Numbers 17

World English Bible 85 include this book

1 The LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

2 “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.

3 You shall write Aaron’s name on Levi’s rod. There shall be one rod for each head of their fathers’ houses.

4 You shall lay them up in the Tent of Meeting before the covenant, where I meet with you.

5 It shall happen that the rod of the man whom I shall choose shall bud. I will make the murmurings of the children of Israel, which they murmur against you, cease from me.”

6 Moses spoke to the children of Israel; and all their princes gave him rods, for each prince one, according to their fathers’ houses, a total of twelve rods. Aaron’s rod was among their rods.

7 Moses laid up the rods before the LORD in the Tent of the Testimony.

8 On the next day, Moses went into the Tent of the Testimony; and behold, Aaron’s rod for the house of Levi had sprouted, budded, produced blossoms, and bore ripe almonds.

9 Moses brought out all the rods from before the LORD to all the children of Israel. They looked, and each man took his rod.

10 The LORD said to Moses, “Put back the rod of Aaron before the covenant, to be kept for a token against the children of rebellion; that you may make an end of their complaining against me, that they not die.”

11 Moses did so. As the LORD commanded him, so he did.

12 The children of Israel spoke to Moses, saying, “Behold, we perish! We are undone! We are all undone!

13 Everyone who keeps approaching the LORD’s tabernacle, dies! Will we all perish?”

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65 places named in this book — no place is named in this chapter, so the whole book is shown.

Where this was written

Sinai traditional Set in the wilderness journey.

When this was written

Traditions differ. Each position is shown rather than one asserted as settled.

Traditional: 1450 BC–1400 BC Moses
Jewish and Christian tradition ascribes the Torah to Moses, written during the wilderness period.
Critical: 950 BC–450 BC Multiple sources, compiled
Historical-critical scholarship sees the Torah as woven from several sources over centuries, reaching final form in the Persian period.

Elsewhere in the world

Events overlapping the period this book is dated to (1450 BC–450 BC).

1900 BC–1450 BC Minoan palace culture Greece
Crete supported a literate palace society trading across the Aegean long before mainland Greece.
1600 BC–1178 BC Hittite empire Anatolia
An Anatolian power rivalling Egypt, ended in the Bronze Age collapse.
1600 BC–1046 BC Shang dynasty oracle bones China
The earliest substantial Chinese writing, inscribed on bone and shell for divination.
1550 BC–1069 BC Egyptian New Kingdom Egypt
Egypt at its imperial height, ruling from Nubia to the Levant under Thutmose III, Akhenaten and Rameses II.
1200 BC–400 BC Olmec civilisation Mesoamerica
The earliest major Mesoamerican civilisation, known for colossal stone heads and an early calendar.
1200 BC–600 BC Zoroaster teaches in Persia Persia
Founder of Zoroastrianism, whose dating is disputed by as much as six centuries. His teaching on a cosmic struggle between good and evil later touched Jewish and Christian thought.
1200 BC–1000 BC Iron working spreads in the Levant Levant
Iron gradually displaced bronze for tools and weapons across the eastern Mediterranean.
1200 BC–1150 BC Late Bronze Age collapse Mediterranean
Within roughly two generations most eastern Mediterranean states fell; cities were destroyed, trade networks broke and literacy contracted sharply.

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