HEBREW WORD STUDY – DIE IN THE MOUNT –  MOTH BAHAR  מת  בהר   

Numbers 20:25-26:  “Take Aaron and Eleazar his son, and bring them up unto mount Hor:  (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.”

Deuteronomy 32:49-50:  “Get thee up into this mountain Abarim, [unto] mount Nebo, which [is] in the land of Moab, that [is] over against Jericho; and behold the land of Canaan, which I give unto the children of Israel for a possession:  (50) And die in the mount whither thou goest up, and be gathered unto thy people; as Aaron thy brother died in mount Hor, and was gathered unto his people:”

Moses was told by God to speak to the rock and it will bring forth water.  Instead Moses angrily struck the rock because of the demands of the people.  Therefore God told him because he got angry he would not be allowed to enter the promise land and was told to go to the mountain and die. That what I was told in Sunday School as a child.  You read this in our KJV and it sounds almost as if Moses blew it, he dishonored God and now God commands him to do the honorable thing. Like the old Samurai he goes to the mountain and falls on his sword. 

Most modern translations try to soften it by saying that God told Moses to go to the mountain where he will die. But we still cannot get away from the fact that this word for die moth is in a Qal imperative (command) form.  God literally commanded Moses to go to the mountain and die.

You can’t really say that he was old and feeble and he was ready to go.  I mean he was asked to climb a mountain for crying out loud. His brother Aaron was was asked to climb a mountain where he was told he would die. I mean it sounds like there was a lot of mileage left in these old boys. 

I was reading something written by the great Jewish scholar and commentator Rashi which is key to understanding Deuteronomy 32:50: It is in the words: “As Aaron thy brother died in Mount Hor.   

There is no indication in the Bible that Moses mourned his brother Aaron’s death.  There is no mention that Aaron’s son Eleazar  mourned his father’s death.  Yet we hear that the people, who were not present during Aaron’s passing, did mourn his death.  I mean go figure.  Well, Rashi did figure.  When God told Moses that he would die like his brother Aaron it was as if God had promised him his greatest desire.  To die with the Divine Kiss.  God was going to take Moses home.  We read this passage in Deuteronomy and it sounds  like God is really angry with Moses. 

Unfortunately, many Bible translators look for the technical way to translate a passage and ignore it’s emotional context.  The picture is not one of a disgraced Samurai called to do the honorable thing and fall on his sword.  It is more of the picture of a coach recognizing that one of his players has just played to his limit, yet he continues the fight, only he just does not have the strength to contribute his best.  So the coach calls him out and sends in a replacement.  

We think it was a punishment that God would not allow Moses to lead the people into the promised land, but after forty years of all the grief, misery, disappointments and stress of management, it was time for Moses to retire. It was a sense of relief for Moses to learn that his job was finished, it was time to pass the mantel.  God promised he would pass just like his brother with a the Divine Kiss.  The Divine Kiss is a passing without agony or pain.  It is just simply closing your eyes and when you open them there is Jesus standing there to welcome you home.  Moses did not mourn his brother’s death, nor did Aaron’s son mourn his father’s death, for they saw something glorious, they saw their beloved brother and father receive the Divine Kiss. 

T.S. Eliot wrote: “I will show you fear in a handful of dust.” What T.S. Eliot was saying is that man does not necessarily fear death, what he fears is dying and nobody knows or cares about his passing. The greatest fear of death is to approach it thinking you have not fulfilled your purpose.  Even Western Christians look upon death as a tragedy.  But everyone dies how can it be a tragedy?  The tragedy is for a person to die before they can accomplish God’s purpose.  Moses accomplished God’s purpose and he received the Divine Kiss.