Aaron
The elder brother of Moses and Israel's first high priest. When Moses protested that he was slow of speech, Aaron was appointed to be his spokesman before Pharaoh, and his staff became a sign in the plagues. He was consecrated with his sons to serve the tabernacle, wearing the breastpiece of judgement, and the priesthood of Israel descended through his line. His record is not unblemished — he made the golden calf while Moses was on the mountain, and with Miriam he challenged Moses's authority — yet he remained the pattern of the high priest, and his death on Mount Hor was mourned by the whole nation for thirty days.
What we know — and how we know it
Where in scripture
ExodusLeviticusNumbersDeuteronomyYahweh’s anger burned against Moses, and he said, “What about Aaron, your brother, the Levite? I know that he can speak well. Also, behold, he comes out to meet you. When he sees you, he will be glad in his heart.
Exodus 4:14 — Spokesman for Moses
Yahweh said to Aaron, “Go into the wilderness to meet Moses.” He went, and met him on God’s mountain, and kissed him.
Exodus 4:27
Afterward Moses and Aaron came, and said to Pharaoh, “This is what Yahweh, the God of Israel, says, ‘Let my people go, that they may hold a feast to me in the wilderness.’”
Exodus 5:1
Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron, and gave them a command to the children of Israel, and to Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt.
Exodus 6:13
Yahweh said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Stretch out your hand with your rod over the rivers, over the streams, and over the pools, and cause frogs to come up on the land of Egypt.’”
Exodus 8:5
Yahweh said to Moses and to Aaron, “Take to you handfuls of ashes of the furnace, and let Moses sprinkle it toward the sky in the sight of Pharaoh.
Exodus 9:8
Pharaoh sent, and called for Moses and Aaron, and said to them, “I have sinned this time. Yahweh is righteous, and I and my people are wicked.
Exodus 9:27
Moses and Aaron went in to Pharaoh, and said to him, “This is what Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, says: ‘How long will you refuse to humble yourself before me? Let my people go, that they may serve me.
Exodus 10:3
Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, a public-domain translation.
Family
In their own words — 9 recorded sayings
“And after that, Moses and Aaron came to Pharaoh, and said, The Lord, the God of Israel, says, Let my people go so that they may keep a feast to me in the waste land.” — Exodus 5:1
“And they said, The God of the Hebrews has come to us: let us then go three days' journey into the waste land to make an offering to the Lord our God, so that he may not send death on us by disease or the sword.” — Exodus 5:3
“Then Moses and Aaron went in to Pharaoh, and said to him, This is what the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, says: How long will you be lifted up in your pride before me? let my people go so that they may give me worship. For if you will not let my people go, tomorrow I will send locusts into your land: And the face of the earth will be covered with them, so that you will not be able to see the earth: and they will be the destruction of everything which up to now has not been damaged, everything which was not crushed by the ice-storm, and every tree still living in your fields. And your houses…” — Exodus 10:3-6
“And Moses and Aaron said to all the children of Israel, This evening it will be clear to you that it is the Lord who has taken you out of the land of Egypt: And in the morning you will see the glory of the Lord; for your angry words against the Lord have come to his ears: and what are we that you are crying out against us?” — Exodus 16:6-7
“Then Aaron said to them, Take off the gold rings which are in the ears of your wives and your sons and your daughters, and give them to me.” — Exodus 32:2
“And when Aaron saw this, he made an altar before it, and made a public statement, saying, Tomorrow there will be a feast to the Lord.” — Exodus 32:5
“And Aaron said, Let not my lord be angry; you have seen how the purposes of this people are evil. For they said to me, Make us a god to go before us: as for this Moses, who took us up out of the land of Egypt, we have no idea what has come to him. Then I said to them, Whoever has any gold, let him take it off; so they gave it to me, and I put it in the fire, and this image of an ox came out.” — Exodus 32:22-24
“And Aaron said to Moses, You have seen that today they have made their sin-offering and their burned offering before the Lord, and such things as these have come on me. If I had taken the sin-offering as food today, would it have been pleasing to the Lord?” — Leviticus 10:19
…and 1 more recorded sayings.
Speaker attribution: Clear Bible MACULA (CC BY 4.0). Wording: Bible in Basic English (public domain).
Events
- The Burning Bush
- The Crossing of the Red Sea
- The Exodus from Egypt
- The First Passover
- The Giving of the Law at Sinai
- The Ten Plagues of Egypt
- The Golden Calf
- Korah's Rebellion
Places in their life
Photo: KennyOMG — CC BY-SA 4.0 (via Wikimedia Commons)
In art
