The verses from 17:1 to 17:15 here appear in the King James as chapter 16:36-50; thus, some versions of chapter 17 have 28 verses, but the King James version just 13. I have marked the text to show the equivalents.
17:1 VA YEDABER YHVH EL MOSHEH LEMOR
וַיְדַבֵּר יְהוָה אֶל מֹשֶׁה לֵּאמֹר
KJ (King James translation, 16:36) And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
BN (BibleNet translation): Then YHVH spoke to Mosheh, saying:
17:2 EMOR EL EL-AZAR BEN AHARON HA KOHEN VA YAREM ET HA MACHTOTO MI BEYN HA SEREPHAH VE ET HA ESH ZERACH HA LE'AH KI KADESHU
אֱמֹר אֶל אֶלְעָזָר בֶּן אַהֲרֹן הַכֹּהֵן וְיָרֵם אֶת הַמַּחְתֹּת מִבֵּין הַשְּׂרֵפָה וְאֶת הָאֵשׁ זְרֵה הָלְאָה כִּי קָדֵשׁוּ
KJ (16:37): Speak unto Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest, that he take up the censers out of the burning, and scatter thou the fire yonder; for they are hallowed.
BN: Speak to El-Azar the son of Aharon the priest, that he take the fire-pans out of the remains of the fire, and scatter the fire yonder; for they have become holy...
EL-AZAR: See the link.
These are the fire-pans that Korach and his colleagues used in the previous chapter, though at no point did we fully understand what their purpose was - probably they were bringing molten lava from the volcano as a means of sustaining the fire on the sacrificial altar. They have become holy by dint of being burned on the altar, equivalent to sacred offerings, but not themselves offered; yet they are now kurban! And of course there is a double-irony in this, precisely because they are fire-pans, and so they cannot help but be kurban, even before they are placed on the altar, even before the men whho carried them were swept away in a volcanic earthquake.
SEREPHAH: The root does indeed mean "burn", but it also yields Seraphim - and guess where the only other Biblical usage of this word may be found: that constantly recurring text throughout these pages: in Isaiah 6 of course!
17:3 ET MACHTOT HA CHATA'IM HA ELEH BE NAPHSHOTAM VE ASU OTAM RIKU'EY PACHIM TSIPU'I LA MIZBEYACH KI HIKRIYVUM LIPHNEY YHVH VA YIKDASHU VE YIHEYU LE OT LIVNEY YISRA-EL
KJ (16:38): The censers of these sinners against their own souls, let them make them broad plates for a covering of the altar: for they offered them before the LORD, therefore they are hallowed: and they shall be a sign unto the children of Israel.
BN: ...the fire-pans of these men who have sinned at the cost of their lives, and let them be turned into beaten plates for the covering of the altar; for they have been rendered holy, because they were offered before YHVH; let them now serve as a sign to the Beney Yisra-El."
SEREPHAH: The root does indeed mean "burn", but it also yields Seraphim - and guess where the only other Biblical usage of this word may be found: that constantly recurring text throughout these pages: in Isaiah 6 of course!
17:3 ET MACHTOT HA CHATA'IM HA ELEH BE NAPHSHOTAM VE ASU OTAM RIKU'EY PACHIM TSIPU'I LA MIZBEYACH KI HIKRIYVUM LIPHNEY YHVH VA YIKDASHU VE YIHEYU LE OT LIVNEY YISRA-EL
אֵת מַחְתּוֹת הַחַטָּאִים הָאֵלֶּה בְּנַפְשֹׁתָם וְעָשׂוּ אֹתָם רִקֻּעֵי פַחִים צִפּוּי לַמִּזְבֵּחַ כִּי הִקְרִיבֻם לִפְנֵי יְהוָה וַיִּקְדָּשׁוּ וְיִהְיוּ לְאוֹת לִבְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל
KJ (16:38): The censers of these sinners against their own souls, let them make them broad plates for a covering of the altar: for they offered them before the LORD, therefore they are hallowed: and they shall be a sign unto the children of Israel.
BN: ...the fire-pans of these men who have sinned at the cost of their lives, and let them be turned into beaten plates for the covering of the altar; for they have been rendered holy, because they were offered before YHVH; let them now serve as a sign to the Beney Yisra-El."
Apparently they became holy by dint of being used in a holy act, even though the holy act was actually unholy, and so unholy that the men who performed it incurred the wrath of god and were consumed in an earthquake as punishment - which does rather suggest that there was something else going on in this story than a mere aetiological myth to explain an earthquake. And if they are becoming a sign, then a sign of what? Once again I need to offer the reminder that the "Beney Korach" acquired a central role in the Temple later on; some of them served as "porters " of the Temple (1 Chronicles 9:17-19). More importantly they formed part of the choir (2 Chronicles 20:19) and twelve Psalms are attributed to them: 42, 44-49, 84, 85, 87 and 88. It may be worth looking at the texts of those Psalms to see if there is anything in them that connects back to this tale (85 speaks of forgiveness of sin, and 88 goes down into the pit, just as the victims of the earthquake did; but these connections seem to me quite distant). Or is all this simply a matter of having a number of expensive objects, damaged but nonetheless still usable and still valuable, and needing to determine what happens to them now?
Nor can we ignore the possibility that the Beney Korach and a group of Beney Re'u-Ven were summoned to the Mishkan to be initiated as the choir, and to bring their fire-pans as part of the ceremony; that Korach came; but Avi-Ram and Datan refused to attend, not in rebellion, but in fear, because they could see the beginning of eruptions from the volcano, and feel the beginnings of the quake beneath the ground, and so they insisted on staying where they thought it was safe, even after Mosheh sent again for them... and so of course their fire-pans were holy, even despite the "tragedy" (as it must now be understood)... and this is why only the Beney Korach and not the Beney Re'u-Ven served in the Temple choir. I am, as always, merely speculating.
17:4 VA YIKACH EL-AZAR HA KOHEN ET MACHTOT HA NECHOSHET ASHER HIKRIYVU HA SERUPHIM VA YERAKUM TSIPU'I LA MIZBE'ACH
17:4 VA YIKACH EL-AZAR HA KOHEN ET MACHTOT HA NECHOSHET ASHER HIKRIYVU HA SERUPHIM VA YERAKUM TSIPU'I LA MIZBE'ACH
וַיִּקַּח אֶלְעָזָר הַכֹּהֵן אֵת מַחְתּוֹת הַנְּחֹשֶׁת אֲשֶׁר הִקְרִיבוּ הַשְּׂרֻפִים וַיְרַקְּעוּם צִפּוּי לַמִּזְבֵּחַ
KJ: And Eleazar the priest took the brasen censers, wherewith they that were burnt had offered; and they were made broad plates for a covering of the altar:
BN: So El-Azar the priest took the brass fire-pans, the ones which the victims of the fire had offered, and had them beaten to make a covering for the altar.
17:5 ZIKARON LIVNEY YISRA-EL LEMA'AN ASHER LO YIKRAV ISH ZAR ASHER LO MI ZERA AHARON HU LEHAKTIR KETORET LIPHNEY YHVH VE LO YIHEYEH CHE KORACH VA CHA ADATO KA ASHER DIBER YHVH BE YAD MOSHEH LO
זִכָּרוֹן לִבְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל לְמַעַן אֲשֶׁר לֹא יִקְרַב אִישׁ זָר אֲשֶׁר לֹא מִזֶּרַע אַהֲרֹן הוּא לְהַקְטִיר קְטֹרֶת לִפְנֵי יְהוָה וְלֹא יִהְיֶה כְקֹרַח וְכַעֲדָתוֹ כַּאֲשֶׁר דִּבֶּר יְהוָה בְּיַד מֹשֶׁה לוֹ
KJ (16:40): To be a memorial unto the children of Israel, that no stranger, which is not of the seed of Aaron, come near to offer incense before the LORD; that he be not as Korah, and as his company: as the LORD said to him by the hand of Moses.
BN: To be a memorial to the Beney Yisra-El, to the end that no common man, who is not of the seed of Aharon, may draw near to burn incense before YHVH; lest what happened to Korach and his company happen to him; as YHVH spoke to him, by the hand of Mosheh.
A horribly convoluted sentence, which I have tried t unravel by reorganising it in my translation. But the points being made are that: a) the sign is simply one of remembering: every time they look at the altar they will now remember Korach and what he did and what happened to him - in which case, why do we not have the same on every Aron ha Kodesh to this day; and why does no Jew in the world have a clue who Korach was or what he did?; and b) it confirms the exalted status of Aharon and his seed, and the creation of an élite in what is otherwise supposedly an egalitarian society - precisely the complaint that Aharon made against Mosheh, and that Korach and his companions came to make against Mosheh and Aharon.
And it also presents contradictions to the story told in the previous verse; a) Korach at the very least was a seed of Aharon; b) they were quite explicitly instructed to bring the incense, by YHVH, though the mouth of Mosheh; c) at no point was it ever in YHVH's instructions that non Beney Levi could serve as Kohanim - and how could they serve as Leviyim, if they were of a different tribe?
To answer all of which we need to jump forward several hundred years, and note that, according to the Book of Chronicles, which is the Samaritan version and disagrees with Samuel and Kings, which are the Yehudit version, King David's sons - Beney Yehudah - served as priests. Most likely the Temple duties were not exclusive to the tribe of Levi until the period of the Second Temple, and this whole tale is a late attempt to clarify the differences between the duties of the Beney Korach and those which, but only later, became the exclusive privilege of the Beney Levi.
What exactly is the difference between AL PI MOSHEH and BE YAD MOSHEH? In both he gives instruction for it to be done, delegating the task in the first, supervising it himself in the second. If it were today we would reckon the first to be a verbal (al pi = "from the mouth") and the second a written (be yad = "in the hand") instruction; would that have been the case then too?
pey break
17:6 VA YILONU KOL ADAT BENEY YISRA-EL MI MACHARAT AL MOSHEH VE AL AHARON LEMOR
וַיִּלֹּנוּ כָּל עֲדַת בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל מִמָּחֳרָת עַל מֹשֶׁה וְעַל אַהֲרֹן לֵאמֹר אַתֶּם הֲמִתֶּם אֶת עַם יְהוָה
KJ (16:41): But on the morrow all the congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron, saying, Ye have killed the people of the LORD.
BN: But the very next day the entire congregation of the Beney Yisra-El murmured against Mosheh and against Aharon, saying: "You have killed YHVH's people."
Most translations offer "the people of the Lord" for the last three words here, but there is no definite article.
Does this verse further our speculation that there never was a rebellion, that the reason for the summons to the Tent was to ordain the choir, that the fire-pans were part of the ceremony and, like Aharon's sons in Leviticus 10, bringing molten lava in fire-pans turns out to be an extremely stupid idea?
17:7 VE YEHI BE HIKAHEL HA EDAH AL MOSHEH VE AL AHARON VA YIPHNU EL OHEL MO'ED VE HINEH CHISAHU HE ANAN VA YERA KEVOD YHVH
KJ (16:42): And it came to pass, when the congregation was gathered against Moses and against Aaron, that they looked toward the tabernacle of the congregation: and, behold, the cloud covered it, and the glory of the LORD appeared.
BN: And it came to pass, when the congregation was assembled around Mosheh and around Aharon, that they looked toward the tent of meeting; and, behold, the cloud was covering it, and the glory of YHVH appeared.
Meaning that another eruption is taking place? Or probably the same one that has been continuing, intermittently, for some while.
17:7 VE YEHI BE HIKAHEL HA EDAH AL MOSHEH VE AL AHARON VA YIPHNU EL OHEL MO'ED VE HINEH CHISAHU HE ANAN VA YERA KEVOD YHVH
וַיְהִי בְּהִקָּהֵל הָעֵדָה עַל מֹשֶׁה וְעַל אַהֲרֹן וַיִּפְנוּ אֶל אֹהֶל מוֹעֵד וְהִנֵּה כִסָּהוּ הֶעָנָן וַיֵּרָא כְּבוֹד יְהוָה
KJ (16:42): And it came to pass, when the congregation was gathered against Moses and against Aaron, that they looked toward the tabernacle of the congregation: and, behold, the cloud covered it, and the glory of the LORD appeared.
BN: And it came to pass, when the congregation was assembled around Mosheh and around Aharon, that they looked toward the tent of meeting; and, behold, the cloud was covering it, and the glory of YHVH appeared.
Meaning that another eruption is taking place? Or probably the same one that has been continuing, intermittently, for some while.
Translators and scholars read all this as rebellion and protest, but the language does not always confirm it. Here, for example, AL is not NEGED, they could just as easily have "gone up to" Mosheh and Aharon, or have gathered "around" them.
17:8 VA YAVO MOSHEH VA AHARON EL PENEY OHEL MO'ED
KJ (16:43): And Moses and Aaron came before the tabernacle of the congregation.
BN: And Mosheh and Aharon came out to the front of the Tent of Meeting.
samech break
17:9 VA YEDABER YHVH EL MOSHEH LEMOR
KJ (16:44): And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
BN: Then YHVH spoke to Mosheh, saying:
Astonishing. Having made clear, in verse after verse, that he will only appear to Mosheh privately, and concealed, and in the Holy of Holies, here he is, appearing in public, and for the second time in as many chapters. Theology can be most conveniently pragmatic when it needs to be - or perhaos the theology of one period was different from that of another, and the editor failed to do his checking carefully.
On the other hand, that presumes KAVOD YHVH to be some form of divine radiance; if it is simply another minor volcanic eruption...
17:8 VA YAVO MOSHEH VA AHARON EL PENEY OHEL MO'ED
וַיָּבֹא מֹשֶׁה וְאַהֲרֹן אֶל פְּנֵי אֹהֶל מוֹעֵד
KJ (16:43): And Moses and Aaron came before the tabernacle of the congregation.
BN: And Mosheh and Aharon came out to the front of the Tent of Meeting.
samech break
17:9 VA YEDABER YHVH EL MOSHEH LEMOR
וַיְדַבֵּר יְהוָה אֶל מֹשֶׁה לֵּאמֹר
KJ (16:44): And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
BN: Then YHVH spoke to Mosheh, saying:
Astonishing. Having made clear, in verse after verse, that he will only appear to Mosheh privately, and concealed, and in the Holy of Holies, here he is, appearing in public, and for the second time in as many chapters. Theology can be most conveniently pragmatic when it needs to be - or perhaos the theology of one period was different from that of another, and the editor failed to do his checking carefully.
On the other hand, that presumes KAVOD YHVH to be some form of divine radiance; if it is simply another minor volcanic eruption...
17:10 HEROMU MI TOCH HA EDAH HA ZOT VA ACHALEH OTAM KE RAGA VA YIPLU AL PENEYHEM
הֵרֹמּוּ מִתּוֹךְ הָעֵדָה הַזֹּאת וַאֲכַלֶּה אֹתָם כְּרָגַע וַיִּפְּלוּ עַל פְּנֵיהֶם
KJ (16:45): Get you up from among this congregation, that I may consume them as in a moment. And they fell upon their faces.
BN: "Get away from this congregation, so that I may consume them in a moment." And they fell upon their faces.
Another tantrum, hinting at another earthquake; or perhaps volcanoes and earthquakes really are the tantrums of the gods. Plenty of foot-stamping anyway. If YHVH is not a volcano, then this is unquestionably a god who needs a course of anger management.
Who fell on their faces, Mosheh and Aharon, the people, or everyone? This is precisely how the incident with Korach & co was described (Numbers 16:4)
I failed to note above, but shall now, the oddity of RAGA, which surely should be REGA?
17:11 VA YOMER MOSHEH EL AHARON KACH ET HA MACHTAH VE TEN ALEYHA ESH ME'AL HA MIZBE'ACH VE SIM KETORET VE HOLECH MEHERAH EL HA EDAH VE CHAPER ALEYHEM KI YATSA HA KATSEH MI LIPHNEY YHVH HECHEL HA NAGEPH
וַיֹּאמֶר מֹשֶׁה אֶל אַהֲרֹן קַח אֶת הַמַּחְתָּה וְתֶן עָלֶיהָ אֵשׁ מֵעַל הַמִּזְבֵּחַ וְשִׂים קְטֹרֶת וְהוֹלֵךְ מְהֵרָה אֶל הָעֵדָה וְכַפֵּר עֲלֵיהֶם כִּי יָצָא הַקֶּצֶף מִלִּפְנֵי יְהוָה הֵחֵל הַנָּגֶף
BN: And Mosheh said to Aharon: "Take your fire-pan, and put fire in it from off the altar, and lay incense in it, and carry it quickly to the congregation, and make atonement for them; because anger is pouring out from YHVH's face: the plague has begun."
KI YATSA HA KATSEH MI LIPHNEY YHVH: You don't like my translation, do you? Far too biased towards my volcano theory. Yet word for word, this is what it says. And in so doing it confirms that the "plague" which afflicted Mir-Yam (Numbers 12:10) was indeed, as I suggested at the time, volcanic ash.
And why the fire-pans? White magic, to placate the god, yes: but it is also more than that. The fire-pans exist to take the burning residue of sacrifices off the altar, so that it can be cleaned and prepared for the next day's sacrifices; just as you who have a log-fire in your home might keep a metal bucket and a set of tongs. But if there is lava pouring down from the mountain, what better utensil to help remove it...
And why the fire-pans, now? Korach and his gang were destroyed because of something bewilderingly unexplained to do with those fire-pans, and Aharon's sons (Leviticus 10) likewise; do they now believe they are being punished for not making the ceremony correctly afterwards; and are rushing to make it correctly now. Or are they again collecting lava for some purpose connected with the sacrificial altar as the means of bringing YHVH into the Mishkan, for when they leave Sinai? But see my notes to verses 1 and 2 above; was it not obvious that the pans were kurban, were impure, were unholy, precisely because of the sin of Korach, even despite melting them down and remaking, reconsecrating them?
At one and the same time we are being told that the Beney Yisra-El have just embraced abstract and ethical monotheism, and that they still practice the most primitive forms of pantheistic sympathetic magic. At one and the same time we are being told that YHVH is just, merciful and compassionate, with an eternal rainbow-promise never to destroy people again, and that he is sending yet another plague, along with yet another fire, to do precisely that. At one and the same time we are being told that the people are murmuring against Mosheh and Aharon and YHVH, while simultaneously happy to bow to their authority and engage in yet another propitiation ceremony when the volcano erupts and the earth starts to quake.
NEGEPH: One of the words used for plague in Mitsrayim, and when Mir-Yam was struck down with leprosy. I remain convinced that the white stuff is simply volcanic ash and the burning of the skin comes from it, not from plague or eczema.
17:12 VA YIKACH AHARON KA ASHER DIBER MOSHEH VA YARATS EL TOCH HA KAHAL VE HINEH HECHEL HA NEGEPH BA'A, VA YITEN ET HA KETORET VA YECHAPER AL HA AM
וַיִּקַּח אַהֲרֹן כַּאֲשֶׁר דִּבֶּר מֹשֶׁה וַיָּרָץ אֶל תּוֹךְ הַקָּהָל וְהִנֵּה הֵחֵל הַנֶּגֶף בָּעָם וַיִּתֵּן אֶת הַקְּטֹרֶת וַיְכַפֵּר עַל הָעָם
BN: And Aharon took as Mosheh spoke, and ran into the midst of the assembly; and behold the plague had broken out among the people; and he put on the incense, and made atonement for the people.
The same incense that cost Korach his life, but now used to overcome a plague, which is itself seen, as always in primitive societies, as a consequence of sin. More and more the Korach story appears to be a liturgical allegory, part of the ceremony, and not a political coup d'état or protest at all.
And what is this plague if it is not volcanic ash? "Pompeii Syndrome", so to speak.
Note again that it is YECHAPER AL, not ET.
17:13 VA YA'AMOD BEYN HA METIM U VEYN HA CHAYIM VA TE'ATSAR HA MAGEPHAH
וַיַּעֲמֹד בֵּין הַמֵּתִים וּבֵין הַחַיִּים וַתֵּעָצַר הַמַּגֵּפָה
KJ (16:48): And he stood between the dead and the living; and the plague was stayed.
BN: And he stood between the dead and the living; and the plague was stayed.
Are we intended to regard this as a miracle, performed by Mosheh, or by Aharon? And apparently without divine sanction. If yes, then there is a huge theological debate to be held here, by contrasting this with what will happen later at Merivah.
17:14 VA YIHEYU HA METIM BA MAGEPHAH ARBA'AH ASAR ELEPH U SHEVA ME'OT MILVAD HA METIM AL DEVAR KORACH
וַיִּהְיוּ הַמֵּתִים בַּמַּגֵּפָה אַרְבָּעָה עָשָׂר אֶלֶף וּשְׁבַע מֵאוֹת מִלְּבַד הַמֵּתִים עַל דְּבַר קֹרַח
KJ (16:49): Now they that died in the plague were fourteen thousand and seven hundred, beside them that died about the matter of Korah.
BN: And those who died in the plague were fourteen thousand, seven hundred, not including those who died in the Korach affair.
Which rather undermines the miracle in the previous verse: the eruption eventually ended, with Aharon still standing there holding up the fire-pans, and so obviously it was his intercession that stopped it (there is a Midrash about Rabbi Choni praying for rain, repeated in my collection "The Captive Bride", which works in much the same way; you can find it at Ta'anit 23a).
This describes a major catastrophe, yet it is dealt with in just a handful of verses, and Jewish theo-history seems to have quite forgotten the incident, which surely merits remembering for itself, but especially because it is directly connected with the rebellion of Korach. Why are we given nothing about the nature of the plague, or the problems of burial, or the status of the Kohanim after coming in contact? Et cetera. Was the plague in fact the volcanic fall-out, white dust as the lava melted? Or the lava itself, killing by burning or by swallowing up those in its path? See again Pliny's letters about the eruption of Mount Vesuvius.
The fact that the Korachite deaths are mentioned alongside these, and in this manner, infers that all died in the same way; so did Korach and co die by plague, or were these others also victims of the earthquake and the eruption that caused it? Or should we simly see the eruption, the fall-out, the earthquake, the"plague" as being inseparably One?
And why has the volcanic evidence been ignored by Jewish and non-Jewish theologians for the last two thousand years?
17:15 VA YASHAV AHARON EL MOSHEH EL PETACH OHEL MO'ED VE HA MAGEPHAH NE'ESTARAH
וַיָּשָׁב אַהֲרֹן אֶל מֹשֶׁה אֶל פֶּתַח אֹהֶל מוֹעֵד וְהַמַּגֵּפָה נֶעֱצָרָה
KJ: And Aaron returned unto Moses unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation: and the plague was stayed.
BN: Then Aharon went back to Mosheh, at the door of the Tent of Meeting, and the plague was stayed.
As if his return was also a factor in the staying of the plague. Or simply two statements incongruously joined.
pey break
17:16 VA YEDABER YHVH EL MOSHEH LEMOR
וַיְדַבֵּר יְהוָה אֶל מֹשֶׁה לֵּאמֹר
KJ (17:1): And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
BN: Then YHVH spoke to Mosheh, saying:
17:17 DABER EL BENEY YISRA-EL VE KACH ME ITAM MATEH MATEH LE VEIT AV ME ET KOL NESIY'EHEM LE VEIT AVOTAM SHNEYM ASAR MATOT ISH ET SHEMO TICHTOV AL MAT'EHU
KJ (17:2): Speak unto the children of Israel, and take of every one of them a rod according to the house of their fathers, of all their princes according to the house of their fathers twelve rods: write thou every man's name upon his rod.
BN: Speak to the Beney Yisra-El, and take rods from them, one for each tribe, from each of their princes on behalf of to their tribe, twelve rods in all; and have every man's name written upon his rod.
MATEH: The play on homonyms is difficult to render in English. Both are spelled the same, but one means "tribe", the other "rod". Note the significance of the rod throughout the tale: both Mosheh and Aharon have used them for magical purposes previously, the one transformed into a serpent, the other as a magic wand to command miracles. This is therefore no ordinary rod, but a divining instrument; probably some form of Caduceus Pole.
דַּבֵּר אֶל בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וְקַח מֵאִתָּם מַטֶּה מַטֶּה לְבֵית אָב מֵאֵת כָּל נְשִׂיאֵהֶם לְבֵית אֲבֹתָם שְׁנֵים עָשָׂר מַטּוֹת אִישׁ אֶת שְׁמוֹ תִּכְתֹּב עַל מַטֵּהוּ
KJ (17:2): Speak unto the children of Israel, and take of every one of them a rod according to the house of their fathers, of all their princes according to the house of their fathers twelve rods: write thou every man's name upon his rod.
BN: Speak to the Beney Yisra-El, and take rods from them, one for each tribe, from each of their princes on behalf of to their tribe, twelve rods in all; and have every man's name written upon his rod.
MATEH: The play on homonyms is difficult to render in English. Both are spelled the same, but one means "tribe", the other "rod". Note the significance of the rod throughout the tale: both Mosheh and Aharon have used them for magical purposes previously, the one transformed into a serpent, the other as a magic wand to command miracles. This is therefore no ordinary rod, but a divining instrument; probably some form of Caduceus Pole.
Or perhaps, originally, they were the same word, and the meaning of one was gleaned from the meaning of the other: MATEH came to mean "tribe", precusely because of the rods, and precisely from the passage that we are reading now; the creation of an individualised rod for each tribe, something like the heraldic logos of the mediaeval lords?
In the census in Numbers 1 and 2, the tribes are all listed as MATEH, and we can find numerous other examples throughout the Tanach of that meaning. MATEH is used as a "rod" in Leviticus 26:26, but the first use of the word with this meaning is Exodus 4:2 (see my note there), and it is this MATEH that Mosheh will turn into a serpent when he goes to Pharaoh, as will Aharon in Exodus 7:1-12. Joshua 13:29 uses both MATEH and SHEVET for tribes.
TICHTOV: In what language, in what script, would they be writing? Hieroglyphs?
AV...AVOT: What is the difference?
17:18 VE ET SHEM AHARON TICHTOV AL MATEH LEVI KI MATEH ECHAD LE ROSH BEIT AVOTAM
וְאֵת שֵׁם אַהֲרֹן תִּכְתֹּב עַל מַטֵּה לֵוִי כִּי מַטֶּה אֶחָד לְרֹאשׁ בֵּית אֲבוֹתָם
KJ (17:3): And thou shalt write Aaron's name upon the rod of Levi: for one rod shall be for the head of the house of their fathers.
BN: And you shall write Aharon's name on the rod of Levi, for there shall be one rod for the head of their clan.
Insinuating that Levi is the head of all the tribes? But surely that is not what is intended. In fact, what is intended is an act of divine cheating. The rebellion was led by Korach, who was a Levite; YHVH is about to pick a leader for each tribe, and Aharon is being set up to be chosen as the leader of Levi. Which tells us that neither Aharon nor Mosheh are the chiefs of their own tribes (and in fact that should have been obvious, if we think back to the start of their tale in Mitsrayim; someone else must have been the tribal chief, and would presumably have had sons. Which may help us understand a part of why Korach rebelled (was he, himself, perhaps, the eldest, or even the youngest son of the actual tribal chief?).
17:19 VE HINACHTAM BE OHEL MO'ED LIPHNEY HA EDUT ASHER IVA'ED LACHEM SHAMAH
וְהִנַּחְתָּם בְּאֹהֶל מוֹעֵד לִפְנֵי הָעֵדוּת אֲשֶׁר אִוָּעֵד לָכֶם שָׁמָּה
KJ (17:4): And thou shalt lay them up in the tabernacle of the congregation before the testimony, where I will meet with you.
BN: And you shall set them up in the Tent of Meeting before the Testimony, where I meet with you.
HINACHTAM: "Lay them up" or "lay them down" - standing upright against the tent-wall, or flat on a table? Some kind of ceremonial arrangement anyway, but the important point isn't really the alignment so much as the fact of physical presence. From now on, when YHVH talks to Mosheh, and-or Aharon, the tribes will be represented symbolically by their staves. So Korach and his allies have won (see Numbers 16:1-3)!
Or have they? Let us wait and see.
IVA'ED: How should this be pronounced? I ask only because that second-letter Vav (ו) is most uncommon, and it's medugash (it has a dot adjacent), suggesting a double-letter.
17:20 VE HAYAH HA ISH ASHER EVCHAR BO MAT'EHU YIPHRACH VA HASHIKOTI ME'ALAI ET TELUNOT BENEY YISRA-EL ASHER HEM MALIYNIM ALEYCHEM
וְהָיָה הָאִישׁ אֲשֶׁר אֶבְחַר בּוֹ מַטֵּהוּ יִפְרָח וַהֲשִׁכֹּתִי מֵעָלַי אֶת תְּלֻנּוֹת בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל אֲשֶׁר הֵם מַלִּינִם עֲלֵיכֶם
KJ (17:5): And it shall come to pass, that the man's rod, whom I shall choose, shall blossom: and I will make to cease from me the murmurings of the children of Israel, whereby they murmur against you.
BN: And it will be that the man whom I shall choose, his rod shall bud; and I will bring to an end the murmurings of the Beney Yisra-El against me, and their murmurings against you.
See verse 6, above; the murmuring has continued even after the death of Korach, and still after the "plague". Because the matter of power and authority remains unresolved. Because Mosheh still wants to be the autocratic despot, and the people are not willing to accept this, even when he claims divine authority.
And yet again YHVH makes a promise which will not be fulfilled (sadly it's the human condition, and the divine condition too).
17:21 VA YEDABER MOSHEH EL BENEY YISRA-EL VA YITNU ELAV KOL NESIY'EYHEM MATEH LE NASI ECHAD MATEH LE NASI ECHAD LE VEIT AVOTAM SHNEYM ASAR MATOT U MATEH AHARON BETOCH MATOTAM
וַיְדַבֵּר מֹשֶׁה אֶל בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וַיִּתְּנוּ אֵלָיו כָּל נְשִׂיאֵיהֶם מַטֶּה לְנָשִׂיא אֶחָד מַטֶּה לְנָשִׂיא אֶחָד לְבֵית אֲבֹתָם שְׁנֵים עָשָׂר מַטּוֹת וּמַטֵּה אַהֲרֹן בְּתוֹךְ מַטּוֹתָם
KJ (17:6): And Moses spake unto the children of Israel, and every one of their princes gave him a rod apiece, for each prince one, according to their fathers' houses, even twelve rods: and the rod of Aaron was among their rods.
BN: And Mosheh spoke to the Beney Yisra-El; and all their princes gave him rods, one for each prince, one for each tribe, twelve rods in all; and Aharon's rod was among their rods.
NESIY'EYHEM: As so often the Masoretic pointing is inconsistent; this was rendered as NESIY'EHEM (נְשִׂיאֵהֶם) in verse 17. Need to check a pre-Masoretic text, but I think when we do we will find that most of these internal Yuds are Masoretic additions as a function of vocalising, and not consonants from the original. It presents a continual problem to the transliterator, and is one of the principal reasons for the variations in pronunciation in the Ashkenazi world (Latvians and Lithuanians pronounce many more Yuds than Germans or English).
17:22 VA YANACH MOSHEH ET HA MATOT LIPHNEY YHVH BE OHEL HA EDUT
וַיַּנַּח מֹשֶׁה אֶת הַמַּטֹּת לִפְנֵי יְהוָה בְּאֹהֶל הָעֵדֻת
KJ (17:7): And Moses laid up the rods before the LORD in the tabernacle of witness.
BN: And Mosheh set up the rods before YHVH in the Tent of the Testimony.
The Testimony, the Tent of the Testimony, the Mishkan, the Tent of Meeting - so many different names for what turns out to be the selfsame place click here.
17:23 VA YEHI MI MACHARAT VA YAVO MOSHEH EL OHEL HA EDUT VE HINEH PARACH MATEH AHARON LE VEIT LEVI VA YOTS'E PERACH VA YATSETS TSITS VA YIGMOL SHEKEDIM
וַיְהִי מִמָּחֳרָת וַיָּבֹא מֹשֶׁה אֶל אֹהֶל הָעֵדוּת וְהִנֵּה פָּרַח מַטֵּה אַהֲרֹן לְבֵית לֵוִי וַיֹּצֵא פֶרַח וַיָּצֵץ צִיץ וַיִּגְמֹל שְׁקֵדִים
KJ (17:8): And it came to pass, that on the morrow Moses went into the tabernacle of witness; and, behold, the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi was budded, and brought forth buds, and bloomed blossoms, and yielded almonds.
BN: And it came to pass the following day, that Mosheh went to the Tent of the Testimony; and, behold, Aharon's rod for the house of Levi had sprouted, putting out buds, and there was blossom, and it bore ripe almonds.
TSITS: The coincidence that the blossom is called TSITS here, which is not a word normally associated with blossoming flowers, and that TSITS are the holy accompaniment to dress, merits some further thought.
SHEKEDIM: The most important item in this verse is the SHEKEDIM. Now we know that Aharon's rod was made from an almond tree, or the Prunus Amygdalus to be precise, which was sacred to Attis among the Greeks.
The tale of the birth of Attis from an almond is worth telling. In Phrygia there was born an hermaphroditic deity named Agdistis. The gods were fearful and castrated it, creating the goddess Kybele (sometimes called Cybele). The genitals were cast upon the earth where they sprouted and grew into an almond tree. Once when the nymph Nana was sitting beneath its branches a nut fell into her lap and impregnated her. The child conceived was Attis, who grew up to become the consort of the Kybele. (Source: Pausanias)
Greek mythology also tells of the beautiful princess Phyllis, who was left waiting at the altar on her wedding day by her intended, Demophon. Phyllis waited for years for him to return, but finally died of a broken heart. In sympathy, the gods transformed Phyllis into an almond tree, which became a symbol of hope. When the errant, remorseful Demophon returned to find Phyllis as a leafless, flowerless tree, he embraced the tree. The tree suddenly burst into bloom, a demonstration of love not conquered by death.
Almonds in uneven numbers of three, five, or seven are given as tokens of good fortune and happiness for christenings, weddings and religious ordination ceremonies. A combination of shelled almonds and raisins (rozhinkes mit mandeln) are good luck symbols for Jews.
SHAKED in Yehudit means "wakeful" or "hastening".
Ecclesiastes 12:5 tells us that "when men are afraid of heights and of dangers in the streets; when the almond tree blossoms and the grasshopper drags himself along and desire is no longer stirred, then Man goes to his eternal home, and mourners go about the streets." This is because almond tree blossoms burst out as reddish-pink flowers, but change to snowy white before they fall, symbolising old age. The white petals represent white hair.
Exodus 25:31-40 has YHVH instructing Mosheh to make a lampstand (the Menorah). Seven lamp bowls shaped like almond blossoms hold the lamp oil. The blossoms are designed so the light shines in front of the lampstand.
SHEKEDIM: The most important item in this verse is the SHEKEDIM. Now we know that Aharon's rod was made from an almond tree, or the Prunus Amygdalus to be precise, which was sacred to Attis among the Greeks.
The tale of the birth of Attis from an almond is worth telling. In Phrygia there was born an hermaphroditic deity named Agdistis. The gods were fearful and castrated it, creating the goddess Kybele (sometimes called Cybele). The genitals were cast upon the earth where they sprouted and grew into an almond tree. Once when the nymph Nana was sitting beneath its branches a nut fell into her lap and impregnated her. The child conceived was Attis, who grew up to become the consort of the Kybele. (Source: Pausanias)
Greek mythology also tells of the beautiful princess Phyllis, who was left waiting at the altar on her wedding day by her intended, Demophon. Phyllis waited for years for him to return, but finally died of a broken heart. In sympathy, the gods transformed Phyllis into an almond tree, which became a symbol of hope. When the errant, remorseful Demophon returned to find Phyllis as a leafless, flowerless tree, he embraced the tree. The tree suddenly burst into bloom, a demonstration of love not conquered by death.
Almonds in uneven numbers of three, five, or seven are given as tokens of good fortune and happiness for christenings, weddings and religious ordination ceremonies. A combination of shelled almonds and raisins (rozhinkes mit mandeln) are good luck symbols for Jews.
SHAKED in Yehudit means "wakeful" or "hastening".
Ecclesiastes 12:5 tells us that "when men are afraid of heights and of dangers in the streets; when the almond tree blossoms and the grasshopper drags himself along and desire is no longer stirred, then Man goes to his eternal home, and mourners go about the streets." This is because almond tree blossoms burst out as reddish-pink flowers, but change to snowy white before they fall, symbolising old age. The white petals represent white hair.
Exodus 25:31-40 has YHVH instructing Mosheh to make a lampstand (the Menorah). Seven lamp bowls shaped like almond blossoms hold the lamp oil. The blossoms are designed so the light shines in front of the lampstand.
Which latter does seem to suggest that the blossoming of Aharon's Rod in the Tent, and the presence of the Menorah in the Tent, may actually be the same thing! But we need to finish reading this chapter to see this fully (and the incomplete Korach statement in my notes to verse 19 as well).
17:24 VA YOTS'E MOSHEH ET KOL HA MATOT MI LIPHNEY YHVH EL KOL BENEY YISRA-EL VA YIR'U VA YIK'CHU ISH MATEYHU
17:24 VA YOTS'E MOSHEH ET KOL HA MATOT MI LIPHNEY YHVH EL KOL BENEY YISRA-EL VA YIR'U VA YIK'CHU ISH MATEYHU
וַיֹּצֵא מֹשֶׁה אֶת כָּל הַמַּטֹּת מִלִּפְנֵי יְהוָה אֶל כָּל בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וַיִּרְאוּ וַיִּקְחוּ אִישׁ מַטֵּהוּ
BN: And Mosheh brought out all the rods from before YHVH to all the Beney Yisra-El; and they looked, and every man took his rod.
The ancient form of a carefully rigged election! (There is a very bad cross-language joke to be made here on the use of technology for vote-counting, that votes should be counted one by one, which in the Ivrit of Jeb and George Bush would be written e-chad e-chad - אחד אחד; "hanging", of course, like almond blossom).
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17:25 VA YOMER YHVH EL MOSHEH HASHEV ET MATEH AHARON LIPHNEY HA EDUT LE MISHMERET LE OT LIVNEY MERI U TECHAL TELUNOTAM ME'ALAV VE LO YAMUTU
KJ (17:10): And the LORD said unto Moses, Bring Aaron's rod again before the testimony, to be kept for a token against the rebels; and thou shalt quite take away their murmurings from me, that they die not.
BN: Then YHVH said to Mosheh: "Put Aharon's rod back before the Testimony, to be kept there as a symbol, to warn against rebellion among the tribes, and to bring to an end their murmurings against me, so that they do not die.
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17:25 VA YOMER YHVH EL MOSHEH HASHEV ET MATEH AHARON LIPHNEY HA EDUT LE MISHMERET LE OT LIVNEY MERI U TECHAL TELUNOTAM ME'ALAV VE LO YAMUTU
וַיֹּאמֶר יְהוָה אֶל מֹשֶׁה הָשֵׁב אֶת מַטֵּה אַהֲרֹן לִפְנֵי הָעֵדוּת לְמִשְׁמֶרֶת לְאוֹת לִבְנֵי מֶרִי וּתְכַל תְּלוּנֹּתָם מֵעָלַי וְלֹא יָמֻתוּ
KJ (17:10): And the LORD said unto Moses, Bring Aaron's rod again before the testimony, to be kept for a token against the rebels; and thou shalt quite take away their murmurings from me, that they die not.
BN: Then YHVH said to Mosheh: "Put Aharon's rod back before the Testimony, to be kept there as a symbol, to warn against rebellion among the tribes, and to bring to an end their murmurings against me, so that they do not die.
MERI: Links with MAR = "bitter", which takes us back to Mir-Yam (Miriam). This needs further exploration.
I wonder if somebody would like to take on a small job for me, and go through the five books, and count up the number of times that YHVH threatens death, and for what minor or serious offenses he does so. And then a comparative chart, of the number of times he promises never to do anything of the sort again. And maybe a third chart, of the number of times he is praised as the bringer of peace, justice, mercy, compassion et cetera. I wonder which chart will have the highest tally!
But then we have to understand that "god" in this ancient world is not an intellectual concept in which one "believes", but life itself, which one equally reverences and fears; and death, injustice and pain are thus constantly repeated "acts of god", just as much as are beautiful almond blossom appearing on the trees in spring, or grandchildren, or symphonies by Gustav Mahler... the point is that "God" is always the explanation, no matter what.
17:26 VA YA'AS MOSHEH KA ASHER TSIVAH YHVH OTO KEN ASAH
KJ (17:11): And Moses did so: as the LORD commanded him, so did he.
BN: So Mosheh did what YHVH had instructed him; so did he.
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17:27 VA YOMRU BENEY YISRA-EL EL MOSHEH LEMOR HEN GAV'ANU AVADNU KULANU AVADNU
KJ (17:12): And the children of Israel spake unto Moses, saying, Behold, we die, we perish, we all perish.
BN: Then the Beney Yisra-El spoke to Mosheh, saying: "In that case we are dead men, we are undone, we are all undone...
AVADNU: with an Aleph, not an Ayin. Aurally identical, but this is IBUD, meaning "destruction", not AVODAH, meaning "work" or "worship".
Why would they think this anyway? Is it a recognition that the incompetent but despotic Mosheh, and the now-subordinate Aharon, just rigged victory in a major power-battle, which means they are going on into the desert, to face more battlesome Amalekites, and the thoughts of a return to Mitsrayim must now be set aside. I imagine something of the same consternation in the refugee camps of Gaza, when it was announced that Hamas just won those rigged elections.
17:28 KOL HA KAREV HA KAREV EL MISHKAN YHVH YAMUT HA IM TAMNU LIGVO'A
KJ: Whosoever cometh any thing near unto the tabernacle of the LORD shall die: shall we be consumed with dying?
BN: Anyone who even so much as approaches the vicinity of the Tabernacle of YHVH, is to die? Then must we all perish?"
17:26 VA YA'AS MOSHEH KA ASHER TSIVAH YHVH OTO KEN ASAH
וַיַּעַשׂ מֹשֶׁה כַּאֲשֶׁר צִוָּה יְהוָה אֹתוֹ כֵּן עָשָׂה
KJ (17:11): And Moses did so: as the LORD commanded him, so did he.
BN: So Mosheh did what YHVH had instructed him; so did he.
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17:27 VA YOMRU BENEY YISRA-EL EL MOSHEH LEMOR HEN GAV'ANU AVADNU KULANU AVADNU
וַיֹּאמְרוּ בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל אֶל מֹשֶׁה לֵאמֹר הֵן גָּוַעְנוּ אָבַדְנוּ כֻּלָּנוּ אָבָדְנוּ
KJ (17:12): And the children of Israel spake unto Moses, saying, Behold, we die, we perish, we all perish.
BN: Then the Beney Yisra-El spoke to Mosheh, saying: "In that case we are dead men, we are undone, we are all undone...
AVADNU: with an Aleph, not an Ayin. Aurally identical, but this is IBUD, meaning "destruction", not AVODAH, meaning "work" or "worship".
Why would they think this anyway? Is it a recognition that the incompetent but despotic Mosheh, and the now-subordinate Aharon, just rigged victory in a major power-battle, which means they are going on into the desert, to face more battlesome Amalekites, and the thoughts of a return to Mitsrayim must now be set aside. I imagine something of the same consternation in the refugee camps of Gaza, when it was announced that Hamas just won those rigged elections.
17:28 KOL HA KAREV HA KAREV EL MISHKAN YHVH YAMUT HA IM TAMNU LIGVO'A
כֹּל הַקָּרֵב הַקָּרֵב אֶל מִשְׁכַּן יְהוָה יָמוּת הַאִם תַּמְנוּ לִגְוֹעַ
KJ: Whosoever cometh any thing near unto the tabernacle of the LORD shall die: shall we be consumed with dying?
BN: Anyone who even so much as approaches the vicinity of the Tabernacle of YHVH, is to die? Then must we all perish?"
This last verse changes everything; the very phrasing, especially the melodic repetition, informs us that this is liturgical chanting, and that what we have just witnessed was the ceremony of choosing the leader, or more probably the successor to Mosheh. (I am not convinced by my own note here, because, of course, yes we have... but it is the process that has troubled us, and this does not resolve the process).
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