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In the Hebrew Bible and the Qur ' an, Aaron ( or ; Ahărōn, Hārūn, Greek ( Septuagint ): Ααρών ), who is often called "' Aaron the Priest "' () and once Aaron the Levite () ( Exodus 4: 14 ), was the older brother of Moses, ( Exodus 6: 16-20, 7: 7 ; Qur ' an 28: 34 ) and a prophet of God.

He represented the priestly functions of his tribe, becoming the first High Priest of the Israelites.

While Moses was receiving his education at the Egyptian royal court, and during his exile among the Midianites, Aaron and his sister Miriam remained with their kinsmen in the eastern border-land of Egypt ( Goshen ).

There, Aaron gained a name for eloquent and persuasive speech, so that when the time came for the demand upon the Pharaoh to release Israel from captivity, Aaron became his brother ’ s nabi, or spokesman, to his own people ( Exodus 7: 1 ) and, after their unwillingness to hear, to the Pharaoh himself ( Exodus 7: 9 ).

Various dates for his life have been proposed, ranging from approximately 1600 to 1200 BC.

The Jewish Encyclopedia suggests two possible accounts of Aaron's death.

The principal one gives a detailed statement that soon after the incident at Meribah, Aaron, with his son Eleazar and Moses, ascended Mount Hor.

There Moses stripped Aaron of his priestly garments and transferred them to Eleazar.

Aaron died on the summit of the mountain, and the people mourned for him thirty days ( Numbers 20: 22-29 ; compare 33: 38-39 ).

The other account is found in Deuteronomy 10: 6, where Moses is reported as saying that Aaron died at Moserah and was buried there.