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Numbers 20 · a question people ask

Moses struck the rock. Why is Aaron kept out of the land too?

In the text

The text doesn't say what Aaron did on his own, and it doesn't separate him from Moses. The LORD told Moses to assemble the congregation "you, and Aaron your brother" (20:8). "Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock" (20:10), and Moses asked, "Shall we bring water out of this rock for you?" (20:10). The LORD speaks to both: "The LORD said to Moses and Aaron, ‘Because you didn’t believe in me’" (20:12). At Mount Hor he says of Aaron, "he shall not enter into the land which I have given to the children of Israel, because you rebelled against my word at the waters of Meribah" (20:24). The chapter leaves it there.

The verses

““Take the rod, and assemble the congregation, you, and Aaron your brother, and speak to the rock before their eyes, that it pour out its water. You shall bring water to them out of the rock; so you shall give the congregation and their livestock drink.””
Numbers 20:8 · World English Bible
“Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock, and he said to them, “Hear now, you rebels! Shall we bring water out of this rock for you?””
Numbers 20:10 · World English Bible
“The LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you didn’t believe in me, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them.””
Numbers 20:12 · World English Bible
““Aaron shall be gathered to his people; for he shall not enter into the land which I have given to the children of Israel, because you rebelled against my word at the waters of Meribah.”
Numbers 20:24 · World English Bible

From Favor's study of Numbers 20

Numbers 20: Speak to the rock

The LORD said "speak to the rock" (20:8); Moses said "you rebels" and struck it twice (20:10-11), and the water came anyway. The LORD named what went wrong, "you didn’t believe in me, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel" (20:12), and at Mount Hor used Moses' own word of him and Aaron: "you rebelled against my word" (20:24).

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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Every answer cites the verses it rests on. What we believe · All Bible questions