ROD, Virga. This Word is us’d, sometimes for the Branches of a Tree: And Jacob took him Rods of green Poplar, and of Gen. xxx. 37. Ex. iv. 17, 20. Lev. xxvii. 32.the Hasel and Chesnut-tree. Sometimes for a Staff or Wand: And thou shalt take this Rod in thine Hand, wherewith thou shalt do Signs. And Moses took the Rod of God in his Hand. Or for a Shepherd’s Crook: And concerning the Tythe of the Herd, or of the Flock, even of whatsoever passeth under the Rod; the tenth shall be holy unto the Lord. Or for a Rod, properly so call’d, which God makes use of to correct Men: If he commit Iniquity, I will chasten him with the Rod 2 Sam. vii. 14. Job ix. 34. Esth. iv. 11. Psal. xlv. 6. Heb. i. 8. Psal. ii. 9. Rev. ii. 27. xii. 5. xix. 15. Numb. xxiv. 17. Is. xi. Ps. lxxiv. 2. Jer. x. 16.of Men, and with the Stripes of the Children of Men. Let him take his Rod away from me. Sometimes it is taken for a royal Scepter: Auream virgam ad eam tetendit. Virga æquitatis, virga regni tui. The Empire of the Messiah is sometimes represented by a Rod of Iron, to shew its Power and its Might. Thou shalt break them with a Rod of Iron. Elsewhere Virga is put for a young Sprout or Branch, and to point out the miraculous Birth of the Messiah, who was to proceed from a Virgin Mother. Consurget virga de Israel. There shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Scepter (or Rod) shall rise out of Israel. And Isaiah says; There shall come forth a Rod out of the Stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his Roots. Lastly, Rod is sometimes put to signify a Tribe, or a People; Remember thy Congregation which thou hast purchased of old, the Rod of thine Inheritance which thou hast redeemed. Israel is the Rod of his Inheritance. In Jeremiah, the watchful Rod (Virgam vigilantem ego video. Jerem. i. 11. Vulgat.) according to the Hebrew, stands for a Branch or Rod of an Almond-tree. This Tree flourishes before any other, and the Lord intended to mark out Nebuchadnezzar by it, who was just then ready to pour out all his Forces upon Judea.
Exod. iv. 2, 3, &c.The Rod of Moses, is that which God gave him, or rather, it was the Staff or Wand that Moses generally made use of for driving his Flock, and which God commanded him to take along with him, for the working of those Miracles he was to perform before Pharaoh, and before all his People. The Lord said unto him, What is that in thine Hand? And he said, A Rod. And he said, Cast it on the Ground, and it became a Serpent. And Moses fled from before it. And the Lord said unto Moses; Put forth thine Hand, and take it by the Tail. And he put forth his Hand and caught it; and it became a Rod in his Hand. This Rod Moses kept as long as he lived, and it became the Instrument of performing a great Number of Miracles, which he wrought through the Course of his Life: The Scripture does not inform us what became of it after his Death; it is probable that it devolved to Joshua, as Moses’s Successor in the Government of the People: But of this there is no Proof. The Musulmen say, that it was laid up in the Ark of the Covenant; but they confound it with that of Aaron.
The Rabbins relate many wonderful things of this famous Rod. They say, it was first created by God for the Use of Adam; that it came by Succession to Abraham, and thence to the Patriarch Joseph, who left it to the Kings of Egypt as a Pledge of his Acknowledgment. Jethro coming into Egypt, stole it away from thence, and carry’d it into his own Country. He there planted it in a Garden, where it took such Root, that no one could pluck it up. Jethro, who knew the whole Virtue of it, promis’d his Daughter in Marriage to whosoever could pull it up. Many young Men offered themselves, and attempted to pull it out of the Ground; but no one could perform it, till Moses undertook it, and plucked it up without any Difficulty. Zipporah was the Reward of his Success. The Name of God was written upon this Rod, and it was this that indued it with all its Virtue and Merit.
The Rod or Caduceus of Mercury, which is always represented to us as twisted about with two Serpents, and endued with prodigious Vertues, is an Imitation of what the sacred History tells us of the Rod of Moses changed into a Serpent, and of the Miracles that God wrought by its Means.
Numb. xvii. 1,2,3.The Rod of Aaron, is the Staff that this High-priest commonly us’d. In the Conspiracy of Corah, Dathan, and Abiram, against Moses and Aaron, God gave Orders to Moses, to receive a Rod from every one of the Heads of the Tribes, and to add that of Aaron to the Number, that the Lord might shew by a Miracle which was the Tribe that he chose, for the Exercise of the Priest’s Office. They gathered therefore twelve Rods, according to the Number of the Tribes, and that of Aaron made the thirteenth. They wrote upon each of those Rods the Name of the Prince of the Tribe who offer’d it; they put them in the Tabernacle of the Congregation, where the Lord had used to manifest himself to Moses; and the Day following, when they took these Rods again, they observed, that in the Night-time the Rod of Aaron had put forth Buds, had blossom’d, and that the Blossoms were those of the Almond-tree.
There was no Room for any Suspicion, that the Rods had been changed. Every one had wrote his Name upon his own, and that of Aaron was very well known; and no human Industry could produce so great a Change. Thus the Priesthood, by this Prodigy, was confirm’d to Aaron and his Posterity. To preserve the Memory of so miraculous an Event, God commanded Moses to lay up this Rod in the Tabernacle of the Congregation, or of Testimony, that it might serve as a Monument of what had happen’d upon this Occasion.
Some think it preserved its Leaves and Fruit as long as it continued in this holy Place. And indeed it was necessary, that to answer the Design of God, it must preserve those Marks of the Miracle, for the Conviction of Posterity.
It is inquired, whether it was put within the Ark of the Covenant, or only by it. God commands Moses only to put it in the Numb. xvii. 20. Heb. ix. 4.Tabernacle to be preserved there. But St. Paul says it was within the Ark, with the Urn full of Manna, and the Tables of the Law. Others affirm, it was not put within, but only at the Side of the Ark. They alledge for this Opinion, a Passage out of 1 Kings viii. 9.the first Book of the Kings, which intimates, that there was nothing in the Ark but the Tables of the Law; but others contend, that this Passage of St. Paul ought to be understood literally; that there could be no Hindrance to prevent the putting of Aaron’s Rod into the Ark, since it was five Foot long, and its Capacity was much more than would be requir’d to hold it. This Rod was sanctified by the Miracle that was work’d upon it; and when the Scripture says, that there was nothing in the Ark, but the Tables of the Law, it may be understood with this Limitation, that nothing else was originally there, the Ark being only intended for this Use. But this need not hinder, but that afterwards other things might be put into it.
Artapan in Eusebius1 informs us, that the Rod of Moses, which Aaron made use of in performing so many Prodigies in Egypt before Pharaoh, became in after Ages the Object of Idolatrous Worship to the Egyptians, that they kept it in the Temple of Isis, and paid Adoration to it. ‘Tis also said, that even at present it is shew’d at Rome in the Church of St. John Lateran, where it is honour’d as a very precious Relick.
Some Learned Men have thought,2 that the Thyrsus, carry’d by Bacchus and the Bacchanals, and which is represented to us as a Lance or Dart, incircled with Vinebranches, is an Imitation of Aaron’s Rod that flourish’d. Euripides relates, that one of the Priestesses of Bacchus struck one of the Rocks of Mount Cytheron with her Thyrsus, and that a Spring of Water immediately gush’d out; another Imitation of the Miracle that happen’d at Horeb, where Moses and Aaron brought forth Water out of a Rock, by means of this miraculous Wand.
Isai. xi. 1, 2.The Rod of St. Joseph, the Husband of the Virgin Mary. We read in the false Gospel of the Nativity of the Holy Virgin, that when Mary was arrived at the Age of Matrimony, and that, according to Custom, they were about to send her to her Parents, that she might be marry’d; she answer’d, that she could not consent to be bestow’d in Marriage, because she had made a Vow of Virginity. This being a singular Case, the Highpriest consulted the Lord upon it, who answer’d by an intelligible Voice, that was heard by every one present, that they must provide a Person, to whom this Virgin was to be committed as the Guardian of her Virginity. That for this purpose all the unmarried Men of the House of David must present themselves before the Altar, each holding a Rod in his Hand; and that he whose Rod should bud and blossom, and upon whom the Spirit of the Lord should light in the Form of a Dove, should be the Person chosen by the Lord to be the Spouse and Guardian of the Virgin, according to those Words of Isaiah; And there shall come forth a Rod out of the Stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his Roots. And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the Spirit of Wisdom and Understanding, the Spirit of Counsel and Might, the Spirit of Knowledge, and of the Fear of the Lord.
Those, therefore, that were mark’d out presented themselves in the Temple, each holding a Rod in his Hand. Joseph came thither also, but had brought no Rod with him. The Highpriest not finding upon any of the Rods the Token that God had promis’d, he consulted the Lord again, and it was answer’d him, that he that had brought no Rod was the only one whom God had chosen. He had no sooner then brought his Rod, but a Dove came down from Heaven, and rested upon it; by which Mark every body knew that he was appointed to be the Spouse of Mary.
The Protevangelium of St. James3 relates the same thing, but with some Variety of Circumstances. It says, that when the Virgin had attain’d the tenth Year of her Age, the Priests told the Highpriest Zachariah, that he should think of marrying her, for fear the holy Place might be exposed to some Defilement. That Zachariah consulted the Lord thereupon, who told him by an Angel, that he must assemble all the single Men of Isreal; that he should command every one to bring his Rod, and that he upon whom a Miracle should be wrought was to be the Spouse of Mary. The Affair was publish’d through the whole Country by Sound of Trumpet; there came to the Temple a vast Number of Candidates; Joseph left his Carpenter’s Shop and came with the rest.
The Highpriest took all their Rods, and went into the Temple, where, having pray’d, he return’d to each his Rod. When Joseph received his, a Dove flew out of it, and went to light upon his Head. Then the Highpriest declared to him, that it was the Will of God he should take Mary to Wife: Joseph excused himself, saying; I have Children, I am Old, she is Young, I am afraid of becoming the Sport of Israel. The High-priest answer’d; Fear the Lord, remember what happen’d to Corah, Dathan, and Abiram. Oppose not the Will of God, which has been manifested by this Prodigy. Joseph consented and took Mary; but he left her in a House, and return’d to work at his Carpenter’s Trade.
It is from these antient Gospels, and from the Tradition of the Orientals, that our Painters have a Custom of representing Joseph with a flourishing Rod; but as the Fountain from whence this is drawn, is of no Authority in the Church, as the Story itself is but ill put together, and as a Miracle is by no means necessary on this Occasion, all this may be reckon’d only as a Fable. See St. Jerome upon St. Matthew, l. 2.
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