1And the children of Israel, the whole assembly, came into the wilderness of Zin, in the first month; and the people abode at Kadesh; and Miriam died there, and was buried there. 2And there was no water for the assembly, and they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron. 3And the people contended with Moses, and spoke, saying, Would that we had died when our brethren died before Jehovah! 4And why have ye brought the congregation of Jehovah into this wilderness, that we should die there, we and our beasts? 5And why have ye made us to go up out of Egypt, to bring us to 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. 6And Moses and Aaron went from before the congregation to the entrance of the tent of meeting, and fell upon their faces; and the glory of Jehovah appeared to them. 7And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying, 8Take the staff, and gather the assembly together, thou, and Aaron thy brother, and speak ye unto the rock before their eyes, and it shall give its water; and thou shalt bring forth to them water out of the rock, and shalt give the assembly and their beasts drink. 9And Moses took the staff from before Jehovah, as he had commanded him. 10And Moses and Aaron gathered the congregation together before the rock, and he said to them, Hear now, ye rebels: shall we bring forth to you water out of this rock? 11And Moses lifted up his hand, and with his staff smote the rock twice, and much water came out, and the assembly drank, and their beasts. 12And Jehovah said to Moses and to Aaron, Because ye believed me not, to hallow me before the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this congregation into the land that I have given them. 13These are the waters of Meribah, where the children of Israel contended with Jehovah, and he hallowed himself in them. 14And Moses sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom, Thus says thy brother Israel: Thou knowest all the trouble that hath befallen us, 15how our fathers went down to Egypt, and we dwelt in Egypt a long time, and the Egyptians evil entreated us and our fathers; 16and when we cried to Jehovah, he heard our voice, and sent an angel, and brought us forth out of Egypt; and behold, we are at Kadesh, a city at the extremity of thy border. 17Let us pass, I pray thee, through thy country; we will not pass through fields, or through vineyards, neither will we drink water out of the wells: we will go by the king’s road; we will not turn to the right hand nor to the left, until we have passed thy border. 18But Edom said to him, Thou shalt not pass by me, lest I come out against thee with the sword. 19And the children of Israel said to him, We will go by the high way; and if we drink of thy water, I and my cattle, then I will pay for it: I will only, without anything else, go through on my feet. 20And he said, Thou shalt not go through. And Edom came out against him with much people, and with a strong hand. 21Thus Edom refused to give Israel passage through his territory; and Israel turned away from him. 22And they removed from Kadesh; and the children of Israel, the whole assembly, came to mount Hor. 23And Jehovah spoke to Moses and to Aaron in mount Hor, on the border of the land of Edom, saying, 24Aaron shall be gathered unto his peoples; for he shall not enter into the land that I have given unto the children of Israel, because ye rebelled against my commandment at the waters of Meribah. 25Take Aaron and Eleazar his son, and bring them up unto mount Hor, 26and strip Aaron of his garments, and put them upon Eleazar his son; and Aaron shall be gathered to his peoples, and shall die there. 27And Moses did as Jehovah had commanded, and they went up mount Hor before the eyes of the whole assembly. 28And Moses stripped Aaron of his garments, and put them upon Eleazar his son; and Aaron died there upon the top of the mountain; and Moses and Eleazar came down from the mountain. 29And the whole assembly saw that Aaron was dead, and they mourned for Aaron thirty days, even the whole house of Israel.
Jamieson Fausset Brown Bible Commentary 1 THE DEATH OF MIRIAM. (Num. 20:1-29)
Then came the children of Israel . . . into the desert of Zin in the first month--that is, of the fortieth year (compare
Num 20:22-
Num 20:23, with
Num 33:38). In this history only the principal and most important incidents are recorded, those confined chiefly to the first or second and the last years of the journeyings in the wilderness, thence called Et-Tih. Between
Num 19:22 and
Num 20:1 there is a long and undescribed interval of thirty-seven years.
the people abode in Kadesh--supposed to be what is now known as Ain-el-Weibeh, three springs surrounded by palms. (See on
Num 13:26). It was their second arrival after an interval of thirty-eight years (
Deut 2:14). The old generation had nearly all died, and the new one encamped in it with the view of entering the promised land, not, however, as formerly on the south, but by crossing the Edomite region on the east.
Miriam died there--four months before Aaron [
Num 33:38].
2 there was no water for the congregation--There was at Kadesh a fountain, En-Mishpat (
Gen 14:7), and at the first encampment of the Israelites there was no want of water. It was then either partially dried up by the heat of the season, or had been exhausted by the demands of so vast a multitude.
6 Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly--Here is a fresh ebullition of the untamed and discontented spirit of the people. The leaders fled to the precincts of the sanctuary, both as an asylum from the increasing fury of the highly excited rabble, and as their usual refuge in seasons of perplexity and danger, to implore the direction and aid of God.
8 Take the rod--which had been deposited in the tabernacle (
Num 17:10), the wonder-working rod by which so many miracles had been performed, sometimes called "the rod of God" (
Exod 4:20), sometimes Moses' (
Num 20:11) or Aaron's rod (
Exod 7:12).
10 [Moses] said unto them, Hear now, ye rebels; must we fetch you water out of this rock?--The conduct of the great leader on this occasion was hasty and passionate (
Ps 106:33). He had been directed to speak to the rock [
Num 20:8], but he smote it twice [
Num 20:11] in his impetuosity, thus endangering the blossoms of the rod, and, instead of speaking to the rock, he spoke to the people in a fury.
11 the congregation drank, and their beasts--Physically the water afforded the same kind of needful refreshment to both. But from a religious point of view, this, which was only a common element to the cattle, was a sacrament to the people (
1Cor 10:3-4) --It possessed a relative sanctity imparted to it by its divine origin and use.
12 The Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron, Because ye believed me not, &c.--The act of Moses in smiting twice betrayed a doubt, not of the power, but of the will of God to gratify such a rebellious people, and his exclamation seems to have emanated from a spirit of incredulity akin to Sarai's (
Gen 18:13). These circumstances indicate the influence of unbelief, and there might have been others unrecorded which led to so severe a chastisement.
13 This is the water of Meribah--The word "Kadesh" is added to it [
Deut 32:51] to distinguish it from another Meribah (
Exod 17:7).
14 Moses sent messengers . . . to the king of Edom--The encampment at Kadesh was on the confines of the Edomite territory, through which the Israelites would have had an easy passage across the Arabah by Wady-el-Ghuweir, so that they could have continued their course around Moab, and approached Palestine from the east [ROBERTS]. The Edomites, being the descendants of Esau and tracing their line of descent from Abraham as their common stock, were recognized by the Israelites as brethren, and a very brotherly message was sent to them.
17 we will go by the king's highway--probably Wady-el-Ghuweir [ROBERTS], through which ran one of the great lines of road, constructed for commercial caravans, as well as for the progress of armies. The engineering necessary for carrying them over marshes or mountains, and the care requisite for protecting them from the shifting sands, led to their being under the special care of the state. Hence the expression, "the king's highway," which is of great antiquity.
19 if I and my cattle drink of thy water, then I will pay for it--From the scarcity of water in the warm climates of the East, the practice of levying a tax for the use of the wells is universal; and the jealousy of the natives, in guarding the collected treasures of rain, is often so great that water cannot be procured for money.
21 Edom refused to give Israel passage through his border, &c.--A churlish refusal obliged them to take another route. (See on
Num 21:4;
Deut 2:4; and
Judg 11:18; see also
1Sam 14:47;
2Sam 8:14, which describe the retribution that was taken.)
22 the children of Israel . . . came unto mount Hor--now Gebel Haroun, the most striking and lofty elevation in the Seir range, called emphatically "the mount" [
Num 20:28]. It is conspicuous by its double top.
24 Aaron shall be gathered unto his people--In accordance with his recent doom, he, attired in the high priest's costume, was commanded to ascend that mountain and die. 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 simple narrative of the solemn and impressive scene implies, though it does not describe, the pious resignation, settled faith, and inward peace of the aged pontiff.
26 strip Aaron of his garments--that is, his pontifical robes, in token of his resignation. (See
Isa 22:20-
Isa 22:25).
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.
28 Aaron died there in the top of the mount--(See on
Deut 10:6). A tomb has been erected upon or close by the spot where he was buried.
29 When all the congregation saw that Aaron was dead--Moses and Eleazar were the sole witnesses of his departure (
Num 20:28). According to the established law, the new high priest could not have been present at the funeral of his father without contracting ceremonial defilement (
Lev 21:11). But that law was dispensed with in the extraordinary circumstances. The people learned the event not only from the recital of the two witnesses, but from their visible signs of grief and change; and this event betokened the imperfection of the Levitical priesthood (
Heb 7:12).
they mourned for Aaron thirty days--the usual period of public and solemn mourning. (See on
Deut 34:8).