolution.

Key moments

Named rods (Numbers 17:2). Each leader's name is to be written on his rod, with Aaron's name representing Levi.
Buds, blossoms and almonds (Numbers 17:8). Moses finds that Aaron's rod has produced the signs of new growth described in the account.
A fearful question (Numbers 17:13). The people ask whether approaching the tabernacle means that all of them will die.

For reflection

How does the people's fearful response affect your reading of a sign intended to settle a dispute? What might still need explaining after a decision has become visible?