1 Then came the children of Israel, even the whole congregation, into the desert of Zin in the first month: and the people abode in Kadesh; and Miriam died there, and was buried there.
1 Then came the children of Israel, even the whole congregation, into the desert of Zin in the first month: and the people abode in Kadesh; and Miriam died there, and was buried there.
Miriam died in the first month in the Desert of Zin. [1]
2 And there was no water for the congregation: and they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron.
3 And the people chode with Moses, and spake, saying, Would God that we had died when our brethren died before the LORD!
We wish to God we had died when God killed our brothers. [2]
4 And why have ye brought up the congregation of the LORD into this wilderness, that we and our cattle should die there?
Why have you brought us into this wilderness to die?
5 And wherefore have ye made us to come up out of Egypt, to bring us in unto this evil place? it is no place of seed, or of figs, or of vines, or of pomegranates; neither is there any water to drink.
Why did you force us to leave Egypt to bring us to this evil place, where there is no seed, figs, vines, pomegranates, or water?
6 And Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and they fell upon their faces: and the glory of the LORD appeared unto them.
7 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
8 Take the rod, and gather thou the assembly together, thou, and Aaron thy brother, and speak ye unto the rock before their eyes; and it shall give forth his water, and thou shalt bring forth to them water out of the rock: so thou shalt give the congregation and their beasts drink.
Take your rod and talk to the rock where the people can see you. [3]Water will come out of the rock, so the people and animals can drink.
9 And Moses took the rod from before the LORD, as he commanded him.
10 And Moses and Aaron gathered the congregation together before the rock, and he said unto them, Hear now, ye rebels; must we fetch you water out of this rock?
He said to them,
Hear now, you rebels.Do I have to get water for you out of this rock?
11 And Moses lifted up his hand, and with his rod he smote the rock twice: and the water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their beasts also.
Moses smote the rock twice, and water came out.
There was enough water for everyone to drink.
12 And the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron, Because ye believed me not, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them.
13 This is the water of Meribah; because the children of Israel strove with the LORD, and he was sanctified in them.
God said to Moses and Aaron,
Because you didn't believe me, you won't enter the promised land. [4]This is the water of Meribah.
14 And Moses sent messengers from Kadesh unto the king of Edom, Thus saith thy brother Israel, Thou knowest all the travail that hath befallen us:
15 How our fathers went down into Egypt, and we have dwelt in Egypt a long time; and the Egyptians vexed us, and our fathers:
16 And when we cried unto the LORD, he heard our voice, and sent an angel, and hath brought us forth out of Egypt: and, behold, we are in Kadesh, a city in the uttermost of thy border:
17 Let us pass, I pray thee, through thy country: we will not pass through the fields, or through the vineyards, neither will we drink of the water of the wells: we will go by the king's high way, we will not turn to the right hand nor to the left, until we have passed thy borders.
Moses sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying,
Let us pass through your country.
18 And Edom said unto him, Thou shalt not pass by me, lest I come out against thee with the sword.
Don't cross my land. If you do, I'll fight you with the sword.
19 And the children of Israel said unto him, We will go by the high way: and if I and my cattle drink of thy water, then I will pay for it: I will only, without doing anything else, go through on my feet.
We'll take the highway. If any of our animals drink your water, we'll pay you for it.
20 And he said, Thou shalt not go through. And Edom came out against him with much people, and with a strong hand.
21 Thus Edom refused to give Israel passage through his border: wherefore Israel turned away from him.
22 And the children of Israel, even the whole congregation, journeyed from Kadesh, and came unto mount Hor. Aaron shall be gathered unto his people, and shall die there.
You won't cross our land.
And the Edomites came out with many people to try to stop them.
20:23-2923 And the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron in mount Hor, by the coast of the land of Edom, saying,
24Aaron 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.
Aaron will die here. He won't enter the promised land, because you rebelled against my word at the water of Meribah.
25 Take Aaron and Eleazar his son, and bring them up unto mount Hor:
26 And strip Aaron of his garments, and put them upon Eleazar his son: and Aaron shall be gathered unto his people, and shall die there.
Take Aaron and his son, Eleazar, to mount Hor.
Strip off Aaron's clothes and put them on Eleazar. [5]
Aaron will die there.
27 And Moses did as the LORD commanded: and they went up into mount Hor in the sight of all the congregation.
28 And Moses stripped Aaron of his garments, and put them upon Eleazar his son; and Aaron died there in the top of the mount: and Moses and Eleazar came down from the mount.
29 And when all the congregation saw that Aaron was dead, they mourned for Aaron thirty days, even all the house of Israel.
Moses stripped off Aaron's clothes and put them on Eleazar.
Aaron died. [6]
It's not clear which killing the people are referring to here.
Here a some of God's previous killings in Numbers:
Maybe they were referring to all of these killings.
God told Moses to get water out of a rock by talking to it. Moses struck the rock twice with his rod, and water came out. I guess God wanted Moses to get water out by talking to the rock, not by hitting it with his rod. (Although he did say to bring his rod when getting water from the rock.)
In Exodus 17:6, God told Moses to smite the rock (once) to get water out of it. Moses did that and it worked.
In any case, God was angry with Moses and Aaron for messing up the magic trick. To punish them God makes sure they never get to the promised land.
God strips Aaron of his garments and gives them to his son, Eleazar. Then he announces Aaron's death.
God will not permit him to see the promised land, because Moses struck the rock twice -- instead of just speaking to the rock. Or something like that.
Did God kill Aaron on mount Hor? The Bible doesn't say, but it sure looks suspicious.
Since the Bible isn't clear on this, I didn't include Aaron's death in Drunk With Blood: God's killings in the Bible
