Preface:    Numbers 17 is an attempt by God to clear up who is in authority. However, the people still do not understand what God is teaching them.

The Bible Summary of Numbers 17 (in 140 characters or less): The LORD told Moses to bring a staff from each tribal leader to the Tent of Meeting to stop the grumbling. Aaron's staff blossomed.

There are many chapter commentaries on the book of Numbers. By the third draft, this should be the most extensive examination of Numbers 17, where you will be able to examine in depth every word of the original text. Every attempt has been made to make this both a complete and self-contained study. Therefore, all references, vocabulary, and related concepts should be found within this extensive study. Easy access links to more in-depth studies of some vocabulary words, concepts and doctrines are also provided.

Outline of Chapter 17:

Introduction

         vv.     1–

         vv. 

         vv. 

         vv. 

         vv. 

Chapter Summary

Addendum

Charts, Graphics and Short Doctrines:

         Preface               Quotations

         Introduction         Titles and/or Brief Descriptions of Numbers 17 (by various commentators)

         Introduction         Brief, but insightful observations of Numbers 17 (various commentators)

         Introduction         Fundamental Questions About Numbers 17

         Introduction         The Prequel of Numbers 17

         Introduction 

         Introduction 

         Introduction         The Principals of Numbers 17

         Introduction         The Places of Numbers 17

         Introduction         By the Numbers

         Introduction         Timeline for Numbers 17

         Introduction         A Synopsis of Numbers 17

         Introduction         Outlines of Numbers 17 (Various Commentators)

         Introduction         A Synopsis of Numbers 17 from the Summarized Bible

         Introduction         The Big Picture (Numbers 1–15)

         Introduction 

         Introduction 

         Introduction         Changes—additions and subtractions (for Numbers 17)

         Introduction 

         v. 

         v. 

         v. 

         v. 

         v. 

         v. 

         v. 

         v. 

         v. 

         v. 

         v. 

         v. 

         v. 

         v. 

         v. 

         v. 

         v. 

         v. 

         v. 

         v.       8              An Almond Blossom (a photograph)

         v. 

         v. 

         v. 

         v. 

         v. 

         v. 

         v. 

         v. 

         v. 

         Summary            A Set of Summary Doctrines and Commentary

         Summary            Why Numbers 17 is in the Word of God

         Summary            What We Learn from Numbers 17

         Summary            Jesus Christ in Numbers 17

         Summary            Edersheim Summarizes Numbers 17

         Summary 

         Addendum 

         Addendum 

         Addendum 

         Addendum 

         Addendum          Josephus’ History of this Time Period

         Addendum          A Complete Translation of Numbers 17

         Addendum          Doctrinal Teachers Who Have Taught Numbers 17

         Addendum          Word Cloud from a Reasonably Literal Paraphrase of Numbers 17

         Addendum          Word Cloud from Exegesis of Numbers 17

——————————

An Introduction to Numbers 17

I ntroduction: Not only are Numbers 16 and 17 are quite different in terms of size in the English chapter division, but the way they were divided makes more sense in the Hebrew version. The complaint of the people and the plague of Numbers 16:41–50 are tied more directly to Numbers 17:11–13 than these incidents are tied to the previous portion of Numbers 16. It actually might have been better to present as one huge combined chapter. However, this chapter is different from the previous thematically. Here is the first place that we have some hope for the nation Israel. It is in this chapter that we will see the famous Aaron's rod that budded, which will be placed into the ark of the covenant as a witness against the people.

Numbers 17 is a continuation of Numbers 16. Chapter 16 is very long; chapter 17 is very short; and the Hebrew version of this tries to fix this problem by placing the last dozen or so verse of chapter 16 with chapter 17. The numbering between the Jewish and the Christian manuscripts will be out-of-synch until Numbers 18:1, where everything will synch up again. Number 17 should have been placed in Numbers 16, which is a very long narrative which essentially ends in this chapter.

Previously, Korah and others staged a revolt against Moses and Aaron. They had a parallel worship tent, parallel spiritual leaders and parallel civil leaders (as opposed to Aaron and Moses). Many people decided to attend their services instead. As far as God was concerned, this was not going to take place, and He wiped out this rebellion. God used a plague to further wipe out the rebels. This takes us to the end of Numbers 16 (HTML) (PDF) (WPD).

In Numbers 17, God seeks to clear up who is in charge and He will do this with a miracle. The staffs of all the leaders of the twelve tribes will be collected, and Aaron’s staff will be included. They will be place inside of the Holy of Holies. When removed the next day, Aaron’s rod will have budded, grown blossoms and grown almonds. All of the leaders and their associates saw this to be the case. This indicates that Aaron is the spiritual authority. There is no doubt about that.

However, at the end of this chapter, people from that generation (Gen X) will reveal that they do not understand what God is teaching them through Moses and through these staffs. They became very pessimistic and despondent, despite the fact that God had let them live.

Timeline for Numbers

There is very little narrative in the book of Numbers; so this information may have been given to Moses in a few days or, at most, a few weeks; and Moses both wrote these things down and informed the people. Because of information previously studied in the introduction, we are not 100% certain if all of this material was given to Moses while in the newly erected Tabernacle. I would lean towards that being the case.

As I have done previously, since this chapters is what God is saying to Moses, I will begin and end the chapter with quotation marks. I will not insert a new set of quotation marks for each new paragraph.

——————————

Here is how others have translated this passage:

Ancient texts:                       Note: I compare the Hebrew text to English translations of the Latin, Syriac (= Aramaic) and Greek texts, using the Douay-Rheims translation; George Lamsa’s translation, and Sir Lancelot Charles Lee Brenton’s translation as revised and edited by Paul W. Esposito, respectively. I often update these texts with non-substantive changes (e.g., you for thou, etc.). I often use the text of the Complete Apostles’ Bible instead of Brenton’s translation, because it updates the English text.

The Septuagint was the earliest known translation of a book (circa 200 b.c.). Since this translation was made before the textual criticism had been developed into a science and because different books appear to be translated by different men, the Greek translation can sometimes be very uneven.

When there are serious disparities between my translation and Brenton’s (or the text of the Complete Apostles’ Bible), I look at the Greek text of the Septuagint (the LXX) to see if a substantive difference actually exists (and I reflect these changes in the English rendering of the Greek text). I use the Greek LXX with Strong’s numbers and morphology available for e-sword. The only problem with this resource (which is a problem for similar resources) is, there is no way to further explore Greek verbs which are not found in the New Testament. Although I usually quote the Complete Apostles’ Bible here, I have begun to make changes in the translation when their translation conflicts with the Greek and note what those changes are.

The Masoretic text is the Hebrew text with all of the vowels (vowel points) inserted (the original Hebrew text lacked vowels). We take the Masoretic text to be the text closest to the original. However, differences between the Masoretic text and the Greek, Latin and Syriac are worth noting and, once in a great while, represent a more accurate text possessed by those other ancient translators.

In general, the Latin text is an outstanding translation from the Hebrew text into Latin and very trustworthy (I say this as a non-Catholic). Unfortunately, I do not read Latin—apart from some very obvious words—so I am dependent upon the English translation of the Latin (principally, the Douay-Rheims translation).

The comparisons which I do are primarily between the English translations which are taken from the ancient tongues. For the most part, the variances are so minor that I rarely investigate them any further than that.

Underlined words indicate differences in the text.

Bracketed portions of the Dead Sea Scrolls are words, letters and phrases lost in the scroll due to various types of damage. Underlined words or phrases are those in the Dead Sea Scrolls but not in the Masoretic text.

I will only list the translation from the Dead Sea Scrolls if it exists and if it is different from the Masoretic text.

The Targum of Onkelos is actually the Pentateuchal Targumim, which are The Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan Ben Uzziel. On the Pentateuch With The Fragments of the Jerusalem Targum From the Chaldee by J. W. Etheridge, M.A. From http://www.becomingjewish.org/texts/targum/onkelos_Numbers.html and first published in 1862.

Occasionally, there is an obvious error in the English translation, and I correct those without additional mention or footnoting. For instance, the online version of the Targum of Onkelos which I use has gorund in Ex. 4:9; I simply corrected the text. This may occur once or twice in a chapter.

I attempt to include translations which are different in their vocabulary and phrasing. On many occasions, I may include a translation which is not substantially different than another listed translation.

Most of the translations can be found here.

Ancient texts:

Masoretic Text (Hebrew)        And so speaks Y^ehowah unto Moses to say, “Speak unto sons of Israel and take from with them a staff—a staff for a house of a father from with all leaders of them for a house of fathers of them, two-teen staffs. A man, a name of him, you will write upon a staff of him. And a name of Aaron you will write upon a staff of Levi, for a staff one for a head of a house of fathers of them.

Dead Sea Scrolls                   .

Targum (Onkelos)                  . Translation for Onkelos and Pseudo-Jonathan by J. W. Etheridge, M.A. (1862).

Targum (Pseudo-Jonathan)   .

Jerusalem targum                  .

Updated Douay-Rheims         .

Douay-Rheims 1899 (Amer.) And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

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.

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

Aramaic ESV of Peshitta        Mar-Yah spoke to Mosha, saying,

"Speak to the B'nai Yisrael, and take of them rods, one for each fathers' house, of all their princes according to their fathers' houses, twelve rods: write every man's name on his rod.

You shall write Aaron's name on the rod of Levi; for there shall be one rod for each head of their fathers' houses.

Lamsa’s Peshitta (Syriac)     .

V. Alexander’s Aramaic T.     .

Samaritan Pentateuch           This appears to be completely missing in the SP.

Updated Brenton (Greek)       And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

Speak to the children of Israel, and take rods from them, according to the houses of their families, a rod from all their princes, according to the houses of their families, twelve rods, and write the name of each on his rod.

And write the name of Aaron on the rod of Levi; for it is one rod for each; they shall give them according to the tribe of the house of their families.

Significant differences: 

Limited Vocabulary Translations:

Bible in Basic English             And the Lord said to Moses, 

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. 

And let Aaron's name be placed on the rod of Levi: for there is to be one rod for the head of every family.

Easy English                          .

Easy-to-Read Version–2008  The LORD said to Moses, "Speak to the Israelites. Get twelve wooden walking sticks from them. Get one from the leader of each of the twelve tribes. Write the name of each man on his walking stick. On the stick from Levi, write Aaron's name. There must be one stick for the head of each of the twelve tribes.

God’s Word™                         The LORD said to Moses, "Speak to the Israelites, and get 12 staffs from them, one from the leader of each of their tribes. Write each man's name on his staff. Write Aaron's name on the staff for Levi because there must be one staff for the head of each tribe.

Good News Bible (TEV)         The LORD said to Moses, "Tell the people of Israel to give you twelve walking sticks, one from the leader of each tribe. Write each man's name on his stick and then write Aaron's name on the stick representing Levi. There will be one stick for each tribal leader.

The Message                         .

Names of God Bible               .

NIRV                                      .

New Simplified Bible              .

Thought-for-thought translations; dynamic translations; paraphrases:

Casual English Bible             .

Contemporary English V.       The LORD told Moses: Call together the twelve tribes of Israel and tell the leader of each tribe to write his name on the walking stick he carries as a symbol of his authority. Make sure Aaron's name is written on the one from the Levi tribe, then collect all the sticks.

The Living Bible                     .

New Berkeley Version           .

New Life Version                    .

New Living Translation           .

UnfoldingWord (Simplified)    Then Yahweh said to Moses, "Tell the Israelite people to bring to you twelve walking sticks. They should bring one from each of the leaders of the twelve tribes. You should carve each leader's name on his stick. There must be one stick for the leader of each tribe, so you must carve Aaron's name on the stick for the tribe of Levi.

Partially literal and partially paraphrased translations:

American English Bible          .

Beck’s American Translation .

Common English Bible           .

New Advent (Knox) Bible       .

Translation for Translators     .

Mostly literal renderings (with some occasional paraphrasing):

Christian Standard Bible        .

Berean Study Bible                .

Conservapedia                       .

Revised Ferrar-Fenton Bible  .

God’s Truth (Tyndale)           .

The Heritage Bible                 .

International Standard V        .

Lexham English Bible            .

NIV, ©2011                             .

Unfolding Word Literal Text   Yahweh spoke to Moses. He said, "Speak to the people of Israel and get staffs from them, one for each ancestral tribe, twelve staffs. Write each man's name on his staff. You must write Aaron's name on Levi's staff. There must be one staff for each leader from his ancestors' tribe.

Urim-Thummim Version         YHWH spoke to Moses saying, Speak to the children of Israel and take from every one of them a staff according to the house of their fathers, from all their chiefs take the 12 staffs and write every man's name upon his staff. You will write Aaron's name upon the staff of Levi, for one staff will represent the head of the house of their fathers.

Wikipedia Bible Project          .

Catholic Bibles (those having the imprimatur):

Christian Community (1988)  Aaron’s branch

Yahweh spoke to Moses and said, “Tell the people of Israel to give you walking sticks, one for each tribe; that is twelve sticks for the leaders of the twelve tribes, and write the name of each on his stick; and on the stick of Levi write the name of Aaron because he is the first among the families of Levi.

New American Bible(2011)    .

The Catholic Bible                  .

New Jerusalem Bible             .

NRSV (Anglicized Cath. Ed.) .

Revised English Bible–1989            .

Jewish/Hebrew Names Bibles:

Complete Jewish Bible           .

Eth Cepher Bible                    AND Yahuah spoke unto Mosheh, saying, Speak unto the children of Yashar’el, and take of everyone 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 you every man's name upon his rod.  And you shall write Aharon's name upon the rod of Leviy: for one rod shall be for the head of the house of their fathers.

exeGeses companion Bible   .

Hebraic Roots Bible               .

Kaplan Translation                 .

The Scriptures–2009              And יהוה spoke to Mosheh, saying, “Speak to the children of Yisra’ěl, and take from them a rod from each father’s house, all their leaders according to their fathers’ houses, twelve rods. Write each one’s name on his rod, and write Aharon’s name on the rod of Lěwi, for there is one rod for the head of each father’s house.

Tree of Life Version                Adonai spoke to Moses saying, “Speak to Bnei-Yisrael and get a rod from each ancestral house, twelve staffs in all, from each prince according to his ancestral household. Write each man’s name on his staff. Write Aaron’s name on Levi’s staff, for there is to be one staff for the prince of each tribe.

Weird English, Olde English, Anachronistic English Translations:

Alpha & Omega Bible            AND JESUS SPOKE TO MOSES, SAYING,

SPEAK TO THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL, AND TAKE RODS OF THEM, ACCORDING TO THE HOUSES OF THEIR FAMILIES, A ROD FROM ALL THEIR PRINCES, ACCORDING TO THE HOUSES OF THEIR FAMILIES, TWELVE RODS, AND WRITE THE NAME OF EACH ON HIS ROD.

AND WRITE THE NAME OF AARON ON THE ROD OF LEVI; FOR IT IS ONE ROD FOR EACH: THEY SHALL GIVE THEM ACCORDING TO THE TRIBE OF THE HOUSE OF THEIR FAMILIES.

Awful Scroll Bible                   Sustains To Become was to speak to Moses, to the intent: Be speaking to the sons of Contends-with-he-mighty, and be taking from them a staff, even the staff of the house of the fathers of their lifted up ones, for the house of their fathers, two and ten staves. Be engraving on each, their names on his staff. Be engraving Aaron's name on the staff of the Levites; for one staff is to be for the chiefs of the house of their fathers.

Concordant Literal Version    .

exeGeses companion Bible   THE ROD OF AHARON BLOSSOMS

And Yah Veh words to Mosheh, saying,

Word to the sons of Yisra El,

that every one of them take a rod

- a rod for the house of their father,

of all their hierarchs

for the house of their fathers, twelve rods:

inscribe the name of every man on his rod:

and inscribe the name of Aharon on the rod of Levi:

one rod for the head of the house of their fathers: ...

Orthodox Jewish Bible           (17:16) And Hashem spoke unto Moshe, saying,

(17:17) Speak unto the Bnei Yisroel, and take of every one of them a rod according to the Bais Av, of all their Nasiim according to the Bais of their Avot twelve rods; write thou every man's shem upon his matteh (rod, staff).

(17:18) And thou shalt write shem Aharon upon the rod of Levi; for one rod shall be for the Rosh of the Bais of their Avot.

Rotherham’s Emphasized B. Then spake Yahweh unto Mosesˎ saying:

Speak unto the sons of Israelˎ and take of themˎ one staff each for an ancestral houseˎ of all their princesˎ by their ancestral houses, ||twelve staves||,—<each man’s name> shalt thou write upon his staff;

and <Aaron’s name> shalt thou write upon the staff of Levi,—for <one staff> shall there be for the head of their ancestral house.

Expanded/Embellished Bibles:

The Amplified Bible                .

The Expanded Bible              .

International Standard V        The Budding of Aaron’s Rod

[is 17:16 in MT] The Lord instructed Moses, “Tell the Israelis to take a rod—one from each ancestral house, that is, one from every leader, for a total of twelve rods. Write each tribal name on his rod. You are also to write Aaron’s name on the tribe of Levi, since there is to be one rod for every leader of their ancestral tribes.

Kretzmann’s Commentary    .

Lexham English Bible            Aaron’s Staff Is Chosen

Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the Israelites, [Literally “sons/children of Israel”] and take from among them twelve staffs, a staff from each family [Literally “a staff from a house of a father”] from among all their leaders according to their families’ households. Write the name of each man on his staff, and the name of Aaron on the staff of Levi, because one staff is for the head of each of their families. [Literally “the house of their fathers”]

Syndein/Thieme                     .

The Voice                               .

Bible Translations with Many Footnotes:

The Complete Tanach           .

The Geneva Bible                  .

Kaplan Translation                 The Test of Staffs

God spoke to Moses, telling him to

speak to the Israelites and take a staff from each paternal tribe. 'Twelve staffs shall thus be taken from all the leaders, [one] for [each] of their paternal tribes. Let each man write his name on his staff.

Since there shall be only one staff for the head of each paternal tribe, write Aaron's name on Levi's staff. The Kaplan Translation, particularly in Numbers through Deuteronomy, takes note of historic rabbinic opinions.

God spoke to Moses

Some say that this occurred before Korach's rebellion (Yehudah HaChasid). The majority opinion, however, is that it was afterward (cf. Josephus, Antiquities 4:4:2).

Let each man write his name

Or, 'let each [tribe] write its name' (Josephus, Antiquities 4:4:2).

NET Bible®                             .

New American Bible(2011)    .

Rotherham’s Emphasized B. .

Updated ASV                         .

Literal, almost word-for-word, renderings:

A Faithful Version                  .

C. Thomson Updated OT       .

Charles Thomson OT            When Aaron returned to Moses to the door of the tabernacle of the testimony, and the plague had ceased, the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Speak to the children of Israel, and take of them a staff; a staff for every house of patriarchal families; from all the chiefs of the respective houses of patriarchal families twelve staves; and write every one's name on his staff; and on the staff of Levi write Aaron's name; for he is one staff. The chief of the house of the head family in every tribe shall give; and thou shalt lay them in the tabernacle of the testimony, over against the testimony. By these I will there make myself known to thee; and it shall come to pass, that the staff of the man whom I will chuse, shall bloom: and I will remove from me this murmuring of the children of Israel, which they murmur against you. (Numbers 16:50–17:5 in Thomson’s OT.)

Context Group Version          And YHWH spoke to Moses, saying, Speak to the sons of Israel, and take from them staffs, one for each fathers' house, of all their princes according to their fathers' houses, twelve staffs: you shall write every man's name on his staff. And you shall write Aaron's name on the staff of Levi; for there shall be one staff for each head of their fathers' houses.

English Standard Version      .

Green’s Literal Translation    .

Legacy Standard Bible           .

Literal Standard Version        .

Modern English Version         .

Modern Literal Version 2020  And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying, Speak to the sons of Israel and take rods from them, one for each father's house, from all their rulers according to their fathers' houses, twelve rods. Write every man's name upon his rod. And you will write Aaron's name upon the rod of Levi, because one rod will be for each head of their fathers' houses.

New American Standard B.    .

New European Version          .

New King James Version       .

Niobi Study Bible                   .

Revised Mechanical Trans.    ...and YHWH spoke to Mosheh saying, speak to the sons of Yisra'eyl, and take from them every branch for the house of the father, from all their captains belonging to their fathers, twelve branches, you will write each of his titles upon his branch, and the title of Aharon you will write upon the branch of Lewi, given that one branch for the head of the house of their fathers,... Numbers 17:16–18 in the RMT.

Updated ASV                         Aaron’s Rod Buds

And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the sons of Israel, and take a rod from each of them, one for each fathers’ house, of all their chieftains according to their fathers’ houses, twelve rods: write each man’s name on his rod, and you shall write Aaron’s name on the rod of Levi; for there shall be one rod for each head of their fathers’ houses.

Updated Bible Version 2.17   .

A Voice in the Wilderness      .

Webster’s Bible Translation  .

World English Bible                .

Young's Literal Translation     .

Young's Updated LT              .

The gist of this passage: 

1-3

Translation: And so Y^ehowah speaks unto Moses, saying,...

God realizes that an object lesson must be given to the sons of Israel.

Remember that our focus is upon the two generations of Israel, the one which came out of slavery as adults, whom I have called Gen X; and those who exited Egypt as children, along with anyone who has been born since then.

Recall that we have reasonably guessed the time to be 20–30 years after Israel’s failure in Numbers 13–14. Some of Israel had died out (often through the sin unto death); and there are many from that generation still remaining who still need to die out before Israel and move forward.

God intends to establish spiritual authority among the people of Israel.

Translation: ...“Speak unto the sons of Israel...

God wants Moses to speak to the people. He is going to give the people a demonstration of power and authority. Interestingly enough, God is going to go for the subtle approach.

Translation: ...and take from with them a staff—...

Every tribe is going to take a staff or a rod. Interestingly enough, the word is maţţeh (מַטֶּה) [pronounced maht-TEH], and it means, staff, branch, scepter, rod; branch; tribe. Strong’s #4294 BDB #641.

Translation: ...a staff for a house of a father from with all their leaders...

It is not yet quite clear how many staffs we are speaking of here. It is going to be twelve staffs, one for each tribe. Here, based upon the context, father will refer to the ultimate father of each tribe, which would be one of the twelve sons of Jacob. There are many leaders which have come from each tribe.

Translation: ...for a house of their fathers, twelve staffs.

God specifies twelve staffs, which could also be read, twelve tribes.

Numbers 17:1–2d And so Y^ehowah speaks unto Moses, saying, “Speak unto the sons of Israel and take from with them a staff—a staff for a house of a father from with all their leaders for a house of their fathers, twelve staffs. (Kukis mostly literal translation)

In the English, Numbers 16 got so long, that they arbitrarily stopped it here, using this famous dividing line.

The Israelites came out of Egypt and in the pictures which we have found on the walls of Egyptian tombs, a person of rank, one who owned land and was a head of a family, carried a rod or a staff which indicated as much. Certainly, in their trudgings through the desert, those of rank would have had a rod to indicate their position of leadership.

God will illustrate something here. We have a lot of very impressionable under twenty young men and women observing the wrath of Y^ehowah and wondering if they are all going to die at God's hand for the sins of their apostate fathers. God often explains something by way of an illustration or an act, as these things tend to stay in the mind longer. For most people, if you paint a picture, it is easier to recall than recalling some words. So each of the twelve tribes would take a rod and the name of one of the heads of that tribe would be written on that rod.

Translation: [For each] man, you will write his name upon his staff.

Every tribe has a leader and that leader will have his name written on his staff. God is speaking to Moses, meaning that Moses will do the writing or assign this to someone under him (logically, Joshua does this).

Translation: Also, you will write the name of Aaron on the staff of Levi,...

The staff which represents the tribe of Levi will have Aaron’s name written on it.

Translation: ...one staff for the head of a house of their fathers. (Kukis mostly literal translation)

There will be one staff for each tribe, described here for the head of a house of their fathers (referring back to the twelves sons of Jacob).

Numbers 17:2e–3 [For each] man, you will write his name upon his staff. Also, you will write the name of Aaron on the staff of Levi, one staff for the head of a house of their fathers. (Kukis mostly literal translation)

On the rod of Levi, Aaron's name will be written (even though Moses is more prominent, he is the national leader).

Numbers 17:1–3 And so Y^ehowah speaks unto Moses, saying, “Speak unto the sons of Israel and take from with them a staff—a staff for a house of a father from with all their leaders for a house of their fathers, twelve staffs. [For each] man, you will write his name upon his staff. Also, you will write the name of Aaron on the staff of Levi, one staff for the head of a house of their fathers. (Kukis mostly literal translation)

Numbers 17:1–3 Then Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the sons of Israel and take from each tribe a staff. This staff will represent each tribe. Each tribe will present its leader and each leader will be bringing a staff, so that there are twelve staffs total. Each leader will write his name on his staff. Aaron will write his name on the staff which represents the tribe of Levi. There will be one staff for every leader of the twelve tribes. (Kukis paraphrase)

——————————

Here is how others have translated this passage:

Ancient texts:

Masoretic Text (Hebrew)        And you have deposited them in a tent of the appointment to faces of the precept that I will meet to you (all) there. And he has been, the man that I will choose in him a staff of him will bud, and so I have allay from Me grumblings of sons of Israel which they are grumbling upon you (all).”

Dead Sea Scrolls                   .

Jerusalem targum                  .

Targum (Onkelos)                  .

Targum (Pseudo-Jonathan)   .

Aramaic Targum                    .

The Psalms Targum              .

Updated Douay-Rheims         .

Douay-Rheims 1899 (Amer.) And thou shalt lay them up in the tabernacle of the covenant before the testimony, where I will speak to thee.

Whomsoever of these I shall choose, his rod shall blossom: and I will make to cease from me the murmurings of the children of Israel, wherewith they murmur against you.

Aramaic ESV of Peshitta        You shall lay them up in the Tabernacle before the testimony, where I meet with you.

It shall happen, that the rod of the man whom I shall choose shall bud: and I will make to cease from me the murmurings of the B'nai Yisrael, which they murmur against you."

Original Aramaic Psalms        .

V. Alexander’s Aramaic T.     .

Plain English Aramaic Bible   .

Lamsa’s Peshitta (Syriac)     .

Samaritan Pentateuch           This incident is missing from the Samaritan Pentateuch.

Updated Brenton (Greek)       And you shall put them in the tabernacle of witness, before the testimony, where I will be made known to you.

And it shall be, that the man whom I shall choose, his rod shall blossom; and I will remove from Me the murmuring of the children of Israel, which they murmur against you.

Significant differences: 

Limited Vocabulary Translations:

Bible in Basic English             And let them be stored up in the Tent of meeting, in front of the ark of witness where I come to you. 

And the rod of that man who is marked out by me for myself will have buds on it; so I will put a stop to the outcries which the children of Israel make to me against you.

Easy English                          .

Easy-to-Read Version–2008  Put these walking sticks in the Meeting Tent in front of the Box of the Agreement. This is the place where I meet with you. I will choose one man to be the true priest. You will know which man I choose because his walking stick will begin to grow new leaves. In this way I will stop the people from always complaining against you and me."

God’s Word™                         Put them in the tent of meeting where I meet with you, in front of the words of my promise. The staff from the man I choose will begin to grow. In this way I will silence the frequent complaints the Israelites make against you and Aaron."

Good News Bible (TEV)         Take them to the Tent of my presence and put them in front of the Covenant Box, where I meet you. Then the stick of the man I have chosen will sprout. In this way I will put a stop to the constant complaining of these Israelites against you."

The Message                         .

Names of God Bible               .

NIRV                                      .

New Simplified Bible              .

Thought-for-thought translations; dynamic translations; paraphrases:

Casual English Bible             .

Contemporary English V.       Place these sticks in the tent right in front of the sacred chest where I appear to you. I will then choose a man to be my priest, and his stick will sprout. After that happens, I won't have to listen to any more complaints about you.

The Living Bible                     .

New Berkeley Version           .

New Life Version                    .

New Living Translation           .

The Passion Translation        .

Unfolding Bible Simplified      Put those walking sticks inside the sacred tent, in front of the sacred chest that has in it the tablets on which the Ten Commandments are written. That is the place where I always talk with you. Buds will sprout on the stick of the man whom I have chosen to be the priest. When the people see that, they will stop their constantly complaining about you because they will realize that he is the one whom I have chosen."

Partially literal and partially paraphrased translations:

American English Bible          .

Beck’s American Translation .

Common English Bible           .

New Advent (Knox) Bible       .

Translation for Translators     .

Mostly literal renderings (with some occasional paraphrasing):

Berean Study Bible                Place the staffs in the Tent of Meeting in front of the Testimony, where I meet with you.  The staff belonging to the man I choose will sprout, and I will rid Myself of the constant grumbling of the Israelites against you.”

Christian Standard Bible        .

Conservapedia Translation    .

Revised Ferrar-Fenton Bible  .

God’s Truth (Tyndale)           .

The Heritage Bible                          And you shall deposit them in the tent of appointed meeting before the face of the testimony, there where I meet with you by appointment.

And it shall be, the man’s rod whom I choose shall blossom, and I will cause to subside from me the obstinate grumblings of the children of Israel by which they stop in rebellion against you.

International Standard V        .

H. C. Leupold                         .

Lexham English Bible            .

NIV, ©2011                             .

Unfolding Bible Literal Text    You must place the staffs in the tent of meeting in front of the covenant decrees, where I meet with you. It will happen that the staff of the man whom I choose will bud. I will cause the complaints from the people of Israel to stop, which they are speaking against you.".

Urim-Thummim Version         Then you will lay them up in the Tabernacle at the Appointed Place before the Testimony where I will meet with you. And it will come to pass that the man's staff who I choose will blossom, and I will curtail from me the complaints of the children of Israel, whereby they grumble against you.

Wikipedia Bible Project          .

Catholic Bibles (those having the imprimatur):

Christian Community (1988)  Then put them in the Tent of Meeting before the ark, at the place where I meet you. The man whose stick sprouts will be the one I have chosen; this is how I shall stop the complaints that the Israelites make against you.”

New American Bible (2011)   .

The Catholic Bible                  .

New Jerusalem Bible             .

NRSV (Anglicized Cath. Ed.) .

Revised English Bible–1989   .

Jewish/Hebrew Names Bibles:

Complete Jewish Bible           .

Eth Cepher Bible                    .

exeGeses companion Bible   .

Hebraic Roots Bible               .

Kaplan Translation                 Place [the staffs] in the Communion Tent, before the [Ark of] Testimony where I commune with you.

The staff of the man who is My choice will then blossom. I will thus rid Myself of the complaints that the Israelites are directing at you.' (Vv. 19–20 in Kaplan’s translation)

The Scriptures–2009              “You shall then place them in the Tent of Appointment before the Witness, where I meet with you. 

“And it shall be that the rod of the man whom I choose buds, and I shall rid Myself of the grumblings of the children of Yisra’ěl, which they grumble against you.”

Tree of Life Version                Then you are to place them in the Tent of Meeting, before the Testimony, where I meet with you. It will come about that the staff of the man I choose will sprout. I will then rid Myself of the grumblings of Bnei-Yisrael, who are grumbling against you.”

Weird English, Olde English, Anachronistic English Translations:

Alpha & Omega Bible            .

Awful Scroll Bible                   Yous are to have laid them up in the tent of the appointed place, turned towards the testimony, where I was to meet with you.

The man's staff that I was to choose was to blossom; even am I to have caused to abate the grumblings, of the sons of Contends-with-he-mighty that they are to be grumbling.

Concordant Literal Version    Then you will leave them in the tent of appointment before the testimony where I keep appointment with you.

So it will come to be that the man whom I choose, his rod shall bud. Thus I will cause the grumblings of the sons of Israel to subside from over Me which they were grumbling against you.

exeGeses companion Bible   ...and set them in the tent of the congregation

at the face of the witness where I meet with you.

And so be it,

that the rod of the man whom I choose, blossoms:

and I cease from me

the murmurings of the sons of Yisra El

whereby they murmur against you.

Orthodox Jewish Bible           (17:19) And thou shalt lay them up in the Ohel Mo'ed before HaEdut, where I will meet with you there.

(17:20) And it shall come to pass, that the man's rod, whom I shall choose, shall sprout; and I will rid Myself of the murmurings of the Bnei Yisroel, whereby they murmur against you.

Rotherham’s Emphasized B. .

Expanded/Embellished Bibles:

The Amplified Bible                .

The Expanded Bible              .

International Standard V        “Then lay them there in the Tent of Meeting in front of the Ark of the Covenant [Lit. testimony] where I’ll meet with you. The rod that belongs to the man whom I’ll choose will burst into bloom. That’s how I’ll put a stop to the complaints of the Israelis, who are complaining against you.”

Kretzmann’s Commentary    

Lexham English Bible            You must then put them in the tent of assembly before [Literally “in the presence of”] the testimony [Or “the statute”] where I meet with you. And it will happen, the man whom I will choose, his staff will blossom, and so I will rid from upon myself the grumblings of the Israelites, [Literally “sons/children of Israel”] who are grumbling against you.”

Syndein/Thieme                     .

The Voice                               .

Bible Translations with Many Footnotes:

The Complete Tanach           .

The Geneva Bible                  .

Kaplan Translation                 .

NET Bible®                             .

New American Bible (2011)   .

New Catholic Bible                 .

Rotherham’s Emphasized B. Then shalt thou lay them up in the tent of meeting,— before the testimonyˎ where I meet with you.^b So shall it come to passˎ that <the man whom I shall choose> ||his staff|| shall bud,—so will I cause to cease from against meʹ the murmurings of the sons of Israel, wherewith ||they|| are murmuring against youʹ.

^b Some cod. (w. Sam., Sep. and Vul.) have: “thee”—G.n.

Updated ASV                         .

Literal, almost word-for-word, renderings:

A Faithful Version                  .

C. Thomson Updated OT       .

Charles Thomson OT            .

Context Group Version          .

English Standard Version      . deposit

Green’s Literal Translation    And you shall place them in the tabernacle of the congregation, before the testimony, where I shall meet with you. And it shall be that the man's rod which I choose shall blossom. And I shall cause the murmurings of the sons of Israel, which they are murmuring against you, to cease from Me.

Legacy Standard Bible           .

Literal Standard Version        And you have placed them in the Tent of Meeting before the Testimony, where I meet with you. And it has come to pass, the man’s rod on whom I fix flourishes, and I have caused the murmurings of the sons of Israel, which they are murmuring against you, to cease from off Me.”

Modern English Version         .

Modern Literal Version 2020  And you will lay them up in the tent of meeting before the testimony, where I meet with you*. And it will happen, that the rod of the man whom I will choose will bud. And I will make to cease from me the murmurings of the sons of Israel, which they murmur against you*.

New American Standard B.    .

New European Version          .

New King James Version       .

Niobi Study Bible                   .

Owen's Translation                .

Revised Mechanical Trans.    ...and you will make them rest in the appointed tent, to the face of the evidence, where I will meet with you there, and it will come to pass, the man which I will choose, his branch will burst out[938], and I will make the murmuring of the sons of Yisra'eyl subside from upon me, which they were murmuring upon you,... (Vv. 19–20 in the RMT)

938. That is, “to bring forth buds.”

Updated ASV                         And you shall place them in the tent of meeting before the testimony, where I meet with you. And it shall come about, that the rod of the man whom I shall choose shall bud: and I will make to cease from me the murmurings of the sons of Israel, which they murmur against you.”

Updated Bible Version 2.17   .

A Voice in the Wilderness      .

Webster’s Bible Translation  .

World English Bible                .

Young's Literal Translation     .

Young’s Updated LT             .

The gist of this passage: 

4-5

Translation: And you have set them down by the Tent of Meeting before the testimony,...

There are twelve staffs, each staff taken from a leader of his tribe, and these are set down next to the Tent of Meeting (possibly in the Tent of Meeting).

Many translations understand this to be before the Ark of the Covenant:

Bible in Basic English             And let them be stored up in the Tent of meeting, in front of the ark of witness...

Easy-to-Read Version–2008  Put these walking sticks in the Meeting Tent in front of the Box of the Agreement.

Good News Bible (TEV)         Take them to the Tent of my presence and put them in front of the Covenant Box,...

Many translations translate this literally, which leaves us with a question:

Berean Study Bible                Place the staffs in the Tent of Meeting in front of the Testimony,...

Unfolding Bible Literal Text    You must place the staffs in the tent of meeting in front of the covenant decrees,...

The Scriptures–2009              “You shall then place them in the Tent of Appointment before the Witness,...

Revised Mechanical Trans.    ...and you will make them rest in the appointed tent, to the face of the evidence,...

Exactly what is being referred to? The word is the feminine singular noun ʿêdûwth (עֵדוּת) [pronounced ģay-DOOTH], which means, a precept, law, revelation, testimony. Strong’s #5715 BDB #730. However, the BDB ties the early use of this word to the Ten Commandments. The stone tablets upon which are written the Ten Commandments are stored either beside or inside the Ark of the Covenant.

Therefore, these staffs are being placed in one of three places: (1) inside the Tent next to the curtain, on the other side of which is the Ark of the Covenant; (2) behind the great curtain and next to the Ark of the Covenant; (3) outside of the Tabernacle but next to where the Ark of the Covenant is placed.

God’s specified Presence is often associated with the Ark of the Covenant; but the Testimony is specified here, because the end result is going to be the testimony of God.

Translation: ...where I will meet with reference to you (all).

God is speaking, and so it is He Who will meet with reference to Moses, Aaron and the other leaders. So, this is a place where God’s Divine Presence will be, but He is not actually meeting Moses and the twelve leaders there. He will be there with reference to them all.

So, where these staffs will be placed, God will be there.

Numbers 17:4 And you have set them down by the Tent of Meeting before the testimony, where I will meet with reference to you (all). (Kukis mostly literal translation)

Moses is to bring the rods into the tent of meeting and place them before God. The testimony is the ark of the covenant, the ark of testimony against them (Exodus 25:16, 21–22 Numbers 17:7). Before the face of the testimony would be, most likely, right outside the Holy of Holies, by the altar of incense, in front of the curtain which hides the ark of the testimony.

What occurs next is easy to understand; however, the literal translation of Young, upon which I heavily depend, leaves much to be desired.

The Amplified Bible               And the rod of the man whom I choose shall bud; and I will make to cease from Me the murmurings of the Israelites, which they murmur against you.

The Emphasized Bible           So shall it come to pass that the man whom I shall choose his staff shall bud, so will I cause to cease from against me the murmurings of the sons of Israel, wherewith they are murmuring against you.

KJV                                       And 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.

NASB                                     "And it shall come about that the rod of the man whom I choose will sprout. Thus I shall lessen from upon Myself the grumblings of the sons of Israel, who are grumbling against you."

Young's Lit. Translation         'And it hath come to pass, the man's rod on whom I fix doth flourish, and I have cause to cease from off me the murmurings of the sons of Israel, which they are murmuring against you.'

Translation: And it was, the man whom I will choose, his staff will bud.

God is going to choose a particular man and it is his staff which will bud.

A staff is going to be a relatively straight and strong piece of a tree which is probably somewhere between 4' and 7' long, and used to walk with. At this point, the staffs are pretty much inert, like a 2x4. They are not going to grow anything as a result. However, one staff will grow a bud on it (which represents the resurrection).

Translation: And so I will have removed from Myself the complaining of the sons of Israel...

The verb used here is not used very often. It is the Hiphil perfect of shâkak (שָכַ) [pronounced shaw-KAHK], which means, to allay, to diminish, to lessen, to alleviate, to rid, to remove. Strong’s #7918 BDB #1013. Although there are words which mean to separate, to set oneself apart from; I think the idea here is, more to bring an end to something.

For many years, the people of Israel have been confronting and disparaging Moses and Aaron; and God indicates that this should put an end to all of that. God is going to clearly establish Aaron as set apart from all of the other leaders.

Translation: ...which they complain against you (all).” (Kukis mostly literal translation)

The people regularly come against Moses and Aaron and complain. What is taking place is necessary to shut them all up.

Numbers 17:5 And it was, the man whom I will choose, his staff will bud. And so I will have removed from Myself the complaining of the sons of Israel which they complain against you (all).” (Kukis mostly literal translation)

Each man represents a tribe. He brings his rod to Moses. Moses places these rods before God. Y^ehowah does not choose the rods, He chooses the men and the men whom He chooses, those men's rods will sprout. Now the rods are dead. It is just like carrying around a cane. For most of these thirty-eight years, God has killed off large sections of all twelve tribes. His displeasure with Israel has been clearly stated on a number of occasions, even to the point of threatening twice to annihilate all twelve tribes and to begin anew with Moses. Their biggest complaint in this past rebellion was that Moses and Aaron held leadership positions, and that God was in the midst of the rest of the congregation, specifically in the midst of Korah, Dathan and Abiram, meaning that they had just as much right to leadership positions as did Moses and Aaron. And now with Korah, Dathan and Abiram having died the sin unto death, there was still a sizable portion of the congregation which came forth to complain against Moses and Aaron and their positions of leadership. So this was to be a visual sign to show whom God favored and whom would lead Israel spiritually.

On the previous day, God had already shown to Korah an dthe other rebels whom He had chosen. This was covered in Numbers 16:5, which reads: And he spoke to Korah and all his company, saying, "Tomorrow morning Y^ehowah will show who are His and who is holy and [whom He] will cause to bring near to Himself; even the one whom He will choose, He will bring near to Himself."

There is another side to this. There is only one Messiah. God would, from what seemed dead, cause to sprout His Son. Israel, during the time of our Lord, was very religious and very apostate. For centuries, even most of the high priests of Israel were not saved (in fact, two conspired in the death of our Lord). From Israel, who seemed dead in trespasses and sins, would sprout forth the Messiah, the Lord of Glory, Jesus Christ. There will be only one tribe from which will come Messiah, just as only one rod will sprout. Then a root--shoot will spring from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots will bear fruit ( Isaiah 11:1)

Numbers 17:4–5 And you have set them down by the Tent of Meeting before the testimony, where I will meet with reference to you (all). And it was, the man whom I will choose, his staff will bud. And so I will have removed from Myself the complaining of the sons of Israel which they complain against you (all).” (Kukis mostly literal translation)

Quite frankly, this is a rather small miracle, compared to all that God has done before Israel. I believe that we can understand this to be representative of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, which may seem like a small thing, but it is not. Only God can take what is dead and make it alive again.

Numbers 17:4–5 Then you will set the staffs down in the Tent of Meeting opposite the tables of testimony, where I will come with reference to you all. And it will be that, whichever man that I choose, his staff will bud. By doing this, all controversy about who is in charge should end. The complaints against you and Aaron some stop as a result of this.” (Kukis paraphrase)

——————————

Here is how others have translated this passage:

Ancient texts:

Masoretic Text (Hebrew)        And so speaks Moses unto sons of Israel. And so will give unto him all leaders of them a staff to a leader, one staff for a leader one for a house of fathers of them, two-teen staffs, and a staff of Aaron in a midst of staffs of them. And so will deposit Moses the staffs to faces of Y^ehowah in a tent of the precept.

Dead Sea Scrolls                   .

Jerusalem targum                  .

Targum (Onkelos)                  .

Targum (Pseudo-Jonathan)   .

Aramaic Targum                    .

The Psalms Targum              .

Updated Douay-Rheims         .

Douay-Rheims 1899 (Amer.) And Moses spoke to the children of Israel: and all the princes gave him rods one for every tribe: and there were twelve rods besides the rod of Aaron.

And when Moses had Laid them up before the Lord in the tabernacle of the testimony:...

Aramaic ESV of Peshitta        Mosha spoke to the B'nai Yisrael; and all their princes gave him rods, for each prince one, according to their fathers' houses, even twelve rods: and the rod of Aaron was among their rods.

Mosha laid up the rods before Mar-Yah in the tent of the testimony.

Original Aramaic Psalms        .

V. Alexander’s Aramaic T.     .

Plain English Aramaic Bible   .

Lamsa’s Peshitta (Syriac)     .

Samaritan Pentateuch           .

Updated Brenton (Greek)       And Moses spoke to the children of Israel, and all their chiefs gave him a rod each, for one chief a rod, according to the house of their families, twelve rods; and the rod of Aaron was in the midst of the rods.

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

Significant differences: 

Limited Vocabulary Translations:

Bible in Basic English             So Moses gave these orders to the children of Israel, and all their chiefs gave him rods, one for the head of every family, making twelve rods: and Aaron's rod was among them. 

And Moses put the rods before the Lord in the Tent of witness.

Easy English                          .

Easy-to-Read Version–2008  So Moses spoke to the Israelites. Each of the leaders gave him a walking stick. There were twelve walking sticks. There was one stick from each leader of each tribe. One of the walking sticks belonged to Aaron. Moses put the walking sticks before the LORD in the Tent of the Agreement.

God’s Word™                         So Moses spoke to the Israelites. Their leaders gave him 12 staffs, one from the leader of each of their tribes. Aaron's staff was among them. Moses put the staffs in the LORD'S presence in the tent of the words of God's promise.

Good News Bible (TEV)         So Moses spoke to the Israelites, and each of their leaders gave him a stick, one for each tribe, twelve in all, and Aaron's stick was put with them. Moses then put all the sticks in the Tent in front of the LORD's Covenant Box.

The Message                         .

Names of God Bible               .

NIRV                                      .

New Simplified Bible              .

Thought-for-thought translations; dynamic translations; paraphrases:

Casual English Bible             .

Contemporary English V.       Moses told the people what the LORD had commanded, and they gave him the walking sticks from the twelve tribal leaders, including Aaron's from the Levi tribe. Moses took them and placed them in the LORD's sacred tent.

The Living Bible                     .

New Berkeley Version           .

New Life Version                    .

New Living Translation           .

The Passion Translation        .

Unfolding Bible Simplified      So Moses told the people what Yahweh had said. Then each of the twelve Israelite leaders, including Aaron, brought his walking stick to Moses. Moses placed the sticks inside the sacred tent in front of the sacred chest.

Partially literal and partially paraphrased translations:

American English Bible          .

Beck’s American Translation .

Common English Bible           .

New Advent (Knox) Bible       .

Translation for Translators     .

Mostly literal renderings (with some occasional paraphrasing):

Berean Study Bible                .

Christian Standard Bible        .

Conservapedia Translation    .

Revised Ferrar-Fenton Bible  .

God’s Truth (Tyndale)           .

The Heritage Bible                          And Moses spoke to the children of Israel, and all of their princes gave him a rod, one for each prince, for their fathers’ houses, twelve rods, and the rod of Aaron was among the rods.

And Moses deposited the rods before the face of Jehovah in the tent of testimony.

International Standard V        So Moses spoke to the Israelis, and each of the tribe leaders gave him a rod, one for each leader, according to their ancestral tribes, for a total of twelve rods. Aaron’s rod was one of them. Then Moses laid out the rods in the Lord’s presence, inside the Tent of Testimony.

H. C. Leupold                         .

Lexham English Bible            .

NIV, ©2011                             .

Unfolding Bible Literal Text    So Moses spoke to the people of Israel. All the tribal leaders gave him staffs, one staff from each leader, selected from each of the ancestral tribes, twelve staffs in all. Aaron's staff was among them. Then Moses deposited the staffs before Yahweh in the tent of the covenant decrees.

Urim-Thummim Version         And Moses spoke to the children of Israel, and everyone of their chiefs gave him one staff for each tribal head, according to their fathers' houses, 12 staffs, and the staff of Aaron was among them. Moses laid up the staffs before YHWH in the Tabernacle of Testimony.

Wikipedia Bible Project          .

Catholic Bibles (those having the imprimatur):

Christian Community (1988)  Moses spoke to the Israelites, and each of their leaders gave him a stick, twelve sticks in all for their tribes; and Aaron’s stick was among them. Moses placed them before Yahweh in the Tent of the Meeting. (Vv. 21–22 in the Christian Community Bible.)

New American Bible (2011)   .

The Catholic Bible                  .

New Jerusalem Bible             .

NRSV (Anglicized Cath. Ed.) .

Revised English Bible–1989   .

Jewish/Hebrew Names Bibles:

Complete Jewish Bible           .

Eth Cepher Bible                    And Mosheh spoke unto the children of Yashar’el, and everyone of their princes gave him a rod apiece, for each prince one, according to their fathers' houses, even twelve rods: and the rod of Aharon was among their rods.  And Mosheh laid up the rods before Yahuah in the Tabernacle of witness.

exeGeses companion Bible   .

Hebraic Roots Bible               .

Kaplan Translation                 Moses spoke to the Israelites, and each of the leaders gave him a staff for his paternal tribe. There were twelve staffs, with Aaron's staff among them.

[Moses] placed the staffs before God in the Testimony Tent. (Vv. 21–22 in Kaplan’s translation.)

The Scriptures–2009              And Mosheh spoke to the children of Yisra’ěl, and all their leaders gave him a rod each, for each leader according to their fathers’ houses, twelve rods. And the rod of Aharon was among their rods.  So Mosheh placed the rods before יהוה in the Tent of the Witness.

Tree of Life Version                So Moses spoke to Bnei-Yisrael. Each of their princes gave him a staff, one staff for each prince according to their ancestral houses, twelve staffs in all, and Aaron’s staff was among them. Moses placed the staffs before Adonai in the Tent of Testimony.

Weird English, Olde English, Anachronistic English Translations:

Alpha & Omega Bible            AND MOSES SPOKE TO THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL, AND ALL THEIR CHIEFS GAVE HIM A ROD EACH, FOR ONE CHIEF A ROD, ACCORDING TO THE HOUSE OF THEIR FAMILIES, TWELVE RODS; AND THE ROD OF AARON WAS IN THE MIDST OF THE RODS.

AND MOSES LAID UP THE RODS BEFORE JESUS IN THE TABERNACLE OF WITNESS.

Awful Scroll Bible                   Moses was to speak these, to the sons of Contends-with-he-mighty and the lifted up ones were to give him their staves, even the staves of the lifted up ones one, one by their father's house, ten and two staves, with the staff of Aaron among their staves. Moses was to lay up the staves, turned toward Sustains To Become in the tent of the testimony.

Concordant Literal Version    .

exeGeses companion Bible   And Mosheh words to the sons of Yisra El

and every one of their hierarchs

to give him one rod per hierarch

- one rod per hierarch

for the houses of their fathers - twelve rods:

and the rod of Aharon is among their rods.

And Mosheh sets the rods at the face of Yah Veh

in the tent of witness.

Orthodox Jewish Bible           (17:21) And Moshe spoke unto the Bnei Yisroel, and every one of their Nasiim gave him a rod apiece, for each nasi one, according to their Bais Avot, even twelve rods; and the rod of Aharon was among their rods.