---
title: "Clarke"
description: "destroyed, 12, 13. NOTES ON CHAP. XVII Verse Numbers 17:2. And take of every one of them a rod — מטה matteh, the staff or sceptre, which the prince or chi"
image: "/images/missing.jpg"
url: "https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/clarkes-commentary/numbers/17"
---

*destroyed*, 12, 13.
NOTES ON CHAP. XVII

Verse [Numbers 17:2](../../../kjv/numbers/17/2). ***And take of every one of them a rod*** — מטה *matteh*, the *staff* or *sceptre*, which the *prince* or *chief* of each tribe bore, and which was the sign of *office* or *royalty* among almost all the people of the earth.

Verse [Numbers 17:5](../../../kjv/numbers/17/5). ***The man's rod, whom I shall choose, shall blossom*** — It was necessary that something *farther* should be done to quiet the minds of the people, and for ever to settle the dispute, in what tribe the priesthood should be fixed. God therefore took the method described in the text, and it had the desired effect; the Aaronical priesthood was never after disputed.

Verse [Numbers 17:8](../../../kjv/numbers/17/8). ***The rod of Aaron - was budded, c.*** — That is, on the same rod or staff were found *buds, blossoms*, and *ripe fruit*. This fact was so unquestionably miraculous, as to decide the business for ever and probably this was intended to show that in the *priesthood*, represented by that of Aaron, the *beginning, middle*, and *end* of every good work must be found. The buds of good desires, the blossoms of holy resolutions and promising professions, and the ripe fruit of faith, love, and obedience, all spring from the priesthood of the Lord Jesus. It has been thought by some that Aaron's *staff* (and perhaps the *staves* of all the tribes) was made out of the *amygdala communis*, or common *almond* *tree*. In a favourable soil and climate it grows to twenty feet in height; is one of the most noble, flourishing trees in nature: its flowers are of a delicate red, and it puts them forth early in March, having begun to bud in January. It has its name שקד *shaked* from *shakad*, to *awake*, because it buds and flowers *sooner* than most other trees. And it is very likely that the staves of office, borne by the chiefs of all the tribes, were made of this tree, merely to signify that *watchfulness* and assiduous care which the chiefs should take of the persons committed, in the course of the Divine providence, to their keeping.
Every thing in this miracle is so far beyond the power of nature, that no doubt could remain on the minds of the people, or the envious chiefs, of the Divine appointment of Aaron, and of the especial interference of God in this case. To see a piece of *wood* long *cut off* from the parent stock, without *bark* or *moisture* remaining, laid up in a *dry place* for a *single night*, with others in the same circumstances-to see such a piece of wood resume and evince the perfection of vegetative life, *budding, blossoming*, and *bringing forth ripe fruit* at the same time, must be such a demonstration of the peculiar interference of God, as to silence every doubt and satisfy every scruple. It is worthy of remark that a *sceptre*, or *staff* of office, resuming its vegetative life, was considered an *absolute impossibility* among the ancients; and as they were accustomed to *swear by their sceptres*, this circumstance was added to establish and confirm the oath. A remarkable instance of this we have in HOMER, Iliad, lib. i., ver. 233, c., where Achilles, in his rage against Agamemnon, thus speaks: -
By the keen axe, dishonour'd of its *hair*,
And cased in brass, for Latian kings to bear.
And thus in public view the peace was tied
With solemn vows, and sworn on either side.
DRYDEN.

When the circumstance of the *rod* or *sceptre* being used anciently in this way, and the absolute impossibility of its revivescence so strongly appealed to, is considered, it appears to have been a very proper instrument for the present occasion, for the change that passed on it must be acknowledged as an immediate and incontestable miracle.

Verse [Numbers 17:12](../../../kjv/numbers/17/12). ***Behold, we die, we perish, we all perish.*** — גוענו *gavaenu* signifies not so much to *die* simply, as *to feel an extreme* *difficulty of breathing*, which, producing *suffocation*, ends at last in death. See the folly and extravagance of this sinful people. At *first, every person* might *come near to God*, for *all*, they thought, were sufficiently *holy*, and every way qualified to minister in holy things. *Now, no one*, in their apprehension, can come near to the tabernacle without being *consumed*, [Numbers 17:13](../../../kjv/numbers/17/13). In both cases they were wrong; *some* there were who might approach, *others* there were who might not. God had put the difference. His decision should have been final with them; but sinners are ever running into extremes.

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