Aaron

AARON (Heb. 'Ahărān, of uncertain etymology). - First high priest and progenitor of the priesthood of Israel. Firstborn of Amram, son of Kohath and of Jochebed, both of the tribe of Levi, brother of Moses and of Miriam (Mirjām), he was born in Egypt, three years before Moses (Ex. 7:7), to whom he remained closely bound throughout his life. At the beginning of his mission with Moses he was 83 years old.

In the theophany of Horeb, Yahweh assigned him to Moses, who pleaded his difficulty of speech, as interpreter ("prophet") before Pharaoh (Ex. 4:10, 16; 7:1). He communicated to the elders what Yahweh had revealed to Moses, and by prodigies he gained the trust of the people. He accompanied Moses to Pharaoh to obtain permission for the Hebrews to go out into the desert (Ex. 4:27-31); but the negative outcome of that step worsened the servile condition of the Hebrews, who grew indignant against the two brothers. A. worked with his own rod (or Moses', Ex. 4:2) the prodigies of the serpent devouring the rod of the soothsayers, and of the first three plagues: the waters of the Nile changed into blood, the invasion of frogs and of gnats (Ex. 7:10-8:19). An assiduous coadjutor of Moses, with him he received the orders of Yahweh (Ex. 9:8; 12:1, 28, 43, 50). The people associated them in trust as well as in murmurings and rebellions (Ex. 16:2). Ps. 76:21 regards them both as liberators of Israel.

In the desert of Sin A. gathered a gomor of manna to preserve it in the Tabernacle (Ex. 16:32-34), beginning his office of minister and guardian of holy things. At Rephidim, he and Hur held up the arms of Moses in prayer, until the complete defeat of the Amalekites (Ex. 17:8-16); on Çebel Mûsâ he had the grandiose vision of God (Ex. 24:10). On ascending Sinai, Moses left to A. and to Hur the task of resolving the difficulties that might arise among the people (Ex. 24:9-14). But, as Moses prolonged his absence, he yielded to the people's request and with the jewels offered made a golden calf, before which he erected an altar and offered holocausts and peace offerings, declaring that day a "solemn feast of Yahweh" (Ex. 32:1-6): a grave sin, though it does not appear to be idolatry (it was not the bull Apis worshiped at Memphis), but rather a violation of the severe prohibition against representing God materially (Ex. 20:4 ff.). Reproached by Moses, A. could not justify himself; 3000 men (the Vulgate has 23,000) were executed by the swords of the Levites (Ex. 32:21-28). A. obtained pardon from the Lord through Moses' prayer (Deut. 9:20), being destined for the high priesthood (Heb. 4:4).

The election of A. and of his sons to the priesthood is already hinted at in Ex. 28-29 (cf. Num. 8 and 18). A. was consecrated high priest (and his 4 sons priests) with the solemn ceremonial set forth in Ex. 29, in the plain of er-Rahab, where the transgression had occurred. For seven days Moses offered sacrifices, while A. with his sons remained segregated from the people. Then A. himself immolated victims, blessed the people and entered the Tabernacle with Moses: the "glory of the Lord" appeared upon it and a fire from heaven consumed the holocausts (Lev. 8-9). But his elder sons Nadab and Abihu (v.) were struck down for having profaned the altar. The "blessing" in the name of God (Num. 6:23-27) is reserved to A. and to his sons, as a priestly prerogative (Gen. 14:18 ff.; Deut. 10:8; 21:5).

The priesthood of A. aroused oppositions, but Yahweh defended its high authority. After the revolt of the three Reubenites Dathan, Abiram and On, instigated by the Levite Korah, envious of A.'s dignity, and after 250 seditious men were struck down and the camps of the rebellious people were set on fire by a heavenly fire that killed many, A. appeased the divine wrath by traversing the camps with the fire of the altar and with the censer in his hand (Num. 16). God gave new testimony to A.'s dignity, making his rod (almond) blossom and bear fruit among those of the heads of the 12 tribes laid up in the Tabernacle; Aaron's rod was by divine command preserved there in perpetual remembrance (Num. 17:1-11 [Heb. 16:16 ff.]; cf. Heb. 9:4).

After 37 years, in the desert of Kadesh, A. wavered in his trust in God together with Moses when the latter with his rod struck twice the rock from which water gushed forth to quench the thirst of the murmuring people; wherefore God punished them by denying them entry into the Promised Land (Num. 20:1-12). Four months after this condemnation, in the 5th month of the 40th year from the exodus, while the Hebrews were encamped at the foot of Mount Hor, God ordered Moses to lead his brother up the mountain, for he had reached the end of his life. There Moses stripped A. of the high priestly garments and clothed his son Eleazar with them. A. died at the age of 123 and was buried in a cave of the mountain.

The people mourned for 30 days (Num. 20:22-30). Num. 33:38 and Deut. 32:50 place his death at Hor, Deut. 10:6 at Moserah; the discrepancy is only apparent, for Hor coincides at least in part with Moserah (the present-day Çebel el-Madérah, near Kadesh, seems to correspond to it). On the highest peak of Çebel Nebi Hârûn (near Petra), identified by ancient tradition with Mount Hor, a building (not earlier than the 13th century A.D.) is venerated by the Arabs as the "tomb of A."

A. had married Elisabeth, daughter of Amminadab of the tribe of Judah (Ex. 6:23; Num. 1:7), by whom he had four sons: Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar (v.). The descendants of the last two perpetuated the priesthood.

A. was "very great and like unto Moses" (Ecclus. 45:7): less zealous and energetic than his brother, like him he devoted himself to his people, was patient and pious; with Moses he was docile and faithful (except at Hazeroth, where with his sister he spoke ill of Moses because of his "Cushite" wife, Num. 12). From his lineage was born John the Baptist. In the Byzantine liturgical books he is commemorated on July 20, while in the Western Martyrologies he is noted on the first of the same month (cf. Martyr. romanum, p. 264).

In inaugurating his priesthood, Jesus Christ abrogated that of A., a figure without efficacy of its own, like the Mosaic law in which it was grafted (Heb. 7:11-23).

Francesco Sole

ICONOGRAPHY - Dressed as high priest or in episcopal vestments, he carries the rod and — in the Baroque age — the censer. Rarely depicted alone, he often appears beside Moses, as, for example, in the mosaics of the nave in St. Mary Major in Rome, and in the Ashburnham Pentateuch (7th century, Paris: Moses and A. before the pharaoh). Since the flowering rod of the biblical narrative (Num. 17:8) became a symbol of the miraculous birth of Jesus, the iconography of A. grew in importance and entered the typological program of the monumental portals of the Gothic cathedrals (Laon, Amiens, Freiberg). Among the more recent and rather rare representations, mention should be made of a statue near the altar in the transept of the basilica of St. John Lateran, from the late 16th century.

Kurt Rathe