Yielded almonds - “Ripened almonds,” i. e. “brought forth ripe almonds.” The name almond in Hebrew denotes the “waking-tree,” the “waking-fruit;” and is applied to this tree, because it blossoms early in the season. It serves here, as in Jeremiah 1:11-12, to set forth the speed and certainty with which, at God’s will, His purposes are accomplished. So again the blossoming and bearing of Aaron’s rod, naturally impotent when severed from the parent tree, may signify the profitableness, because of God’s appointment and blessing, of the various means of grace (e. g. the priesthood, the sacraments), which of themselves and apart from Him could have no such efficacy. Compare Isaiah 4:2; Isaiah 11:1; Isaiah 53:2; Jeremiah 33:5; Zechariah 6:12.
Related Commentaries of Numbers 17:8
Numbers 17:8
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.