Numbers 20:9
in Numbers 20So Moses took the staff from the LORD’s presence, just as he had been commanded.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And Moses took the rod from before Jehovah, as he commanded him.
KJV
And Moses took the rod from before the Lord, as he commanded him.
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This verse in Numbers 20
Commentary
5 notes on this verseAnd Moses took the rod from before the Lord..... Which was laid up somewhere in the sanctuary, as well as the rod of Aaron, Num 17:7, as he commanded him; being always faithful and obedient to him that appointed him.
This site's exposition
And Moses took the rod from before the Lord
on Numbers 20:9-10
The rod taken from before the Lord is the rod kept before the testimony, and which rod that is has holders on both sides. Gill reads it as Aaron's rod that budded and was laid up at 17:10, while Keil and Delitzsch read it as the rod of Moses that did the signs in Egypt. What Moses says to the assembly is his own and no part of it was given him, hear now, ye rebels, and the question after it puts the water in the hands of two men, must we fetch you water out of this rock.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
), for it was the rod of God, the rod of his strength, as the gospel is called ( Ps. cx. 2 ), perhaps in allusion to it. [2.] God bids him gather the assembly, not the elders only, but the people, to be witnesses of what was done, that by their own eyes they might be convinced and made ashamed of their unbelief.
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), but in it he made them to drink spiritual drink, which typified spiritual blessings, for that rock was Christ. Moses and Aaron acted improperly in the management of this matter, so much so that God in displeasure told them immediately that they should not have the honour of bringing Israel into Canaan,
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The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
there was no water for the congregation--There was at Kadesh a fountain, En-Mishpat (Ge 14:7), and at the first encampment of the Israelites there was no want of water.
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How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
ARE WE TO BRING YOU FORTH WATER OUT OF THIS ROCK? Far be it and [G-d] forbid that [we should explain this] as a question indicating impossibility! For Moses our teacher, who was trusted in all G-d’s house, 160 See above,:7.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
Moshe and Aharon assembled the community before the rock; [Moshe] said to them, “Listen, you rebels! Can we extract water from this rock for you?”
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 2 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
8 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיִּקַּ֥ח | vaiyikach | and he took | H3947 → | 966 times |
| מֹשֶׁ֛ה | mosheh | Moses | H4872 → | 765 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הַמַּטֶּ֖ה | hamateh | the rod | H4294 → | 252 times |
| מִלִּפְנֵ֣י | milifnei | from to before | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| יְהוָ֑ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| כַּאֲשֶׁ֖ר | kaasher | just as | H834 → | 5497 times |
| צִוָּֽהוּ׃ | tzivahu | he had commanded him | H6680 → | 494 times |
וַיִּקַּ֥חand he took
vaiyikachH3947 →966 times
מֹשֶׁ֛הMoses
moshehH4872 →765 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
הַמַּטֶּ֖הthe rod
hamatehH4294 →252 times
מִלִּפְנֵ֣יfrom to before
milifneiH6440 →2123 times
יְהוָ֑הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
כַּאֲשֶׁ֖רjust as
kaasherH834 →5497 times
צִוָּֽהוּ׃he had commanded him
tzivahuH6680 →494 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
5 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Numbers 17:10The LORD said to Moses, “Put Aaron’s staff back in front of the Testimony, to be kept as a sign for the rebellious, so that you may put an end to their grumbling against…
it leads to
- Ephesians 5:6
Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things the wrath of God is coming on the sons of disobedience.
- Hebrews 9:4
containing the golden altar of incense and the gold-covered ark of the covenant. Inside the ark were the gold jar of manna, Aaron’s staff that had budded, and the stone tablets of the covenant.
- Isaiah 1:2
Listen, O heavens, and give ear, O earth, for the LORD has spoken: “I have raised children and brought them up, but they have rebelled against Me.
- Exodus 16:32
Moses said, “This is what the LORD has commanded: ‘Keep an omer of manna for the generations to come, so that they may see the bread I fed you in the wilderness when I…
- Deuteronomy 9:24
You have been rebelling against the LORD since the day I came to know you.
- Ephesians 5:6
Where this verse is studied
About Numbers
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.