Staff Problems?
By Peter Beyfus
I am sure there are few people who have not seen, at least once, Cecil B DeMille’s 1956 epic The Ten Commandments; and that film, perhaps more than any other pictorial influence from the Renaissance to the present day, has left in the viewer’s mind an indelible image of Moses, staff in hand, leading the people of Israel out of Egypt. It is the role of Moses’ staff in the Exodus that I wish to explore in this article, and which features among the so-called wonders in this week’s parasha Vaera, meaning I appeared; and the G-d who speaks to Moses cites His earlier manifestations to the Patriarchs, thus continuing the unbroken history of divine revelation to the Jewish people.
When Moses first encountered G-d on Mount Sinai he was told that he was to return to Egypt. Moses, the fugitive, was understandably bewildered that the voice emanating from the “Burning Bush” should ask him to go back to certain death. What guarantees could G-d give that would convince the Egyptian leadership that Moses represented a power far greater than the human mind could conceive; and it is the need for a demonstration of the Almighty’s potency that introduces the first reference to the staff of Moses (Exodus 42). Moses is instructed to throw his rod on the ground and it turned into a snake, and by taking the snake by the tail it resumed its original form. This staff, a shepherd’s crook, was endowed with supernatural powers. G-d states, referring specifically to Moses: With this (staff) you will perform the signs. In Exodus 420 Moses’ rod is called the Staff of G-d; and it is Moses who is to perform the wonders. The story now moves to Egypt where Moses, accompanied by his eloquent brother Aaron, confronts Pharaoh and his magicians.
In Exodus 79 when Pharaoh tells Moses to perform his marvel it is not Moses who throws down his staff but Aaron. The question is whose rod was used? Did Aaron have his own rod or the staff that had been metamorphosed on Sinai? Later, in chapter 7 G-d tells Moses to take the rod that turned into a snake to the Nile’s edge and strike the water. It is Aaron who actually performs the task, apparently using his own staff. It is interesting to note that it is Aaron, using a rod, who brings about plagues one, two and three. There is no reference to the rod being employed to initiate plagues four, five and the final one, macat bechorot. It is Moses who holds out his staff toward the sky and G-d sent the sixth plague: thunder and hail. Again, the seventh and eighth plagues are manifested by Moses using his rod; but the eighth is evinced by him stretching out his hand toward heaven.
After the plagues the next mention of Moses’ rod is in Exodus 1415-21 when Moses is instructed to hold out his arm over the Sea of Reeds and the sea turned into dry land allowing the Israelites to cross to safety. In verse 26 Moses is told to hold out his arms and the water covered the Egyptians. No mention of the rod per se; but perhaps its use is implied.
When the Israelites encamp at Rephidim (Exodus 17) Moses is instructed to take the rod with which he struck the Nile and hit the rock at Horeb. But Moses did not strike the Nile – it was Aaron who carried out the action. There are additional reference to the rod in the Book of Numbers – in pashiyot Korach and Chukat.
What is not clear from some of the references quoted above is whether there are one or two rods that have magical properties? This confusion may be the result of different sources being conflated or the fact that the use of the special rod was interchangeable between the brothers; or Moses’ staff and Aaron’s both possessed wonder-working properties. Certainly in Exodus 417 you, referring unambiguously to Moses, is singular and it is to be understood as Moses using the rod imbued with miraculous powers. There is a difference of opinion among the commentators. One view is that Moses and Aaron had their own rods, and when Aaron transformed the staff into a snake it was his staff. Another view is that there was only one staff, belonging to Moses, and the brothers shared this. There is another explanation that is supported by etymology, an approach to biblical exegesis favoured by Rashi. The Hebrew word shevet means both staff and tribe, so could it be that the Levites, in this case Moses and Aaron, were granted special priestly powers to work, on G-d’ behalf, supernatural feats? This view is supported by reference to pasha Korach when the twelve rods, representing the Tribes of Israel, are place in the Tent of Meeting, and the one belonging to the Levites puts forth buds, blossoms and ripe almonds thus signifying G-d’s favour of the priestly tribe. So whether Moses and Aaron shared one rod or they each had their own is not ultimately that important. It is the fact that the rod(s) symbolise a unique relationship with both G-d and fellow Israelites
Peter Beyfus