Numbers 17:10

Summary

Yehovah instructs Moses to return Aaron's staff to its place before the testimony, so that it may serve as a permanent sign for those who rebel. The verse states that this act will end the people's complaints against Yehovah, with the stated purpose that they not die.

Key words

• ha.Shev ("put back", H7725G) — hiphil (causative) imperative: a direct command to Moses to cause the rod's return to its place.
• 'e.Dut ("testimony", H5715) — feminine singular noun with definite article, marking a specific, known object of reference.
• Me.ri ("rebellion", H4805H) — construct chain with v.nei- ("sons of", H1121H), forming the phrase "sons of rebellion" as a designation for the people.
• te.Khal ("may you put an end to", H3615G) — piel (intensive) jussive, second person: expresses a wished-for or commanded outcome performed by Moses.
• 'a.La ("on ", H5921A) — preposition with article and 1st person suffix -i, forming mē'alay ("from upon me"), marking the object of the people's complaints.

What the text says

The verse opens with the narrative formula va-yo'mer Yehovah 'el-Mosheh ("and Yehovah said to Moses"), a standard introduction to divine speech. The core command uses ha.Shev, a hiphil imperative built on the root for "to return" (shuv), instructing Moses to cause the staff of Aaron to go back to its place, specifically li-f'nei ha-'edut ("before the testimony").

The purpose clauses follow with two parallel le- ("for") constructions: le-mishmeret ("for keeping") and le-'ot ("for a sign"), both governed by the same preposition, indicating the staff's function as an object to be preserved and displayed. The phrase li-v'nei-meri ("for the sons of rebellion") uses a construct chain treating "rebellion" as a defining trait of "sons," a Hebrew idiom for a group characterized by that quality.

The clause u-te.khal te.lu.no.tam me-'alai uses a piel jussive form of the root k-l-h ("to end/finish"), with Moses grammatically marked as the one who "may end" the complaints, which are then specified as directed me-'alai ("from upon me/against me"). The final clause, ve-lo' yamutu ("and they will not die"), uses a simple qal imperfect, stating a future negative outcome tied to the preceding actions.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders ha.Shev ("put back") with Ἀπόθες ("lay down/deposit"), a different verbal nuance than the Hebrew's causative "return." The LXX also has τῶν μαρτυρίων (plural "testimonies") where the Hebrew ha-'edut is singular. For the clause about ending complaints, the LXX shifts the grammatical subject: παυσάσθω ὁ γογγυσμὸς αὐτῶν ("let their grumbling cease") makes the grumbling itself the subject, whereas the Hebrew te.khal keeps Moses as the one who acts to end it. The Vulgate adds in tabernaculum testimonii ("into the tabernacle of testimony") and filiorum Israël ("of the sons of Israel"), specifications not present in the Hebrew text.