Page "Aaron" Paragraph 14

During the journey in the wilderness, Aaron is not always prominent or active ; and he sometimes appears guilty of rebellious or treasonable conduct.

At the battle with Amalek, he is chosen with Hur to support the hand of Moses that held the " rod of God " ( Exodus 17: 9 ).

When the revelation was given to Moses at Mount Sinai, he headed the elders of Israel who accompanied Moses on the way to the summit.

Joshua, however, was admitted with his leader to the very presence of the Lord, while Aaron and Hur remained below to look after the people ( Exodus 24: 9-14 ).

It was during the prolonged absence of Moses that Aaron yielded to the clamors of the people, and made a Golden Calf as a visible image of the divinity who had delivered them from Egypt ( Exodus 32: 1-6 ).

( It should be noted that in the account given of the same events, in rabbinic sources ( b. Talmud Shabbat 99a ; Exodus Rabbah 41 ) and in the Qur ' an, Aaron is not the idol-maker and upon Moses ' return begged his pardon as he had felt mortally threatened by the Israelites ( Quran 7: 142-152 ).

) At the intercession of Moses, Aaron was saved from the plague which smote the people ( Deuteronomy 9: 20, Exodus 32: 35 ), although it was against Aaron ’ s tribe of Levi that the work of punitive vengeance was committed ( Exodus 32: 26 ).