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20 [1] **The children of Israel, the entire congregation, came to the wilderness of Tzin during the first month and the people lived in Kadesh, **in the wilderness of Tzin. Later, Kadesh will be referred to as a city situated on the edge of the border of Edom (20:16). **Miriam died there, and she was buried there. **
[2] **There was no water for the congregation; and they assembled against Moses and against Aaron. **
[3] **The people quarreled with Moses, and they said, saying: If only we had perished in the perishing of our brethren before the Lord. **At least our brethren, who died due to the sin of the spies and other transgressions, died a quick death. 3
[4] **Why did you bring the assembly of the Lord to this wilderness, that we and our animals should die there? **
[5] **Why did you bring us up from Egypt, to bring us to this wretched place? It is not a place of seed, or figs, or vines, or pomegranates, **fruits for which the Promised Land is praised. 4 Now, we are neither in Egypt nor in Canaan, **and there is no water to drink. **
[6] **Moses and Aaron came from before the assembly, **and were forced by the angry crowd **to the entrance of the Tent of Meeting, and **they **fell upon their faces **in prayer, **and the glory of the Lord appeared to them. **
[7] **The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: **
[8] **Take the staff **with which you performed all the miracles and wonders, 5 **and assemble the congregation, you, and Aaron your brother, and speak to the rock before their eyes, and it, **the rock, **will provide its water. **You will thereby **extract water for them from the rock and you shall give drink to the congregation and their animals. **
[9] **Moses took the staff from before the Lord, as He had commanded him. **It is possible that this was the staff placed before God “for safekeeping, as a sign for the rebellious ones.” 6
[10] **Moses and Aaron assembled the assembly before the rock, and said to them: Hear now, defiant ones **: 7 **From this rock will we bring out water for you? **Why do you quarrel with us? Do you think we have the power to bring out water from this rock? You should have turned and prayed to God. 8 Alternatively, Moses asked them: Defiant ones, do you doubt God’s ability to bring water from this rock? 9
[11] **Moses raised his hand, and he struck the rock with his staff twice; a great deal of water came out, and the congregation and their animals drank. **
[12] Although the rock miraculously provided water,
**the Lord said to Moses and Aaron: Because you did not **cause the people to **have faith in Me **, 10 **to sanctify Me before the eyes of the children of Israel; therefore, you shall not bring this assembly into the land that I have given them. **
[13] **These are the waters of dispute, where the children of Israel quarreled with the Lord, and He was sanctified through them. **God was sanctified through the execution of judgment upon those close to Him. A similar expression appears with regard to the deaths of Aaron’s sons: “Through those who are near to Me I will be sanctified.” 11
[14] **Moses sent messengers from Kadesh, **south of Edom, **to the king of Edom: So said your brother Israel, **as Jacob was the brother of Esau, the father of the nation of Edom: 12 **You know all the travail that we have encountered. **
[15] **Our ancestors descended to Egypt, and we lived in Egypt many years; the Egyptians mistreated us and our ancestors. **
[16] **We cried to the Lord and He heard our voice, **and **sent an angel. **The verse may be referring to Moses, the messenger of God, 13 or to an actual angel of God. 14 **And **He **took us out of Egypt; behold, we are **now **in Kadesh, a city at the edge of your border. **
[17] Therefore, we ask:
**Please, let us pass through your land; **we promise that **we will not pass in a field or in a vineyard, **in your settled areas, **and we will not drink well water; we will go on the king’s way, **the public thoroughfares that pass through the cities. 15 Alternatively, this refers to whatever road the king of Edom would instruct them to use. 16 **We will not turn right or left until we will pass your border; **we will pass through your land quietly, without causing any damage.
[18] The king of
**Edom said to him, **Moses, or Israel: **You shall not pass through me, lest I come out toward you with the sword. **If you attempt to pass through, I will wage war against you.
[19] Despite the threats of Edom,
**the children of Israel said to him: **If you do not permit us to use the king’s road, which is in the valley and surrounded by fields and vineyards, **we will go up on the **mountain **highway, **17 even though it is a less comfortable road. **And if we drink your water, I or my cattle, I will give its price; only it is no matter, **no harm will be caused, **let me pass on foot. **We will not travel in military chariots.
[20] **He, **Edom, **said: You shall not pass. Edom came out toward him with a great multitude, and with a powerful hand. **
[21] **Edom refused to allow Israel to pass in his border and Israel turned from him. **They turned eastward in order to bypass the land of Edom.
[22] **They traveled from Kadesh; and the children of Israel, the entire congregation, came to Hor Mountain. **It was known by the name Hor, which itself means mountain, due to its regional prominence.
[23] **The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron at Hor Mountain, on the border of the land of Edom, saying: **
[24] **Aaron shall be gathered to his people, **the time has come for him to die; his soul shall be returned to its source. **For he shall not come into the land that I gave to the children of Israel because you defied My directive at the **incident of the **waters of dispute **(20:7–13).
[25] **Take Aaron and Elazar his son, and take them up Hor Mountain. **
[26] **Undress Aaron of his **priestly **vestments, and dress Elazar his son in them. **In this way, Aaron will merit to see his son assume the position of High Priest in his place. 19 **Aaron will be gathered **to his people, **and **he will **die there, **in perfect serenity, in the presence of only his brother and one of his sons.
[27] **Moses did as the Lord had commanded and they went up to Hor Mountain before the eyes of the entire congregation, **in a ceremonial and public fashion. It is evident from the verse that Aaron did not die from old age or frailty, as he was capable of ascending the mountain alongside his brother and son.
[28] **Moses undressed Aaron of his vestments, and dressed Elazar his son in them; and Aaron died there at the top of the mountain; and Moses and Elazar descended from the mountain. **
[29] **The entire congregation saw that Aaron had perished. **Although the people knew that Moses, Aaron, and Elazar ascended the mountain, they were unaware of the purpose of this ascent. Now they saw that Moses and Elazar returned without Aaron. 20 **And they wept for Aaron thirty days, the **
Version: The Steinsaltz Tanakh - English
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License: Copyright: Steinsaltz Center