The Fourth Book of Moses: Numbers

⭑ Catholic Public Domain Version 2009 ⭑

- Chapter 17 -

And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

“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.

But the name of Aaron shall be for the tribe of Levi, and one rod separately shall contain all their families.

And you shall place these in the tabernacle of the covenant before the testimony, where I will speak to you.

Whomever of these I will choose, his rod will germinate, and so shall I restrain the complaints of the sons of Israel before me, by which they murmur against you.”

And Moses spoke to the sons of Israel. And all the leaders gave him rods, one for each tribe. And there were twelve rods, aside from the rod of Aaron.

And when Moses had placed these before the Lord, in the tabernacle of the testimony,

returning on the following day, he found that the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi, had germinated, and that the swelling buds had opened into flowers, which, spreading their petals, were formed into those of an almond tree.(a)

(b)

Therefore, Moses brought out all the rods, from the sight of the Lord, to all the sons of Israel. And they saw, and each one received their rods.

And the Lord said to Moses: “Carry back the rod of Aaron into the tabernacle of the testimony, so that it may be kept there as a sign of the rebellion of the sons of Israel, and so that their complaints may be quieted before me, lest they die.”

And Moses did just as the Lord had instructed.

Then the sons of Israel said to Moses: “Behold, we have been consumed; we have been ruined.

Whoever approaches to the tabernacle of the Lord dies. Will we all be wiped away, even to total annihilation?”

Footnotes

(a)17:8 Do the flower petals have the shape of almonds, or are these flowers like those of an almond tree? The former does not fit this verse because the form refers to the flowers, once their petals have opened, not to the petals themselves. Also, it seems that it would not be worthy of a remark by Scripture if it was merely the case that the petals had an almond shape. But if these are almond tree blossoms, then there may be a symbolic meaning (since almond trees are mentioned elsewhere in Scripture (Genesis, Ecclesiastes).(Conte)

(b)17:8 The rod of Aaron for the house of Levi, was budded, etc:This rod of Aaron which thus miraculously brought forth fruit, was a figure of the blessed Virgin conceiving and bringing forth her Son without any prejudice to her virginity.(Challoner)