Death of Aaron
Overview
- Testament: Old
- Book: Numbers
- Chapters: Numbers 20:22-29; 33:38-39
- Summary: Aaron died on Mount Hor after his priestly garments were stripped from him and placed on his son Eleazar, who succeeded him; Israel mourned Aaron for thirty days.
Details
The deaths of Miriam and Moses are both recorded in Numbers 20; between them stands Aaron’s death. At Mount Hor, near the border of Edom, the LORD told Moses and Aaron: “Aaron shall be gathered unto his people: for he shall not enter into the land which I have given unto the children of Israel, because ye rebelled against my word at the water of Meribah.” Moses was to take Aaron and his son Eleazar up Mount Hor, strip Aaron of his priestly garments, and put them on Eleazar.
Moses did as the LORD commanded. They went up the mountain in the sight of all the congregation. Moses stripped Aaron of his vestments — the ephod, the breastplate, the robe, the linen tunic, and the turban — and put them on Eleazar his son. Aaron died there on the top of the mountain, and Moses and Eleazar came down. When all the congregation saw that Aaron was dead, they mourned him thirty days — a period equal to the mourning for Moses (Deuteronomy 34:8). Numbers 33:38-39 provides the exact date: the first day of the fifth month in the fortieth year after leaving Egypt; Aaron was 123 years old.
The priestly succession was orderly and divinely mandated. Aaron did not choose his successor — God did. The transfer of vestments constituted the formal installation of Eleazar as high priest and the termination of Aaron’s ministry, which had lasted from the Exodus to within a year of the entrance into Canaan.
Key People Involved
- Aaron — The first high priest; died on Mount Hor
- Moses — Led the ceremony and was present at Aaron’s death
- Eleazar — Aaron’s son and successor as high priest
Key Places
Important Verses
“And Aaron died there in the top of the mount: and Moses and Eleazar came down from the mount.” — Numbers 20:28
Cross-References
- Related: Death of Moses — Moses also died outside the promised land for the same incident
- Related: Tabernacle Consecration — Aaron’s original appointment as high priest
- Related: Death of Nadab and Abihu — Aaron’s earlier loss of two sons who offered strange fire
- Related books: Numbers, Deuteronomy
Notes
Aaron’s death outside the land, like Moses’, is a consequence of the Meribah incident where both struck the rock rather than speaking to it as God commanded. This highlights the gravity of failing to honour God’s holiness before Israel. The public transfer of the high-priestly garments makes clear that the office continues uninterrupted — the covenant institutions outlast the individuals who hold them. Aaron’s priestly line will continue through Eleazar and eventually through Zadok to the post-exilic period.