When Moses brought all the staffs out from the Lord’s presence, he showed them to the people. Each man claimed his own staff.
Parallel translations
- WEB Moses brought out all the rods from before Yahweh to all the children of Israel. They looked, and each man took his rod.
- KJV 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.
- BSB Then Moses brought out all the staffs from the LORD’s presence to all the Israelites. They saw them, and each man took his own staff.
- NKJV Then Moses brought out all the rods from before the Lord to all the children of Israel; and they looked, and each man took his rod.
- NASB Moses then brought out all the staffs from the presence of the Lord to all the sons of Israel; and they looked, and each man took his staff.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Moses brought all the rods out so the people could see, and each leader took back his own lifeless rod while Aaron's stood unique.
Overview
The public display let every Israelite verify the result for himself: only Aaron's rod bore life. The contrast between the eleven barren rods and Aaron's fruitful one settled the dispute beyond argument. God's verdict was now visible to all, removing any ground for further challenge to the priesthood.
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Christ at the center
In the wilderness Christ is the water from the rock, the bronze serpent lifted up that the dying might look and live (John 3:14), and the star and scepter that Balaam saw rising out of Jacob.
How Numbers 17:9 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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