Bilangan 17:8-9

17:8 On the next day Moses went into the tent of the testimony – and ¹  the staff of Aaron for the house of Levi had sprouted, and brought forth buds, and produced blossoms, and yielded almonds! ²  17:9 So Moses brought out all the staffs from before the Lord to all the Israelites. They looked at them, ³  and each man took his staff.

[17:8]  ¹ tn Here too the deictic particle (“and behold”) is added to draw attention to the sight in a vivid way.

[17:8]  ² sn There is no clear answer why the tribe of Levi had used an almond staff. The almond tree is one of the first to bud in the spring, and its white blossoms are a beautiful sign that winter is over. Its name became a name for “watcher”; Jeremiah plays on this name for God’s watching over his people (1:11-12).

[17:9]  ³ tn The words “at them” are not in the Hebrew text, but they have been added in the translation for clarity.