Numbers 20:29

29 and when the whole community learned that Aaron had died, all the Israelites mourned for him thirty days.

Numbers 20:29 in Other Translations

KJV
29 And when all the congregation saw that Aaron was dead, they mourned for Aaron thirty days, even all the house of Israel.
ESV
29 And when all the congregation saw that Aaron had perished, all the house of Israel wept for Aaron thirty days.
NLT
29 When the people realized that Aaron had died, all Israel mourned for him thirty days.
MSG
29 The whole congregation, getting the news that Aaron had died, went into thirty days of mourning for him.
CSB
29 When the whole community saw that Aaron had passed away, the entire house of Israel mourned for him 30 days.

Numbers 20:29 Meaning and Commentary

Numbers 20:29

And when all the congregation saw that Aaron was dead
Not that they saw his dead body, but they perceived by the relation of Moses, and by various circumstances, as not seeing Aaron come down, whom they saw go up, and seeing Eleazar with Aaron's garments on him, and perhaps by tokens of mourning in Moses and Eleazar; so the Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem say, they saw them come down from the top of the mountain, with their garments rent, and ashes on their heads, weeping and lamenting:

they mourned for Aaron thirty days;
the whole month out; so long public mourning with the Jews lasted, as Josephus F13 relates:

[even] all the house of Israel;
men and women, as the Targum of Jonathan, and so Jarchi: no doubt it was for the amiable virtues and abundant grace that were in him, and the many services he had done for them, both before and since he was invested with the priestly office; and oftentimes the memory of such things is revived after the death of a good man, which are not so much taken notice of in his life, nor he be thanked for them, or have honour and respect shown him on account of them; but when dead, he, and what he has done, are spoken well of, and his loss lamented.


FOOTNOTES:

F13 De Bello Jud. l. 3. c. 8. sect. 5.

Numbers 20:29 In-Context

27 Moses did as the LORD commanded: They went up Mount Hor in the sight of the whole community.
28 Moses removed Aaron’s garments and put them on his son Eleazar. And Aaron died there on top of the mountain. Then Moses and Eleazar came down from the mountain,
29 and when the whole community learned that Aaron had died, all the Israelites mourned for him thirty days.

Cross References 2

  • 1. Deuteronomy 32:50
  • 2. S Genesis 27:41; S Leviticus 10:6; S Deuteronomy 34:8
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