Whose Staff
Whose Staff Numbers 20:8 Excerpt It could well have been Aaron’s since it was kept “before the Lord ” ( v. Numbers 20: 10 ), in which case it was not for striking but to remind Israel of their contentiousness ( Numbers 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 , 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 ; Exod. 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 Numbers 20: 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...