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Numbers 20:26

in Numbers 20

Remove Aaron’s priestly garments and put them on his son Eleazar. Aaron will be gathered to his people and will die there.”

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV

ASV

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.

KJV

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.

This verse in Numbers 20

Commentary

7 notes on this verse

A commentator

Ambrose of Milan

Epistle 63 · Written before 397.

But what does this signify, that after Aaron was dead, the Lord commanded, not the whole people, but Moses alone, who is amongst the priests, to clothe Aaron's son Eleazar with the priest's garments, except that we should understand that priest must consecrate priest, and himself clothe him with the vestments, that is, with priestly virtues; and then, if he has seen that nothing is wanting to him of the priestly garments, and that all things are perfect, should admit him to the sacred altars.

This site's exposition

And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron in mount Hor

on Numbers 20:23-26

The ground for Aaron's death outside the land is named as the water of Meribah, so the sentence of verse 12 is read back over both brothers. Aaron is stripped of his garments and Eleazar is clothed in them while Aaron is alive to watch it, which Adam Clarke reads as the ordinary form of transferring an office, by investing the successor in the robes. Hebrews 7:23-24 takes up this very thing, that the Levitical priests were many because death stopped them, and that the priesthood of Christ passes to no one. Gathered unto his people is the phrase used of Abraham at Genesis 25:8 and of Isaac at Genesis 35:29.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

And strip Aaron of his garments,.... His priestly garments, as the Targum of Jonathan, and so Jarchi: and put them upon Eleazar his son; thereby declaring him to be high priest in his father's stead: and Aaron shall be gathered unto his people, and shall die there; the phrase of gathering to his people is here explained of his dying.

The Nineteenth Century4 voices

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

Strip Aaron of his garments - This was, in effect, depriving him of his office; and putting the clothes on his son Eleazar implied a transfer of that office to him. A transfer of office, from this circumstance of putting the clothes of the late possessor on the person intended to succeed him, was called investing or investment, (clothing); as removing a person from an office was termed divesting or unclothing. Among the Catholics, and in the Church of England, this same method is used in degrading ecclesiastics.

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

proposed

strip Aaron of his garments--that is, his pontifical robes, in token of his resignation. (See Isa 22:20-25). put them on his son--as the inauguration into his high office. Having been formerly anointed with the sacred oil, that ceremony was not repeated, or, as some think, it was done on his return to the camp.

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

proposed

But although the time of his death was hastened by the divine displeasure as a punishment for his sins, the manner of his death was arranged in tenderness of love, and to do him honor at the close of his earthly service. His ascent of the mount was to afford him a last look of the camp and a distant prospect of the promised land.
The priestly garments, wherewith Moses had invested Aaron Lev 8:7-9, were put upon Eleazar by way of solemn transference of Aaron’s office to him; compare 1Ki 19:19.

The words behind it

13 Hebrew words

Every Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

  • וְהַפְשֵׁ֤טand strip off

    vehafshetH6584

  • אֶֽת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H85310935 times

  • אַהֲרֹן֙Aaron

    ʾaharonH175347 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H85310935 times

  • בְּגָדָ֔יוgarments his

    begadavH899217 times

  • וְהִלְבַּשְׁתָּ֖םand you will clothe with them

    vehilbashtamH3847

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H85310935 times

  • אֶלְעָזָ֣רEleazar

    ʾelazarH49972 times

  • בְּנ֑וֹson his

    benoH11214930 times

  • וְאַהֲרֹ֥ןand Aaron

    veaharonH175347 times

  • יֵאָסֵ֖ףhe will be gathered

    yeasefH622200 times

  • וּמֵ֥תand he will die

    umetH4191839 times

  • שָֽׁם׃there

    shamH8033834 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

The walk

8 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    Hebrews 7:11

    Now if perfection could have been attained through the Levitical priesthood (for on this basis the people received the law), why was there still need for another priest to appear—one in the order of…

    it leads to

    • Hebrews 8:7

      For if that first covenant had been without fault, no place would have been sought for a second.

    • Galatians 2:21

      I do not set aside the grace of God. For if righteousness comes through the law, Christ died for nothing.

    • Hebrews 7:17–19

      For it is testified: “You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.”

    • Galatians 4:9

      But now that you know God, or rather are known by God, how is it that you are turning back to those weak and worthless principles? Do you wish to be enslaved by them…

    • Hebrews 7:21

      but Jesus became a priest with an oath by the One who said to Him: “The Lord has sworn and will not change His mind: ‘You are a priest forever.’”

  • Through

    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.

    it leads to

    • 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 27:13

      After you have seen it, you too will be gathered to your people, as your brother Aaron was;

Where this verse is studied

About Numbers

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Ambrose of Milan, Epistle 63; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch.