Speak 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.

Speak to the children of Israel, and take of every one of them a rod by their kindreds, of all the princes of the tribes, twelve rods, and write the name of every man upon his rod.

Speak unto the children of Israel, and take of them a staff, a staff for each father's house, of all their princes according to the houses of their fathers, twelve staves: thou shalt write each one's name upon his staff.

Speak to 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.

'Speak unto the sons of Israel, and take from them each a rod, for a father's house, from all their princes, for the house of their fathers, twelve rods; the name of each thou dost write on his rod,

Say to the children of Israel that they are to give you rods, one for every family, for every chief, the head of his father's house, making twelve rods; let every man's name be placed on his rod.

Speak unto the children of Israel, and take of them rods, one for each fathers' house, of all their princes according to their fathers' houses, twelve rods; thou shalt write every man' s name upon his rod.

"Speak to the sons of Israel, and receive from each of them a rod by their kinships, from all the leaders of the tribes, twelve rods, and write the name of each one on his rod.

Alloquere filios Israel, et cape ab eis singulas virgas per domos patrum, a cunctis scilicet principibus eorum, juxta domos patrum suorum, duodecim virgas: et uniuscujusque nomen scribes super virgam ejus.

Speak unto the children of Israel. They are mistaken who suppose that to the twelve rods there was another added for the tribe of Levi; [1] for, since there was no question here as to the possession of the land, there was no occasion at all for the division of the tribe of Joseph into two parts. We know, too, that it was endowed with a double portion, because the Levites had no inheritance; and in this case the circumstances were different, because all the other tribes were contending for the priesthood with the tribe of Levi alone. Hence it was, then, that rods were given to each of them, in accordance with the origin of their race. But, when Aaron's rod is said to have been "in the midst of them," [2] it is in the usual phrase of the Hebrew language, because it was mixed with them as one of their number. And this is expressly stated, to show us that all ground for caviling might be taken from the ungodly, since all the rods were east promiscuously into the same bundle, so that none should be distinguished above the others, and thus nothing could be ascribed to the collusion of men. If any should object that by these means the rivalry was not extinguished which the other Levites had with the house of Aaron, since his own name alone was inscribed upon the rod, so that there would be no comparison between the families; I reply, that since the power of God manifested itself distinctly in the name of Aaron, the rejection of the others was sufficiently shown forth by his election; for, if this honor had been common to the others, God would have defrauded them by giving distinction to him alone. Besides, no other plan could have been adopted for putting an end to this quarrel; for if there had been several rods for one tribe, the whole people would have complained of the inequality. It was necessary, then, that all should be brought to the contest on equal terms, so that the difference between them might be seen to depend upon God's good pleasure. But if the name of Levi had been inscribed, all its families would have claimed the right of succession, as if common to them all. There was, therefore, no other course open but that God should prefer to the whole people one individual chosen from amongst the members of his own kindred and tribe.

Footnotes

1 - So, amongst others, Corn. a Lapide. C's view is that of the Jewish Commentators.

2 - A. V., "Among them," verse 6.

Compare Ezekiel 37:16 ff.

And take of every one of them a rod - מטה matteh, the staff or scepter, 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.

Speak unto the children of Israel,.... The principal men among them of the several tribes:
and take of everyone of them; not of every individual of the people of Israel, but of their princes, as afterwards explained:
a rod, according to the house of their fathers; or "father", of whom their house or tribe was called, as Reuben, Simeon, &c. this rod was either a common walking staff, as some think, or rather the ensign of their princely office and dignity, peculiar to each tribe; though some think it was now freshly cut off from an almond tree, and that all the rods were of one and the same tree; but supposing they were all of the almond kind, as Josephus (d) thinks, yet being dry rods, and of long use, served to make the miracle appear the greater:
of all their princes, according to the house of their fathers, twelve rods; this explains who they were to be taken of, the princes of the several tribes, whose names are given, Numbers 1:5; and the number of them twelve, according to the number of the twelve tribes:
write thou every man's name upon his rod; the name of each prince, or head of a tribe, either by cutting it into the rod, or fastening a writing to it, after the manner of those times; as, for instance, the name of Elizur for the tribe of Reuben; by which it was to be made and was made to appear, that to none of these tribes belonged the priesthood, but to the tribe of Levi, and to none of that tribe but the family of Aaron; whereby it should seem that some of all the tribes made pretensions to it, as being all holy, and especially the chief firstborn of every tribe, as such their princes were.
(d) Antiqu. l. 4. c. 4. sect. 2.

AARON'S ROD FLOURISHES. (Numbers 17:1-13)
Speak unto the children of Israel--The controversy with Moses and Aaron about the priesthood was of such a nature and magnitude as required a decisive and authoritative settlement. For the removal of all doubts and the silencing of all murmuring in the future regarding the holder of the office, a miracle was wrought of a remarkable character and permanent duration; and in the manner of performing it, all the people were made to have a direct and special interest.
take of every one . . . princes . . . twelve rods--As the princes, being the oldest sons of the chief family, and heads of their tribes, might have advanced the best claims to the priesthood, if that sacred dignity was to be shared among all the tribes, they were therefore selected, and being twelve in number--that of Joseph being counted only one--Moses was ordered to see that the name of each was inscribed--a practice borrowed from the Egyptians--upon his rod or wand of office. The name of Aaron rather than of Levi was used, as the latter name would have opened a door of controversy among the Levites; and as there was to be one rod only for the head of each tribe, the express appointment of a rod for Aaron determined him to be the head of that tribe, as well as that branch or family of the tribe to which the priestly dignity should belong. These rods were to be laid in the tabernacle close to the ark (compare Numbers 17:10 and Hebrews 9:4), where a divine token was promised that would for all time terminate the dispute.

Of every one - Not of every person, but of every tribe. A rod - That staff, or rod, which the princes carried in their hands as tokens of their dignity and authority. Every man's name - Every prince's: for they being the first - born, and the chief of their tribes might above all others pretend to the priesthood, if it was communicable to any of their tribes, and besides each prince represented all his tribe: so that this was a full decision of the question. And this place seems to confirm, that not only Korah and the Levites, but also those of other tribes contested with Moses and Aaron about the priesthood, as that which belonged to all the congregation they being all holy.