Bible Strands
Numbers 33:38
At the LORD’s command, Aaron the priest climbed Mount Hor and died there on the first day of the fifth month, in the fortieth year after the Israelites had come out of the land of Egypt.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrator records this event during the Israelites’ wilderness journey, immediately after their departure from Kadesh and encampment at the outskirts of Edom.
The words — וַיַּעַל [va.ya'al] means "and he went up," and הַכֹּהֵן [ha.kohen] identifies Aaron by his official office as "the priest."
The thread — The death of Aaron on a mountain appears again in Deuteronomy 10:6 and Deuteronomy 32:50, while Numbers 20:24 provides the earlier divine pronouncement that he would be gathered to his people and not enter the Promised Land.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition that Aaron’s death occurred precisely on the LORD’s command and at a fixed chronological marker, establishing the end of his leadership and the transition to Eleazar.
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The Hebrew words
King James Version
And Aaron the priest went up into mount Hor at the commandment of the Lord, and died there, in the fortieth year after the children of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt, in the first day of the fifth month.
Cross-references
- Deuteronomy 10:6 The Israelites traveled from Beeroth Bene-jaakan to Moserah, where Aaron died and was buried, and Eleazar his son succeeded him as priest.
- 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 20:24 “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.