Author(s):
Schaper, Joachim
|
Jacobs, Martin
[German Version] I. Old Testament - II. Early Judaism
I. Old Testament The origin of the name is uncertain. In the Old Testament Aaron is the brother of Mose and his spokesman (Exod 4:14f.). He was reputed to be a “Levite” (priest; Exod 4:14), and the traveling companion and deputy of Moses (Exod 7:1–7), a miracle-worker (Exod 8:1f.), a charismatic leader (Exod 17:10–12; 24:14) and the progenitor of the legitimate, Levitical-Aaronic priesthood of Israel (Exod 28f.; Lev 8–10; Num 3:5–4:49; 8:5–26; 16–18). At the same time, however, he was responsible for the establishment of the illegitimate cult of the golden bull (Exod 32). Here it may be a matter of a negatively directed etiology of the sanctuary at Bethel (Beyerlin), whose priests probably saw in Aaron their progenitor. Num 12 portrays Aaron as an adversary of his brother: along with his sister Miriam he questioned Moses' claim to exclusive leadership. Nevertheless, the heaviest penalty did not fall on him, but Miriam. All this together makes clear that several strands of tradition have influenced one another. At the most, the pre-priestly source lying behind the tradition of Aaron as a charismatic leader might prove to be a historical recollection. The historical Aaron appears to have come from the southern tribes: the oldest traditions associated with him (Exod 15:29; 17:8–16; 18:12) come from south Judah (Noth). The traditions that portray Aaron as the brother of Moses, prophet, wonder-worker or ancestor of the priesthood are later. Eventually, these traditions were written down in P, whose Aaronic genealogy was the result of postexilic compromises among …