Aaron

Aaron was the son of Amram and Jochebed of the tribe of Levi, born three years before Moses (Exo.7.7). When Moses protested his own inability to speak, God appointed Aaron as his spokesman, and together they confronted Pharaoh through ten plagues. Aaron held up Moses' arms at the battle of Rephidim. His gravest failure came at Sinai while Moses was on the mountain: he yielded to the people's demand and fashioned a golden calf, calling a feast before the idol (Exo.32). Despite this, God consecrated Aaron and his four sons as Israel's priestly line. As high priest, Aaron wore the breastplate bearing the names of the twelve tribes and performed the annual Day of Atonement ritual. Numbers records that God struck his sister Miriam with leprosy when she and Aaron criticized Moses for his Cushite wife. Aaron died on Mount Hor at the age of 123 when his priestly garments were transferred to his son Eleazar, who succeeded him. The letter to the Hebrews cites Aaron as the archetype of priestly calling (Heb.5.4), while pointing to Jesus as the high priest of a better covenant.