Aaron

Who is Aaron?

In the Hebrew Bible and the Quran, Aaron was the older brother of Moses, and a prophet of God. He represented the priestly functions of his tribe, becoming the first High Priest of the Israelites. While Moses was receiving his education at the Egyptian royal court, and during his exile among the Midianites, Aaron and his sister Miriam remained with their kinsmen in the eastern border-land of Egypt. There, Aaron gained a name for eloquent and persuasive speech, so that when the time came for the demand upon Pharaoh to release Israel from captivity, Aaron became his brother’s "prophet" to Pharaoh. Various dates for his life have been proposed, ranging from approximately 1600 to 1200 BC. The Jewish Encyclopedia suggests two possible accounts of Aaron's death. The principal one gives a detailed statement that soon after the incident at Meribah, Aaron, with his son Eleazar and Moses, ascended Mount Hor. There Moses stripped Aaron of his priestly garments and transferred them to Eleazar. Aaron died in the top of the mount, and the people mourned for him thirty days. Another account is found in Deuteronomy 10:6, where Moses said that Aaron died at Moserah and was buried there. Aaron is also mentioned in the New Testament of the Bible.