The rest of his tribe, the Levites, were given subordinate responsibilities within the sanctuary.

The family of Aaron had the exclusive right and responsibility to make offerings on the altar to Yahweh. The books of Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers maintain that Aaron received from God a monopoly over the priesthood for himself and his male descendants. See also: High Priest of Israel and Kohen Aaron depicted by Jacques Bergé From here on in Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers, Joshua appears in the role of Moses' assistant while Aaron functions instead as the first high priest. While Joshua went with Moses to the top, however, Aaron and Hur remained below to look after the people. When the revelation was given to Moses at Mount Sinai, he headed the elders of Israel who accompanied Moses on the way to the summit. At the battle with Amalek, he was chosen with Hur to support the hand of Moses that held the ' rod of God'. ĭuring the journey in the wilderness, Aaron was not always prominent or active.

After that, Moses tended to act and speak for himself. Then he stretched out his rod in order to bring on the first three plagues. At the command of Moses, he let his rod turn into a snake. Because Moses complained that he could not speak well, God appointed Aaron as Moses' 'prophet' ( Exodus 4:10-17 7:1). Biblical narrative Moses and Aaron before PharaohĪccording to the Book of Exodus, Aaron first functioned as Moses' assistant. Deuteronomy, however, places these events at Moseroth. Īccording to the Book of Numbers, Aaron died at 123 years of age, on Mount Hor, in the fortieth year after the Israelites had come out of the land of Egypt. Levitical priests or kohanim are traditionally believed and halakhically required to be of direct patrilineal descent from Aaron. Part of the Law given to Moses at Sinai granted Aaron the priesthood for himself and his male descendants, and he became the first High Priest of the Israelites. When Moses first confronted the Egyptian king about the enslavement of the Israelites, Aaron served as his brother's spokesman to the Pharaoh ( Exodus 7:1). The Hebrew Bible relates that, unlike Moses, who grew up in the Egyptian royal court, Aaron and his elder sister Miriam remained with their kinsmen in the northeastern region of the Nile Delta. Information about Aaron comes exclusively from religious texts such as the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament ( Luke, Acts, and Hebrews), and the Quran. According to Abrahamic religions, Aaron ( / ˈ ær ən/ or / ˈ ɛər ən/) was a prophet, a high priest, and the elder brother of Moses.

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