Numbers 17:8

8. Moses went into the tabernacle--being privileged to do so on this occasion by the special command of God. And he there beheld the remarkable spectacle of Aaron's rod--which, according to Josephus, was a stick of an almond tree, bearing fruit in three different stages at once--buds, blossoms, and fruit.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Verse 8 The rod of Aaron - was budded, etc. - That is, on the same rod or staff were found buds, blossoms, and ripe fruit. This fact was so unquestionably miraculous, as to decide the business for ever; and probably this was intended to show that in the priesthood, represented by that of Aaron, the beginning, middle, and end of every good work must be found. The buds of good desires, the blossoms of holy resolutions and promising professions, and the ripe fruit of faith, love, and obedience, all spring from the priesthood of the Lord Jesus. It has been thought by some that Aaron's staff (and perhaps the staves of all the tribes) was made out of the amygdala communis, or common almond tree. In a favorable soil and climate it grows to twenty feet in height; is one of the most noble, flourishing trees in nature: its flowers are of a delicate red, and it puts them forth early in March, having begun to bud in January. It has its name שקד shaked from shakad, to awake, because it buds and flowers sooner than most other trees. And it is very likely that the staves of office, borne by the chiefs of all the tribes, were made of this tree, merely to signify that watchfulness and assiduous care which the chiefs should take of the persons committed, in the course of the Divine providence, to their keeping. Every thing in this miracle is so far beyond the power of nature, that no doubt could remain on the minds of the people, or the envious chiefs, of the Divine appointment of Aaron, and of the especial interference of God in this case. To see a piece of wood long cut off from the parent stock, without bark or moisture remaining, laid up in a dry place for a single night, with others in the same circumstances - to see such a piece of wood resume and evince the perfection of vegetative life, budding, blossoming, and bringing forth ripe fruit at the same time, must be such a demonstration of the peculiar interference of God, as to silence every doubt and satisfy every scruple. It is worthy of remark that a scepter, or staff of office, resuming its vegetative life, was considered an absolute impossibility among the ancients; and as they were accustomed to swear by their sceptres, this circumstance was added to establish and confirm the oath. A remarkable instance of this we have in Homer, Iliad, lib. i., ver. 233, etc., where Achilles, in his rage against Agamemnon, thus speaks: - Αλλ' εκ τοι ερεω, και επι μεγαν ὁρκον ομουμαι· Ναι μα τοδε σκηπτρον, το μεν ουποτε φυλλα και οζους Φυσει, επειδη πρωτα τομην εν ορεσσι λελοιπεν, Ουδ' αναθηλησει· περι γαρ ῥα ἑ χαλκος ελεψε Φυλλα τε και φλοιον· ὁ δε τοι μεγας εσσεται ὁρκος. But hearken: I shall swear a solemn oath: By this same scepter which shall never bud, Nor boughs bring forth, as once; which, having left Its parent on the mountain top, what time The woodman's axe lopp'd off its foliage green, And stripp'd its bark, shall never grow again. Cowper. Virgil represents King Latinus swearing in the same way, to confirm his covenant with Aeneas: - Ut Sceptrum hoc (dextra sceptrum nam forte gerebat) Nunquam fronde levi fundet virgulta neque umbras, Cum semel in silvis imo de stirpe recisum. Matre caret, posuitque comas et brachia ferro; Olim arbos, nunc artificis manus aere decoro Inclusit, patribusque dedit gestare Latinis, Talibus inter se firmabant foedera dictis. Aen., lib. xii., ver. 206-12. Even as this royal Sceptre (for he bore A scepter in his hand) shall never more Shoot out in branches, or renew the birth; An orphan now, cut from the mother earth By the keen axe, dishonor'd of its hair, And cased in brass, for Latian kings to bear. And thus in public view the peace was tied With solemn vows, and sworn on either side. Dryden. When the circumstance of the rod or scepter being used anciently in this way, and the absolute impossibility of its reviviscence so strongly appealed to, is considered, it appears to have been a very proper instrument for the present occasion, for the change that passed on it must be acknowledged as an immediate and incontestable miracle.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

While all the other rods remained as they were. Aaron's rod became a living branch. In some places there were buds, in others blossoms, in others fruit, at the same time; all this was miraculous. Thus Aaron was manifested to be under the special blessing of Heaven. Fruitfulness is the best evidence of a Divine call; and the plants of God's setting, and the boughs cut off them, will flourish. This rod was preserved, to take away the murmurings of the people, that they might not die. The design of God, in all his providences, and in the memorials of them, is to take away sin. Christ was manifested to take away sin. Christ is expressly called a rod out of the stem of Jesse: little prospect was there, according to human views, that he should ever flourish. But the dry rod revived and blossomed to the confusion of his adversaries. The people cry, Behold, we die, we perish, we all perish! This was the language of a repining people, quarrelling with the judgments of God, which by their own pride and obstinacy they brought upon themselves. It is very wicked to fret against God when we are in affliction, and in our distress thus to trespass yet more. If we die, if we perish, it is of ourselves, and the blame will be upon our own heads. When God judges, he will overcome, and will oblige the most obstinate gainsayers to confess their folly. And how great are our mercies, that we have a clearer and a better dispensation, established upon better promises!

Matthew Henry, 1706 · public domain