Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Bemidbar 20:29 and Devarim 10:6 - Where did Aharon die?

Bemidbar 20:28 records that Aharon died on Mount Hor, and this is also recorded in 33:38,39 and in Devarim 32:50. G-d also stated that Aharon was to die on Mount Hor in G-d’s instructions for Moshe, Aharon and Elazar to go on Mount Hor, 20:24,26. However, Devarim 10:6 records “And the Israelites journeyed onwards from Beeroth-Bene Jaakan to Mosera. There Aharon died, and he was buried there, (Alter, 2004 translation, p. 931). The word “there” refers to the previous location mentioned, Mosera, which means that according to Devarim 10:6, Aharon died in Mosera. Also, only in Devarim 10:6 does the Torah state where Moshe was buried, as in Bemidbar there is no mention of where Aharon was buried. Where did Aharon die and why would he be buried in Mosera if he died on Mount Hor?

Rashi (on Devarim 10:6) based on the Midrash explains that Moshe’s reference to the death of Aharon in Mosera means that the people associated Mosera with Aharon's death, but really, Aharon died on Mount Hor. Rashi explains that when Aharon died on Mount Hor, the clouds of G-d’s glory departed from the people, and hence the people feared the King of Arad, which caused them to march back towards Egypt. The people marched backwards to Mosera, (Moserot in 33:31) and there the tribe of Levi battled with the people to stop their march back towards Egypt. Many people died in this battle at Mosera, which caused a great mourning for Aharon because his death had led to this tragic civil war. Thus, according to this idea, while Aharon really died at Mount Hor, because of the great mourning at Mosera (Moserot), the people associated his death with Mosera.

This explanation is difficult for many reasons. One, there is no mention at all in the Torah of this battle between the people and the tribe of Levi at Mosera. Two, as pointed out by the Malbim (1809-1880, on Bemidbar 20:29), Devarim 10:6 records that Aharon died and was buried in Mosera, which cannot be understood to mean that the people just associated Aharon's death with Mosera.

Hizkuni (on Devarim 10:6) quotes from an unknown Midrash a slight variation of Rashi’s approach. This explanation is that for some time after the people left Mount Hor, they were able to see Aharon’s gravesite. It was only when they reached Mosera that they were unable to see the gravesite, and hence it seemed to the people that Aharon died at Mosera. However, still Devarim 10:6 records that Aharon died at Mosera and not that the people associated his death with Mosera.

A second approach to explain where Aharon died is to argue that the places Mount Hor and Mosera are really the same place. For example, Ibn Ezra (on Devarim 10:6) suggests that Mosera was the name of the desert where Mount Hor was situated. According to this approach, Aharon died both in Mount Hor, the specific place, and in Mosera, the general name of the area. A problem with this explanation is that Bemidbar 33:31 refers to a place called Moserot, which could be the same place as Mosera, but Bemidbar 33 records that the people came to Moserot several stops before they came to Mount Hor, 33:37.  However, one could maintain that Mosera is not the same as Moserot.

Ramban (on Devarim 10:6) follows this approach that Mount Hor and Mosera are not two separate places, as he suggests that Mount Hor was a large mountain, and due to its great size, there were many places that faced the mountain. Bemidbar 20:22 records that the people camped by Mount Hor, which means that they were at the foot of the mountain. Ramban then suggests that Mosera was the place that faced the top of the mountain, and thus it could be said that Aharon died at Mosera. Ramban further suggests that maybe the mountain was also referred to by the names of the places situated near the mountain, so then Mosera would also be a name for Mount Hor.

Hoffmann (1961, on Devarim 10:6) slightly varies Ramban’s answer. He suggests that Mosera was the name of the place where the people camped by the foot of Mount Hor, and Aharon died on the Mount Hor itself. Thus, it could be written that Aharon died on Mount Hor, but also his death and burial could be considered as being at Mosera since that was where the people were camped. Hoffmann then suggests that Bemidbar 20:22 recorded the encampment of the people as being at Mount Hor, even though it really was Mosera, to focus on the death of Aharon, which was on Mount Hor. Yet, if all the names really refer to the same place, then one would have thought that the Torah would have used just one name consistently in all references to Aharon’s death.

A third approach is to understand that the word “there” in Devarim 10:6 is not referring to Mosera. The idea is that the word “there” means at that time, and then 10:6 should be understood that at the time when the people were traveling to Mosera, they happened to be near Mount Hor and Aharon died on Mount Hor. This approach is quoted by Ibn Ezra (on Devarim 10:6) in the name Yitzhak Ibn Geat (?), Da’at Zekenim (13th century), Bekhor Shor (12th century) and Hizkuni (13th century) on all on Devarim 10:6. This approach is difficult since it introduces a break in the sentences, and requires one to add words to the verse.

Malbim (on Bemidbar 20:29) offers two other answers. The first explanation centers on the fact that only Devarim 10:6 records where Aharon was buried, in Mosera.

How could Aharon be buried on Mosera if he died on Mount Hor? Malbim suggests that after Aharon died on Mount Hor, the people went up and saw his body (Bemidbar 20:29) and they intended to eulogize him on the mountain in the presence of his body. However, the Canaanites attacked the people during the time they were doing the eulogy, as Bemidbar 21:1 records this attack immediately after the mention of Aharon dying on Mount Hor. The people then retreated due to this attack, as Bemidbar 21:1 records that the Canaanites were initially successful in their attack. When the people retreated, they took Aharon’s body with them on their retreat from Mount Hor. In their retreat they went to Mosera, and there they buried Aharon. This answer is reasonable, but still Devarim 10:6 records that Aharon also died in Mosera. In this explanation, Malbim explains that Devarim 10:6 only mentions that Aharon died as part of the reference to the burial. However, this is difficult since according to this approach, Devarim 10:6 should have just recorded that Aharon was buried in Mosera, and not mentioned anything about where Aharon died.

Malbim’s second explanation centers on the fact that Bemidbar 20:29 records that the people saw that gavah Aharon. What does the word gavah mean? While in some verses, Bereshit 6:17 and Yehoshua 22:20, it seems to be synonymous with dying, in many more verses, it seems to refer to a stage prior to dying, Bereshit 7:21,22; 25:8,17; 35:29 and 49:33.

Ibn Ezra (on Bereshit 25:28) suggests that gavah signifies dying without suffering, and hence he claims that gavah always refers to dying, but dying does not always refer to gavah.

Malbim also notes that there is a difference between gavah and met, and he suggests that gavah means a loss of crucial life functions, while met refers to the state afterwards where the body degenerates due to the loss of these life functions. Thus, he explains that Bemidbar 20:29 means that the people only saw that Aharon was in a state of gavah but not a met. According to this, Aharon only partially died by Mount Hor, while the full state of being a met occurred when the people were at Mosera. Accordingly, Aharon was buried in Mosera since one does not bury somebody who is in a state of gavah. Note, I did not see how the Malbim explained the use of the word met in Bemidbar 20:26,28.

I used to think that gavah could refer to a condition where a person is alive but something (a famine, a virus, a decree, not including the aging process) is impacting the person that he/ she will die because of this thing, the person understands that the thing will kill him, and a person has no ability to reverse this process. However, after seeing how my mother died (June 27, 2024), that she accepted that she was dying a week before she actually died, left the hospital, and then literally waited in bed to die barely eating or drinking, I would vary my suggestion as to what the word gavah mean. Now, I think that gavah means that a person has accepted his/ her immanent death and stops living, which means to stop eating, drinking and taking medicines that could delay one’s death. I was told that many people sort of “shut down” before they die, as they willingly stop eating and drinking and doing normal human activities prior to the actual death. This would be a state of gavah. Note, that in some situations this could viewed as being a better state than dying instantaneously since it allows a person to “say goodbye to the world.”

This understanding would mean that in Bereshit 6:17, G-d told Noah that the ensuing flood would cause the animals to give up hope of living. Afterwards, when the flood occurred, Bereshit 7:21 records the fulfillment of G-d’s statement in 6:17, and then Bereshit 7:22 records that the animals then died.

This understanding of the term gavah also accords with 17:27,28, when the people were physically fine, but they said that they were giving up on living once they realized that they were destined to die from G-d’s decree after the sin of the spies, see our discussion on 17:27,28, “The people’s state of mind after the rebellion of Korah and the miracle of the blossoming of the staffs: Hopeless in the desert.” Similarly, in 20:3, the people referred back to the statement of people who gave up hope of living in 17:27,28, and in 20:3, the people were saying that they also should have given up hope of living (gavah) and then died earlier, instead of living and going to a new desert to die.

Following this understanding of the word gavah, we can answer the apparent contradiction as to where Aharon died. The verses which state that Aharon died (met) on Mount Hor are referring to when he gave up on living since G-d had told him that it was his time to die, even though he might have been physically healthy. On the other hand, Devarim 10:6 which records that Aharon died at Mosera, is where he stopped breathing, and hence he was buried at Mosera.

Once he had given up hope of living on Mount Hor due to G-d’s decree, then even though he was alive, he could no longer function as the high priest, so his special clothing was transferred to his son Eliezer, 20:28. Also, 20:29 can use the word gavah as the people did not see Aharon when he had died (stopped breathing), rather when he had given up hope of living.

Furthermore, while by G-d’s instruction to Moshe and Aharon, Aharon was “to be gathered to his kin” 20:24,26, the fulfillment of this instruction is not recorded in Bemidbar 20 since he had not died yet. 20:24,26 would then mean that he would be gathered to his kin in the future, and this process started on Mount Hor. Devarim 32:50 implies that Aharon was gathered to his kin on Mount Hor, but it also records that he died on Mount Hor. Thus, just as the giving up of hope of living on Mount Hor was the beginning of the death process, so too the reference to Aharon gathering to his kin on Mount Hor should be understood as the beginning of the gathering process. 

In addition, by the second statement by G-d that Aharon would be “gathered to his kin,” 20:26, this gathering is stated before the statement that Aharon was to die, but usually first one dies and then one is gathered to one’s kin, see Bereshit 25:8,17; 25:29; 49:33(?), and Devarim 32:50. The change in order could signify that in case since Aharon began the dying process on Mount Hor, that is where the process of “being gathered to his kin” began even before he actually died.

It remains a question how did Aharon get from Mount Hor to Mosera? In class, people said that it could not be that he walked down from Mount Hor since 20:28 record that only Moshe and Elazar walked down. Yet, by the Akedah, the Torah only records that Avraham returned and not Yitzhak, Bereshit 20:19. Another possibility is that people went up the mountain to help/ get Aharon after they saw that he did not return with Moshe and Elazar. Maybe Moshe went down first and then Elazar waited until people came up to take Aharon down? Note that 20:28 records Moshe and Elazar descending by using a singular verb, which could imply that they came down separately. A different and not so likely possibility is that Moshe and Elazar carried Aharon down, and since Aharon was not considered dead, he did not generate any tumah. Yet, it would have been physically hard for just two people to carry Aharon down a mountain. Another also not so likely possibility is that other anonymous people went up with Moshe, Aharon and Elazar on Mount Hor (maybe staying in the background), and these unnamed people brought Aharon down. With any of these possibilities, if Aharon’s body was brought down, then it gives a simple explanation to the word seeing in 20:29, that the people literally saw Aharon. (For other explanations of this seeing, see Rashi, Ibn Ezra and Hizkuni all on 20:29.) 

To summarize, Bemidbar 20:26,28, Bemidbar 33:39 and Devarim 32:50 all record that Aharon died on Mount Hor, which can be understood to mean that Aharon stopped trying to live (eating and drinking) due to G-d’s statement that it was his time to die, as indicated by the use of the word gavah in Bemidbar 20:29. However, Aharon only finally expired at Mosera and there he was buried as recorded in Devarim 10:6. (Note with this idea still one has to maintain that Mosera is not the same place as Moserot.)

Bibliography:

Alter, Robert, 2004, The five books of Moses: A translation and commentary, New York: W. W. Norton and Company.

Hoffmann, David (1843-1921), 1961, Commentary on Deuteronomy, translated by Tzvi Har-Shefer, Tel Aviv: Nezach.

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