Numbers 17:2
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.
My Notes
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
Baptist theologian, 1697–1771
Gill's Exposition
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…
Here we have, I. Orders given for the bringing in of a rod for every tribe (which was peculiarly significant, for the word here used for a rod sometimes signifies a tribe, as particularly Num 34:13),…
Academic commentary, 1882–1921
Cambridge Bible
rods staves. They were the official staves of the princes, symbols of their tribal authority, not fresh rods cut from trees, which might conceivably have blossomed in the ordinary course of nature.
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