Numbers 17 General Notes

Structure and Formatting

2. In the wilderness (10:11–19:22) * Korah, Dathan, and Abiram rebel, the people rebel, and Aaron’s staff blossoms (16:1–17:13)In this chapter, Moses places 13 staffs representing the leaders of the Israelite tribes before Yahweh. Yahweh makes Aaron’s staff blossom and produce nuts, showing that Aaron is the one chosen to be priest. The Israelites then exclaim that they expect to die if they are close to the sacred tent.

Religious and Cultural Concepts in This Chapter

The staffs

Yahweh instructs Moses to place 12 staffs in the sacred tent. These staffs represented the leaders of each of the Israelite tribes. That is why each staff had the name of a leader written on it. Yahweh used the staffs to show the Israelites which leader he had chosen to be priest. (See: staff)

Translation Issues in This Chapter

How many staffs?

It is clear that Moses placed 12 staffs in the sacred tent, one for the leader of each tribe. It is less clear whether the staff with Aaron’s name on it was one of the 12 staffs or an additional 13th staff. It is most plausible that it was an additional 13th staff, so the notes and UST follow that interpretation.

“House of the fathers”

In this chapter, the phrase “house of the fathers” refers to an entire tribe, as is made clear by the number of staffs: 12. This is different than what the phrase means in Numbers 1–4, where it refers to the largest divisions of each tribe. The phrase is flexible and refers to a group of people who are related through a specific ancestor. The specific ancestor is defined by the context. So, you do not need to translate the phrase the same way you did in Numbers 1–4.