Commentary on Harmony of the Law Volume 2 Complete John Calvin
JOHN CALVIN
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.
26. Tunc exues Aharon vestibus suis, quibus indues Eleazar filium ejus: quia Aharon colligetar, et morietur ibi.
27. And Moses did as the Lord commanded: and they went up into mount Hor, in the sight of all the congregation.
27. Fecitque Moses quemadmodum praeperat Jehova. Et ascenderunt in Hor montem in oculis totius congregationis.
28. And Moses stripped Aaron of his garments, and put them upon Eleazar his son; mid Aaron died there in the top of the mount: and Moses and Eleazar came down from the mount.
28. Et exuit Moses Aharon vestibus suis, et induit illis Eleazar filium ejus, mortuusque est Aharon ibi in vertice montis. Tunc descendit Moses et Eleazar de monte.
29. And when all the congregation saw that Aaron was dead, they mourned for Aaron thirty days, even all the house of Israel.
29. Videns autem tota congregatio quod obiisset Aharon, fleverunt eum triginta diebus tota domus Israel.
23. And the Lord spoke unto Moses. First of all, in the death of Aaron, we must consider the execution of the sentence, whereby he had been condemned; for God wished to show that He had not threatened either him or Moses in vain, with what then occurred, as children are wont to be threatened. If Aaron had died without any such prediction, since he might have seemed from his extreme age to have but discharged the debt of nature, as it is called, the people might have been so overcome by their grief, as to have no inclination to proceed. But now, when, in the death of one man, the condemnation of their public and common guilt is clearly manifested, such great severity on God's part against the high-priest, who had before propitiated God towards them all by his intercession, must have been a very sharp spur to them all. For it must needs have suggested itself to them, that God was no longer to be trifled with, before whom not even this sacred dignity could escape punishment. This was the reason why Aaron was called forth to die in the sight of all, that the survivors might learn to live to God, inasmuch as He instructed them to obey by this notable example. For the rebuke is added not so much for the sake of Moses and Aaron, viz., that