John Gill's Exposition on Numbers 17:3

A historical reference excerpt for this verse. Read it alongside the biblical text and other available sources.

Exposition of the Old and New Testament
John Gill (1697–1771) · 18th-century historical commentary
Source: BibleWord.ai's local reference edition of this named work.

And thou shalt write Aaron’s name upon the rod of Levi, etc.] Or upon the rod that was for the tribe of Levi; the name of “Aaron” was to be written, not the word “Levi”, or a “Levite”, as Josephus f240; for that would not have decided the controversy about the priesthood, which chiefly lay between the Levites and the family of Aaron, who were of the same tribe: for one rod [shall be] for the head of the house of their fathers; one rod for the head or prince of every tribe, every prince representing his own tribe he was the head of, and the rod the prince; and though the tribe of Levi was divided into two families, the family of the priests, and the family of the Levites; yet, as Jarchi observes, they were but one tribe, and so one rod for them, as for the other tribes.

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