• Please see License for Copyright notice and Licensing information.

1 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

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.

3 And thou shalt write Aaron's name upon the rod of Levi: for one rod shall be for the head of the house of their fathers.

4 And thou shalt lay them up in the tabernacle of the congregation before the testimony, where I will meet with you.

5 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.

6 And Moses spake unto the children of Israel, and every one of their princes gave him a rod apiece, for each prince one, according to their fathers' houses, even twelve rods: and the rod of Aaron was among their rods.

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

8 And it came to pass, that on the morrow Moses went into the tabernacle of witness; and, behold, the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi was budded, and brought forth buds, and bloomed blossoms, and yielded almonds.

9 And Moses brought out all the rods from before the Lord unto all the children of Israel: and they looked, and took every man his rod.

10 And the Lord said unto Moses, Bring Aaron's rod again before the testimony, to be kept for a token against the rebels; and thou shalt quite take away their murmurings from me, that they die not.

11 And Moses did so: as the Lord commanded him, so did he.

12 And the children of Israel spake unto Moses, saying, Behold, we die, we perish, we all perish.

13 Whosoever cometh any thing near unto the tabernacle of the Lord shall die: shall we be consumed with dying?

h.ואת האש AND THE FIRE — that is in the censers (not, as might be assumed, that of the burning materials — the שרפה just mentioned).

h.זרה הלאה SCATTER YONDER on the ground from off the censers.

h.כי קדשו FOR THEY — the censers — ARE HALLOWED, and are therefore forbidden for any profane use, since they have made them into “vessels of service” (כלי שרת) (by using them for offering incense).

h.החטאים האלא בנפשתם THESE SINNERS AGAINST THEIR OWN SOULS — i.e. who became wilful transgressors against their own souls, because they rebelled against the Holy One, blessed be He.

h.רקעי means beaten out (flattened).

h.פחים are plates beaten out thin, tendus in O. F.

h.צפוי למזבח FOR AN OVERLAYING FOR THE ALTAR — i.e. for the copper altar.

h.ויהיו לאות AND THEY SHALL BE AS AN אות — The word לאות is the same as לזכרון, something to be mentioned (cf. Exodus 13:9) — that people will always say: These plates were from (once belonged to) those who raised dissension about the priesthood and were burnt.

h.וירקעום AND THEY EXTENDED THEM — Etendre in O. F.

h.ולא יהיה כקרח means in order that he be not as Korah.

h.כאשר דבר ה' ביד משה לו AS THE LORD HAD SPOKEN BY THE AGENCY OF MOSES לו — The latter word is the same as עליו, “with regard to him”, i.e. “with regard to Aaron”: He had spoken to Moses that he and his sons should be priests; therefore a layman, who is not of the seed of Aaron, shall not approach etc. Similarly in every instance of the words לי or לו or להם which are connected with forms of the verb דבר, their meaning is the same as על, “concerning”. A Midrashic explanation is that לו, “with regard to him”, means: with regard to Korah (not to Aaron). But what, then, is meant by the expression “by the hand of Moses”; why does it not write “unto Moses”? It is used as an intimation to those who rebel against the institution of the priesthood: that they will become stricken with leprosy, just as Moses was stricken with it on his hand, as it is said, (Exodus 4:6) “and he took it (the hand) forth and, behold, it was leprous, white as snow”. And on account of this (that he insisted on offering incense in spite of the priests’ protest) Uzziah was stricken with leprosy (II Chronicles 26:19) (Midrash Tanchuma, Tzav 1 on צו; cf. also Sanhedrin 110a and Rashi on Isaiah 6:4).

h.וכפר עליהם AND MAKE AN EXPIATION FOR THEM — This secret the Angel of Death communicated to him (Moses) when he went up unto heaven to receive the Torah, viz., that the incense holds back the plague — as is related in Treatise Shabbat 89a.

h.ויעמד בין המתים וגו׳ AND HE STOOD BETWEEN THE DEAD [AND THE LIVING] — He (Aaron) seized the Angel of Death and stopped him despite himself. The angel said to him, “Let me be, so that I may carry out my commission!” He (Aaron) answered him, “Moses has bidden me prevent you”. The angel replied, “I am the messenger of the Omnipresent whilst you are but the messenger of Moses!” Aaron retorted, “Moses does not say anything out of his own mind, but only at the command of the Almighty. If you do not believe me, behold, the Holy One, blessed be He, and Moses are at the entrance of the appointed tent; come with me and ask them!” This is the meaning of what is stated (v. 15): And Aaron returned unto Moses (i.e. returned together with the Angel of Death) (cf. Midrash Tanchuma, Tetzaveh 15 at end of תצוה). Another explanation is: Wherefore was the plague stayed by means of the incense? Because the Israelites were traducing and speaking ill of the incense, saying, “It is a deadly poison: through it Nadab and Abihu died; through it the two hundred and fifty men were burnt!” therefore the Holy One, blessed be He, said, You will see that it is also a means for restraining the plague, and it is only sin that brings death” (Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 17:5:3 on Exodus 17:5).

h.כי מטה אחד FOR ONE STAFF SHALL BE (FOR THE HEAD OF THE HOUSE OF THEIR FATHERS) — i.e. although I have divided them into two families, the family of the priests apart, and that of the Levites apart, yet it is only one tribe, [and they shall therefore have but one staff].

h.והשכתי AND I WILL CAUSE TO CEASE — This word is the same as in (Genesis 8:1) “and the waters abated (וישכו)”; (Esther 7:10) “and the wrath of the king was abated (שככה)”.

h.בתוך מטותם [AND THE STAFF OF AARON WAS] IN THE MIDST OF THEIR STAVES — He placed Aarons staff in the middle (בתוך) in order that people should not say, “It is only because he placed it at the side where the Shechinah is that it blossomed” (Midrash Tanchuma, Achrei Mot 8 on אחרי מות).

h.ויצא פרח AND IT BROUGHT FORTH A BLOSSOM — Take this as what it literally implies.

h.ציץ is the first stage in the growth of the fruit when the blossom has fallen off.

h.ויגמל שקדים AND RIPENED INTO ALMONDS — This means that when the fruit was recognisable as such it could be recognised that they were almonds. The verb has the same meaning as in (Genesis 21:8) “And the child grew ויגמל, and became a full child” (i.e., able to do without its mother’s milk). This expression is frequently used of the fruit of trees, as e.g. (Isaiah 18:5) “And the blossom becometh a ripening (גמל) grape” (cf. Rashi on Genesis 40:10). — But why did it bring forth almonds? Because it is a fruit that blossoms earlier than all other fruits; so, too, the punishment of him who sets himself in opposition to the constituted priesthood comes quickly, just as we find stated in the case of Uzziah (II Chronicles 26:19) “And the leprosy instantly broke out in his forehead”. — Its translation in the Targum is: וכפת שגדין, meaning that it produced a kind of cluster of almonds, knotted together one upon the other (Aramaic כפת denotes “tied”).

h.למשמרת לאות TO BE KEPT AS A SIGN — i.e. as a reminder that I have chosen Aaron to be the priest and that they should therefore not murmur any more against the priesthood.

h.ותכל תלונתם is the same as וּתְכַלֶּה תלונתם, AND THOU SHALT MAKE AN END OF THEIR MURMURING. This form (תלנֹתם) is a nomen actionis (שם מפעל), singular number, feminine gender, the same as is תלונָתם; in O. F. murmures. But there is a difference in sense between תלנֹתם and תלונָתם. The word תלונָתם denotes a single act of murmuring; תלנתם is a noun with singular meaning although there may be many acts of murmuring.

h.כל הקרב הקרב וגו׳ WHOSOEVER APPROACHETH [UNTO THE DWELLING OF THE LORD SHALL DIE] — The meaning is: “We cannot be cautious enough in this matter: we are all of us allowed to enter into the court of the appointed tent, but one who betakes himself nearer than his fellow and goes into the appointed tent itself will die!

h.האם תמנו לגוע means are we perhaps constantly to be freely exposed to the danger of death?