1 And the Lord spake vnto Moses, saying,
2 Speake vnto the children of Israel, and take of euery one of them a rod, according to the house of their fathers, of all their princes, according to the house of their fathers, twelue rods: write thou euery mans name vpon his rodde.
3 And thou shalt write Aarons name vpon the rod of Leui: for one rod shall be for the head of the house of their fathers.
4 And thou shalt lay them vp in the Tabernacle of the Congregation, before the Testimony, where I will meet with you.
5 And it shall come to passe, that the mans rod whom I shall choose, shall blossome: and I will make to cease from mee the murmurings of the children of Israel, whereby they murmure against you.
6 ¶ And Moses spake vnto the children of Israel, and euery one of their Princes gaue him a rod a piece, for each Prince one, according to their fathers houses, euen twelue rods: and the rod of Aaron was among their rods.
7 And Moses layd vp the rods before the Lord, in the Tabernacle of Witnesse.
8 And it came to passe that on the morrow Moses went into the Tabernacle of Witnesse, and behold, the rod of Aaron for the house of Leui was budded, and brought forth buds, and bloomed blossomes, and yeelded almonds.
9 And Moses brought out all the rods from before the Lord, vnto all the children of Israel: and they looked, and tooke euery man his rod.
10 ¶ And the Lord said vnto Moses, Bring Aarons rod againe 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 vnto Moses, saying, Behold, wee die, we perish, we all perish.
13 Whosoeuer commeth any thing neere vnto the Tabernacle of the Lord, shall die: Shall wee be consumed with dying?
Twelve rods laid up before the Lord. (1-7) Aaron's rod buds, and is kept for a memorial. (8-13)1-7 It is an instance of the grace of God, that, having wrought divers miracles to punish sin, he would work one more to prevent it. Twelve rods or staves were to be brought in. It is probable that they were the staves which the princes used as ensigns of their authority; old dry staves, that had no sap in them. They were to expect that the rod of the tribe, or prince, whom God chose to the priesthood, should bud and blossom. Moses did not object that the matter was sufficiently settled already; he did not undertake to determine it; but left the case before the Lord.
8-13 While all the other rods remained as they were. Aaron's rod became a living branch. In some places there were buds, in others blossoms, in others fruit, at the same time; all this was miraculous. Thus Aaron was manifested to be under the special blessing of Heaven. Fruitfulness is the best evidence of a Divine call; and the plants of God's setting, and the boughs cut off them, will flourish. This rod was preserved, to take away the murmurings of the people, that they might not die. The design of God, in all his providences, and in the memorials of them, is to take away sin. Christ was manifested to take away sin. Christ is expressly called a rod out of the stem of Jesse: little prospect was there, according to human views, that he should ever flourish. But the dry rod revived and blossomed to the confusion of his adversaries. The people cry, Behold, we die, we perish, we all perish! This was the language of a repining people, quarrelling with the judgments of God, which by their own pride and obstinacy they brought upon themselves. It is very wicked to fret against God when we are in affliction, and in our distress thus to trespass yet more. If we die, if we perish, it is of ourselves, and the blame will be upon our own heads. When God judges, he will overcome, and will oblige the most obstinate gainsayers to confess their folly. And how great are our mercies, that we have a clearer and a better dispensation, established upon better promises!
Commentary by Matthew Henry, 1710.