Numbers 17:7

17:7 Then Moses placed the staffs before the Lord in the tent of the testimony. ¹ 

Numbers 7:2

7:2 Then the leaders of Israel, the heads of their clans, ²  made an offering. They were the leaders of the tribes; they were the ones who had been supervising ³  the numbering.

Numbers 17:9

17:9 So Moses brought out all the staffs from before the Lord to all the Israelites. They looked at them, ⁴  and each man took his staff.

¹ tn The name of the tent now attests to the centrality of the ark of the covenant. Instead of the “tent of meeting” (מוֹעֵד, mo’ed) we now find the “the tent of the testimony” (הָעֵדֻת, ha’edut).

² tn Heb “the house of their fathers.”

³ tn The form is the Qal active participle from the verb “to stand” (עָמַד, ’amad). The form describes these leaders as “the ones standing over [the ones numbered].” The expression, along with the clear indication of the first census in chapter 1, shows that this was a supervisory capacity.

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