Numbers 17:3

Summary

The verse instructs writing Aaron's name on the rod representing the tribe of Levi, explaining that one rod is designated for each head of an ancestral house among the tribes.

Key words

• shem ("name of", H8034) — masculine singular construct, linking directly to "Aaron" as the name to be inscribed.
• tikhtov ("you will write", H3789) — qal imperfect, second person masculine singular, giving a command with future/ongoing force addressed to Moses.
• matteh ("rod of" / "a rod", H4294G) — appears twice: first in construct form ("rod of Levi"), then as an absolute noun ("a rod") introducing the general rule that follows.
• rosh ("head of", H7218H) — masculine singular construct, beginning a chain of construct nouns that specifies whose rod is meant.
• avotam ("their ancestors", H0001G + H9028) — feminine plural construct with a third-person masculine plural suffix, closing the construct chain "house of their ancestors."

What the text says

The verse divides into two parts joined by the particle ki ("for", H3588A). The first clause is a direct command: tikhtov ("you will write") governs the object marked by 'et (H0853) — shem 'Aharon ("the name of Aaron") — placed 'al matteh Levi ("on the rod of Levi"). The construct chain matteh Levi ties the rod specifically to the tribal name Levi.

The second clause, introduced by ki, gives the rationale using a chain of four construct nouns: matteh 'echad le-rosh beit avotam — literally "one rod for the head of the house of their fathers." Here matteh 'echad ("a rod, one") stands in apposition, not in construct with what follows, since 'echad ("one", H0259) is a cardinal number modifying matteh. The phrase le-rosh uses the preposition le (H9005) to indicate purpose or assignment ("for the head of"), and the resulting construct chain rosh beit avotam ("head of the house of their fathers") identifies the recipient of each rod as the leader of an ancestral household.

Differences between versions

The Vulgate renders the second clause differently: "una virga cunctas seorsum familias continebit" ("one rod will contain all the families separately"), framing the rod as containing the families rather than being assigned le-rosh ("for the head of") a household, as the Hebrew states. The LXX ends the verse with δώσουσιν ("they will give"), a plural future verb not present in the Hebrew of this verse, extending the sentence toward the giving of rods rather than stating the "one rod per head of house" rule as a direct assertion. The BSB's "one staff for the head of each tribe" and the SBLIBRE's "una vara por cada jefe de familia" both follow the Hebrew's le-rosh...avotam structure more closely than the Vulgate's phrasing.