Online Encyclopedia

Search over 40,000 articles from the original, classic Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.

AARON

Online Encyclopedia
Originally appearing in Volume V01, Page 4 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
» Make a correction to this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Spread the word: del.icio.us del.icio.us it!

AARON , the traditional founder and See also:

head of the Jewish See also:priest-See also:hood, who, in See also:company with See also:Moses, led the Israelites out of See also:Egypt (see See also:EXODUS; MOSES). The greater See also:part of his See also:life-See also:history is preserved in See also:late Biblical narratives, which carry back existing conditions and beliefs to the See also:time of the Exodus, and find a precedent for contemporary hierarchical institutions in the events of that See also:period. Although Aaron was said to have been sent by Yahweh (See also:Jehovah) to meet Moses at the " See also:mount of See also:God " (See also:Horeb, Ex. iv.27), he plays only a secondary part in the incidents at See also:Pharaoh's See also:court. After the "exodus" from Egypt a striking See also:account is given of the See also:vision of the God of See also:Israel vouchsafed to him and to his sons Nadab and Abihu on the same See also:holy mount (Ex. See also:xxiv. 1 seq. 9 -II), and together with Hur he was at the See also:side of Moses when the latter, by means of his wonder-working See also:rod, enabled See also:Joshua to defeat the See also:Amalekites (xvii. 8-16). Hur and Aaron were See also:left in See also:charge of the Israelites when Moses and Joshua ascended the mount to receive the Tables of the See also:Law (xxiv. 12-15), and when the See also:people, in dismay at the prolonged See also:absence of their See also:leader, demanded a god, it was at the instigation of Aaron that the See also:golden See also:calf was made (see CALF, GOLDEN). 'This was regarded as an See also:act of See also:apostasy which, according to one tradition, led to the See also:consecration of the See also:Levites, and almost cost Aaron his life (cp. Deut. ix. 20).

The incident paves the way for the account of the preparation of the new tables of See also:

stone which contain a See also:series of See also:laws quite distinct from the See also:Decalogue (q.v.) (Ex. xxxiii. seq.). Kadesh, and not See also:Sinai or Horeb, appears to have been originally the See also:scene of these incidents (Deut. xxxiii. 8 seq. compared with Ex. xxxii. 26 sqq.), and it was for some obscure offence at this See also:place that both Aaron and Moses were prohibited from entering the Promised See also:Land (Num. xx.). In what way they had not " sanctified " (an allusion in the See also:Hebrew to Kddesh " holy ") Yahweh is quite uncertain, and it would appear that it was for a similar offence that the sons of Aaron mentioned above also met their See also:death (Lev. x. 3 ; cp. Num. xx. 12, Deut. xxxii. 51). Aaron is said to have died at Moserah (Deut. x. 6), or at Mt. See also:Hor ; the latter is an unidentified site on the border of See also:Edom (Num.

RR. 23, xxxiii. 37 ; for Moserah see ib. 30-31), and consequently not in the neighbourhood of See also:

Petra, which has been the traditional scene from the time of See also:Josephus (See also:Ant. iv. 4. 7). Several difficulties in the See also:present Biblical See also:text appear to have arisen from the See also:attempt of later tradition to find a place for Aaron in certain incidents. In the account of the contention between Moses and his See also:sister Miriam (Num. xii.), Aaron occupies only a secondary position, and it is very doubtful whether he was originally mentioned in the older surviving narratives. It is at least remarkable that he is only thrice mentioned in See also:Deuteronomy (ix. 20, R. 6, xxxii. 5o).

Phoenix-squares

The See also:

post-exilic narratives give him a greater See also:share in the plagues of Egypt, represent him as high-priest, and confirm his position by the miraculous budding of his rod alone of all the rods of the other tribes (Num. xvii. ; for See also:parallels see See also:Gray, See also:comm. ad loc., p. 217). The latter See also:story illustrates the growth of the older exodus-tradition along with the development of priestly See also:ritual: the old account of Korah's revolt against the authority of Moses has been See also:expanded, and now describes (a) the divine prerogatives of the Levites in See also:general, and (b) the See also:confirmation of the See also:superior privileges of the Aaronites against the See also:rest of the Levites, a development which can scarcely be earlier than the time of See also:Ezekiel (xliv. 15 seq.). Aaron's son Eleazar was buried in an Ephraimite locality known after the See also:grandson as the " See also:hill of Phinehas " (Josh. xxiv. 33). Littlehistorical See also:information has been preserved of either. The name Phinehas (apparently of See also:Egyptian origin) is better known as that of a son of See also:Eli, a member of the priesthood of See also:Shiloh, and Eleazar is only another See also:form of Eliezer the son of Moses, to whose See also:kin Eli is said to have belonged. The See also:close relation between Aaronite and Levitical names and those of clans related to Moses is very See also:note-worthy, and it is a curious coincidence that the name of Aaron's sister Miriam appears in a See also:genealogy of See also:Caleb (i Chron. iv. 17) with Jether (cp. JET1HRO) and See also:Heber (cp.

See also:

KENITES). In view of the confusion of the traditions and the difficulty of interpreting the details sketched above, the recovery of the See also:historical Aaron is a See also:work of See also:peculiar intricacy. He may well have been the traditional head of the priesthood, and R. H. See also:Kennett has argued in favour of the view that he was the founder of the cult at See also:Bethel (Journ. of Theol. See also:Stud., 1905, pp. 161 sqq.), corresponding to the Mosaite founder of See also:Dan (q.v.). This throws no See also:light upon the name, which still remains quite obscure; and unless Aaron (Aharon) is based upon Aron, " See also:ark " (Redslob, R. P. A. See also:Dozy, J. P.

N. Land), it must be placed in a See also:

line with the other un-Hebraic and difficult names associated with Moses and Aaron, which are, apparently, of See also:South Palestinian (or See also:North-Arabian) origin. For the literature and a general account of the Jewish priesthood, see the articles LEVITES and PRIEST. (S. A. C.) AARON'S ROD, the popular name given to various tall flowering See also:plants (" See also:hag See also:taper," " golden rod," &c.). In See also:architecture the See also:term is given to' an ornamental rod with sprouting leaves, or sometimes with a See also:serpent entwined See also:round it (from the Biblical references in Exodus vii. ro and See also:Numbers xvii. 8).

End of Article: AARON

Additional information and Comments

There are no comments yet for this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML.
Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide.
Do not copy, download, transfer, or otherwise replicate the site content in whole or in part.

Links to articles and home page are always encouraged.

[back]
AARHUS 		[next]
AARSSENS

Site © 2006 - Net Industries