The death of Mary the sister of Moses. The people murmur for want of water: God giveth it them from the rock. The death of Aaron.
ari• the sister of Moyses dieth. 2. The people murmure for lack of water, 7. Moyses and Aaron being commanded to draw some out of a rock, do it doutfully: 12. and for the same are foretold that they shal die in the desert. 14. Not obtaining licence to passe through Edom, 22. they come into Mount Hor, where Eleazar is ordained hiegh Priest, Aaron dieth, and is mourned by the people thirtie daie.
1And the children of Israel, and all the multitude came into the desert of Sin, in the first month: and the people abode in Cades. And Mary died there, and was buried in the same place.E i figliuoli d'Israele, e tutta la moltitudine arrivarono al deserto di Sin il mese primo, e il popolo si fermò a Cades. E quivi si morì Maria, e fu sepolta nel medesimo luogo.AND the children of Israel, and al the multitude came into the desert Sin, the first moneth: and the people abode in Cades. And Marie died there, and was buried in the same place.Veneruntque filii Israël et omnis multitudo in desertum Sin, mense primo, et mansit populus in Cades. Mortuaque est ibi Maria, et sepulta in eodem loco. 2And the people wanting water, came together against Moses and Aaron:E penuriando di acque il popolo, si raunarono contro Mosè ed Aronne:And when the people lacked water, they came together against Moyses and Aaron:Cumque indigeret aqua populus, convenerunt adversum Moysen et Aaron: 3And making a sedition, they said: Would God we had perished among our brethren before the Lord.E levatisi a sedizione dissero: Fossimo noi periti insieme co' nostri fratelli dinanzi al Signore!and being turned into sedition, said: Would God we had perished among our brethren before our Lord.et versi in seditionem, dixerunt: Utinam periissemus inter fratres nostros coram Domino. 4Why have you brought out the church of the Lord into the wilderness, that both we and our cattle should die?Per qual ragione avete voi condotta la gente del Signore in una solitudine, affinché muoian noi, e i nostri giumenti?Why haue you brought forth the Church of our Lord into the wildernesse, that both we and our cattel should die?Cur eduxistis ecclesiam Domini in solitudinem, ut et nos et nostra jumenta moriamur ? 5Why have you made us come up out of Egypt, and have brought us into this wretched place which cannot be sowed, nor bringeth forth figs, nor vines, nor pomegranates, neither is there any water to drink?Perché ci avete fatti partir dall'Egitto, e condotti in questo luogo miserabile, dove non si può seminare, e il quale non produce né fichi, né viti, né melagrane, e oltre a ciò non dà acqua da bere?Why did you make vs ascend out of Aegypt, and haue brought vs into this exceding naughtie place which can not be sowed, which bringeth forth neither figge, nor vines, nor pomegranates, moreouer also hath no water for to drinke?quare nos fecistis ascendere de Ægypto, et adduxistis in locum istum pessimum, qui seri non potest, qui nec ficum gignit, nec vineas, nec malogranata, insuper et aquam non habet ad bibendum ?
6And Moses and Aaron leaving the multitude, went into the tabernacle of the covenant, and fell flat upon the ground, and cried to the Lord, and said. O Lord God, hear the cry of this people, and open to them thy treasure, a fountain of living water, that being satisfied, they may cease to murmur. And the glory of the Lord appeared over them.E Mosè ed Aronne, rimandata la moltitudine, entraron nel tabernacolo dell'alleanza, e prostrati boccone per terra alzaron le voci dinanzi al Signore, e dissero: Signore Dio, ascolta i clamori di questo popolo, e apri loro i tuoi tesori, una fontana di acqua viva, affinché si dissetino, e abbian fine le loro mormorazioni. E la gloria del Signore si fe' vedere sopra di essi.And Moyses and Aaron, the multitude being dismissed, entring into the tabernacle of couenant, fel flatte vpon the ground, and cried to our Lord, and said: Lord God heare the crie of this people, and open vnto them thy treasure the fountaine of liuing water, that being satisfied, their murmuring may cease. And the glorie of our Lord appeared ouer them.Ingressusque Moyses et Aaron, dimissa multitudine, tabernaculum fœderis, corruerunt proni in terram, clamaveruntque ad Dominum, atque dixerunt: Domine Deus, audi clamorem hujus populi, et aperi eis thesaurum tuum fontem aquæ vivæ, ut satiati, cesset murmuratio eorum. Et apparuit gloria Domini super eos. 7And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:E il Signore parlò a Mosè, e disse:And our Lord spake to Moyses, saying:Locutusque est Dominus ad Moysen, dicens: 8Take the rod, and assemble the people together, thou and Aaron thy brother, and speak to the rock before them, and it shall yield waters. And when thou hast brought forth water out of the rock, all the multitude and their cattle shall drink.Prendi la verga, e raduna il popolo tu, e Aronne tuo fratello, e alla loro presenza parlate alla pietra, ed ella darà dell'acque. E quando avrai cavata l'acqua dalla pietra, berà tutto il popolo, e i suoi giumenti.Take the rodde, and assemble the people together, thou and Aaron thy brother, and speake to the rocke before them, and it shal geue waters. And when thou hast brought forth water out of the rocke, al the multitude shal drinke and their cattel.Tolle virgam, et congrega populum, tu et Aaron frater tuus, et loquimini ad petram coram eis, et illa dabit aquas. Cumque eduxeris aquam de petra, bibet omnis multitudo et jumenta ejus. 9Moses therefore took the rod, which was before the Lord, as he had commanded him,Prese adunque Mosè la verga, che era tenuta nel cospetto del Signore, come questi gli avea ordinato,Moyses therfore tooke the rodde, which was in the sight of our Lord, as he commanded him,Tulit igitur Moyses virgam, quæ erat in conspectu Domini, sicut præceperat ei, 10And having gathered together the multitude before the rock, he said to them: Hear, ye rebellious and incredulous: Can we bring you forth water out of this rock?E raunata la moltitudine davanti a un masso, disse loro: Udite voi, ribelli e increduli: Potrem noi forse cavare a voi dell'acqua da questo masso?the multitude being assembled before the rocke, and he said to them: Heare ye rebellious and incredulous: Can we out of this rocke bring you forth water?congregata multitudine ante petram: dixitque eis: Audite, rebelles et increduli: num de petra hac vobis aquam poterimus ejicere ?
11And when Moses had lifted up his hand, and struck the rock twice with the rod, there came forth water in great abundance, so that the people and their cattle drank,E avendo Mosè alzata la mano, e avendo percossa due volte colla verga la pietra, ne scaturirono acque in grandissima copia, talmente che bevve il popolo, e i suoi bestiami.And when Moyses had lifted vp his hand stricking the rocke, twise with the rodde, there came forth great plentie of water, so that the people drunke and their cattel.Cumque elevasset Moyses manum, percutiens virga bis silicem, egressæ sunt aquæ largissimæ, ita ut populus biberet et jumenta. 12And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron: Because you have not believed me, to sanctify me before the children of Israel, you shall not bring these people into the land, which I will give them.E il Signore disse a Mosè e ad Aronne: Perché voi non avete creduto a me per far conoscere la mia santità dinanzi a' figliuoli d'Israele, voi non introdurrete questi popoli nella terra, che io darò loro.And our Lord said to Moyses and Aaron: Because you haue not beleued me, to sanctifie me before the children of Israel, you shal not bring in these peoples into the land, which I wil geue them.Dixitque Dominus ad Moysen et Aaron: Quia non credidistis mihi, ut sanctificaretis me coram filiis Israël, non introducetis hos populos in terram, quam dabo eis. 13This is the Water of contradiction, where the children of Israel strove with words against the Lord, and he was sanctified in them.Questa è l'acqua di contraddizione, dove i figliuoli d'Israele altercarono contro il Signore, ed egli fece conoscere ad essi la sua santità.This is the water of contradiction, where the children of Israel quarelled against our Lord, and he was sanctified in them.Hæc est aqua contradictionis, ubi jurgati sunt filii Israël contra Dominum, et sanctificatus est in eis. 14In the mean time Moses sent messengers from Cades to the king of Edom, to say: Thus saith thy brother Israel: Thou knowest all the labour that hath come upon us:Frattanto Mosè spedì da Cades degli ambasciatori al re di Edom, perché gli dicessero: Queste cose ti fa sapere Israele tuo fratello: Tu sai tutti i travagli, che abbiam sofferto:In the meane time Moyses sent messengers from Cades to the King of Edom, which should say: Thus thy brother Israel biddeth vs to say: Thou knowest al the labour, that hath taken vs,Misit interea nuntios Moyses de Cades ad regem Edom, qui dicerent: Hæc mandat frater tuus Israël: Nosti omnem laborem qui apprehendit nos, 15In what manner our fathers went down into Egypt, and there we dwelt a long time, and the Egyptians afflicted us and our fathers.Come i padri nostri andarono in Egitto e ivi abbiam dimorato per lungo tempo, e gli Egiziani straziaron noi e i padri nostri:in what maner our fathers went downe into Aegypt, and there we dwelt a great time, and the Aegyptians afflicted vs, and our fathers:quomodo descenderint patres nostri in Ægyptum, et habitaverimus ibi multo tempore, afflixerintque nos Ægyptii, et patres nostros:
16And how we cried to the Lord, and he heard us, and sent an angel, who hath brought us out of Egypt. Lo, we are now in the city of Cades, which is in the uttermost of thy borders,E come noi alzammo le voci al Signore, ed egli ci esaudì, e mandò un Angelo a condurci fuor dell'Egitto: ecco che adesso trovandoci nella città di Cades, che è agli ultimi tuoi confini,and in what maner we cried to our Lord, and he heard vs, and sent an Angel, that hath brought vs out of Aegypt. Loe being presently in the citie of Cades, which is in thy vttermost borders,et quomodo clamaverimus ad Dominum, et exaudierit nos, miseritque angelum, qui eduxerit nos de Ægypto. Ecce in urbe Cades, quæ est in extremis finibus tuis, positi, 17And we beseech thee that we may have leave to pass through thy country. We will not go through the fields, nor through the vineyards, we will not drink the waters of thy wells, but we will go by the common highway, neither turning aside to the right hand, nor to the left, till we are past thy borders.Preghiam che sia ci permesso il passaggio per le tue terre. Noi non cammineremo pe' campi, né per le vigne, non beveremo acqua de' tuoi pozzi, ma anderemo per la pubblica strada senza volgere né a destra, né a sinistra, fino a tanto che non siamo fuori del tuo dominio.we besech thee that we may haue licence to passe through thy countrie. We wil not goe through the fieldes, not through the vineyardes, we wil not drinke the waters of thy welles, but we wil goe the common high way, declining neither to the right hand, nor to the left, til we be past thy borders.obsecramus ut nobis transire liceat per terram tuam. Non ibimus per agros, nec per vineas; non bibemus aquas de puteis tuis: sed gradiemur via publica, nec ad dexteram nec ad sinistram declinantes, donec transeamus terminos tuos. 18And Edom answered them: Thou shalt not pass by me: if thou dost I will come out armed against thee.Rispose gli Edom: Tu non passerai sul mio, altrimenti verrò armato ad incontrarti.To whom Edom answered: Thou shalt not passe by me, otherwise I wil come armed against thee.Cui respondit Edom: Non transibis per me, alioquin armatus occurram tibi. 19And the children of Israel said: We will go by the beaten way: and if we and our cattle drink of thy waters, we will give thee what is just: there shall be no difficulty in the price, only let us pass speedily.Dissero a lui i figliuoli d'Israele: Noi anderemo per la strada battuta: e se beremo delle tue acque noi, e i nostri bestiami, pagheremo quel che è giusto: non saravvi difficoltà sul prezzo, purché abbiamo spedito il transito.And the children of Israel said: We wil goe by the beaten way: and if we and the cattel drinke thy waters, we wil geue thee that which is iust: there shal be no difficultie in the price, only let vs passe speedely.Dixeruntque filii Israël: Per tritam gradiemur viam: et si biberimus aquas tuas, nos et pecora nostra, dabimus quod justum est: nulla erit in pretio difficultas, tantum velociter transeamus.
20But he answered: Thou shalt not pass. And immediately he came forth to meet them with an infinite multitude, and a strong hand,Ma quegli rispose: Non passerai. E tosto si mosse contro di essi con infinita moltitudine, e gente valorosa:But he answered: Thou shalt not passe: And immediatly he came forth to meete them with an infinitie multitude, and a strong hand,At ille respondit: Non transibis. Statimque egressus est obvius, cum infinita multitudo, et manu forti, 21Neither would he condescend to their desire to grant them passage through his borders. Wherefore Israel turned another way from him.Ei non volle condiscendere alle preghiere, né dare il transito pe' suoi confini. Per la qualcosa Israele girò lontano da lui.neither would he condescend to them desiring to grant them passage through his borders. For the which cause Israel turned an other way from him.nec voluit acquiescere deprecanti, ut concederet transitum per fines suos. Quam ob rem divertit ab eo Israël. 22And when they had removed the camp from Cades, they came to mount Hor, which is in the borders of the land of Edom:E mosso il campo da Cades giunsero al monte Hor, che è a' confini della terra di Edom:And when they had remoued the campe from Cades, they came into the mountaine Hor, which is in the borders of the land of Edom:Cumque castra movissent de Cades, venerunt in montem Hor, qui est in finibus terræ Edom: 23Where the Lord spoke to Moses:Dove il Signore parlò a Mosè,Where our Lord spake to Moyses:ubi locutus est Dominus ad Moysen: 24Let Aaron, saith he, go to his people: for he shall not go into the land which I have given the children of Israel, because he was incredulous to my words, at the waters of contradiction.E disse: Vada Aronne a riunirsi al suo popolo: perocché egli non entrerà nella terra data dame ai figliuoli d'Israele, perché fu incredulo alle mie parole alle acque di contraddizioneLet Aaron, sayeth he, goe to his people: for he shal not enter to the Land, which I haue geuen the children of Israel, for that he was incredulous to my mouth, at the Waters of contradiction.Pergat, inquit, Aaron ad populos suos: non enim intrabit terram, quam dedi filiis Israël, eo quod incredulus fuerit ori meo, ad aquas contradictionis. 25Take Aaron and his son with him, and bring them up into mount Hor:Prendi Aronne, e con lui il suo figliuolo, e menali sul monte Hor.Take Aaron and his sonne with him, and thou shalt bring them into the mountaine Hor.Tolle Aaron et filium ejus cum eo, et duces eos in montem Hor.
26And when thou hast stripped the father of his vesture, thou shalt vest therewith Eleazar his son: Aaron shall be gathered to his people, and die there.E spogliato il padre della sua veste, ne rivestirai il suo figliuolo Eleazaro: Aronne si riunirà (ai padri suoi), e ivi morrà.And when thou hast vnuested the father of his vesture, thou shalt reuest therewith Eleazar his sonne: Aaron shal be gathered, and die there.Cumque nudaveris patrem veste sua, indues ea Eleazarum filium ejus: Aaron colligetur, et morietur ibi. 27Moses did as the Lord had commanded: and they went up into mount Hor before all the multitude.Fece Mosè come aveva ordinato il Signore: e salirono al monte Hor, veggendoli tutto il popolo.Moyses did as our Lord had commanded: and they went vp into the mountaine Hor before al the multitude.Fecit Moyses ut præceperat Dominus: et ascenderunt in montem Hor coram omni multitudine. 28And when he had stripped Aaron of his vestments, he vested Eleazar his son with them.E dopo ch'egli ebbe spogliato Aronne delle sue vesti, ne rivesti Eleazaro suo figliuolo.And when he had spoyled Aaron of his vestimentes, be reuested Eleazar his sonne with them.Cumque Aaron spoliasset vestibus suis, induit eis Eleazarum filium ejus. 29And Aaron being dead in the top of the mountain, he came down with Eleazar.E morto che fu Aronne sulla cima del monte, (Mosè) discese con Eleazaro:After that he was dead in the toppe of the mountaine, he went downe with Eleazar.Illo mortuo in montis supercilio, descendit cum Eleazaro. 30And all the multitude seeing that Aaron was dead, mourned for him thirty days throughout all their families.E tutta la moltitudine avendo udito come Aronne era morto, lo piansero in tutte le case per trenta giorni.And al the multitude seeing that Aaron was dead, mourned vpon him thirtie daies throughout al their families.Omnis autem multitudo videns occubuisse Aaron, flevit super eo triginta diebus per cunctas familias suas.
20:1
Year of the World 2552, Year before Christ 1452.
Haydock
Sin, Zin, or Tsin, nearer to Judea than the desert, where the Hebrews encamped before, Exodus 16:1. (Haydock)
Moses informs us of very little from the time when the people murmured at Cades-barne, in the second year, till the beginning of the 40th year of their sojournment.
In Cades. The Rabbins assert, they remained there the first time twenty-nine years, (chap. 14:45,) and the second, ten. (Genebrard, in the year of the world 2670.) But we do not believe they continued there above a year the first time.
Calmet
Mary. St. Gregory of Nyssa, and St. Ambrose, suppose she was always a virgin, in which respect she was a figure of our blessed Lady, as well as in her name. She was probably 130 years old, as she was very discreet at the time of the birth of Moses, and employed by Providence in preserving his life, as the blessed Virgin screened our Saviour from the fury of Herod. She had the superintendence over the Hebrew women; (Exodus 15:20.; Theodoret, in Mic. 6:4) and hence many apply to her and her brothers those words of Zacharias 11:8, I cut off three shepherds in one month. Mary died without being permitted to enter the promised land, on account of her murmuring, chap. 12. Thus the synagogue, though proud of her prerogatives, cannot enter the land of rest. (Calmet)
There. Some place this Cades not far from the Red Sea, (ver. 20,) south of Idumea, while the other was to the north, and nearer Chanaan, being generally called Cades-barne. (Bonfrere and Cornelius a Lapide) (Chap. 20:16.)
Menochius
In this place Mary died, four months before Aaron. (Menochius)
20:3
Calmet
Brethren, Core, etc., (chap. 16:32,) or with them who died (chap. 11.) at the graves of lust. (Calmet)
20:6
Calmet
And cried....to murmur. These words are not found in the Hebrew, Septuagint, etc., nor in the new edition of St. Jerome, though they occur in most of the Latin manuscripts. (Calmet)
Mariana
If it be an addition, it must be very ancient. (Mariana)
20:8
The rod, with which Moses had wrought so many miracles, and which was placed in the tabernacle, ver. 9. It is called his rod, in the Hebrews 5:11. We do not find that the rod of Aaron, which budded, was used to work miracles.
Calmet
Thou. Septuagint, "you." Both Moses and Aaron concurred in the action, (ver. 12,) but Moses was the chief agent. (Calmet)
20:10
Haydock
Rock. Your frequent murmurs will stop the course of God's bounty. If God had not condemned the conduct of his ministers on this occasion, we could hardly find any reason to blame them. But the Fathers observe, that they betrayed a want of resolution, and intended to throw the blame upon the incredulity of the people, in case they failed of success. Because they exasperated his spirit, and he distinguished with his lips, Psalm 105:33. See St. Chrysostom and St. Augustine on this psalm. They were not commanded to strike the rock at all; and when the water did not come at first, they struck again, (Calmet) being afraid lest they should now be taken for impostors. (Haydock)
They speak as if the work was their own.
Haydock
Can we, etc. They exasperate the people, instead of promoting their conversion. In a word, they did not glorify God, (Calmet) by representing him as the sovereign holiness and mercy; and the God of unbounded power. (Haydock)
20:11
Worthington
The rock. This rock was a figure of Christ, and the water that issued out from the rock, of his precious blood, the source of all our good; (Challoner) while the striking twice with the rod, denoted the cross, composed of two pieces of wood. (St. Augustine, q. 35.) (Worthington)
20:12
Challoner
You have not believed, etc. The fault of Moses and Aaron, on this occasion, was a certain diffidence and weakness of faith: not doubting of God's power or veracity; but apprehending the unworthiness of that rebellious and incredulous people, and therefore speaking with some ambiguity. (Challoner)
Menochius
St. Augustine (contra Faust. 16:16,) does not think them guilty of any grievous crime. (Menochius)
Calmet
But this must be left undetermined. (Calmet)
20:13
Challoner
The water of contradiction or strife. Hebrew Meribah. (Challoner)
Sanctified: he shewed the effects of his power and clemency towards the people, and he treated his ministers with a just severity. The Samaritan copy here inserts what we read in Deuteronomy, only it places the speech of Moses in an historical form. "The Moses said, Lord, etc. (Deuteronomy 3:24-28.) Moreover, the Lord said to Moses, you shall pass by," etc. (Deuteronomy 2:4-6.)
20:14
20:16
Angel, who had performed so many wonders in favour of the Hebrews. He is generally supposed to have been St. Michael in the cloud.
20:18
Haydock
Edom, the people who dwelt near Mount Hor. Those of Seir, lying more to the west, (Du Hamel) granted them leave to pass, and to buy food, Deuteronomy 2:28, 29. Grotius maintains, that the Hebrews might justly have forced a passage upon this refusal; as St. Augustine (q. 44,) says, that they might lawfully have waged war upon the Amorrhites, on the like occasion; and the holy wars have been defended on the same plea, because the Saracens would not suffer the Christians to go in pilgrimage to the holy land. See Mare, lib. 1:1. But Selden (Mare, claus. 20,) asserts, that princes have a right to hinder others from passing through their territories; and St. Augustine only excepts one case, when they are sure the strangers can or will do no harm. But how can they obtain this assurance? Calmet answers, the long continuance of the Hebrews near the confines of Seir, without offering any molestation, and their being conducted by so holy a general, might give the people of Hor sufficient security. But at any rate the Israelites could not wage war upon them for refusing a passage, since they were expressly forbidden by God: Stir not against them, (Deuteronomy 2:5,) the people of Seir, nor against any of the Idumeans, the children of Esau, who had taken possession of the country of the Horrhites, Genesis 14:6. The Hebrews seem to have been convinced of this, otherwise they would not have feared their multitudes, nor taken such a circuitous road. The angel in the cloud directed them to proceed, without molesting their territory. They went, therefore, towards the south, round the land of the Idumeans, who dwelt near the Dead Sea. (Haydock)
20:19
Price. Hebrew, "I will only do one thing, walk through." Septuagint, "the matter is of no consequence, we go by the mountain." Louis de Dieu translates, "It is not indeed a word, (or idle pretence) I will pass through on foot."
20:22
20:24
People, in the bosom of Abraham, while his body is consigned to the grave.
Haydock
Incredulous. Hebrew, "you rebelled against," etc., the words were addressed to both. Septuagint, "you irritated me." (Haydock)
20:26
Calmet
Vesture, or pontifical attire. Eleazar had been anointed already, so that perhaps he stood in need of no other ceremony to be acknowledged high priest. He was dispensed with on this occasion to attend his dying father. The spirit of God gives great encomiums to Aaron, Malachias 2:4-7., and Ecclesiasticus 45:7, 27. He, at the same time, prefigured Christ, the gospel, and the old law. He spoke plainly, and was allowed to enter the holy of holies; while Moses was excluded, spoke with difficulty, and had a veil on his face. See St. Jerome, ep. ad Fab. man. 33. But on the other hand, he represented the law with all its defects. He falls into several great faults, and dies despoiled of his glorious vestments, to shew the abrogation of his priesthood. The pagans have, perhaps, introduced some parts of his history into that of Mercury, the god of thieves and of travellers, the messenger of the other gods, whom they adorn with a wand, etc., in imitation of the rod of Aaron, who was the interpreter of Moses, and the head of that people, which wandered for 40 years, after plundering Egypt. (Calmet)
20:29
Menochius
Dead, in the 123d year of his age. (Menochius)
Calmet
Neither Moses, Aaron, nor Mary, representing the Law, the priests, and the prophets of the Old Testament, could introduce the people into the promised land. This honour was reserved for Josue, the illustrious figure of Jesus Christ, and of his Church. (Calmet)
20:11
The rock.... This rock was a figure of Christ, and the water that issued out from the rock, of his precious blood, the source of all our good.
20:12
20:13
The Water of contradiction.... Or strife. Hebrew, Meribah.
20:2
In the liturgy The Epistle on friday in the third weke of Lent.
20:8
The •ock signified Christ, the rodde his Crosse. s. Aug. • 35 in Num
20:11
By this the crosse is more euidently signified, which was made of two peeces of wood. s. Aug. 〈…〉.
20:12
Not doubting of Gods powre, but supposing it vnmete, that God shold stil worke miracles for so ••b borne a people, they did not speake to the rock, asthey were cō manded, but chiding the incredulous multitude, spake to them ambiguously, & so by occasion of others sinne, also offended, and for the same were punished. 〈…〉. Phut. 1, v 〈◊〉 •, v. 16. & 4, •, 2•. s. Aug q. 19. The••. q 38, in Xu•.
20:30
Mourning the dead was long before this obserued by tradition. G••. 23. 50.
20:1
Tertullian † AD 220 On Fasting 5
… “Would that we had been smitten to the heart by the Lord, and perished in the land of Egypt, when we were wont to sit over our jars of flesh and eat bread unto the full! How leddest thou us out into these deserts, to kill this assembly by famine?” From the self-same belly preference were they destined (at last) to deplore
20:10
St Jerome † AD 420 Against the Pelagians 2
Numb. xx. 10, 12 . Moses is punished for his sin at Meribah. This is the meaning of Ps. cxli. 6 . Vulgate. Their judges were swallowed up, joined to the Rock, etc.
20:12
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Treatise Concerning the Christian Priesthood 4
… and not only then, but afterwards when he entered upon his rule, he would gladly have died to have been set free from it: “Kill me,” saith he, “if thou art going to deal thus with me.” But what then? when he sinned at the waters of strife,
20:13
St Jerome † AD 420 Against Jovinianus 2.4
… and white raiment is afterwards restored to him. It is needless to tell how Moses and Aaron
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 144.7
… What is, “Out of many waters”? From many peoples. What peoples? Aliens, unbelievers, whether assailing us from without, or laying snares within. Take me out of many waters, in which Thou didst discipline me, in which Thou didst roll me, to free me from my filth. This is the “water of contradiction.”
20:17
St Gregory of Nazianzus † AD 389 Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen 2.34
… so in the case of one of us, if he leans to either side, whether from vice or ignorance, no slight danger of a fall into sin is incurred, both for himself and those who are led by him. But we must really walk in the King’s highway,
St Jerome † AD 420 The Letters of St. Jerome 48.8
8. In the sequel we go on to speak thus: “The apostle, in concluding his discussion of marriage and of virginity, is careful to observe a mean course in discriminating between them, and, turning neither to the right hand nor to the left, he keeps to the King’s highway,
St Jerome † AD 420 The Letters of St. Jerome 125.20
… He will not suffer you to turn to the right hand or to the left or to leave the king’s highway; for to this Israel pledges itself to keep in its hasty passage to the land of promise.
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Eusebius of Caesarea † AD 339 The Church History of Eusebius 1.6.2
2. This prediction remained unfulfilled so long as it was permitted them to live under rulers from their own nation, that is, from the time of Moses to the reign of Augustus. Under the latter, Herod, the first foreigner, was given the Kingdom of the Jews by the Romans. As Josephus relates, he was an Idumean
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St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 99.10
… What punishment is death to an old man? What punishment was it, not to enter into that land, into which unworthy men entered? But what is said of Aaron? He also died an old man: his sons succeeded him in the priesthood: his son afterwards ruled in the priesthood: how did He punish Aaron also?
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St Cyprian of Carthage † AD 258 The Epistles of Cyprian 67.4
… as in the book of Numbers the Lord commanded Moses, saying, “Take Aaron thy brother, and Eleazar his son, and place them in the mount, in the presence of all the assembly, and strip Aaron of his garments, and put them upon Eleazar his son; and let Aaron die there, and be added to his people.”
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St Jerome † AD 420 The Letters of St. Jerome 39.4
… Jacob put on sackcloth for Joseph, and when all his family gathered round him, refused to be comforted. “I will go down,” he said, “into the grave unto my son mourning.” David also mourned for Absalom, covering his face, and crying: “O my son, Absalom…my son, Absalom! Would God I had died for thee, O Absalom, my son!” Moses, too, and Aaron,
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1. AND THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL CAME, AND ALL THE MULTITUDE INTO THE DESERT OF SIN, IN THE FIRST MONTH, AND THE PEOPLE DWELT IN CADES. — This desert of Sin is different from Sin, in which manna began to fall, Exodus XVI, 1 and 13. For in that place was the eighth encampment or station of the Hebrews: but in this was the thirty-third; whence in the Hebrew this Sin is written with tsade, but that in Exodus with samech. In the first month. — Understand the fortieth year from the departure of the Hebrews from Egypt, as all interpreters commonly expound it: for, as the Abulensian shrewdly observes, Moses describes only the deeds of three years in the desert, namely the first two, and that from Exodus chapter XII hitherto; and the fortieth or last, from this chapter and thereafter. The remaining thirty-seven intermediate years he passes over in silence, perhaps because nothing memorable happened in them. And so since this first month cannot be of the first or second year of the departure from Egypt: for he has already dealt with those long ago in Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers hitherto; it follows that this first month should be understood of the fortieth year: and this is plainly gathered secondly from Numbers XXXIII, 37 and 38, where the Hebrews are said to have come from Cades (of which we are speaking here) to Mount Hor, where was the thirty-fourth encampment of the Hebrews, and there Aaron is said to have died, in the fortieth year of the departure of the children of Israel from Egypt, in the fifth month. Whence it is plainly and very probably gathered that the Hebrews came in that same fortieth year to the preceding encampment Cades, but in the first month, as is here said. From this chapter therefore to the end of the Pentateuch, the deeds of the fortieth year are described, which was the last of the wandering of the Hebrews in the desert.
AND THE PEOPLE DWELT IN CADES. — The Abulensian and Andreas Masius in Joshua XV, 3, think that this Cades is the same as Cadesbarne. But I say: this Cades is different from Cadesbarne, near which was the fifteenth encampment of the Hebrews, as I said chapter XIII, 1 and 27. For in this Cades was the thirty-third encampment, as is plain chapter XXXIII, 36. Secondly, the same is taught by the Chorographers of the holy land, such as Wolfgang, Ziegler, Adrichomius and others. Thirdly, the same is demonstrated by Torniellus in his Annals, page 346, from the fact that Cadesbarne was in the southern border of the land of Chanaan, as is plain Numbers XXXIV, 4, and Joshua XV, 3, where it is placed in the lot of the tribe of Judah. But this Cades was far from Chanaan: for it was situated in the extreme borders of Idumaea, tending toward the south, as is plain Numbers XX, 16, not very far from the Red Sea. For from Asiongaber, which was at the Red Sea, the Hebrews came to Cades, thence to Mount Hor, which is in the borders of Idumaea; whence from here from Cades the Hebrews, verse 20, sent messengers to the king of Edom, that he would grant them passage through his land; which when he refused to give, the Hebrews were forced to go a longer way around and pass through his eastern borders, thence through the Moabites and Ammonites, so that at last crossing the Jordan they might enter Chanaan from its eastern side. Hence St. Jerome in the Hebrew Places, and to Fabiola, on the 42 Mansions in 33: "Cades," he says, "is a city in the desert, near a city of Arabia, which is called Petra. In Cades the king of the Sodomites was struck down with his men by Chedorlaomer, Genesis XIV, 7. There also Mary, the sister of Moses, died; there also Moses and Aaron, on account of the waters of Contradiction, offended the Lord, and were forbidden to cross the Jordan." Whence also Cades is called in Hebrew by antiphrasis, as if not at all Cades, that is holy, or from the holiness of Moses transferred to offense. Cades was also called the Fountain of Judgment, Genesis chapter XIV, verse 7, because there the king of the Sodomites was judged with his men; or by anticipation, because there Moses and Aaron were judged, as is plain in this chapter, verse 12.
AND MARY DIED THERE — namely in Cades, in the first month of the 40th year. Mary therefore died four months before her brother Aaron; for he died on the first day of the fifth month of the 40th year, as is plain Numbers XXXIII, 38; and eleven months before Moses: for Moses died at the end of that same 40th year (as will appear Deuteronomy last), which was the year of the world 2493. Note: Mary died at about the age of 130 years; for she was easily a decade older than Moses, as I said Exodus II, 4 and 7. But Moses, who died in that same year, departed at the age of 120 years, as is plain Deuteronomy last chapter, verse 7.
Allegorically, it seems that in Mary prophecy is dead, in Aaron and Moses the priesthood and the law of the Jews come to an end: because neither they themselves were able to cross over to the promised land, nor could they lead the believing people to the same from the wilderness of this age, except by Jesus alone, that is, the Savior, the true Son of God, as St. Jerome says above, and from him Rabanus.
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AND THE PEOPLE NEEDED WATER. — There were wells and springs in Cades: these, while the Hebrews were dwelling there, appear to have dried up, and therefore the Jews, suffering from thirst in that place, murmured against Moses. The Hebrews relate, and notably Rabbi Solomon, that on account of Mary a well of water was given by God to the Jews, which would precede them wherever they encamped: on account of Moses, manna was given to them: on account of Aaron, the pillar of cloud; hence when these died, those things failed: hence also the Hebrews were attacked by the king of Arad, in the following chapter, because Arad, seeing that after Mary's death the well had been taken away from the Hebrews, thought that they were forsaken by God, and therefore could easily be conquered and destroyed. But these are fables: for it is certain that neither the pillar nor the manna failed at the death of Aaron or Moses; but much later, namely when the Hebrews had already entered Chanaan and had tasted of the fruits of the land, as is evident from Josue, chapter V, verse 12.
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3. WOULD THAT WE HAD PERISHED AMONG OUR BRETHREN, BEFORE THE LORD! — In Hebrew, would that we had expired with our brethren in the desert, and that too "before the Lord," dwelling and presiding in the pillar of cloud and in the tabernacle! For the Lord, on account of the murmuring of the spies, condemned us to death in chapter XIV, verse 19. See here again the ingratitude of the people, and the great charity of Moses struggling against it and overcoming it. Laertius relates, in book IV, chapter 1, that Antisthenes, when he heard Plato speaking ill of him, said: "It is a royal thing, when you have done good, to hear evil." For it is the mark of a lofty soul not to be deterred by the ingratitude of men from the pursuit of doing good to all. Diogenes, when asked "what grows old most quickly among men?" answered: "A benefit." Plato called Aristotle a mule: because a mule, when satiated with its mother's milk, kicks at its mother with its heels. Plato thus signified the ingratitude of Aristotle, who, having been taught by him, opened a school in the Peripatos and attacked his ideas and doctrines. Thus Aelianus, book IV. When asked why he had left Athens, Aristotle answered: "Lest the Athenians sin twice against Philosophy," thus obscurely censuring the death of Socrates, and his own danger as well. Thus Aelianus, book VI. Demosthenes, while fleeing and repeatedly looking back at the citadel of Pallas, raising his hands said: "O Pallas, mistress of all things, why do you delight in three most unlucky beasts, the owl, the dragon, and the people?" For the owl is sacred to Pallas; she has the same dragon as her emblem; but the people is a many-headed beast, accustomed to repay the worst gratitude to those who have deserved well of it, as to Socrates, Phocion, Scipio, etc. Thus Plutarch. Epaminondas, accused of having held power four months beyond the time appointed to him, compelled by necessity, said to a little dog fawning upon him: "This creature repays me with gratitude for a benefit, but the Thebans, for whom I have often and greatly deserved well, have decreed the penalty of death against me by judgment." Thus Aelianus, book XIII. Pompeius said to Marcellinus, whom he had advanced and who had become his enemy and was reviling him: "Are you not ashamed, Marcellinus, to revile me, I who made you from a mute speaker, from a starving man vomiting forth?" Thus Plutarch in the Apophthegms. Alphonsus, king of Aragon, when it was objected to him that he had conferred such great benefits upon Alvaro Luna, a man utterly ungrateful to him, of which he was not even mindful: "Do you not know, he said, that a great benefit is always repaid only by great ingratitude?" Again: "I prefer, he said, to preserve many by my clemency and gentleness, rather than to destroy few by my severity." The Panormitanus testifies to this in his Life.
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6. AND MOSES AND AARON ENTERED, THE MULTITUDE BEING DISMISSED, INTO THE TABERNACLE OF THE COVENANT — to consult the Lord. Morally, St. Gregory, in the twenty-third book of the Morals, book XXI: "To return from the crowds to the tabernacle, and, setting aside the tumults of external things, to enter the secret of the mind: for there the Lord is consulted, and what must be done outside publicly is heard inside silently; this the good Rectors do daily: when they know that they cannot discern doubtful matters, they return to the secret of the mind, as to a kind of tabernacle, and, having perceived the divine law, as if it were set before them, they consult the Lord at the ark, and what they hear silently within, they afterwards make known outside by their actions."
LORD GOD, HEAR THE CRY. — This prayer of Moses is no longer found in the Hebrew, Chaldean, and Septuagint; either therefore it fell out from these, or certainly our Interpreter supplied it paraphrastically. For it is certain that Moses prayed, and prayed nothing other than these very things, namely that God would give water to the people murmuring on account of thirst. Thus Abulensis. In like manner "Let us go forth," Genesis IV, 8, is no longer found in the Hebrew, Chaldean, and Greek.
OPEN TO THEM YOUR TREASURE, A FOUNTAIN OF LIVING WATER. — Living water is called that which springs forth, or which flows, just as the Dead Sea is stagnant. But he calls such a fountain a treasure, because things which are hidden and not yet discovered are said to be in the treasures of God: hence that passage from Psalm XXXIII, 7: "Placing in treasures the abysses;" and Psalm CXXXIV, 7: "Bringing forth winds from his treasures;" and Deuteronomy XXVIII, 12: "The Lord shall open his good treasure the heaven, that he may give rain;" and chapter XXXIII, verse 19: "Who shall drink up the inundation of the sea as if it were a lake, and the hidden treasures of the sands." THAT YOU MAY BE SATISFIED — namely, when they shall have been. AND THE GLORY OF THE LORD APPEARED — namely, the brightness of the pillar of cloud flashing forth new and unwonted rays, the pillar, I say, resting upon the tabernacle.
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8. SPEAK TO THE ROCK — what, namely? It is probable this: "Rock, in the name of the Lord God, give waters."
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9. MOSES THEREFORE TOOK THE ROD, WHICH WAS IN THE SIGHT OF THE LORD — which was laid up in the tabernacle. This rod was Moses', the worker of so many wonders, not however Aaron's which had budded: for this was only a sign of the priesthood consigned to Aaron, and was laid up for testimony of this matter beside the ark of the covenant: thus some. But, since it is established that Aaron's rod was laid up in the tabernacle, and it is not known whither Moses' rod went, hence we shall more certainly understand here Aaron's rod, not Moses'.
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11. AND WHEN MOSES HAD LIFTED UP HIS HAND, STRIKING THE ROCK TWICE WITH THE ROD, THERE CAME FORTH WATERS IN GREAT ABUNDANCE. — This is a different rock and striking from that in Exodus XVII, 6. For that one was in Raphidim, near Sinai, in the second year; but this one at Cades happened in the fortieth year. Again, God here produced waters from the rock by supernatural power alone, converting the neighboring air into waters; but in Raphidim, he drew forth a subterranean vein of waters into the stone struck by Moses, which, breaking through the stone, would gush forth from it, and that continuously and perpetually. For the Cosmographers relate that this fountain of the rock in Raphidim, struck by Moses, endures, and waters continually gush forth, as Abulensis says. Thus Theodosius the Abbot, with prayer premised, striking the rock with his rod, drew forth from it a fountain of perpetual water, which through aqueducts irrigated the neighboring monastery, built by him in a dry place. This fountain afterwards, in a bath constructed in the monastery, dried up; but when it was destroyed, it began to flow again. For God, just as he does not fail his own in necessities, so he does not abound in superfluities; Theodoretus is witness in the Philotheos, chapter X.
Allegorically, the rock is Christ, I Corinthians X, 5; water is spiritual grace flowing from Christ; the rod is the cross of Christ; it is struck twice, because the cross has two transverse beams. Moses bears the type of the Jews: just as therefore Moses, striking the rock with the rod, doubted of the power of God: so that people, which was held under the law given through Moses, affixing Christ to the wood of the cross, did not believe him to be the power of God; but just as the struck rock flowed with water for the thirsty, and God was sanctified through it: so the wound of the Lord's passion became life to believers; the cross therefore draws forth water, contradiction to the unbelieving, sanctification to believers, as St. Augustine says here, Question XXXV, and book XVI Against Faustus, chapter XV, and Rupertus.
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12. BECAUSE YOU DID NOT BELIEVE IN ME, THAT YOU MIGHT SANCTIFY ME BEFORE THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL, YOU SHALL NOT BRING THIS PEOPLE INTO THE LAND WHICH I WILL GIVE THEM.
You ask, what was this unbelief, or sin of Moses? Some answer first that it was that he struck the rock twice, when he ought to have struck it only once. Second, others say that, the people requesting it, he struck a rock other than the one which the Lord had designated; and this is what Moses means when he says: "Shall we be able to bring forth water for you out of this rock" (which namely you, O Hebrews, designate, not the Lord)? Thus the Rabbis. Third, others say that he spoke, not to the rock, as the Lord had commanded, but to the people, rebuking and exasperating them, calling them unbelieving and rebellious: whence the people, irritated, although they saw the miracle of the waters, nevertheless did not sanctify the Lord by praising him and giving him thanks. Thus Abulensis, Theodoret, Oleaster, Lyra, and this opinion is sufficiently probable. For it is hard and difficult to believe that Moses doubted of God's power, when he had so often experienced it in so many portents. Fourth, others say that, being more excited and indignant at the murmuring people, he put forth ambiguously by questioning: "Shall we," etc., which he ought to have uttered absolutely and affirmatively, saying: "Rock, give waters;" and this is what is said of Moses in Psalm 105, verse 33: "He divided in his lips," that is, he uttered the words of God otherwise than they ought to have been uttered. Fifth and genuinely, the sin of Moses was that he himself, now plainly advanced in age (for the aged are easily moved to choler, impatience, distrust and pusillanimity), irritated equally and cast down, and disturbed by the new and unusual murmuring of the people (for up to this time from the second year until the fortieth year, in which these things were done, we read of no murmuring of the people), struck the rock doubtfully: not that he doubted of God's power, or faithfulness in himself: for he himself, from zeal for faith, here reproved the unbelief of the people, and in far greater portents wrought by himself, and likewise in a similar striking of the rock at Rephidim, he had believed God, Exodus 17:6; but because he judged the people so rebellious, and God so provoked, unworthy of this miracle, and therefore doubted whether God would do it, and whether he had truly promised it, or only through irony and sarcasm, or conditionally, namely if the Hebrews should cease murmuring and believe that God would give water from the rock. Now indeed seeing them unbelieving, he struck the rock doubtfully, as if it were impossible or improbable that water should come forth from the rock for such unbelievers. For this doubt is plainly signified by the words of Moses: "Hear, ye rebels and unbelievers: can we bring forth water for you out of this rock?" What is clearer? But God had promised, not ironically, nor conditionally, but truly and absolutely that he would bring forth water from the rock, by which both the Hebrews and their cattle should quench their thirst. Again, the same thing is clearly signified by the words of God to Moses and Aaron in verses 12 and 24: "Because you believed me not." They sinned therefore with some unbelief, doubt and distrust concerning the water promised by God. Thus St. Augustine, Question 19, Rabanus, Rupert, Cajetan and others.
God permitted this lapse of Moses, so that in such a pinnacle of honor and virtues he might remember himself to be a man, that is, frail and weak, not an angel, not God. For "to remember all things and to err in nothing whatsoever is rather a property of divinity than of mortality," says the Emperor Justinian. And so that by his example the Saints, who have served God most diligently, especially Prelates, might humble themselves, fearing and saying to themselves: Let him that standeth take heed lest he fall; so that with fear and trembling they might work out their salvation, as those who are uncertain of perseverance, even on the very last day of their life. In old age fell Solomon, the wisest of mortals, Origen, Tertullian, Lucifer of Cagliari; and what men they were! Let us therefore pray continually: "When my strength shall fail me, even unto old age and gray hairs, O God, forsake me not." This lamentable lapse of Moses at the end of his life teaches us; which, although it was not a mortal sin, yet it excluded him from the holy land so greatly desired. For death was inflicted upon him not so much by the sentence of God as by the necessity of nature growing weak and failing: for he was already one hundred and twenty years old. The same I say of Aaron his brother: for he was three years older than Moses. Both therefore ought to die soon; but God brought it about that both should die before the entrance into the holy land now at hand, because He had excluded both of them by sentence. Secondly, God permitted this lapse of Moses for an allegorical cause and signification, which was that God had destined Joshua as the successor of Moses, so that he, as it were a type of Jesus Christ, might lead the people into the promised land. Allegorically, therefore, Moses bears the figure of the law, Joshua of Christ; and so just as Moses led the people out of Egypt, and Joshua led them into Chanaan: so the law frees believers from impiety, and the Evangelical grace introduces them into the kingdom of heaven. Thus Theodoret, Question XLIII in Deuteronomy, and St. Augustine here, Question LIII, who says: "When it is said to both brothers Moses and Aaron, that they are appointed to their people, it is clear that they are not in the wrath of God, which separates from the peace of eternal society. Whence it is manifest that not only their offices, but also their deaths, were signs of things to come, not punishments of God's indignation." Where St. Augustine plainly signifies that this sin of Moses was light and venial, and therefore death to him was not so much a punishment as a chastisement, which was rather a sign and signification of the future thing already mentioned: and this is altogether most probable.
THAT YE MIGHT SANCTIFY ME BEFORE THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL — that ye might show to them that I am holy, almighty, truthful and most merciful, who even to the impious and ungrateful bestow those things (as I have often done hitherto, as ye can and ought to remember) which I promised, namely water from the rock. Note: The faithful who in perplexing and difficult matters hope in God, and with Abraham against hope believe in hope, these sanctify God; for God wills that great things be hoped from Him: hence He says in the Book of Wisdom, chapter I: "Think of the Lord in goodness."
YE SHALL NOT BRING THIS PEOPLE INTO THE LAND WHICH I WILL GIVE THEM — namely into Chanaan itself, beyond the Jordan: for otherwise Moses did enter into the promised land, situated on this side of the Jordan, namely into the kingdoms of Og and Sehon, and gave them to the tribe of Reuben, Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh; but he did not cross the Jordan into Chanaan, to the promised land for all the other tribes, whose boundaries are circumscribed in Numbers 34. Thus Abulensis, Question XLVIII, and St. Augustine. This was a notable punishment and mortification of Moses, that he could not see the promised land flowing with milk and honey, so greatly desired, and that he was deprived of the end and fruit of his very long and troublesome leadership. Thus God mortified St. Xavier and other Saints at the very hour of death, so that they might fully learn to die to the world and to themselves, and to live to God, and so that they might have this as a purgatory for their light faults, by which purged they might soon fly into heaven.
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13. THIS IS THE WATER OF CONTRADICTION — of strife and contention (for the Hebrew meriba signifies all these things), where the children of Israel contended and murmured against the Lord, and He was sanctified in them — that is, He was declared holy, truthful, faithful, merciful and bountiful, giving them, although they were unbelieving and rebellious, a drink of water, and thus overcoming and confounding their unbelief. Thus do they imitate the sanctity of God, who love their enemies, and overcome evil with good.
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14. MOSES MEANWHILE SENT MESSENGERS FROM CADES TO THE KING OF EDOM (for Cades was near Idumaea, through which the Hebrews had to pass, going straight into Chanaan) WHO SHOULD SAY: THUS COMMANDETH (He hath commanded us to say this to thee. Whence the Hebrew, Chaldean and Septuagint have: Thus saith) THY BROTHER ISRAEL — thy brother Jacob, namely the Jacobites, or descendants of Jacob, who are thy brethren: for their father was Jacob, the brother of Esau, who was your father, and of all the Idumaeans.
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16. AND HE SENT AN ANGEL — our leader, going before us in a column of cloud. BEHOLD PLACED IN THE CITY CADES. — "In," that is, near: for it is not probable that the Hebrews entered cities in the desert; for the inhabitants would not have permitted this, fearing the Hebrews: moreover, cities would not have held so great a multitude of men. Thus Abulensis.
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17. WE WILL NOT DRINK WATERS FROM THY WELLS — freely, that is, and without price, but we will buy them at a price, as is said in verse 19. For there is great dryness in those deserts, and a scarcity of waters: hence lest the Edomites fear for their waters existing outside the cities, which they needed for their thirst and that of their cattle, the Hebrews promise that they will not drink their waters unless they are willing, and at a given price.
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18. TO WHOM THE KING OF EDOM ANSWERED: THOU SHALT NOT PASS BY ME — through my dominion. 20. AND IMMEDIATELY HE WENT OUT TO MEET THEM WITH AN INFINITE MULTITUDE (in Hebrew, with a heavy people, that is, dense, numerous and very great, which we commonly call infinite) AND WITH A STRONG HAND — with great strength of soldiers.
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21. WHEREFORE ISRAEL TURNED AWAY FROM HIM — thus, that is, with course turned back, he went around Idumaea on the eastern side, and consequently had necessarily to pass through some part of Idumaea, in order to come into Moab and Ammon, and thence into Chanaan. For this is what is said in Deut. II, 4 and 8: "And when we had passed by our brethren, the sons of Esau."
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22, 23 and 24. AND WHEN THEY HAD REMOVED THE CAMP FROM CADES, THEY CAME TO MOUNT HOR, WHERE THE LORD SPOKE TO MOSES: LET AARON GO TO HIS PEOPLE — as if to say, Let Aaron die, and pass to his fathers, the just, into limbo, and be gathered to them: for this is what that phrase signifies, to go, or to be gathered to one's people, and therefore it is said almost only of the just.
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26. AND WHEN THOU HAST STRIPPED THY FATHER OF HIS GARMENT. — Hence it is clear that Aaron wore the pontifical vestments in the camp, and went forth from there thus clothed to mount Hor, so that he might die with dignity and glory, and so that on the mountain he might remove these vestments and clothe Eleazar, the firstborn son of Aaron, with them, which Moses also did; and thus Eleazar by this sole rite of vesting, without any other unction or consecration, on this mountain was consecrated priest and successor of his father. Thus Abulensis. This was done contrary to law and custom. First, for in the old law, while the father lived, the son could not become high priest. For the priesthood was hereditary and perpetual among the Jews, so that not even the parents themselves could resign it to their sons, as long as they were able to perform the office. Second, because Eleazar was consecrated priest outside the tabernacle and camp, and by the sole vesting of pontifical vestments. But Eleazar, as the firstborn, ought to receive the priesthood, nor could he reject it in favor of his brother Ithamar, because God had commanded that the firstborn should succeed their father in the priesthood, and should undertake it, and serve him in it, unless they had a blemish, of which Levit. XXI, 17.
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29. HE DYING ON THE SUMMIT OF THE MOUNTAIN. — Aaron died in the fortieth year from the departure from Egypt, at the age of 123, in the fifth month, as is said in Numer. XXXIII, 38, and outside the camp, as also Moses, lest the Hebrews, prone to idolatry, should worship them and their bodies as if they were deities; and on mount Hor, that is, on the mountain of the mountain, so that a worthy place might be shown to his merits, as St. Jerome says to Fabiola, on the 42 Mansion in 34: for Aaron in Hebrew is the same as mountainous, who fittingly dies on a mountain, because like a mountain, he surpassed others, both in office and in virtue.
Hence it is clear that Aaron had these three privileges in death: first, that he died without any preceding wound, disease, or weariness of life, but in full health (for he ascended mount Hor healthy and strong), as if taken from this life while sleeping. Second, that he saw his son Eleazar succeed him, and be clothed with the pontifical vestments, and thus be consecrated priest. Third, that he expired in the presence and as it were in the bosom of his most beloved brother Moses, and his son Eleazar, and they themselves closed his eyes; nor indeed did Moses and Eleazar, standing by Aaron as he died, contract legal uncleanness from this, because God, by the very fact that he commanded them to stand by the dying man, dispensed with this law and legal uncleanness. Thus Abulensis. R. Solomon adds a fourth, to which let him believe who will, that these three, namely Moses, Aaron and Eleazar, ascending mount Hor, found a cave, and a prepared bed, and a burning lamp, as is customary to be prepared for the dead, and from this Moses knew that this place had been prepared by God for the sleep of Aaron. Having therefore removed his vestments, and clothed Eleazar, Aaron lay down on the bed, and with eyes closed was received by the Lord in peace: but Moses, seeing death so peaceful, desired a similar one, which was also promised to him in cap. XXVII, 13, and Deut. XXXII, 50.
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30. AND ALL THE MULTITUDE SEEING AARON DEAD, WEPT OVER HIM THIRTY DAYS. — Thus also Moses when dead was wept for thirty days, Deut. last chapter, and Joseph with his people mourned the death of his father Jacob for 30 days. You will say: In Genesis 50, 3, it is said that Joseph mourned him for 70 days. I answer: Of these 70 days, the first 40 pertained to embalming the body with spices, according to the custom of the Egyptians, as is evident there in verse 3; but the last thirty were properly mourning. From this thirty-day period the Church took the custom of performing trentals for the dead, that is, a thirty-day commemoration, prayers and alms. Thus Abulensis.
Machine translation from the Latin, not reviewed.
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Aaron (Heb. 'Ahărān, of uncertain etymology)
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
… mountain of the Amorites (Deut. 1:19), that is, to the land of Canaan (Num. 13:30), south of the Negeb (Num. 13:17), in the desert of Pharan, the present-day Badjed et-Tih, or "desert of solitude" (Num. 13:4), or also in the desert of Sin (Num. 13:22; 20:1; 27:14; 33:36; Deut. 32:51) — the boundaries between the two deserts were not clearly determined, unless indeed one wishes to consider the desert of Sin as the northern part of the …
… Yahweh punished M. with leprosy; healing her, however, through the immediate intercession of Moses; she nevertheless had to remain 7 days outside the camp (Num. 12:1-15). She died at Kadesh shortly after the arrival of the Hebrews and was buried there (Num. 20:1).
3. Desert (Heb. Sin) that marked the southern frontier of Canaan, crossed by the spies in the Promised Land (Num. 13:21). Kadesh-Barnea was included within the borders at the southwestern edge of the desert (ibid. 20:1; 27:14; 33:36; Deut. 32:51), it bounded Edom to the west and the tribe of Judah to the southeast (Jos. 15:1-3). The name seems to have been preserved in the southern region of Palestine, …
20:2
… there the twelve spies set out to visit the Promised Land (Num. 13); there the people quarreled with Moses and Aaron over the lack of water (whence the name Mē Mēribhath Qādhēsh, that is, "water of the contention of K.," given to the same locality (Num. 20:2-13; 27:14; Deut. 32:51); there too Miriam, sister of Moses, died (Num. 20:1), and finally it was also from there that Moses sent ambassadors to the king of Edom (Num. 20:14-21).
20:12
region (Num. 20:12, 21; Judg. 11:17).
Moses (Mōšeh, Μω[θ]σῆς, Vulg. MoySES, Ancient Latin Moses)
mann, op. cit., p. 25): other rebellions occurred, such as the one led by Korah, epidemics and various "sins," among them one of M. himself (Num. 20, 12; cf. 20, 24; 27, 14; Deut. 32, 51), besides the general one of the people, which seems to have involved a true and proper apostasy from Yahweh, as well as from M. (v. NUMERI).
… The concept of a personal responsibility, which became ever clearer with the progress of Revelation, joined with that so widespread in the Old Testament (cf. Wis. 10:2; Num. 20:12; II Kings 13:13-14) according to which, once the sin is forgiven, there remains a temporal punishment to be expiated, is an important presupposition of the doctrine of P. If to this …
20:14
… Qādhēsh, that is, "water of the contention of K.," given to the same locality (Num. 20:2-13; 27:14; Deut. 32:51); there too Miriam, sister of Moses, died (Num. 20:1), and finally it was also from there that Moses sent ambassadors to the king of Edom (Num. 20:14-21).
EDOM (IDUMEA). - Name by which are called: 1) the adult Esau (Gen. 25, 30; 36, 19); 2) his descendants and their land (Ex. 15, 15; Num. 20, 14 ff.; Judg. 5, 4; 11, 17 f.; II Sam. 8, 14; I Kings 9, 26; 11, 14 ff.; II Kings 3, 8 f.; 8, 20-22, etc.). …
20:16
… not distinguish between the angel of Yahweh and Yahweh, but later attributed the theophanies to an angel in order to safeguard the transcendence of God), B. Stein, limiting his investigation to the angel of Exodus (Ex. 3, 2; 14, 19; 23, 20-3; 32, 34; Num. 20, 16; Ios. 5, 14; Iud. 2, 1-4; Is. 63, 9; Mal. 2, 17; 3, 1), argues for identity: the angel of Yahweh is the same omnipresent God who emerges from his transcendence to appear …
… of Sin (Num. 13:22; 20:1; 27:14; 33:36; Deut. 32:51) — the boundaries between the two deserts were not clearly determined, unless indeed one wishes to consider the desert of Sin as the northern part of the desert of Pharan — near the border of Edom (Num. 20:16; 34:3); according to Num. 34:3-5, K. was situated at the apex of the angle formed by the eastern line Dead Sea-Acrabbim-Sin-Kadesh, and by the western line Kadesh-Addar-'Asmona-Torrent …
20:22
Aaron (Heb. 'Ahărān, of uncertain etymology)
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 appa-
Hor (perhaps originally Har «mountain»)
HOR (perhaps originally Har «mountain»). - A mountain (Num. 20:22, 23, 25, 27; 21:4; Deut. 32:50) of southern Palestine on the border with Edom, between Kadesh (v.) and Salmonah, and a stopping place of the Exodus. …
20:24
… The Bible, moreover, formally affirms such survival in the well-known, most ancient phrases for indicating death: "to descend into šē'ōl"; "to be gathered to one's people"; "to return to one's fathers" (Gen. 15, 15; 25, 8, 17; 35, 29; 49, 29, 32; Num. 20, 24, 26; 27, 13; 31, 2; Deut. 31, 16; 32, 50; etc.); they evidently presuppose that something remains and survives the dissolution of the body (v. SOUL).
Moses (Mōšeh, Μω[θ]σῆς, Vulg. MoySES, Ancient Latin Moses)
mann, op. cit., p. 25): other rebellions occurred, such as the one led by Korah, epidemics and various "sins," among them one of M. himself (Num. 20, 12; cf. 20, 24; 27, 14; Deut. 32, 51), besides the general one of the people, which seems to have involved a true and proper apostasy from Yahweh, as well as from M. (v. NUMERI).
20:26
Eleazar (Heb. 'El'āzār, "God Has Helped")
… Raised to that office at the death of Aaron (Num. 20:26 ff.), E. exercised it under the guidance of Moses until his death, which occurred at Gabaath (Josh. 24:33), after the Israelites under the leadership of Joshua had already entered the Promised Land. …
20:28
SADOC (Heb. Ṣādhōq «Just»). - High priest who lived in the time of David (v.), ca. 1000 B.C. He was descended from Aaron through the line of Eleazar, to whom the high priesthood belonged by right (Num. 20:28). But
20:30
… 30th. This usage is inspired by biblical events: on the 3rd day Jesus came forth from the tomb; Joseph the Hebrew proclaimed a mourning of 7 days for his father (Gen. 50, 10); the Hebrew people wept for 30 days for Moses (Deut. 34, 8) and for Aaron (Num. 20, 30).
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · Vulgata Clementina · original Douay-Rheims (Douay 1609-10), transcription by EEBO-TCP (CC0) · La Sacra Bibbia, tradotta dalla Volgata da Antonio Martini (1769-1781) (LaParola (laparola.net), Martini OSIS text, Public domain (LaParola's electronic edition marks it 'Dominio pubblico')). Public domain.