The Zondervan Encyclopedia of the Bible
Revised Full-Color Edition
Zondervan
Copyright © 2009
Zondervan
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ISBN: 978-0-310-20973-7
Chapter One
A
A. The symbol used to designate Codex Alexandrinus.
See also Septuagint; text and manuscripts
(NT).
Aalar ay'uh-luhr. KJV Apoc. variant of Immer (1
Esd. 5:36).
Aaron air'uhn ([TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] H195, derivation
uncertain, possibly an Egyp. name; 'A[TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]
G2). Son of Amram and Jochebed, and descendant of Levi;
brother of Moses and Miriam. The meaning of
the name is unknown, as is the case with many
biblical names, and various suggested etymologies,
such as arôn H778, "ark," are quite improbable
(with regard to proper names ending in -on,
cf. GKC §85v). No explanation or interpretation
of it is given in Scripture, which may indicate that,
unlike Moses (Exod. 2:10), the name Aaron had no
special significance.
I. The family. Aaron was the elder son of Amram
and Jochebed. Amram belonged to the tribal family
of Kohath son of Levi (Exod. 6:16). The genealogy
given suggests that Amram was a son of Kohath
and consequently a grandson of Levi. The fact that
at the time of the exodus the Kohathites numbered
8,600 (Num. 3:28) makes it probable that Amram,
Izhar, and Uzziel in Exod. 6:20-22 were descendants
of the men of like name mentioned in v. 18,
with a considerable, though unindicated, interval
of time between them (cf. Lev. 10:4). On the other
hand, the remarkable longevity attributed to Levi
(137 years), to Kohath (133 years), and to Amram
(137 years) may have a significant bearing on this
problem. The name of Aaron's mother was Jochebed
("Yahweh is glorious"), which may be significant,
since names combined with Yahweh were rare in this
early period. Aaron's wife was Elisheba, sister of
Nahshon, apparently the prince of Judah who was
an ancestor of David (Exod. 6:23; Ruth 4:20; 1 Chr.
2:10). He had four sons, Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar,
and Ithamar (Exod. 6:23), the first two of whom
were slain for an act of sacrilege (Lev. 10:1-2).
II. Moses' spokesman. The subordinate role
of Aaron, as compared with Moses, is indicated
clearly. He was completely ignored until Moses
showed almost insuperable unwillingness to obey
God's call to be the deliverer of Israel: "Is there not
Aaron your brother, the Levite?" (Exod. 4:14, following
the word order of the Heb.). The phrasing
of the question is remarkable. "Your brother" indicates
that Aaron owed his position primarily to his
relationship to Moses. Kinship and descent played
a prominent role in Bible history. Aaron was called
Moses' brother eleven times. He was eighty-three
years old at this time (Exod. 7:7), and the designation
"the Levite" suggests that he occupied a prominent
position in this particular tribe of the enslaved
Israelites. What this position was is unknown; the
text simply says that his ready tongue (Heb., "he
can certainly talk," Exod. 4:14) would make up for
Moses' slowness of speech (Heb., "heavy of mouth
and heavy of tongue," v. 10).
Aaron was constantly associated with Moses in
performing the mighty acts that brought about the
deliverance (Exod. 5-13). The rod as the symbol
of authority was sometimes wielded by Aaron (see
Aaron's rod, staff). God frequently spoke to both
Moses and Aaron, rarely to Aaron alone. Aaron
had no part in the giving of the law, but he and his
two elder sons, with the seventy elders, witnessed
the divine self-manifestation and ate and drank in
God's presence (Exod. 24:9-11).
Aaron had nothing to do with the construction
of the tabernacle or the making of the ark of
the covenant and the sacred vessels. Everything
was made, including the vestments of Aaron and
his sons, by Bezalel of Judah and Oholiab of
Dan (Exod. 31:1-6) and by the willing-hearted
among the people (35:21-35), "just as the Lord
had commanded" (39:43).
III. Aaron's investiture. The priests, and especially
Aaron, wore a special garb. Much is said
about the garments that were made for Aaron "to
give him dignity and honor" (Exod. 28:2), especially
the breastplate on which were engraved the
names of the twelve tribes (vv. 9-10, 21, 29) and
the Urim and Thummim. The "plate of gold"
with the engraving "holy to the Lord" (v. 36),
which was placed on the front of the miter, was
symbolic of his office. Aaron was in a preeminent
sense both the representative of the people and
their mediator with God. The hereditary character
of his office is stressed by the fact that his garments
were to be worn by his successors in office
(Exod. 29:29-30; Num. 20:25-28). In contrast,
nothing is said about Moses' garb; and Moses had
no successors. His office as lawgiver was unique,
and the law he gave was of perpetual validity (Mal.
4:4). All the priests were anointed with oil (Exod.
40:12-15; Lev. 8:12), yet apparently the anointing
of Aaron and his successor was different from that
of the ordinary priests. Hence, the high priest was,
in a special sense, the "anointed priest" (Lev. 4:3, 5;
6:20, 22; 21:10).
IV. Aaron and the priesthood. The book of
Leviticus is the manual for the priests. The name
(taken from the lxx) was perhaps a misnomer,
since the Levites are mentioned only in one passage
in the entire book (Lev. 25:32-33); and yet it
does contain a manual of instruction for the Levitical
priests to follow (see priests and Levites).
The first seven chapters deal with the elaborate
sacrificial ritual that was to be performed by Aaron
and his sons. To make atonement for sin was the
great mediatorial duty of the priests. Their duties
also included the removal of all forms of uncleanness
from the people of God as a holy community
(Exod. 29:43-46). Accordingly, Leviticus gives
instructions regarding clean and unclean animals
(Lev. 11), the purification of women after childbirth
(ch. 12), leprosy (chs. 13-14), bodily secretions of
men and women (ch. 15), prohibited relationships
in marriage (ch. 18), miscellaneous ritual laws (chs.
19-22), the Sabbath and the annual feasts (ch. 23),
the sabbatical years, tithes, blessings and cursings,
vows, etc. (chs. 24-27). The fact that the enforcement
of these laws was entrusted to the priests
made them in a preeminent sense the teachers of
the people (Deut. 31:9-11).
The rite in which Aaron as high priest and the
high priests who followed him played a distinctive
role was the ceremony of the Day of Atonement,
when the high priest made atonement "once a year
for all the sins of the Israelites" (Lev. 16:34). The
"all" refers principally to sins of ignorance or inadvertence
(Num. 15:22-29), since for defiant sins,
the sins of the "high hand," the penalty was death
(vv. 30-36). See Atonement, Day of.
Aaron vigorously opposed the people at Kadesh
Barnea when they refused to go forward to possess
the land (Num. 14:5), and the Levites had no
representative among the twelve spies, from which
one may infer that the priests and the Levites were
not included in "the generation of wrath" that was
condemned to perish in the wilderness for its disobedience
and unbelief (vv. 26-38). The rebellion
of a Levite named Korah (Num. 16) was directed
against the exclusive authority of Moses and Aaron,
and Aaron was instrumental in the staying of the
plague that followed (vv. 46-50). The ritual of
the red heifer providing for the purification from
uncleanness was the last of the ritual ordinances
instituted in the lifetime of Aaron (Num. 19).
V. Meribah and Aaron's death. Aaron's life
had a tragic ending, related to the incident at Meribah.
The sojourn in the wilderness of Zin (Num.
20:1) led to one more of the many murmurings of
the Israelites-no water! Moses and Aaron were
encouraged by the sight of the glory of God (v. 6).
They were then commanded to take the staff, to
assemble the people, and to "speak" to the rock.
Instead "he" (prob. Aaron rather than Moses, but
the Hebrew is ambiguous) said to the people, "'Listen,
you rebels, must we bring you water out of this
rock?' Then Moses raised his arm and struck the
rock twice with his staff. Water gushed out, and
the community and their livestock drank. But the
Lord said to Moses and Aaron, 'Because you did
not trust in me enough to honor me as holy in the
sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this community
into the land I give them'" (vv. 10-12).
The chapter closes with a brief account of Eleazar's
investiture and Aaron's death: "Moses removed
Aaron's garments and put them on his son Eleazar.
And Aaron died there on top of the mountain" (v.
28). The narrative makes it quite plain that both
Moses and Aaron were involved in this sin of presumption
or self-assertion, and this incident serves
as a solemn warning to all servants of God, lest they
take to themselves the credit for the "mighty works"
that God accomplishes through them.
VI. Aaron the man. Aaron owed his exalted position
to two things, his eloquence and his kinship to
Moses. Aaron's character must be estimated by two
incidents, the first of which was the supreme test of
his life, namely, the construction of the golden calf
(see calf, golden). Aaron had heard the Decalogue
with its "shalt nots" proclaimed by the voice
of God (see Ten Commandments). He had "seen
God" and had taken part in a sacramental feast
(Exod. 24:9-14). His brother had gone up into
the mountain to commune with God; Aaron and
Hur were left in charge. The people, impatient at
Moses' long absence of forty days, demanded gods.
Aaron asked for the gold needed to make them.
He made an idol of a calf and built an altar for it.
Then he announced a feast in honor of Yahweh,
who had prohibited idolatry. When confronted
by the fiery wrath of Moses, he laid the blame on
the people and disclaimed all responsibility for the
shape assumed by the molten image (32:22-24).
He expressed no remorse for the "great sin" (vv.
30-31) into which he had led the people; it was
only Moses' intercession (Deut. 9:12, 16, 20), not
his own repentance, that saved him from the death
penalty, which he perhaps deserved more than did
the three thousand who perished in their iniquity.
The second incident involved Aaron's disloyalty
to Moses. Aaron was apparently fully aware that
he owed his exalted position to the fact that he was
Moses' brother. He even called Moses "lord" (Exod.
32:22; Num. 12:11). Yet he could not entirely forget
that he and Miriam were both older than Moses.
Hence, on one occasion they followed the example
set by the people who murmured against Moses
(Num. 12). The occasion was a personal or family
matter, Moses' marrying a Cushite woman. As
in many other instances, the Bible states the fact
without explanation or argument. Who the woman
was, why Moses married her, what had become of
Zipporah, we are not told. Miriam and Aaron
found in this circumstance an occasion or pretext
for challenging Moses' unique authority. The Lord
intervened directly and summarily, rebuked Miriam
and Aaron, and even smote Miriam with leprosy,
the removal of which was granted only in response
to Moses' prayer, at Aaron's plea. Aaron was not a
true leader. He owed his position to his kinship to
Moses, and he needed the support of that wonderful
brother to qualify him as high priest.
(Continues...)
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