🔢WEB · Numbers 20:28
What does Numbers 20:28 mean?
"Moses stripped Aaron of his garments, and put them on Eleazar his son. Aaron died there on the top of the mountain, and Moses and Eleazar came down from the mountain."
— Numbers 20:28 (World English Bible)
Surrounding context
Take Aaron and Eleazar his son, and bring them up to Mount Hor;
and strip Aaron of his garments, and put them on Eleazar his son. Aaron shall be gathered, and shall die there.”
Moses did as Yahweh commanded. They went up into Mount Hor in the sight of all the congregation.
Moses stripped Aaron of his garments, and put them on Eleazar his son. Aaron died there on the top of the mountain, and Moses and Eleazar came down from the mountain.
When all the congregation saw that Aaron was dead, they wept for Aaron thirty days, even all the house of Israel.
Explanation
Numbers 20:28 describes the death of Aaron, Israel's first high priest, at the top of Mount Hor. Following the LORD's instructions, Moses took Aaron and Aaron's son Eleazar up the mountain, removed the priestly garments from Aaron, and placed them on Eleazar. Aaron then died there, and Moses and Eleazar descended the mountain without him.
To understand the context, it helps to know what precedes this verse. Earlier in Numbers 20, Moses and Aaron had disobeyed God at the waters of Meribah by striking the rock instead of speaking to it as commanded, and by displaying anger and a lack of trust before the assembly. Because of this, God told both men they would not enter the Promised Land. Aaron's death on Mount Hor is the fulfillment of that judgment. This event happened near the end of Israel's forty years of wilderness wandering, as the nation approached the borders of Canaan. Moses, traditionally understood as the author of Numbers, records this moment as a pivotal transition in Israel's leadership and priesthood.
Theologically, the transfer of the priestly garments from Aaron to Eleazar is highly significant. The garments themselves, not merely the man, symbolized the office of high priest — the one who mediated between God and the people, offered sacrifices, and entered the Holy of Holies. By stripping Aaron and clothing Eleazar, Moses demonstrated that the priesthood was an ongoing institution that God had established, not dependent on any single individual's life
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