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The Serious Transgression of Moses and Aaron - Doubt
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In Chapter 20 of Numbers, Miriam’s death is recorded. The text (1) then proceeds to say:
2. And there was no water for the congregation; and they assembled themselves together against Moses and against Aaron. 3. And the people strove with Moses, and spoke, saying: ‘Would that we had perished when our brethren perished before the LORD! 4. And why have ye brought the assembly of the LORD into this wilderness, to die there, we and our cattle? 5. And wherefore have ye made us to come up out of Egypt, to bring us 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.’ 6. And Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly unto the door of the tent of meeting, and fell upon their faces; and the glory of the LORD appeared unto them. 7. And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying: 8: ‘Take the rod, and assemble the congregation, thou, and Aaron they brother, and speak ye unto the rock before their eyes, that it give forth its water; and thou shalt bring forth to them water out of the rock; so thou shalt give the congregation and their cattle drink.’ 9. And Moses took the rod from before the LORD, as He commanded him. 10. And Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock, and he said unto them: ‘Hear now, ye rebels; are we to bring forth water out of this rock?’ 11. And Moses lifted up his hand, and smote the rock with his rod twice; and water came forth abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their cattle. 12. And the LORD said unto Moses and Aaron: ‘Because ye believed not in Me, to sanctify Me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them.’ The words I have underlined in verse 8 indicate that both Moses and Aaron were ordered to speak to the rock. The word “ye” in the translation is, according to the Oxford Dictionary, the archaic plural form of “thou” and the Hebrew word for “speak” is plural. Verse 9 reads that Moses took the rod as he had been commanded to do and verse 10 tells us that Moses and Aaron “gathered the assembly together before the rock …” Moses goes on, after addressing the assembly in verse 10, to hit the rock twice in verse 11 resulting in a flow of abundant water. Significantly, verse 12 tells us that God spoke to both Moses and Aaron telling them – the plural is used in both the translation and the Hebrew – that they did not believe in Him and that they would not bring the assembly into the promised land. Later in Chapter 20 the text reads: 22. And they journeyed from Kadesh; and the children of Israel, even the whole congregation, came unto mount Hor. 23. And the LORD spoke unto Moses and Aaron in mount Hor, by the border of the land of Edom, saying: 24. ‘Aaron 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 waters 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.’ The words I have underlined tell us that Moses and Aaron rebelled against God’s word. The Hebrew for “rebelled” is in the plural, just as the word “ye” indicates plural. Clearly also verses 23 and 24 state that God is addressing both Moses and Aaron and telling them that both rebelled. So both Moses and Aaron – note that verse 23 says that God spoke to both of them – rebelled against God’s word. The text is telling us by necessary implication (2) that either Moses and Aaron must have both spontaneously and simultaneously decided that they would not talk to the rock and that Moses would strike it, or they must have conferred with each other in advance and decided on that conduct. The word “rebelled” is significant in this regard. It indicates more than a mere lapse or oversight. Significant too is that Aaron remains silent whilst and after Moses strikes the rock; the text does not suggest that he objected in any way or that he began or attempted to speak to the rock. And the anger of Moses’ address in verse 10 is consistent with his having been unsettled at defying God. So here we have the text telling us that Moses and Aaron both defied God’s word, losing the opportunity “to sanctify (Him) in the eyes of the children of Israel …” – a most serious transgression. The fact that the text does so in respect of two heroes of the Five Books, one of whom was and remains our greatest prophet, who spoke to God “mouth to mouth” (Numbers 12.8), is a powerful indication of its authenticity. If it were mythology that would be most unlikely. In Reason 5 below Dennis Prager is quoted as making a similar point regarding the treatment of the Israelites in the Five Books. And perhaps those of us who are sometimes assailed with doubt about God or the Torah can derive some consolation from the fact that our greatest leader and his great brother had their moment of doubt too. (1) Translation in The Pentateuch & Haftorahs Second Edition - Chief Rabbi Dr JH Hertz (2) The text is often cryptic, leaving gaps – Insight 5 above. |