Bible Strands
Numbers 20:24
“Aaron will be gathered to his people; he will not enter the land that I have given the Israelites, because both of you rebelled against My command at the waters of Meribah.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The LORD addresses Moses and Aaron at Mount Hor, near Edom’s border, declaring the end of Aaron’s life and his exclusion from the Promised Land. This announcement follows the rebellion at the waters of Meribah where both leaders failed to uphold God’s command.
The words — יֵאָסֵף (ye'asef) literally means “he will be gathered,” and כִּי (ki) functions as “for” or “because,” directly tying Aaron’s death to the prior disobedience. The text uses these terms to state the factual manner and cause of his departure without embellishment.
The thread — The idiom “gathered to his people” appears in Genesis 25:8 for Abraham’s death and Deuteronomy 32:50 for Moses’ impending death, establishing a consistent biblical marker for a divinely appointed end. Numbers 20:10 records the immediate Meribah confrontation that triggers this decree.
Why it lands — The verse demands recognition that leadership disobedience carries irreversible consequences, regardless of prior standing. It requires the reader to accept the direct textual link between failing God’s command at Meribah and forfeiting entry into the land.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Aaron shall be gathered unto his people: for he shall not enter into the land which I have given unto the children of Israel, because ye rebelled against my word at the water of Meribah.
Cross-references
- Genesis 25:8 And at a ripe old age he breathed his last and died, old and contented, and was gathered to his people.
- Deuteronomy 32:50 And there on the mountain that you climb, you will die and be gathered to your people, just as your brother Aaron died on Mount Hor and was gathered to his people.
- Numbers 20:10 Then Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly in front of the rock, and Moses said to them, “Listen now, you rebels, must we bring you water out of this rock?”
- Numbers 27:13 After you have seen it, you too will be gathered to your people, as your brother Aaron was;
- Numbers 31:2 “Take vengeance on the Midianites for the Israelites. After that, you will be gathered to your people.”
- 2 Chronicles 34:28 ‘Now I will indeed gather you to your fathers, and you will be gathered to your grave in peace. Your eyes will not see all the calamity that I will bring on this place and on its people.’” So they brought her answer back to the king.
- Genesis 15:15 You, however, will go to your fathers in peace and be buried at a ripe old age.
- Genesis 25:17 Ishmael lived a total of 137 years. Then he breathed his last and died, and was gathered to his people.
- Genesis 35:29 Then he breathed his last and died and was gathered to his people, old and full of years. And his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.
- Genesis 49:29 Then Jacob instructed them, “I am about to be gathered to my people. Bury me with my fathers in the cave in the field of Ephron the Hittite.