Aaron

AARON

1:

AARON (PERSON) [Heb ˒ahărōn (אַהֲרֹן)]. AARONITES. The son of Amram and the brother of Moses and Miriam who was the eponymous ancestor of the priestly Aaronites and the paradigm for later priests. He dies at Mount Hur (Deut 32:50) and is succeeded by his son Eleazar (Num 20:22–29). Aaronites are the priests who claim descent from Levi through Aaron. They are often referred to as the “sons of Aaron” (Heb bĕnê ˒ahărōn) (cf. Lev 3:8; 21:1; Num 10:8; Josh 21:4; 1 Chr 24:1; Neh 12:47) or as “belonging to Aaron” (Heb lĕ˒ahărōn) (cf. 1 Chr 12:28—Eng 12:27; 27:17). The meaning of the name “Aaron” is uncertain, although it is perhaps derived from Egyptian.

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A. Introduction

B. Images of Aaron in the Biblical Literature

C. Aaron/Aaronite Relations with Others

D. The Priestly Functions of Aaron and the Aaronites

E. Summary

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A. Introduction

The first task in understanding Aaron and the Aaronites is to examine the varied images of them in the biblical accounts. Sometimes there is a strong positive image of Aaron as the officially ordained priest of God. At other times, the picture is rather negative, portraying Aaron at odds with Moses and “mainline” religious practices. In examining these portrayals, it becomes clear that positive images appear in the later biblical materials and negative images are prominent in the earlier materials. It is also true that there is a significant body of biblical literature (the prophets—especially Ezekiel—and the Deuteronomistic History) in which priests are present but there is little or no reference to Aaron or his followers. Thus, in order to understand the images of Aaron and the Aaronites, one needs to be aware of the particular literature in which these references to Aaron are found, and the specific time frame in which that literature emerged.

A second set of concerns when discussing Aaron and the Aaronites focuses on their relationship to other people or priestly groups. In terms of individuals, the question is primarily Aaron’s relationship with Moses. In terms of the Aaronites, the question is how they relate to the Levites and Zadokites, two other major priestly factions.

Finally, Aaron and his descendants are the preeminent models of what it means to be a priest. They are the ones who perform the most holy of rituals, who handle the holiest of sacred objects and who enter the holiest of places. In addition, they are the ones who oversee all priestly functions and groups, and monitor the activities of the priests at both the temple and the tabernacle.

B. Images of Aaron in the Biblical Literature

It is clear that there is some ambivalence in the biblical texts toward Aaron. On the one hand, he becomes involved with the construction of the GOLDEN CALF (Exodus 32) and joins Miriam in opposing Moses (Numbers 12). On the other hand, Aaron and his sons are singled out to serve God as priests (Exodus 28–29; Leviticus 8–9). Somewhere amid these two perspectives stands a remarkable silence on the Aaronites (e.g. 1–2 Kings, Ezekiel), in which they are neither good nor bad. There are other priests or priestly groups present, but Aaron and the Aaronites are not part of that presence.

This confusing portrayal has been the subject of speculation for some period. As early as Wellhausen (WPHI) and Kennett (1905), it was suggested that the positive portrayal of Aaron emerged only in the post-exilic period and that the negative or neutral portrayals dated from the pre-exilic period. Since those early discussions, Meek (1929), Welch (1939), North (1954) and Cody (1969, 1977) have offered slight variations on the same basic position—that the positive image of Aaron is a product of the post-exilic period.

Their arguments are based on an examination of the materials in which Aaron appears. There are 346 references to Aaron in the Hebrew Bible (several in the Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha and 5 in the NT). A vast majority (296) appear in Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers. The remainder are spread out in Deuteronomy (4), Joshua (6), Judges (1), 1 Samuel (2), Micah (1), Psalms (9), Ezra (1), Nehemiah (3), 1 Chronicles (16), and Chronicles (7). The lack of appearances in Ezekiel, who is very concerned with priests, and the scarcity in Deuteronomy (4), where Moses plays a predominant role, are very curious. However, prior to drawing any conclusions, specific passages need to be investigated, and this investigation must be cognizant of the historical situation from which the passages emerge.

A safe place to begin such an examination is the work of the Chronicler, whose postexilic date is essentially undisputed. In 1–2 Chronicles one sees a prominent positive role for Aaron. He is the brother of Moses (1 Chr 5:29—Eng 6:3); he and his sons make sacrifices, offerings, and atonement in the most holy place in the temple (1 Chr 6:34—Eng 6:49); and Aaron and his sons are “set apart” to perform the most sacred of duties—to burn incense, to minister, and to bless (1 Chr 23:13; 24:19). Furthermore, in 2 Chr 26:16–21, it is explicitly indicated that only the sons of Aaron, and not King Uzziah, could burn incense to Yahweh.

There are many other positive portrayals of Aaron, but most are found in P (Priestly) material, a collection of material more problematical in terms of dating than the Chronicler’s materials. The general consensus, albeit certainly not uniform, is that the present form of the P material reflects the understandings and perspectives of the early Second Temple period (i.e., postexilic period). Following that consensus yields a perspective on Aaron which is consistent with what emerged in the postexilic work of the Chronicler.

When one looks at the P material, one sees a very positive understanding of Aaron. A few examples from Exodus will support this point. Following the description of the ark and tabernacle (Exod 25:1–27:20), Aaron and his sons (the Aaronites) are to “tend” the tent of meeting (Exod 27:21), to serve Yahweh as priests (Exod 28:1), to wear priestly garments (Exod 28:3–43), including the Urim and Thummim (Exod 28:30), to be consecrated to Yahweh (Exod 29:1) and to be ordained (Exod 29:9, 35). To celebrate this ordination, a bull and two rams are to be sacrificed in Aaron’s honor (Exod 29:10–37). Finally, Aaron and his sons shall be anointed and consecrated as priests of Yahweh with “holy oil” (Exod 30:30–31). This positive image of Aaron continues through most of Exodus (with the exception of Exodus 32, which will be discussed later), throughout all of Leviticus and most of Numbers.

In Leviticus, much time is spent describing specific offerings and the procedures for those offerings. Consistently, Aaron, or “Aaron’s sons, the priests” are specified as the only people authorized to perform these rituals. In Lev 6:1–9:24—Eng 6:8–9:24, Aaron and his sons are instructed as to the law of the various offerings and their crucial role in these offerings. The ritual for anointing Aaron and his sons is spelled out in Lev 6:12–16—Eng 6:19–23. The actual ceremony for the ordination of Aaron and his sons is prescribed in Leviticus 8–9. The regulations for the actions of the Aaronites—“the priests, the sons of Aaron”—are spelled out in Leviticus 21. The concern is to maintain the holy status of the priests so that they do not become defiled by such actions as marrying a divorced woman (v 7), letting one’s hair hang loose (v 10), or coming in contact with a dead body (v 11). In addition, no person with a blemish may “offer bread” to Yahweh (v 18).

In Numbers 1–4, Moses and Aaron conduct a census of the people in preparation for war. Three factors should be considered when examining the role of Aaron in this census. First, the Levites, another priestly group, are numbered separately from the rest of the people (Num 1:47; 3:16–37), and are to be given to Aaron to stand (Heb ˒md) before and serve (Heb šrt) him (3:6). The second point is that the line of succession to Aaron is established. In Num 3:2–3 Aaron’s sons are listed and identified as anointed priests “ordained to minister in the priest’s office” (literally “whose hands are filled for the priesthood” [Heb ml˒ yd lkhn], “to fill the hand,” is the common Hebrew expression used to indicate ordination). Since Nadab and Abihu, two of Aaron’s sons, have died (Leviticus 10), Eleazar and Ithamar, Aaron’s other sons, are the successors to Aaron. Finally, only Aaron and his sons are to be priests. All others who seek to come near the tent of meeting should be killed (Num 3:10).

This perspective on Aaron’s exclusive role as priest is continued in Numbers 16. The account records the rebellion of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram against Moses and Aaron (Num 16:1–3) and contains the statement that only the descendants of Aaron can be priests (Num 17:5—Eng 16:40). This is curious since Korah, the son of Ishar, and Aaron, the son of Amram, are both seen as descendants of the priestly family of Levi (Exod 3:16–18; Num 3:17–19; 16:1). However, for the Priestly writer it is only Aaron’s branch of the Levitical family which can claim the legitimate right to the priesthood at the temple and tabernacle. Other material in Numbers (except Numbers 12) conveys the same basic positive evaluation of Aaron. As with the Chronicler, the Priestly writer presents a positive image of Aaron.

In contrast to that perspective, one can find materials in which there is a negative, or at least neutral, image of Aaron. One example is in Deuteronomy. This material is examined first because it can be identified, with a comfortable degree of certainty, as having originated in a pre-exilic context. One example, in particular, is Deuteronomy 9, which contains part of Moses’ presentation to the people. Of interest here is the telling of the story of Moses’ descent from Mount Horeb after having received the two tablets of stone. Moses comes upon the people who have sinned and made a GOLDEN CALF (Deut 9:15–16). The story continues with a statement that Yahweh is so angry toward Aaron that he was about to destroy him. It appears that it is only Moses’ intercessory prayer and his utter destruction of the Golden Calf which saves Aaron. It is certainly not a glowing recommendation of Aaron. Indeed, the only other appearance of Aaron in Deuteronomy is in 32:50, where Aaron is merely mentioned as a brother of Moses. Thus Deuteronomy neither presents a positive image of Aaron, nor contains a reference to Aaron as priest (unless one considers Aaron’s role in the building of the Golden Calf as priestly—but even then it would not be seen as consistent with the mainline worship of Yahweh).

This negative perspective is not confined to this passage in Deuteronomy. In Exodus 32, although there is some discussion as to the integrity of the passage, Aaron is portrayed as the villain who receives the gold from the people (Exod 32:4a), makes the calf (Exod 32:4a, 35), declares, “These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you out of the land of Egypt!” (Exod 32:4b), and builds an altar before the calf (Exod 32:5). When Moses returns from the mountain, he indicates that Aaron has brought a great sin upon the people (Exod 32:21) and has allowed the people to “break loose” (Exod 32:25). While Aaron seeks to redirect Moses’ anger (Exod 32:22–24), his culpability is clearly indicated.

A third example of this negative image of Aaron is found in Numbers 12. Here Aaron and his sister Miriam challenge Moses’ authority (12:1) and claim that Yahweh speaks through them as well as through Moses (12:2). The response of Yahweh is clear; Moses is the specially chosen spokesperson, and no one should challenge him (12:5–8). As punishment, Yahweh makes Miriam leprous and subsequently heals her only after Aaron pleads with Moses to petition Yahweh on their behalf.

All three of these passages which convey either a negative or a nonpriestly image of Aaron are generally considered to be preexilic in date. The single reference to Aaron in the prophets (Mic 6:4), which is preexilic, merely refers to Aaron as having been sent to Egypt with Moses and Miriam. In addition, there are precious few references to Aaron in the pre-exilic and exilic work of the Deuteronomistic Historian, which is surprising, given the number of times priests or priestly factions are mentioned. It is only in Joshua, where cities are distributed to the Levites (Josh 21:4, 13, 19), that Aaron is referred to as a priest. Finally, Ezekiel, an exilic work which spends much time discussing the roles and functions of the priests and priestly groups, never refers to Aaron or the Aaronites.

The implication of this examination of the biblical passages which refer to Aaron is that the positive image of Aaron and the Aaronites, and of their role as priests, arises in the post-exilic period. This may be expected since it reflects, in general, the prominent position of priests in the postexilic period, and, in particular, the emergence of the role of the high priest. In contrast, in the pre-exilic period Aaron is mentioned only a few times, often in a neutral or negative way, and very rarely as a priest. Thus one must conclude that the prominence of Aaron and the Aaronites as priests is a post-exilic phenomenon.

C. Aaron/Aaronite Relations with Others

A second area of consideration is the relationship of Aaron to other individuals and of the Aaronites to other priestly groups. Aaron’s relationship to Moses is of primary importance. In terms of the associations of the Aaronites, there are two other priestly factions which have a significant role in the Hebrew Bible—the Zadokites and the Levites. It is clear that there is struggle, conflict, and competition among these three groups over who is going to have control of the priesthood. As indicated in the previous section, one must remember that all of these relationships are fluid and that Aaron’s priority is emphasized in the later biblical materials.

The close association of Moses and Aaron is a common theme in the Pentateuch (although not exclusively found there [Josh 24:5; 1 Sam 12:6; Ps 77:21—Eng 77:20, 99:6]), particularly in the later (Priestly) writings of the Pentateuch. The association begins with the claim that Aaron is Moses’ brother (Exod 4:14; 6:20; 28:1; Num 26:59; 27:12–13; Deut 32:50; 1 Chr 5:29—Eng 6:3; 23:13). There are also over 65 instances where the phrase “Moses and Aaron” appears, almost like a word pair, and only a few instances where the phrase “Aaron and Moses” occurs (Exod 6:26; Num 3:1). What is striking about many of these instances is that the presence of “Aaron” is not crucial to the passage. It could easily be removed without a significant impact on the passage or its meaning (cf. Exod 7:8; 10:3; 16:6; Lev 9:23; 11:1; Num 4:1; 14:5; 33:1). So the evidence for a close association of Moses and Aaron is not absolutely certain, and it is primarily found in the later materials.

In the relationship between Moses and Aaron, it is clear that Moses has a more prominent role. Most often in the Torah, Yahweh speaks to Moses, who in turn speaks to Aaron (Exod 7:19; 16:32–34; Lev 17:1–2; Num 6:22–23; 8:1–2), or Yahweh speaks to Moses and Aaron at the same time (Exod 12:43; Lev 11:1; 14:33; Num 2:1; 19:1; 20:12). Only rarely does Yahweh speak directly to Aaron (Lev 10:8; Num 18:1). In addition, when one looks at the dynamics of the plague stories, there is a clear but subtle shift in the relationship between Moses and Aaron. At the beginning, Moses fumbles for words and pleads his incompetence until in anger Yahweh appoints Aaron to be Moses’ spokesperson. Even then Aaron receives Yahweh’s words through Moses (Exod 4:1–17; 7:19). Thus at the beginning of the plague stories Aaron has an important role. When both Moses and Aaron appear before Pharaoh (Exod 5:1, 7:10), it is Aaron’s rod which becomes the serpent (7:10), swallows the rods of Pharaoh’s magicians (7:12), is used to turn the Nile into blood (7:19), causes the plague of frogs (8:1—Eng 8:5), and brings about the plague of gnats (8:16–17). However, with Exodus 9, Aaron begins to fade from the scene, and it is Moses who brings the boils (9:10) and uses his own rod to bring hail and fire (9:23) and the locusts (10:12–13). One explanation of this shift is that the earlier plagues tend to be from the P writer and the later plagues tend to be from the older pentateuchal source, the J writer. Although there is considerable and justifiable discussion about the degree to which one can identify a particular passage or verse as J or P, the general perspective suggests that the older materials do not place an emphasis on Aaron whereas the newer materials do. Thus, like the prominence of Aaron as priest in the postexilic period, it seems that the association of Aaron with Moses also finds its greatest emphasis in the post-exilic materials.

Moses and Aaron also appear together when the people are “murmuring” during the Exodus. Usually this murmuring involves the rebellion of the people against the leadership. In Exodus 17 the people murmur against Moses (v 2). Aaron is not the target of the rebellion and his role in the incident is only that of holding up Moses’ arms, along with Hur (v 12). In Numbers 12, the rebellion is again directed at Moses (v 1). However, this time it is Aaron and his sister Miriam who lead the rebellion against Moses. Finally, in Numbers 14 and 16, the rebellion is directed not just against Moses but also against Aaron (Num 14:2, 16:3). This confused situation becomes clear when one realizes that the early materials (Numbers 12, Exodus 17) either ignore Aaron or are negative toward him, whereas in the later materials (Numbers 14, 16) there is a positive picture of Aaron and a link with Moses.

When one turns to the priestly groups, it is apparent that the relations between the Zadokites and Aaronites change over time. During the monarchy, it is the Zadokites who play a prominent role in the priesthood and little is said about the Aaronites. One merely needs to look at the dearth of references to Aaron or Aaronites in Kings and Samuel (only 2 Samuel) in contrast to the 26 references to Zadok as the priest of the monarchy. At the end of David’s reign, there is a conflict over the succession to the throne between Solomon and his followers and Adonijah and his followers (1 Kings 1–2). When Solomon is victorious in the struggle, he appoints Zadok as the priest of the Temple and expels Abiathar (1 Kgs 2:27), the associate of Adonijah. While there may be some debate over the actual association of Abiathar—whether he is Levite or Aaronite—it is clear that Zadok and his followers, the Zadokites, are the priests in good standing. That perspective continues in the late exilic work of Ezekiel; he never mentions the Aaronites. Rather, it is the Zadokites with the assistance of the Levites who are the priests (Ezek 40:46; 44:15; 48:11).

It is only in the post-exilic material of the Chronicler that any association between Aaron and Zadok appears, and the perspective is always that Zadok the priest is a descendant of Aaron (1 Chr 5:29–34—Eng 6:3–8; 6:35–38—Eng 6:50–53; Ezra 7:1–5), which preserves the priority of Aaron. In addition, the Chronicler seeks to clarify the relationship of Zadok and Abiathar, the two priests of David (2 Sam 8:17, cf. 1 Sam 22:20) who are rivals after his death. According to 1 Chr 24:3, Zadok is a descendant of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, and Abiathar is a descendant of Ithamar, also a son of Aaron. Thus, for the Chronicler, all priests are descendants of Aaron, which again stresses the post-exilic prominence of the Aaronites.

The relationship between the Aaronites and the Levites is much more confusing and more prone to be hostile than that between the Aaronites and the Zadokites. Nevertheless, this relationship also shows development and change. A prime example of the hostility emerges in Exodus 32. The complicity of Aaron in the Golden Calf apostasy has already been mentioned. At the end of that account, there is the punishment for those involved in the idolatry (Exod 32:25–29). Moses calls for those “on Yahweh’s side” to join him in opposition to the people who “broke loose,” and presumably that included Aaron. It is the Levites who respond to Moses’ call and slay 3,000 people who participated in the apostasy. As a result of the Levites’ actions, they are “ordained” to the service of Yahweh (Exod 32:29). The Hebrew text says “their hands are filled,” which is a clear reference to their ordination as priests. It thus appears that the Levites’ rise in status is directly related to their opposition to Aaron and his followers.

This same perspective is present when one examines 1 Kings 12. In this passage Jeroboam establishes two cultic centers in the Northern Kingdom at Dan and Bethel (vv 25–33), and makes two calves of gold for these centers (v 28). Jeroboam erects these calves and declares, “Behold your gods, O Israel, who brought you out of the land of Egypt,” the same phrase as was used by Aaron in Exod 32:4. In addition, when Jeroboam selects priests for his temple he explicitly excludes Levites (1 Kgs 12:31). (According to 2 Chr 13:8–9, Jeroboam excludes both Levites and Aaronites, which reflects the later post-exilic perspective of the Chronicler in which Aaron is the only true priest and could not have participated in the apostasy of the Northern Kingdom.) A further piece of data which links these two golden calf incidents of Exodus 32 and 1 Kings 12 together is that the two eldest sons of Aaron and the sons of Jeroboam have virtually the same names: Nadab and Abihu for Aaron (Exod 6:23) and Nadab and Abijah for Jeroboam (1 Kgs 14:1, 20). Furthermore, all four of these sons die as a result of their idolatry (cf. Leviticus 10; 1 Kgs 14:1–14; 15:25–30). So based on these early materials, the improper cultic practices of Jeroboam are associated with those of Aaron, and the Levites either do not participate or actively oppose those idolatrous religious practices.

Numbers 16 is another passage in which there is opposition between Aaron and the Levites. However, in this instance, it is Aaron who is declared the righteous follower of God; and it is Korah, the descendant of Levi, who revolts against Moses and Aaron. Indeed, the followers of Aaron (Aaronites) are explicitly identified as the priests of Yahweh to the exclusion of Korah (Num 16:1–5—Eng 16:36–40).

This change in perspective on Aaron, where Aaron is now seen as the dominant priest, is reflective of the post-exilic materials of the Priestly writer and the Chronicler and again exemplifies the post-exilic relationship of Aaronites and Levites. It also shows that although all priestly factions traced their ancestry back to Levi, and Levi is considered ordained by God, the Levites’ primary function is to serve the Aaronites.

When the census of the people is being taken by Aaron and Moses in Numbers, the Levites are explicitly set aside (Num 1:47) and not numbered at the beginning, since they have special tasks around the tabernacle. Later, however, the Levites are numbered and chosen by God to stand (Heb ˒md) before Aaron and to “minister” (Heb šrt) to Aaron, since they are given to Aaron and his sons (Num 3:5–10; cf. 4:27). What is clear in this passage is that there is a distinction between the Aaronites as priests and the Levites, who, although also ordained, are secondary priests subordinate to Aaron.

Aaron is then to collect the Levites and consecrate them to service (Heb ˓bd) (Num 8:5–26; cf. 18:1–7). This perspective is continued in Chronicles, where there is a clear distinction between priests, understood to be Aaronites, and Levites (1 Chr 23:2; 24:31; 28:13, 21; and 2 Chr 7:6; 11:13; 13:9; 19:8; 23:4, 6). The Levites are to stand (Heb ˒md) before the priests, the sons of Aaron (1 Chr 23:27–28), and guard (Heb šmr) the sons of Aaron (1 Chr 23:32; cf. 2 Chr 13:10; 35:14; Neh 12:47).

The priority of the Aaronites is illustrated in no better way than in the account in Num 17:16–28—Eng 17:1–13. According to the passage, each of the twelve tribes has a rod or staff, and each is to have the tribal ancestor’s name placed on the rod. However, the rod representing Levi’s tribe has Aaron’s name written upon it. When all twelve rods are deposited in the tent of meeting to determine which of them will be chosen by God, it is the “rod of Aaron” which sprouts and bears “ripe almonds.” This, of course, indicates Yahweh’s selection of Aaron over all other (cf. Ps-Philo 17:1–4; 53:9). Finally, Aaron’s rod, which is put before the “testimony” in the tent of meeting, is to become a sign that the people should not murmur against Yahweh (cf. Numbers 16).

In the following chapter (Numbers 18), where Aaron’s priesthood and the role of the tribe of Levi are again discussed, the priority of Aaron and his sons as priests and the secondary status of the tribe of Levi are reiterated. The Levites are to minister to (Heb šrt; Num 18:2), to guard (Heb šmr; Num 18:3), and to serve (Heb ˓bd; Num 18:6) Aaron and his sons. This role of attending to Aaron and the Aaronites is given exclusively to the Levites (Num 18:4). However, the Levites are firmly cautioned not to approach the altar, lest they die (Num 18:3). This material in Numbers is late, again suggesting that the priority of Aaron and the Aaronites and the secondary status of the tribe of Levi (the Levites) emerges in the time of the Second Temple. In the material from the earlier periods, the Levites are often preferred, and it is the Aaronites whose activities are questionable and whose status is secondary to the Levites.

In general, it appears that Aaron’s relationship with others has had the same mixed history as was seen in the review of Aaron in the biblical literature. In the monarchical period, Aaron and the Aaronites have a secondary, nonexistent, or negative status in relation to the other priestly groups. That perspective changes in the post-exilic period of the high priest, when Aaron and his sons (the Aaronites) become the high priests and establish their superiority over other groups. They do this by a genealogical link which traces their ancestry back to Moses and beyond to Levi, and by the accounts of Yahweh’s selection of Aaron as the chosen priest, the paradigm—preferred over the other priestly factions (Levites and Zadokites). Indeed, the other priestly factions became servants to Aaron and the Aaronites.

D. The Priestly Functions of Aaron and the Aaronites

The role of Aaron as priest emerges in the activities and functions he and his descendants, the Aaronites, perform. Of course, one of their main functions is to preside at cultic ceremonies. However, there are other related activities in which they are involved.

There are numerous references in which Aaron (or his descendants) officiate at and participate in cultic rituals. In fact, the majority of the discussion in Leviticus is devoted to the priestly functions of Aaron and the Aaronites. They perform the “burnt offering” (Lev 1:3–17; 9:12–14), the “cereal offering” (Lev 2:1–16), and the “peace offering” (Lev 3:1–17; 9:18–21). Aaron is not explicitly mentioned when the “sin offering” (Lev 4:1–5:13) or “guilt offering” (Lev 5:14–26—Eng 5:14–6:7) are discussed. However, when the laws (Heb tôrāt) of the “sin offering” are presented (Lev 6:17–23—Eng 6:24–30; cf. 9:8, 16:6), it is the Aaronites who are addressed. For the “guilt offering” Aaron is again not specified, but it is always a priest who officiates (Lev 5:16, 5:25–26—Eng 6:6–7, 7:1–5), and Aaron is in charge when the offering of atonement is made (Leviticus 16). Thus the presumption that this anonymous priest should be understood as Aaron seems valid (cf. 1 Chr 6:34—Eng 6:49).

Another priestly function of the Aaronites is participation in ordination. Indeed, the Aaronites participate in their own ordination ceremony (Leviticus 8). It is run by Moses at Yahweh’s command, but Aaron and his sons participate by laying their hands upon the bull of the “sin offering” (8:14), the ram of the “burnt offering” (8:18), and the ram of the “ordination” (8:22). Finally, they are to eat from the ordination offering (8:31–36).

An important passage which outlines Aaron’s duties is Leviticus 10:8–11. This passage is unusual because it is one of the few places where Yahweh speaks directly to Aaron rather than through Moses. Here Aaron is told to do three things: avoid drinking when going into the tent of meeting; distinguish between the holy and the common and between the clean and the unclean; and teach the people Yahweh’s statutes. One curiosity about the passage is how closely it echoes Ezekiel 44. In Ezekiel the reference is not to Aaron but to the priests who are the sons of Zadok and who also claim descent from Levi. Nevertheless, the functions of the priests are very similar: the sons of Zadok are told not to drink before going into the temple (Ezek 44:21); to distinguish between clean and unclean (Ezek 44:23b); to teach the people the difference between holy and common (Ezek 44:23a); to act as judge (Ezek 44:24a; cf. Exod 28:29–30); and to keep Yahweh’s laws (Ezek 44:24b). Although the priestly faction in charge may have changed, the priestly functions relative to the central shrine remain essentially the same.

The distinction between clean and unclean is the focus of Leviticus 11–14. Moses and Aaron (Lev 11:1) are to speak to the people about this distinction, and people who are thought to be diseased are to be brought before Aaron and his sons for examination (Lev 13:1–2). It is Aaron who is to determine clean and unclean in relation to disease, and to deal with unclean houses and how to cleanse them (Lev 14:33–57). The same standards of purity apply to the Aaronites themselves. They are to be without blemish and pure in all ways (Leviticus 21). This is another means of distinguishing Aaron from others, and supports the contention that Aaron is chosen above the others to be priest (Ps 105:26, 106:16) and to have access to the holy things (1 Chr 23:13) in the temple (1 Chr 24:19) or in the tent of meeting (Exod 27:21, Num 17:1–5—Eng 16:36–40).

In Joshua 21, the Aaronites are to receive 48 Levitical cities from among the cities recently conquered by the twelve tribes (vv 4, 10, 13, 19). These cities, along with their pasture lands (but not, presumably, the agricultural lands [Num 35:1–8]), are to be set aside as land in which the priests can live and raise herds. This perspective is reiterated in 1 Chr 6:39–66—Eng 6:54–81, where there is a special reference to the sons of Aaron receiving cities of refuge (1 Chr 6:42–45—Eng 6:57–60). They are said to receive 13 cities, although only 11 are listed by name, in which a criminal may find refuge from pursuers. In the other major references to the cities of refuge (Num 35:9–15; Deut 19:1–10; Joshua 20), only 6 cities are set aside, and there is no mention of the cities being given to Aaron. The Aaronite control of these cities of refuge may well reflect the Chronicler’s post-exilic perspective, in which there is a positive image of Aaron, and the Aaronites are in charge of the priesthood.

Finally, the Aaronites are given the Urim and Thummim (Exod 28:30, Lev 8:5–9). These “sacred lots” are used to determine the will of Yahweh (Num 27:21; 1 Sam 14:36–42, 27:6; cf. 1 Sam 10:20–24) and to indicate the juridical role of Aaron (Exod 28:29–30a; cf. Ezek 44:24). In Num 27:21, it is Eleazar, the son of Aaron, the next in the priestly line (cf. Num 20:22–29), who uses the Urim to inquire whether Joshua should succeed Moses. The Urim and Thummim are thus symbols of special access to God’s will; and, according to parts of the biblical tradition, they belong in the hands of the Aaronites.

It is clear that Aaron and the Aaronites play a prominent role as priests. Their fulfillment of that role is emphasized in the Hebrew Bible, especially in the later materials. That perspective continues in the intertestamental literature (4 Macc 7:11; 3 En. 2:3; 48A:7), although there are surprisingly few references to Aaron in this material. In the New Testament, the book of Hebrews speaks of Jesus being called by God, just like Aaron (Heb 5:4–5). However, to distinguish Jesus from the priests of his contemporary time, Jesus is said to be of the order of Melchizedek, not that of Aaron and the Levites (Heb 7:4–22). Thus the writer of Hebrews is claiming a priestly authority for Jesus which predates that of Aaron or Levi and comes through Melchizedek at the time of Abraham (Gen 14:17–24; Ps 110:4; Heb 7:1–3).

E. Summary

Aaron and the Aaronites play an important role in the religious structure of ancient Israel. The emphasis upon them and their functions clearly indicates their place as the preeminent priests. However, close examination of the biblical literature suggests that this prominent role was not present at the beginnings of Israel and was not won without a struggle. The earlier materials indicate a more significant role for the Levite and Zadokite priestly factions than for the Aaronites. It is only with the realignment and reorganization forced upon the Israelites by the trauma of the fall of Jerusalem in 586 b.c.e. that the Aaronites assume center stage. Then, in the writings of the post-exilic period, the Aaronites are portrayed as the paradigm of priests, and the other priestly groups are relegated to secondary or servant status. (See also PRIESTS AND LEVITES.)

Bibliography

Aberbach, M., and Smolar, L. 1967. Aaron, Jeroboam, and the Golden Calves. JBL 86: 129–40.

Cody, A. 1969. A History of Old Testament Priesthood. AnBib 35. Rome.

———. 1977. Aaron: A Figure with Many Facets. BToday 88: 1089–94.

Gunneweg, A. H. J. 1965. Leviten und Priester. FRLANT 89. Göttingen.

Horbury, W. 1983. The Aaronic Priesthood in the Epistle to the Hebrews. JSNT 19: 43–71.

Judge, H. G. 1956. Aaron, Zadok and Abiathar. JTS n.s. 7: 70–74.

Kennett, R. H. 1905. Origin of the Aaronite Priesthood. JTS 6: 161–86.

Meek, T. J. 1929. Aaronites and Zadokites. AJSL 45: 149–66.

North, F. S. 1954. Aaron’s Rise in Prestige. ZAW 66: 191–99.

Sabourin, L. 1973. Priesthood: A Comparative Study. SHR 25. Leiden.

Welch, A. C. 1939. The Work of the Chronicler. London.

  John R. Spencer

Freedman, D. N. (1996, c1992). The Anchor Bible Dictionary (1:2). New York: Doubleday.

2:

AARON  Although there is talmudic speculation to the effect that Aaron’s name, reflecting Pharaoh’s edict against the male Hebrew children, means “woe to this pregnancy” (Yashar Shemot 128a; T. Levi 17), its etymology is uncertain. The older brother of Moses, Aaron stayed in Egypt after Moses’ flight to avoid prosecution for murder. Later, when at his call to service Moses pleaded a lack of eloquence (Exod. 4:10), God said that Aaron would be his spokesman; Aaron came out to meet Moses in the desert “at the mountain of God” as Moses was en route back to Egypt (4:27). In cooperation with his brother, Aaron was instrumental in the subjection of Pharaoh and the exodus of the children of Israel from bondage. In a later incident, he, with Hur, held up Moses’ hands over the battle scene until the Israelites had defeated the forces of Amalek (17:10, 12). When Moses went up onto Mt. Sinai to receive the commandments, Aaron’s career sank to its low point as he yielded to the clamor of the people for a tangible material god and allowed the building of the golden calf idol, which so angered Moses on his return that he smashed the two tablets of the Law (Exod. 32).

Chosen for the official priesthood, Aaron was anointed with the holy oil (Lev. 8:12), and with his sons served in the Tabernacle. Only he, however, could enter into the Holy of Holies, once a year on the Day of Atonement, there to make sacrifice for the sins of the people (Deut. 16:12–14).

Two further events are prominently associated with Aaron: the revolt of Korah and his confederates against Moses and Aaron, which was ended by the rebels being swallowed up in an earthquake and 14,700 of their allies dying of the plague, a number which would have been far greater, it is said, had not Aaron rushed into the midst of the dying with his smoking censer, standing between the living and the dead to offer atoning intercession (Num. 16). Immediately following, all dissent concerning the right to the priesthood was ended when God commanded that a “rod” (or staff) from each of the eleven tribes be laid with that of Aaron, as representative of the Levites, overnight near the Ark of the Covenant in the sanctuary. In the morning Aaron’s rod blossomed, and put forth as well both leaves and ripe almonds (Num. 17).

Haggadic literature concentrates on these latter elements and on the famous priestly garments with which Aaron was invested (Exod. 28:4–39; Lev. 8:8). The eight garments are given symbolic association with the expiation of sins: his coat for murder, breeches for unchastity, miter for pride, girdle for theft, breastplate for prejudiced judgments, ephod for idolatry, bells on his robe for slander, and golden plate for effrontery (Yoma 9.44b–44c; cf. Philo, De vita Mosis, 2.2–14; Josephus Ant. 3.7.7). The breastplate and ephod were set with precious stones, the ephod with two and the breastplate with twelve, one for each of the twelve tribes. The stones for each tribe were, according to later rabbinic literature (following medieval lapidaries): Reuben, ruby, for fecundity in marriage; Simeon, smaragd, which is said to have the property of “shattering as soon as looked at by an unchaste woman”; Levi, carbuncle, which beams like lightning, reflecting piety and erudition; Judah, emerald, which makes its wearer victorious in battle but also recalls Judah’s shame over the Tamar incident; Issachar, sapphire, the stone out of which the tables of the Law were made; Zebulun, pearl, a remedy against insomnia; Dan, topaz, in which was visible the inverted face of human evil; Naphtali, turquoise, which gives its owner speed in riding, since Naphtali means speed “like a hind let loose”; Gad, crystal, which gives its owner courage in battle; Asher, chrysolite, which aids digestion and brings jovial health; Joseph, onyx, which endows its owner with grace; Benjamin, jasper, which varies its colors, since Benjamin was thought to be of volatile emotions (Tg. R. Bahya Exod. 28:17; Tg. Yer. Exod. 28:17).

The fate of Korah and his confederates is elaborated in grisly imaginative detail in a number of sources (see Ginzberg, LJ 3.298-300), and Aaron’s blossoming rod is said to have remained in use by the kings of Judah until the time of the destruction, when it miraculously vanished; it will appear only in the last days, when it will be fetched forth by Elijah for presentation to the Messiah (Yelammenedu in Yalqut 1.763; 2.869 on Ps. 110; Midr. ‚Aggadah Gen. 32:11). According to other sources (e.g., Pesiq. Rab. Kah. 42a) Aaron and his sons and Zadok were the only “anointed” priests; many sources (Ginzberg, LJ 6.72 gives a list) emphatically state that neither Aaron nor the Messiah will be anointed in the Day of the Lord, a point which Ginzberg suggests was probably directed against the Christian identification of Jesus as the Christ, “the anointed one.”

Patristic reflection on the significance of Aaron’s priesthood focuses on many of the same elements as the prominent targums, but almost entirely within the context provided by NT typology suggested in the Epistle to the Hebrews (5:4; 7:11; 9:4), in which the eternal vocation of Christ as “great high priest” is elaborated in connection with both Melchizedek and Aaron. This typology focuses on pastoral qualities, as in the Nisibene Hymns (no. 14) of St. Ephraim Syrus, in one of which the voice of Satan is made to say how the “censer of Aaron caused me to fear, for he stood between the dead and the living and conquered me” (39.6), an obvious reference to the event in Num. 16:48. This same incident was for St. Ambrose the high point in Aaron’s priesthood (De officiis ministrorum, 2.4.11). While Aaron’s priestly character is exemplary in many respects (Ep. 63.50), none of his qualities is more important than his courage in this incident (cf. St. Isidore, Etymologiae, 7.6.47, who says that his name means mons fortitudinis):

When a terrible death on account of the rebels was spreading over the people, he offered himself between the dead and the living, that he might arrest death, and that no person should perish. A man of truly priestly mind and soul, as a good shepherd with pious affection he offered himself for the Lord’s flock. And so he broke the sting of death, restrained its violence, refused it further course. (63.51)

Aelfric reiterates the importance of Aaron’s divine calling in his sermon De Populo Israhel, saying that if Korah had been able to usurp the priestly function it would have resulted in a view of the priesthood based on mere political power—“swylce hi mihton he sylfe gewyrcan”—but Aaron was shown in the events to be chosen by God himself, “and gesette him to bisceope / on þa ealdan wisan eafter Moyses áe” (237–45).

The rod of Aaron which bloomed is also the subject of extensive commentary. That it alone blossomed after God’s intervention suggests that a priestly vocation derives from the grace of divine election rather than from the mere accretion of human merit, according to Ambrose (Ep. 63.58), a grace which flowers through many ages in a priest truly “called of God.” The almond fruit on the rod is generally held to be a symbol of the lex Dei itself, “bitter in its rind, hard in its shell, [but] inside pleasant,” which it is the duty of the priest to set fearlessly before his people (Ambrose, Ep. 41.3–4). Preeminently perhaps, at least in later medieval typologies, the budding rod is seen to prefigure the miraculous fecundity of the virgin birth of Jesus (e.g., St. Anthony of Padua, In Nativitate Beatae Mariae Virginis, 3.696a), partly because the divine pregnancy of Mary is heralded by Elisabeth the mother of John the Baptist (Luke 1:40–45), who is said to be of Aaron’s lineage (1:5). Franciscan poet James Ryman makes frequent use of the typology: “O Aaron yerde moost of honoure, / O moder of oure Savioure” (R. Greene, Early English Carols, nos. 192, 193; cf. 190b, 182, etc.). In a verse like the following, one sees the typology of the Virgin serving exegesis of the passages from Hebrews about the “high priesthood” of Jesus:

As Aaron yerde withoute moistoure

Hath florisshed and borne a floure,

So hath she borne oure Savyoure

Withouten touch of dishonoure

Of mannes sede,

For God his self in her did brede. (Greene, no. 203)

Aaron’s iconographic attributes from the Middle Ages through Renaissance and baroque art include his rod, censer, and priestly vestments, especially the twelve-jeweled breastplate—the latter of which is the subject of lapidarial symbology in writers from Ambrose (De fide, 2, intro. 1–10) to Pope Innocent III (in his famous letter to King John). Also depicted are his garment with bells on the lower fringe, Urim and Thummim, and, when he signifies the Christian priesthood, his miter. Occasionally he has a tiara, in which case he represents the Pope. In Protestant art after Calvin, especially in the Netherlands, his typical headdress becomes a turban, partly in reaction to Catholic ecclesiology and vestments. A rarer iconographic association is the tau, or a bishop’s crosier topped with a tau. In the destruction of Jerusalem discussed in Ezek. 9:2–6, an unnamed figure with an inkhorn at his side marks a tau, the last letter of the Hebrew alphabet, on the foreheads of those to be spared. Franciscan exegesis related him to Aaron and the tau to the mark upon the lintels of houses to be spared in the Passover (St. Bonaventure, Legenda Major, 9.9ff.), and St. Francis himself used the tau in signature, identifying himself with a prophetic priesthood, like the man “similis Aaron” in Ezek. 9, setting out to save some souls from the general judgment upon his age.

The development of Aaronic typology after the Reformation reflects divergent ecclesiological concerns. In England, where Anglicanism preserved much if not all of the typology of the medieval Church, George Herbert can make one of his most powerful reflections on his own priesthood a contrast between the rich inward significance of Aaron’s vestments and the poverty of his own spirit in the moments before divine service:

Holinesse on the head,

Light and perfections on the breast,

Harmonious bells below, raising the dead

To lead them unto life and rest:

Thus are true Aarons drest.

But only when he can say “Christ is my onely head, / My alone onely heart and breast,” is he able to put off the burdens of the “old man” and, his “doctrine tun’d by Christ,” face his congregation: “Come people; Aaron’s drest” (“Aaron”).

In a contrasting assessment, Calvin comments on Heb. 5:4 that “it was clear that Aaron’s priesthood had been temporary, and was due to cease.” He continues, making it clear that he has in mind the traditional analogy between Aaron and his sons and the doctrine of apostolic succession in connection with the priesthood of Rome: “What then is to be said of Aaron and the rest of his successors? This, that they had as much right as was given to them by God, but not as much as men have given them according to their own thinking.”

Aaron has thus little role in works by writers like Milton and Bunyan, although in Pilgrim’s Progress Christian is warned about the “sins of Korah” by Hope. It may be coincidental, but Shakespeare’s Aaron in Titus Andronicus is the agent and virtual personification of evil ministrations. In Absalom and Achitophel, Dryden calls the rebel Levites “Aaron’s race,” though six years later, in his Catholic phase, The Hind and the Panther satirizes Calvin (“In Israel some believe him whelp’d long since”) as actually descended from Korah:

When Corah with his brethren did conspire

From Moyses hand the Sov’reign sway to wrest,

And Aaron of his Ephod to divest:

Till opening Earth made way for all to pass,

And cou’d not bear the burden of a class. (185–89)

Most 18th-cent. allusions are casual, such as Pope’s reference in the Essay on Man to the danger of obsession: “And hence one MASTER PASSION in the breast, / Like Aaron’s serpent, swallows up the rest.”

Relatively rarely, despite Dryden’s imagination, does Aaron obtain the affection of the Protestant typologist. One exception in American literature is Cotton Mather, who describes an old pastor welcoming his successor in terms drawn from the divesture of Aaron from his priestly garments just before his death so that his son Eleazar could be invested (Num. 20:12–29): “The good Old Man like Old Aaron, as it were disrobed himself, with an unspeakable Satisfaction, when he beheld his Garments put upon a Son so dear to him” (“The Life of John Eliot”). This passage may also be in Joyce’s mind, less charitably, when “Mulligan is stripped of his garments” in the “Telemachus” section of Ulysses. Melville, perhaps reflecting his rebellion against Calvinism, also identifies the Hebrews with Korah in an allusion to the fate of ships and crews likewise “swallowed up” by the elements (Moby-Dick, chap. 58). In Democratic Vistas Walt Whitman seems to be thinking of Aaron’s rod when, in reference to capitalistic opportunities, he says that “the magician’s serpent in the fable ate up all the other serpents; and money making is our magician’s serpent, remaining sole master of the field.” The episode of the golden calf is the one which may most provide an opportunity for psychological development of Aaron’s character: it is tantalizingly seized upon by Arnold Schoenberg in his opera Moses und Aron (1930–32); the work remains, however, unfinished.

Aaron’s rod rather than Aaron himself seems most to have endured in modern literary allusions. In D. H. Lawrence’s novel Aaron’s Rod (1922) the image is applied, with typical syncretism, to the ambiguous artistic and sexual liberation of the central character, Aaron Sisson. David Jones, however, in his Sleeping Lord sequence, recurs to “the budding rod” of Aaron in its larger christological context (64), the historia humanae salvationis. Howard Nemerov draws this whole context of relationships concerning Aaron’s rod and tau, as well as the root of Jesse and the cross, together in the eleventh stanza of his poem “Runes”:

A holy man said to me, “Split the stick

And there is Jesus.” When I split the stick

To the dark marrow and the splintery grain

I saw nothing that was not wood, nothing

That was not God, and I began to dream

How from the tree that stood between the rivers

Came Aaron’s rod that crawled in front of Pharaoh,

And came the rod of Jesse flowering

In all the generations of the Kings,

And came the timbers of the second tree,

The sticks and yardarms of the holy three-

Masted vessel whereon the Son of Man

Hung between thieves, and came the crown of thorns,

The lance and ladder, when was shed that blood

Streamed in the grain of Adam’s tainted seed.

See also tribes of israel; urim and thummim.

Bibliography. Fleming, J. V. “The Scribe of the Tau.” In From Bonaventure to Bellini (1982); Needham, E. A. Melchizedek and Aaron as Types of Christ (1904); Steck, O. H. Moses und Aron: Die Oper Arnold Schoenbergs und ihr biblischer Stoff (1981); Valentin, H. Aaron: Eine Studie zur vorpriesterschriftlichen Aaron-Ueberlieferung (1978).

Jeffrey, D. L. (1992). A Dictionary of biblical tradition in English literature. Grand Rapids, Mich.: W.B. Eerdmans.

Definition3:

Aaron —  the eldest son of Amram and Jochebed, a daughter of Levi (Ex. 6:20). Some explain the name as meaning mountaineer, others mountain of strength, illuminator. He was born in Egypt three years before his brother Moses, and a number of years after his sister Miriam (2:1,4; 7:7). He married Elisheba, the daughter of Amminadab of the house of Judah (6:23; 1 Chr. 2:10), by whom he had four sons, Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. When the time for the deliverance of Isarael out of Egypt drew nigh, he was sent by God (Ex. 4:14,27–30) to meet his long-absent brother, that he might co-operate with him in all that they were required to do in bringing about the Exodus. He was to be the “mouth” or “prophet” of Moses, i.e., was to speak for him, because he was a man of a ready utterance (7:1,2,9,10,19). He was faithful to his trust, and stood by Moses in all his interviews with Pharaoh.

   When the ransomed tribes fought their first battle with Amalek in Rephidim, Moses stood on a hill overlooking the scene of the conflict with the rod of God in his outstretched hand. On this occasion he was attended by Aaron and Hur, his sister’s husband, who held up his wearied hands till Joshua and the chosen warriors of Israel gained the victory (17:8–13).

   Afterwards, when encamped before Sinai, and when Moses at the command of God ascended the mount to receive the tables of the law, Aaron and his two sons, Nadab and Abihu, along with seventy of the elders of Israel, were permitted to accompany him part of the way, and to behold afar off the manifestation of the glory of Israel’s God (Ex. 19:24; 24:9–11). While Moses remained on the mountain with God, Aaron returned unto the people; and yielding through fear, or ignorance, or instability of character, to their clamour, made unto them a golden calf, and set it up as an object of worship (Ex. 32:4; Ps. 106:19). On the return of Moses to the camp, Aaron was sternly rebuked by him for the part he had acted in this matter; but he interceded for him before God, who forgave his sin (Deut. 9:20).

   On the mount, Moses received instructions regarding the system of worship which was to be set up among the people; and in accordance therewith Aaron and his sons were consecrated to the priest’s office (Lev. 8; 9). Aaron, as high priest, held henceforth the prominent place appertaining to that office.

   When Israel had reached Hazeroth, in “the wilderness of Paran,” Aaron joined with his sister Miriam in murmuring against Moses, “because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married,” probably after the death of Zipporah. But the Lord vindicated his servant Moses, and punished Miriam with leprosy (Num. 12). Aaron acknowledged his own and his sister’s guilt, and at the intercession of Moses they were forgiven.

   Twenty years after this, when the children of Israel were encamped in the wilderness of Paran, Korah, Dathan, and Abiram conspired against Aaron and his sons; but a fearful judgment from God fell upon them, and they were destroyed, and the next day thousands of the people also perished by a fierce pestilence, the ravages of which were only stayed by the interposition of Aaron (Num. 16). That there might be further evidence of the divine appointment of Aaron to the priestly office, the chiefs of the tribes were each required to bring to Moses a rod bearing on it the name of his tribe. And these, along with the rod of Aaron for the tribe of Levi, were laid up overnight in the tabernacle, and in the morning it was found that while the other rods remained unchanged, that of Aaron “for the house of Levi” budded, blossomed, and yielded almonds (Num.17:1–10). This rod was afterwards preserved in the tabernacle (Heb. 9:4) as a memorial of the divine attestation of his appointment to the priesthood.

   Aaron was implicated in the sin of his brother at Meribah (Num. 20:8–13), and on that account was not permitted to enter the Promised Land. When the tribes arrived at Mount Hor, “in the edge of the land of Edom,” at the command of God Moses led Aaron and his son Eleazar to the top of that mountain, in the sight of all the people. There he stripped Aaron of his priestly vestments, and put them upon Eleazar; and there Aaron died on the top of the mount, being 123 years old (Num. 20:23–29. Comp. Deut. 10:6; 32:50), and was “gathered unto his people.” The people, “even all the house of Israel,” mourned for him thirty days. Of Aaron’s sons two survived him, Eleazar, whose family held the high-priesthood till the time of Eli; and Ithamar, in whose family, beginning with Eli, the high-priesthood was held till the time of Solomon. Aaron’s other two sons had been struck dead (Lev. 10:1,2) for the daring impiety of offering “strange fire” on the alter of incense.

   The Arabs still show with veneration the traditionary site of Aaron’s grave on one of the two summits of Mount Hor, which is marked by a Mohammedan chapel. His name is mentioned in the Koran, and there are found in the writings of the rabbins many fabulous stories regarding him.

   He was the first anointed priest. His descendants, “the house of Aaron,” constituted the priesthood in general. In the time of David they were very numerous (1 Chr. 12:27). The other branches of the tribe of Levi held subordinate positions in connection with the sacred office. Aaron was a type of Christ in his official character as the high priest. His priesthood was a “shadow of heavenly things,” and was intended to lead the people of Israel to look forward to the time when “another priest” would arise “after the order of Melchizedek” (Heb. 6:20). (See MOSES.)

Easton, M. (1996, c1897). Easton's Bible dictionary. Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

4:

AARON Moses’ brother and Israel’s first high priest. In the books of Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers, Aaron was Moses’ spokesman and assistant during the Israelites’ exodus from Egypt. Aaron was three years older than Moses and was 83 when they first confronted the pharaoh (Ex 7:7). Their sister, Miriam (Nm 26:59), must have been the eldest child, old enough to carry messages when the infant Moses was found by the pharaoh’s daughter (Ex 2:1–9). Aaron’s mother was Jochebed and his father was Amram, a descendant of the Kohath family of Levi’s tribe (Ex 6:18–20).

Aaron and his wife, Elisheba, had four sons (Ex 6:23), who were to follow him in the priesthood (Lv 1:5). Two of them, Nadab and Abihu, violated God’s instructions by performing a sacrilegious act while burning incense and were burned to death as a result (Lv 10:1–5). The priesthood was then passed on through the other two sons, Eleazar and Ithamar, who also sometimes failed to carry out God’s instructions precisely (10:6–20).

Aaron’s prominence in the events of the exodus arose partly from the fact that he was Moses’ brother. When Moses tried to avoid becoming Israel’s leader on the grounds of having a speech impediment, Aaron’s ability as a speaker was recognized and used by God (Ex 4:10–16).

Events of Aaron’s Life The Hebrew people were slaves in Egypt at the beginning of Aaron’s life. Raised as an Egyptian by one of the pharaoh’s daughters, Moses had fled into the Midian Desert after killing a cruel Egyptian taskmaster (Ex 1–2). When God sent Moses back as a liberator (chs 3–4), he also sent Aaron out to meet Moses in the desert (4:27). Moses was a stranger to his people after so many years of exile, so Aaron made contact with Israel’s elders for him (4:29–31). When Moses and Aaron went to see the pharaoh, God told the Egyptian monarch through the two of them to let the Israelites go (Ex 5:1). When the pharaoh made life even more miserable for the Hebrew slaves, God began to show his power to the Egyptian ruler through a series of miracles (chs 5–12). God performed the first three miracles through Aaron, using a rod (probably a shepherd’s staff). The pharaoh had his palace sorcerers do similar tricks. After God brought a plague of gnats (kjv “lice”) over all Egypt, the Egyptian magicians admitted defeat and said, “This is the finger of God!” (Ex 8:19, nlt). Then God brought on more plagues through Moses, culminating in the deaths of all the Egyptians’ firstborn sons. Aaron was with Moses (12:1–28) when God revealed how he would “pass over” the properly marked homes of the Israelites, sparing their children on the night the Egyptian children died. That event was the origin of the Passover feast still observed by Jews today (13:1–16).

After God led the Israelites to safety and destroyed the pursuing Egyptians, Aaron participated with Moses in governing the people on their long wilderness journey to the Promised Land (Ex 16:1–6). Later, battling against Amalek’s army, Aaron helped hold up Moses’ weary arms in prayer to maintain God’s blessing (17:8–16). Although always subordinate to Moses, Aaron seems to have been recognized as an important leader (18:12). God summoned him to be with Moses when God gave the law on Mt Sinai (19:24). Aaron was among the representatives of the people who ratified God’s statutes in the Book of the Covenant (24:1–8). Aaron went with those leaders partway up the holy mountain and saw the vision of the God of Israel (24:9–10). With Hur, he was left in charge when Moses was with God on the mountaintop (vv 13–14).

Aaron the priest

Because it marked the beginning of the priesthood in Israel, [he consecration of Aaron to his office was both instructive and solemn. Nothing was left to human Ingenuity; all was precisely commanded of God. There were three ceremonies; washing, clothing, and anointing. When the tabernacle was finished, Aaron and his sons were set apart to the priesthood by washing (to signify purification), clothing with official garments (for beauty and glory), and anointing with oil (to picture the need of empowering by the Spirit; cf. Ex 28; 40:12–15; Lv 8). Aaron thus became the first high priest, serving nearly 40 years. The character of his office was hereditary; this is attested to by his sons’ wearing his garments when they succeeded to the office of high priest (Ex 29:29–30; Nm 20:25–28). Although all priests were anointed with oil, the anointing of Aaron and his successors was distinct from that of the ordinary priests (Ex 29:7; 40:12–15: Lv 8:12). Because the priesthood was inherited, all subsequent priests had to trace their ancestry back to Aaron (Ezr 7:1–5; Lk 1:5). Also, a sharp distinction was always drawn between the family of Aaron and the rest of the Levites (cf. Nm 3:5). Thus, the high priest was designated as the anointed priest In a special sense (Lv 4:3–4; 6:20–22; 21:10).

Because of Aaron’s priestly role, the NT looks upon him as prefiguring the Messiah of Israel. Jesus Christ was appointed High Priest (Heb 3:1–2} In the same way God chose Aaron (Heb 5:1–5), but he was described as a greater high priest than Aaron (Heb 7:11–28).

Moses was gone for over a month, and in a moment of weakness, Aaron gave in to the people’s request for an idol to worship. He melted down their gold ornaments to make a golden image of a calf (Ex 32:1–4). (The Israelites had probably been influenced in Egypt by the cult of Apis, a fertility god in the form of a bull.) At first, Aaron seemed to think he might be doing something acceptable to God (v 5), but things got out of hand and a drunken sex orgy took place around the idol (v 6). God was angry enough to destroy the people, but Moses interceded, reminding God of his promise to multiply Abraham’s descendants (Ex 32:7–14). Moses furiously confronted Aaron about the immorality and idolatry, which Aaron blamed on the people without admitting any guilt of his own (vv 21–24). Although the idolators were punished by death (Ex 32:25–28) and the whole camp by a plague (v 35), Aaron was evidently not punished. In a retelling of the events, Moses said that Aaron was in great danger but was spared because he had prayed for him (Dt 9:20).

In their second year of nomadic wilderness life, Aaron helped Moses carry out a census (Nm 1:1–3, 17–18). Eventually, Aaron may have become jealous of Moses’ position of leadership, for Miriam and Aaron began to slander their brother, even though the elderly Moses was by then more humble than any man on earth (Nm 12:1–4). God’s anger toward the two was averted by Moses’ prayer, although Miriam did suffer for her sin (12:5–15). Aaron again seems to have escaped punishment entirely. With Moses, Aaron opposed a rebellion at Kadesh (14:1–5). He stood with Moses against a later revolt (ch 16). After a final incident at Meribah, where the Israelites almost revolted again, God accused Moses and Aaron of having failed to take him at his word and denied them entry into the Promised Land (20:1–12). Aaron died at the age of 123 on Mt Hor, after Moses had removed his elaborate priestly garments and put them on Aaron’s son Eleazar (Nm 20:23–29; 33:38–39).

See also Israel, History of; Exodus, The; Wilderness Wanderings; Priests and Levites; Levi, Tribe of; Aaron’s Rod.

Elwell, W. A., & Comfort, P. W. (2001). Tyndale Bible dictionary. Tyndale reference library (1). Wheaton, Ill.: Tyndale House Publishers.

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AARON (ārʹun; Heb. derivation uncertain). The son of Amram the Levite and Jochebed (Ex. 6:20) and the first high priest of Israel. Third in line of descent from Levi, he was the brother of Moses and his senior by three years, although he was younger than his sister Miriam (which see). His wife was Elisheba, the daughter of Amminadab, by whom he had four sons: Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar (6:23).

Moses’ Assistant.  He was eloquent of speech and divinely appointed to be Moses’ mouthpiece (prophet). God specifically told Moses that Aaron would be his spokesman and that “he shall be as a mouth for you, and you shall be as God to him” (Ex. 4:16). Together with Moses he withstood Pharaoh and saw the deliverance of the Israelites from Egypt by great signs and miracles. In the battle with Amalek, Aaron and Hur supported Moses’ arms, which held the official rod, the uplifting of which brought victory to Israel. When Moses went up to Mt. Sinai to receive the tables of the law (24:12), Aaron and his sons, Nadab and Abihu, and the seventy elders accompanied him part of the way, being granted a glimpse of the divine presence (24:1–11). While Moses was on the mountain, Aaron in a moment of weakness and under pressure from the people made a golden image of a male calf as a visible symbol of Jehovah (32:4). The choice of this animal was doubtless suggested by the vigor and strength symbolized by it and by the people’s recollection of bull worship in Egypt.

High Priest.  In the divine institution of the priesthood Aaron was appointed high (Heb. “great”) priest, and his sons and descendants priests. The tribe of Levi was consecrated as the priestly caste. After the Tabernacle was erected according to the divine plan and the ritual established (Ex. 24:12–31; 18; 35:1–40:38), Aaron and his sons were solemnly consecrated to their priestly office by Moses (Lev. 8:6) about 1440 b.c. (cf. 1 Kings 6:1). Tragedy overtook the family shortly thereafter, when Nadab and Abihu, his elder sons, died because they conducted the worship improperly (Lev. 10:1–2).

The elaborate description of the high priest’s garments of glory and beauty (Ex. 28:2), including the jeweled ephod, turban, and crown, is not an interpolation from a later period. Archaeology has shown that in the Desert of Sinai at Serabit el-Khadem turquoise and copper were being mined for Egyptian craftsmen at this early period. The jewels of silver and gold that the Israelites obtained from the Egyptians (11:2) are illustrated from ancient times. Artistic gold and jeweled ornaments were recovered from the ruins of Sumerian Ur over a millennium before the Mosaic period, and there is nothing in the furnishing of the Tabernacle or the clothing of the high priest that would be out of keeping with the artistic accomplishments of contemporary craftsmen.

In his invidious conduct against Moses (Num. 12:1–15) the same weak side of Aaron’s character appears as in the incident of the golden calf. In the conspiracy formed against Aaron and Moses led by Korah, a Levite, and Dathan and Abiram, Reubenites, the destruction of the conspirators by the hand of God resulted in the vindication of the Aaronic priesthood (chap. 16). An added attestation of Aaron’s divine priestly appointment was the budding of his rod, which was preserved for “a sign against the rebels” (17:10). Aaron shared Moses’ sin at Meribah (20:8–13, 24) and consequently was not allowed to enter the Promised Land, dying soon after (20:22–29) on Mt. Hor at the borders of Edom.

Type of Christ.  In Scripture typology Aaron is a figure of Christ, our High Priest (Ex. 28:1), who executes His priestly office after the Aaronic pattern (Heb. 9). This type is seen (1) in Aaron’s offering sacrifice; (2) in his being anointed with oil by pouring (Ex. 29:7; Lev. 8:12), prefiguring our Lord’s measureless anointing with the Holy Spirit (John 3:34); and (3) in his bearing the names of the Israelite tribes upon his breast and shoulders, thus presenting them perpetually before God as our Lord bears our cause before the Father (John 17; Heb. 7:25). Aaron entered into the Holy Place on the Day of Atonement (Lev. 16) as Christ has entered “heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us” (Heb. 9:24).

bibliography: H. W. Soltau, The Tabernacle, the Priesthood and the Offerings (1884); H. G. Judge, Journal of Theological Studies 7 (1956): 70ff.; R. H. Mount, Jr., The Law Prophesied (1963), pp. 156–65; R. L. Honeycutt, Review and Expositor 74 (1977): 523–36.

Unger, M. F., Harrison, R. K., Vos, H. F., Barber, C. J., & Unger, M. F. (1988). The new Unger's Bible dictionary. Revision of: Unger's Bible dictionary. 3rd ed. c1966. (Rev. and updated ed.). Chicago: Moody Press.

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AARON (Heb. ’aharôn) According to the genealogy of Ex. 6:14ff., Aaron was one of the two sons of Amram and Jochebed (the other being Moses) and third in line of descent from Levi (Levi-Kohath-Amram-Aaron); according to Ex. 7:7 he was 3 years older than Moses. Miriam, their sister, was older still, if she is Moses’ unnamed ‘sister’ of Ex. 2:4, 7ff.

Aaron first appears in the Exodus narrative as ‘Aaron the Levite’ who went to meet his brother Moses on the latter’s return to Egypt after the theophany at the burning bush; because of his superior eloquence he was to be Moses’ spokesman to the Israelites and to Pharaoh (Ex. 4:14ff.). Throughout his career he was very much a lay figure alongside his dynamic brother; on the one occasion when he acted independently of Moses’ instructions he acted wrongly (Ex. 32:1–6). In addition to being Moses’ spokesman he also filled a thaumaturgic role: it was he who wielded the rod which became a serpent and swallowed up the rod-serpents of the Egyptian magicians (Ex. 7:8ff.) and which, when he stretched it out, turned the Nile into blood and then brought forth the successive plagues of frogs and gnats (Ex. 7:19; 8:5f., 16f.).

After the crossing of the Sea of Reeds Aaron was one of Moses’ two supporters during the battle with the Amalekites (Ex. 17:8ff.), and ascended Mt Sinai in his company (Ex. 19:24), together with his sons, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy elders of Israel; there they had a Vision of the God of Israel and shared a meal in his presence (Ex. 24:9ff.). On the next occasion, however, when Moses went up Mt Sinai attended by Joshua only (Ex. 24:12ff.), Aaron was persuaded by the people to make a visible image of the divine presence and fashioned the golden bull-calf, thus incurring Moses’ severe displeasure (Ex. 32:1ff.). His formula of presentation of the bull-calf to the people, ‘These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!’ (Ex. 32:4), provided a precedent for Jeroboam I when he installed the golden bull-calves at Bethel and Dan (1 Ki. 12:28).

In the priestly legislation of the Pentateuch Aaron is installed as high priest and his sons as priests, to minister in the wilderness tabernacle (Ex. 28:1ff.; Lv. 8:1ff.). Aaron is anointed with holy oil and is henceforth ‘the anointed priest’ (Lv. 4:3, etc.; cf. the oil on Aaron’s beard in Ps. 133:2). He and his sons receive special vestments, but Aaron’s are distinctive. The headband of his turban is inscribed ‘Holy to Yahweh’ (Ex. 28:36); his scapular (ephod) incorporates a breastpiece with twelve jewels (one for each tribe) and accommodation for the Urim and Thummim, the objects with which the sacred lot was cast to ascertain Yahweh’s will for his people (Ex. 28:15ff.).

The outstanding day of the year for Aaron (and for each ‘anointed priest’ who succeeded him) was the Day of Atonement (Tishri 10), when he passed through the curtain separating the outer compartment of the sanctuary (the holy place) from the inner (the holy of holies) and presented the blood of an expiatory sacrifice in the latter for the sins of the people (Lv. 16:1ff.). On this occasion he did not wear his colourful vestments of ‘glory and beauty’ but a white linen robe.

Aaron’s wife was Elisheba, of the tribe of Judah. Their elder sons Nadab and Abihu died in the wilderness after using ‘unholy fire’ for the incense-offering (Lv. 10:1ff.); from their two surviving sons, Eleazar and Ithamar, rival priestly families later traced their descent (1 Ch. 24:3).

Despite Aaron’s status, Moses remained Yahweh’s prophet to Israel and Israel’s prevailing intercessor with Yahweh, and this excited the envy of Aaron and Miriam (Nu. 12:1ff.). Aaron himself (with Moses) attracted the envy of other Levitical families, whose leader was Korah (Nu. 16:1ff.). Their doubts about Aaron’s privileges were answered by the phenomenon of *Aaron’s rod.

Aaron, like Moses, was debarred from entering Canaan at the end of the wilderness wanderings; he died and was buried on Mt Hor, on the Edomite border, and his functions and vestments passed to Eleazar (Nu. 20:22ff.).

The priesthood in Israel came to be known comprehensively as ‘the sons of Aaron’. The ‘sons of Zadok’, who served as priests in the Jerusalem Temple from its dedication under Solomon to 171 bc (apart from the hiatus of the Babylonian exile), are incorporated into the family of Aaron, among the descendants of Eleazar, in the genealogy of 1 Ch. 6:1ff. 10 years after the abolition of the Zadokite priesthood Alcimus, appointed high priest by the Seleucid authorities, was recognized by the Hasidaeans as ‘a priest of the line of Aaron’ (1 Macc. 7:12ff.), his genealogy being reckoned perhaps through Ithamar. Ben Sira pronounces Aaron’s encomium in Ecclus. 45:6ff. The men of Qumran formed a community of ‘Israel and Aaron’, i.e. of Jewish laymen and priests (CD 1:7), the priests constituting an ‘Aaronic holy of holies’ (1QS 8:5f., 8f.), and looked forward to the coming of an Aaronic (priestly) Messiah alongside the (lay) ‘Messiah of Israel’ (1QS 9:11; CD 12:23f.; 20:1).

In NT Aaron is named as the ancestor of Elizabeth, mother of John the Baptist (Lk. 1:5), and receives incidental mention in Stephen’s retrospect of the history of Israel (Acts 7:40). The writer to the Hebrews contrasts Aaron’s circumscribed and hereditary priesthood with the perfect and perpetual ministry of Jesus in the heavenly sanctuary (Heb. 5:4; 7:11, etc.).

Bibliography. R. de Vaux, Ancient Israel2, 1965, pp. 345–401.  f.f.b.

Wood, D. R. W., Wood, D. R. W., & Marshall, I. H. (1996, c1982, c1962). New Bible Dictionary. Includes index. (electronic ed. of 3rd ed.) (1). Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press.

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Aaron (airʹuhn), the brother of Moses and Miriam. The name is of uncertain meaning but may be Egyptian, as are other names among the tribe of Levi, to which Aaron belonged.

In Mic. 6:4, the only reference to him in the prophets, Aaron is said to have been sent by God, together with Moses and Miriam, to lead Israel from Egypt (cf. Josh. 24:5; 1 Sam. 12:6, 8; Pss. 77:20; 105:26) and this conforms to the representation of him in the earliest Pentateuchal strata. There he appears as Moses’ helper and joint leader in the events of the Exodus, and there is no evidence of his having specifically priestly functions. Rather, he is depicted as a prophet (Exod. 7:1), particularly in the sense of one who announces the divine will (Exod. 4:16; 16:9; Num. 14:26-28). He accompanied Moses and the elders of Israel on important sacrificial occasions (Exod. 18:12; 24:9-11). He and Hur held up Moses’ hands during the battle with Amalek (Exod. 17:12), these two acted as judges when Moses was absent (Exod. 24:14), and, along with Moses, Aaron received the report of the spies (Num. 13:26).

All these, and other, references (e.g., Exod. 4:27-31) suggest that Aaron, together with other now rather shadowy figures, such as Miriam, Hur, and the elders, once played a distinctive, even an independent role, in the Exodus events, an observation that may be confirmed by the traditions that show Aaron in an unfavorable light because of his opposition to Moses, notably Num. 12:1-16, but also by the episode of the golden calf (Exod. 32). However, in the early Pentateuchal material he is clearly subordinated to Moses as his agent and indeed is assimilated to the greater leader. Thus a miraculous rod, which originally belonged to Moses (Exod. 4:2-5, 17), is also attributed to Aaron; with it he causes the Egyptian plagues (Exod. 7:9-12, 19; 8:5-7, 16-17). Both Aaron and Moses suffer the Israelites’ hostility in the wilderness (Num. 16:1-3; 20:2), both are denied entrance to Canaan for the sin of striking the rock (Num. 20:12), and both die on a mountain outside it (Deut. 32:48-52).

In the later priestly sources of the Pentateuch (Exod. 25-31; 35-40; all Leviticus; Num. 1-10; 15-19; 25-35), Aaron is given very much greater prominence. Here he appears essentially as the ancestor of the Aaronite priesthood that finally emerged at Jerusalem after the Exile: the story of the budding of Aaron’s rod (Num. 17:1-11) seems designed to establish the claims of the Jerusalem clergy over rival claimants. Aaron and his sons alone are to serve as priests (Exod. 28:1), to offer sacrifices (Num. 8:1-7), and to bless the people (Num. 6:22-27). He fathers an everlasting priesthood (Exod. 40:14; Num. 25:13), and his successors in his office are given supreme authority, even over the secular leader (Num. 27:21; cf. Ecclus. 45:17). In particular, the figure of Aaron represents the high priest and the position he held as the head of the Jerusalem Temple state in postexilic times, where he took over much of the role of the former king. So Aaron was anointed (Lev. 8:12), as was the Israelite king, and the special vestments that he wore were those worn by pre-exilic monarchs (Exod. 28:1-38); such seems certainly to be the case with the breastpiece (Exod. 28:15-30) and the turban and its gold plate (Exod. 28:36-38). On him centers the particular priestly concern with atonement, for it is he, and his high-priestly successors, alone who officiate on the Day of Atonement (Lev. 16:32-34).

In later Jewish thought, the picture of Aaron is still further developed. He is the most prominent figure in the list of Israel’s great men, much more even than Moses, in Ecclus. 44-49 and the high-priestly vesture is endowed with symbolic and cosmic significance (Wisd. of Sol. 18:24). See also Aaronites; Leviticus; Priests; Temple, The.

Bibliography

 Cody, A. A History of Old Testament Priesthood. Rome: Pontifical Biblical Institute, 1969.

Noth, M. A History of Pentateuchal Traditions. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1972. Pp. 178-182.  J.R.P.

Achtemeier, P. J., Harper & Row, P., & Society of Biblical Literature. (1985). Harper's Bible dictionary. Includes index. (1st ed.) (2). San Francisco: Harper & Row.

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Aaron (Heb. ˒ahărōn)

A descendant of Levi and brother of Moses (Exod. 6:20; Num. 26:59; 1 Chr. 6:3 [MT 5:22]), a co-leader with Moses and their sister Miriam leading the Israelites out of Egypt through the wilderness (Mic. 6:4; Exod. 4:10–16; 7:1–25), and Israel’s first high priest and ancestor of the priestly family of Aaronite priests (Exod. 28:1–2; Num. 18:1–7).

High Priest (Exodus-Numbers and Chronicles)

Aaron and his descendants are repeatedly featured as central figures and the predominant priests of Israel’s cult in Exodus-Numbers and 1-2 Chronicles. Approximately 85 percent of the total number (346) of references to Aaron in the Bible are concentrated in the pentateuchal books of Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers. There, particularly in the so-called Priestly portions of the Pentateuch, Aaron and his sons are the exalted high priests who oversee Israel’s sacrifices and cult centered in the ark and tabernacle (Exod. 27–30). The Aaronites are in charge of the Urim and Thummim, the sacred lots for determining Yahweh’s will (Exod. 28:30; Lev. 8:5–9; Num. 27:21). Aaron and his sons are the only priests authorized to preside at various rituals and offerings (Lev. 6–8). The actual ordination ceremony for Aaron and his sons is narrated in Lev. 8–9. Lev. 21 lists a series of regulations designed to maintain the holiness of the Aaronite priesthood. Aaron is a descendant of the priestly tribe of Levi (Exod. 6:16–25), but Aaron and his sons represent a special clan among the Levites who alone are authorized to come near and officiate at rituals associated with the tent of meeting (Num. 3:5–10). Aaron and his sons are assigned the duty of blessing the Israelites in the form of the so-called Aaronic benediction in Num. 6:22–27. The priestly predominance of Aaron over other Levites is emphasized in the revolt of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram in Num. 16, the budding of Aaron’s rod in Num. 17, and the classification of priestly responsibilities among the Aaronites and other Levites in Num. 18.

The postexilic book of 1-2 Chronicles reflects an exalted view of the Aaronite priesthood similar to that found in the Priestly tradition of the Pentateuch. Aaron and his descendants make offerings and atonement at “the most holy place” (1 Chr. 6:49 [34]). The Aaronite priests are “set apart” from other Levites for the most sacred duties of temple worship in burning incense, ministering, and blessing (1 Chr. 23–24; cf. 2 Chr. 26:16–21).

Elsewhere in the Old Testament

Allusions to Aaron or Aaronite priests are very rare or absent in other sections of the OT such as the Deuteronomistic history or the prophetic books. Even the exilic book of Ezekiel, which devotes significant attention to matters of priests and temple worship, never mentions Aaron or the Aaronites. Instead, Ezekiel designates another priestly group, the Zadokites, as the true high priests who receive assistance from the Levites (Ezek. 40:46; 44:15; 48:11). 1-2 Samuel and 1-2 Kings likewise rarely mention the Aaronite priesthood and instead focus on the Levites and the Zadokites as priests during Israel’s monarchy (e.g., 1 Kgs. 2:27). Thus, the Aaronic priesthood apparently played little role in much of the preexilic and exilic literature (Deuteronomistic history, Ezekiel). However, the figure of Aaron and the Aaronite priesthood apparently emerged as the preeminent priestly group in the Second Temple or postexilic period in charge of worship and rituals in the Jerusalem temple.

Negative and Nonpriestly Portrayals

Sections of the Pentateuch that scholars often date as earlier than the exilic Priestly traditions tend to portray Aaron in a nonpriestly role as a co-leader with Moses (Exod. 4:27–31; 11:10; 12:31; 16:33–34). These earlier traditions in the Pentateuch also portray Aaron negatively in opposition or rebellion against Moses or Yahweh (Exod. 32, the idolatry of the golden calf; Num. 12, the rebellion of Aaron and Miriam against Moses; Num. 20, the unfaithfulness of Moses and Aaron in hitting the rock). The one prophetic reference to Aaron in Mic. 6:4 lists Aaron as simply a co-leader of the Israelites in the wilderness along with Moses and Miriam.

New Testament

Aaron’s priesthood diminishes in importance in light of the atoning significance of Jesus’ death and resurrection in the NT. Acts 7:40 recalls Aaron’s idolatrous involvement with the golden calf. The book of Hebrews recognizes Aaron’s legitimate role as high priest (Heb. 5:4), and yet it affirms Christ as now the greater high priest who arose “according to the order of Melchizedek” (cf. Gen. 14:17–24) rather than “according to the order of Aaron” (Heb. 7:11).

Character: A Summary

The present form of the biblical text balances Aaron’s prominence as leader and priest with an awareness of the potential for disobedience among all leaders, even a high priest like Aaron (Exod. 32:1–6, 25; Lev. 10:1–3; Num. 12:1–16; 20:1–13). In the end, both the high priest Aaron and the incomparable prophet and leader Moses are condemned to die outside the Promised Land of Canaan (Num. 20:12, 22–29; Deut. 34:1–12). Aaron, like many leaders and prominent figures in the Bible, is humanly flawed, but he remained at the same time an effective agent for the blessing and saving work of God among God’s people.

Bibliography. A. Cody, A History of Old Testament Priesthood. AnBib 35 (Rome, 1969); W. Horbury, “The Aaronic Priesthood in the Epistle to the Hebrews,” JSNT 19 (1983): 43–71; R. D. Nelson, Raising Up a Faithful Priest: Community and Priesthood in Biblical Theology (Louisville, 1993); L. Sabourin, Priesthood: A Comparative Study. Studies in the History of Religions 25 (Leiden, 1973).

Dennis T. Olson

Freedman, D. N., Myers, A. C., & Beck, A. B. (2000). Eerdmans dictionary of the Bible (1). Grand Rapids, Mich.: W.B. Eerdmans.