וַיֹּ֨אמֶר יְהוָ֜ה אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֗ה הָשֵׁ֞ב אֶת־מַטֵּ֤ה אַהֲרֹן֙ לִפְנֵ֣י הָעֵד֔וּת לְמִשְׁמֶ֥רֶת לְא֖וֹת לִבְנֵי־מֶ֑רִי וּתְכַ֧ל תְּלוּנֹּתָ֛ם מֵעָלַ֖י וְלֹ֥א יָמֻֽתוּ׃
Et l’Éternel dit à Moïse: "Replace la verge d’Aaron devant le statut, comme signe durable à l’encontre des rebelles; tu feras cesser par là leurs murmures contre moi, et ils ne mourront point."
Midrash Tanchuma Buber
(Deut. 3:24:) YOU HAVE <ONLY> BEGUN <TO SHOW YOUR SERVANT YOUR GREATNESS AND YOUR MIGHT…. > He said to him: You are the one who opened a door for me to pray to you.3Sifre to Deut. 3:24 (27). When? When they did that deed.4I.e., when they made and worshiped the golden calf. See Deut. 9:7–12. The Holy One said to him (in Deut. 9:14): LET ME ALONE, AND I WILL DESTROY THEM AND BLOT OUT THEIR NAME FROM UNDER THE HEAVENS. Moses said: Who would seize hold of the Holy One? One only seeks to pray for one's children. What is written there (in Exod. 32:11)? AND MOSES IMPLORED THE LORD HIS GOD. Moses said: Once I prayed for the community and was answered, but the community prayed for me and was not answered. Why? Because you have issued a decree over me <for calling them rebels>! But you were the one who began by calling them <rebels> (in Numb. 17:25 [10]): <PUT BACK AARON'S ROD … > TO BE KEPT AS A SIGN FOR THE CHILDREN OF REBELLION. Then because I called them <rebels> (in Numb. 20:10): LISTEN, YOU REBELS, you said (in 20:12): THEREFORE YOU SHALL NOT LEAD THIS CONGREGATION <INTO THE LAND THAT I HAVE GIVEN THEM>.
Devarim Rabbah
“Lord God, You have begun” – he said before Him: ‘Master of the universe, why am I not entering the land? Is it because I said: “Hear now, defiant ones”? It was You who said first: “As a safekeeping, as a sign for the defiant ones”’ (Numbers 17:25).
Another matter: “Lord God, You have begun” – Rabbi Reuven said: Moses said before the Holy One blessed be He: ‘Why are You doing this to me? It was You who first approached me.’ From where is this derived? It is as it is stated: “An angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire from inside the bush” (Exodus 3:2). He said to Him: ‘After You elevated me, You are demoting me from my elevated stature?’
The Holy One blessed be He said to him: ‘But I took an oath.’ [Moses] said before Him: ‘Master of the universe, when I requested, did You not break an oath? Did You not take an oath that You would eradicate Your children, and You reconsidered, as it is stated: “The Lord reconsidered”’ (Exodus 32:14)?
Another matter: Rabbi Levi said: He said before Him: ‘Joseph’s bones will enter the land, but I will not enter the land?’ The Holy One blessed be He said to him: ‘The one who acknowledged his land will be buried in his land, and the one who did not acknowledge his land will not be buried in his land.’ Joseph acknowledged his land; from where is this derived? His master’s wife said: “See, he brought us a Hebrew man…” (Genesis 39:14), and he did not deny it; rather, “I was stolen from the land of the Hebrews” (Genesis 40:15). He was buried in his land. From where is this derived? As it is stated: “The bones of Joseph, which the children of Israel took up from Egypt, they buried in Shekhem” (Joshua 24:32). ‘You, who did not acknowledge your land, will not be buried in your land.’ How so? Yitro’s daughters said: “An Egyptian man rescued us from the shepherds” (Exodus 2:19), and he heard and was silent. That is why he was not buried in his land.
Another matter: “Lord God, You have begun” – Rabbi Reuven said: Moses said before the Holy One blessed be He: ‘Why are You doing this to me? It was You who first approached me.’ From where is this derived? It is as it is stated: “An angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire from inside the bush” (Exodus 3:2). He said to Him: ‘After You elevated me, You are demoting me from my elevated stature?’
The Holy One blessed be He said to him: ‘But I took an oath.’ [Moses] said before Him: ‘Master of the universe, when I requested, did You not break an oath? Did You not take an oath that You would eradicate Your children, and You reconsidered, as it is stated: “The Lord reconsidered”’ (Exodus 32:14)?
Another matter: Rabbi Levi said: He said before Him: ‘Joseph’s bones will enter the land, but I will not enter the land?’ The Holy One blessed be He said to him: ‘The one who acknowledged his land will be buried in his land, and the one who did not acknowledge his land will not be buried in his land.’ Joseph acknowledged his land; from where is this derived? His master’s wife said: “See, he brought us a Hebrew man…” (Genesis 39:14), and he did not deny it; rather, “I was stolen from the land of the Hebrews” (Genesis 40:15). He was buried in his land. From where is this derived? As it is stated: “The bones of Joseph, which the children of Israel took up from Egypt, they buried in Shekhem” (Joshua 24:32). ‘You, who did not acknowledge your land, will not be buried in your land.’ How so? Yitro’s daughters said: “An Egyptian man rescued us from the shepherds” (Exodus 2:19), and he heard and was silent. That is why he was not buried in his land.
Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael
And this is one of the three things that Eliyahu is destined to present to Israel: the flask of manna, the flask of the sprinkling waters (viz. Numbers 19:9), and the flask of the anointing oil, (viz. Exodus 30:31). Others say: Also the staff of Aaron, its almonds and its blossoms, (viz. Numbers 17:25).