Numbers 20:28

Num 20:28. And Moses stripped Aaron — And death will strip us. Naked we came into the world; naked we must go out. We shall see little reason to be proud of our clothes, our ornaments, or marks of honour if we consider how soon death will strip us of all our glory, and take the crown off from our head! Aaron died there — He died in Mosera, Deu 10:6. Mosera was the general name of the place where that station was, and mount Hor a particular place in it. Presently after he was stripped of his priestly garments, he lay down and died. A good man would desire, if it were the will of God, not to outlive his usefulness. Why should we covet to continue any longer in this world, than while we may do God and our generation some service?

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Aaron died there in the top of the mount--(See on Deu 10:6). A tomb has been erected upon or close by the spot where he was buried.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 28. And Aaron died there] Hence, as Dr. Lightfoot has justly observed, we have an "indisputable proof that the earthly Canaan was not the utmost felicity at which God's promises to the Israelites aimed since the best men among them were excluded from it."

THE remark of some of the fathers here is worthy of attention: "Neither Moses the representative of the law, nor Miriam the representative of the prophets, nor Aaron the representative of the priesthood and its sacrificial rites, could bring the Israelites into possession of the promised land. This was reserved for Joshua, who was in name and conduct the lively type of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ." He alone can bring those who believe in his name into that rest which remains for the people of God.

There are some observations made by Dr. Lightfoot on this and some of the preceding chapters which should be more generally known.

"The place where the people murmured upon the return of the spies was Kadesh-Barnea, Nu 13:26; Nu 32:8; De 1:19. This place was called Rithmah before, (Nu 33:18, compared with Nu 12:16, and Nu 13:26), and was so called probably from the juniper trees that grew there; but is now named Kadesh, because the Lord was there sanctified upon the people, as Nu 20:13; and Barnea, or the wandering son, because here was the decree made of their long wandering in the wilderness. They continued a good space at Kadesh before they removed; for so said Moses, Ye abode in Kadesh many days; or as the Hebrew, According to the days that ye had made abode, namely, at Sinai, Nu 20:6. And so they spent one whole year there, for so they had done at Sinai. And whereas God commands them at their murmuring to turn back to the Red Sea, (De 1:40), his meaning was, that at their next march, whensoever it was, they should not go forward unto Canaan, but back again towards the Red Sea, whence they came; (but see on De 1:1). And they did so, for they wandered by many stations and marches from Kadesh-Barnea till they came to Kadesh-Barnea again, seven or eight and thirty years after they had first left it. These marches, mentioned in Nu 33:1-49, were these: From Kadesh or Rithmah to Rimmon Parez, to Libnah, to Rissah, to Kehelathah, to Mount Shapher, to Haradah, to Makheloth, to Tahath, to Tarah, to Mithcah, to Hashmonah, to Moseroth, to Benejaaken, to Horhagidgad, to Jotbathah, to Ebronah, to Ezion-Gaber, to Kadesh again, in the fortieth year. And though it was only eleven days' journey from Horeb, by the way of Mount Seir to Kadesh-Barnea, (De 1:2), they made it above thrice eleven years' journey!" Had they trusted in God, and obeyed him, their enemies long ere this would have been discomfited, and themselves quietly established in possession of the promised inheritance. But they grieved the Spirit of God, and did not believe his promise; and it would have been inconsistent with the whole economy of grace to have introduced unbelievers into that rest which was a type of the kingdom of God.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(28) And Aaron died there in the top of the mount.—The date of Aaron’s death, as we learn from Num_33:38, was the first day of the fifth month, in the fortieth year after the exodus, and his age a hundred and twenty-three years (Num_33:39), which accords with the statement contained in Exo_7:7, that “Moses was fourscore years old, and Aaron fourscore and three years old, when they spake unto Pharaoh.” The difference in the circumstances of the death of the two brothers is remarkable. Both Moses and Aaron were excluded from the land of promise by reason of transgression. Both died upon the top of a mountain. But whilst Moses died in solitary grandeur, and the place of his burial was unknown, Aaron ascended the mount “in the sight of all the people,” and died in the presence of Moses and Eleazar. The death of Aaron was an indication of the imperfection of the Levitical priesthood. “They truly were many priests, because they were not suffered to continue by reason of death; but this man because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood” (Heb_7:23-24).

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And when all the congregation saw that Aaron was dead,.... Not that they saw his dead body, but they perceived by the relation of Moses, and by various circumstances, as not seeing Aaron come down, whom they saw go up, and seeing Eleazar with Aaron's garments on him, and perhaps by tokens of mourning in Moses and Eleazar; so the Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem say, they saw them come down from the top of the mountain, with their garments rent, and ashes on their heads, weeping and lamenting:

they mourned for Aaron thirty days; the whole month out; so long public mourning with the Jews lasted, as Josephus (m) relates:

even all the house of Israel; men and women, as the Targum of Jonathan, and so Jarchi: no doubt it was for the amiable virtues and abundant grace that were in him, and the many services he had done for them, both before and since he was invested with the priestly office; and oftentimes the memory of such things is revived after the death of a good man, which are not so much taken notice of in his life, nor he be thanked for them, or have honour and respect shown him on account of them; but when dead, he, and what he has done, are spoken well of, and his loss lamented.

(m) De Bello Jud. l. 3. c. 8. sect. 5.

Next: Numbers Chapter 21

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Aaron died there, to wit, in Mount Hor.

Object. He died in Mosera, Deu 10:6.

Answ. Mosera was the general name of the place where that station was, and Mount Hor is a particular place in it, where he died, and was buried also, Deu 10:6.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

28. Aaron died there in the top of the mount — The chapel of Aaron’s tomb stands on the traditional spot. The chief interest of Mount Hor will always consist in the prospect from its summit — the last view of Aaron. Says Stanley, “We saw all the main points on which his eye must have rested. He looked over the valley of the Arabah, countersected by its hundred water-courses, and beyond over the white mountains of the wilderness they had so long traversed; at the northern edge of it there must have been visible the heights through which the Israelites had vainly attempted to force their way into the Promised Land. This was the western view. Close around him on the east were the rugged mountains of Edom, and far along the horizon the wide downs of Mount Seir, through which the passage had been denied by the wild tribes of Esau, who hunted over their long slopes. A dreary moment and a dreary scene. Such it must have seemed to the aged priest.”

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Moses stripped Aaron of his garments, and put them upon Eleazar his son. This was done in token that the office was transferred; it was done out of sight, and far above, in token that the priesthood was perpetual, although the priest was mortal. Aaron died there. In this ease, as in that of Miriam (verse 1), and of Moses himself, (Deu_34:5) no details are given. God drew as it were a veil over a departure hence which could but be very sad, because it was in a special sense the wages of sin. We may perhaps conclude that Aaron died alone, and was buried, as Moses was, by God; otherwise Moses and Eleazar would have been unclean under the law of Num_19:11. (cf. also Lev_21:11)

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And Moses stript Aaron - And Death will strip us. Naked we came into the world: naked we must go out. We shall see little reason to be proud of our cloaths, our ornaments, or marks of honour, if we consider how soon death will strip us of all our glory, and take the crown off from our head! Aaron died there - He died in Mosera, Deut. x, 6. Mosera was the general name of the place where that station was, and mount Hor a particular place in it. Presently after he was stript of his priestly garments, he laid him down and died. A good man would desire, if it were the will of God, not to outlive his usefulness. Why should we covet to continue any longer in this world, than while we may do God and our generation some service?

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

died

The death of Aaron marks the end of the wanderings. Henceforth Israel marches or halts, but does not wander.

(See Scofield "Num 15:1").

The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.