🔢WEB · Numbers 17:1
What does Numbers 17:1 mean?
"Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,"
— Numbers 17:1 (World English Bible)
Surrounding context
Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,
“Speak to the children of Israel, and take rods from them, one for each fathers’ house, of all their princes according to their fathers’ houses, twelve rods. Write each 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.
You shall lay them up in the Tent of Meeting before the testimony, where I meet with you.
Explanation
Numbers 17:1 is a brief introductory formula that opens a new section of instruction from God to Moses. On its own, the verse simply states that Yahweh spoke to Moses — it does not yet reveal the content of that speech. In the WEB translation, and in most English Bibles, verse numbering here corresponds to what English versions.often place at the start of chapter 17, while other translations (following the Hebrew textual division) count this as part of chapter 16. The actual content follows in the next verses: God instructs Moses to collect a staff from the leader of each of the twelve tribes of Israel, inscribe names on them, and place them before the Ark of the Testimony, promising that the staff of the man he chooses will sprout — which becomes the account of Aaron's rod budding.
This phrase, "Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying," is a recurring formula found dozens of times throughout the books of Moses (Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers). It functions much like a chapter heading or introduction, signaling to the reader that fresh revelation or instruction is about to be
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