Whose Staff

Whose Staff

Numbers 20:8

Excerpt

It could well have been Aaron’s since it was kept “before the Lord” (v. 10), in which case it was not for striking but to remind Israel of their contentiousness (17:25).17 Or it could have been for striking since, according to the priestly texts, Aaron’s rod was so used during the plagues (Exod. 7:9, Exod. 7:20; Exod. 8:1, Exod. 8:13). However, it was more likely the rod of Moses, which had been employed in the performance of God’s miracles in the wilderness (Exod. 14:16;17:9). And, more relevantly, it was used in a previous instance of drawing water from a rock (Exod. 17:1–7), in which it was identified as the one used to strike the Nile (e.g., Exod. 7:19–20). Note also “his (Moses’) rod” in verse 11. Ibn Ezra assumes that if this is so, then Moses’ rod was kept in the sanctuary, a most plausible conjecture since it (as well as Aaron’s) was called “the rod of God” (Exod. 4:20). More

Milgrom, Jacob. Numbers. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1990. Print. The JPS Torah Commentary