Moses was full of grief when the word of the Lord came to him that Aaron, his brother, was to die. That night he had no rest, and when it began to dawn towards morning, he rose and went to the tent of Aaron.
Aaron was much surprised to see his brother come in so early, and he said, “Wherefore art thou come?”
Moses answered, “All night long have I been troubled, and have had no sleep, for certain things in the Law came upon me, and they seemed to me to be heavy and unendurable; I have come to thee that thou shouldest relieve my mind.” So they opened the book together and read from the first word; and at every sentence they said, “That is holy, and great, and righteous.”
Soon they came to the history of Adam; and Moses stayed from reading when he arrived at the Fall, and he cried bitterly. “O Adam, thou hast brought death into the world!”
Aaron said, “Why art thou so troubled thereat, my brother? Is not death the way to Eden?”
“It is however very painful. Think also, that both thou and I must some day die. How many years thinkest thou we shall live?”
Aaron.—“Perhaps twenty.”
Moses.—“Oh no! not so many.”
Aaron.—“Then fifteen.”
Moses.—“No, my brother, not so many.”
Aaron.—“Then ten years.”
Moses.—“No, not so many.”
Aaron.—“Then surely it must be five.”
Moses.—“I say again, not so many.”
Then said Aaron, hesitating, “Is it then one?”
And Moses said, “Not so much.”
Full of anxiety and alarm, Aaron kept silence. Then said Moses gently, “O my beloved! would it not be good to say of thee as it was said of Abraham, that he was gathered to his fathers in peace?” Aaron was silent.
Then said Moses, “If God were to say that thou shouldst die in a hundred years, what wouldst thou say?”
Aaron said, “The Lord is righteous in all His ways, and holy in all His works.”
Moses.—“And if God were to say to thee that thou shouldst die this year, what wouldst thou answer?”
Aaron.—“The Lord is righteous in all His ways, and holy in all His works.”
Moses.—“And if He were to call thee to-day, what wouldst thou say?”
Aaron.—“The Lord is righteous in all His ways, and holy in all His works.”
“Then,” said Moses, “arise and follow me.”
At that same hour went forth Moses, Aaron, and Eleazer, his son; they ascended into Mount Hor, and the people looked on, nothing doubting, for they knew not what was to take place.
Then said the Most High to His angels, “Behold the new Isaac; he follows his younger brother, who leads him to death.”
When they had reached the summit of the mountain, there opened before them a cavern. They went in, and found a death-bed prepared by the hands of the angels. Aaron laid himself down upon it and made ready for death.
Then Moses cried out in grief, “Woe is me! we were two, when we comforted our sister in her death; in this, thy last hour, I am with thee to solace thee; when I die, who will comfort me?”
Then a voice was heard from heaven, “Fear not; God himself will be with thee.”
On one side stood Moses, on the other Eleazer, and they kissed the dying man on the brow, and took from off him his sacerdotal vestments to clothe Eleazer his son with them.They took off one portion of the sacred apparel, and they laid that on Eleazer; and then they removed another portion, and laid that on Eleazer; and as they stripped Aaron, a silvery veil of cloud sank over him like a pall and covered him.
Aaron seemed to be asleep.
Then Moses said, “My brother, what dost thou feel?”
“I feel nothing but the cloud that envelopes me,” answered he.
After a little pause, Moses said again, “My brother, what dost thou feel?”
He answered feebly, “The cloud surrounds me and bereaves me of all joy.”
And the soul of Aaron was parted from his body. And as it went up Moses cried once more, “Alas, my brother! what dost thou feel?”
And the soul replied, “I feel such joy, that I would it had come to me sooner.”
Then cried Moses, “Oh thou blessed, peaceful death! Oh, may such a death be my lot!”
Moses and Eleazer came down alone from the mountain, and the people wailed because Aaron was no more. But the coffin of Aaron rose, borne by angels, in the sight of the whole congregation, and was carried into heaven, whilst the angels sang: “The priest’s lips have kept knowledge, have spoken truth!”[574]
The Mussulman story is not quite the same.
One version is that both Moses and Aaron ascended Hor, knowing that one of them was to die, but uncertain which, and they found a cave, and a sarcophagus therein with the inscription on it, “I am for him whom I fit.”
Moses tried to lie down in it, but his feet hung out; Aaron next entered it, lay down, and it fitted him exactly.
Then Gabriel led Moses and the sons of Aaron out of the cave, and when they were again admitted Aaron was dead.[575]
Another version is this: God announced to Moses that he would call Aaron to Himself. Then Moses took his brother from the camp, and they went into the desert, till they came to a tree. When Aaron saw the shadow, he said, “O my brother, whose tree is this?”
Moses said, “God alone knows.”
Then spake Aaron, “I am weary, and the shadow is cool; suffer me to repose a little while under the tree.”
Moses said, “Lie down, my brother; and may thy rest be sweet.”
Aaron lay down, and Moses sat beside him till he died.
Then suddenly the tree, the shadow, and Aaron vanished; and Moses returned alone to the Israelites. They were angry with him, that he had not brought back Aaron, and they took up stones against him. But Moses cried to the Lord, and the Lord showed them Aaron on a bed, and he was dead; and the people looked, and wondered, and wept: then said a voice from heaven, “God hath taken him.” The people bewailed him many days.[576]
When the time came for Moses to die, the Lord called Gabriel to Him, and said, “Go and bring the soul of My servant Moses to Paradise.”
The angel Gabriel answered in astonishment, “Lord, Lord, how can I venture to give death to that man, the like of whom all generations of men have not seen?”
Then the Most High called to Him Michael, and said, “Go and bring the soul of My servant Moses to Paradise.”
The angel Michael answered in fear, “Lord, Lord, I was his instructor in heavenly lore! How can I bear death to my pupil?”
Then the Most High called to Him Sammael, and said, “Go and bring the soul of My servant Moses to Paradise.”
The angel Sammael flushed red with joy. He clothed himself in anger, and grasped his sword, and rushed down upon the holy one. But he found him writing the incommunicable name of God, and he saw his face shine with divine light. Then he stood irresolute, and his sword sank with the point to earth.
“What seekest thou?” asked Moses.
“I am sent to give thee death,” answered the trembling angel. “All mortals must submit to that.”
“But not I,” said Moses, “at least from thee; I, consecrated from my mother’s womb, the discloser of divine mysteries, the mouthpiece of God, I will not surrender my soul into thy hand.”
Then Sammael flew away.
But a voice fell from heaven, “Moses, Moses, thine hour is come!”
“My Lord,” answered Moses, “give not my soul into the hands of the Angel of Death.”
Then the Bath-kol, the heavenly voice, fell again, “Be comforted. I myself will take thy soul, and I myself will bury thee.”[577]
Then Moses went home, and knocked at the door. His wife Zipporah opened; and when she saw him pale and trembling, she inquired the reason.
Moses answered, “Give God the praise. My hour of death is come.”
“What! must a man who has spoken with God die like ordinary mortals?”
“He must. Even the angels Gabriel, Michael, and Israfiel must die; God alone is eternal, and dies not.”
Zipporah wept, and swooned away.
When she recovered her senses, Moses asked, “Where are my children?”
“They are put to bed, and are asleep.”
“Wake them up; I must bid them farewell.”
Zipporah went to the children’s bed and cried, “Arise, poor orphans! arise, and bid your father farewell; for this is his last day in this world, and the first in the world beyond.”
The children awoke in terror, and cried, “Alas! who will pity us when we are fatherless? who will stand protector on our threshold?”
Moses was so moved that he wept. Then God said to him, “What mean these tears? Fearest thou death, or dost thou part reluctantly with this world?”
“I fear not death, nor do I part reluctantly with this world; but I lament these children, who have lost their grandfather Jethro and their uncle Aaron, and who now must lose their father.”
“In whom then did thy mother confide, when she cast thee in the bulrush ark into the water?”
“In Thee, O Lord.”
“Who gave thee power before Pharaoh? who strengthened thee with thy staff to divide the sea?”
“Thou, O Lord.”
“Who led thee through the wilderness, and gave thee bread from heaven, and opened to thee the rock of flint?”
“Thou, O Lord.”
“Then canst thou not trust thy orphans to Me, who am a father to the fatherless? But go, take thy staff, and extend it once more over the sea, and thou shalt have a sign to strengthen thy wavering faith.”
Moses obeyed. He took the rod of God in his hand, and he went down to the sea-beach, and he lifted the rod over the water. Then the sea divided, and he saw in the midst a black rock. And he went forward into the sea till he reached the rock, and then a voice said to him, “Smite with thy staff!” And he smote, and the rock clave asunder, and he saw at its foundations a little cavity, and in the cavity was a worm with a green leaf in its mouth. The worm lifted up its voice and cried thrice, “Praised be God, who doth not forget me, though I, a little worm, lie in loneliness here! Praised be God, who hath nourished and cherished even me!”
When the worm was silent, God said to Moses: “Thou seest that I do not fail to consider and provide for a little worm in a rock of which men know not, far in the depths of the sea; and shall I forget thy children, who know Me?”
Moses returned with shame to his home, comforted his wife and children, and went alone to the mountain where he was to die.[578]
And when he had gone up the mountain, he met three men who were digging a grave; and he asked them, “For whom do you dig this grave?”
They answered, “For a man whom God will call to be with Him in Paradise.”
Moses asked permission to lend a hand to dig the grave of such a holy man. When it was completed, Moses asked, “Have you taken the measure of the deceased?”
“No; we have quite forgotten to do so. But he was of thy size; lie down in it, and God will reward thee, when we see if it be likely to suit.”
Moses did so.[579]
The three men were the three angels Michael, Gabriel, and Sagsagel. The angel Michael had begun the grave, the angel Gabriel had spread the white napkin for the head, the angel Sagsagel that for the feet.
Then the angel Michael stood on one side of Moses, theangel Gabriel on the other side, the angel Sagsagel at the feet, and the Majesty of God appeared above his head.
And the Lord said to Moses, “Close thine eyelids.” He obeyed.
Then the Lord said, “Press thy hand upon thy heart.” And he did so.
Then God said, “Place thy feet in order.” He did so.
Then the Lord God addressed the spirit of Moses, and said, “Holy soul, my daughter! For a hundred and twenty years hast thou inhabited this undefiled body of dust. But now thine hour is come; come forth and mount to Paradise!”
But the soul answered, trembling and with pain, “In this pure and undefiled body have I spent so many years, that I have learned to love it, and I have not the courage to desert it.”
“My daughter, come forth! I will place thee in the highest heaven beneath the Cherubim and Seraphim who bear up My eternal throne.”
Yet the soul doubted and quaked.
Then God bent over the face of Moses, and kissed him. And the soul leaped up in joy, and went with the kiss of God to Paradise.
Then a sad cloud draped the heavens, and the winds wailed, “Who lives now on earth to fight against sin and error?”
And a voice answered, “Such a prophet never arose before.”
And the Earth lamented, “I have lost the holy one!”
And Israel lamented, “We have lost the Shepherd!”
And the angels sang, “He is come in peace to the arms of God!”[580]
But the Mussulmans narrate the last scene differently.
They say that the Angel of Death stood over Moses, as he lay in the grave, and said, “Prophet of God, I must take thy soul.”
“How wilt thou take it?”
“From thy mouth.”
“Thou canst not, for my mouth hath spoken with God.”
“Then from thine eyes.”
“Thou canst not, for my eyes have seen the uncreated Light of God.”
“Then from thy ears.”
“Thou canst not, for my ears have heard the Voice of God.”
“Then from thy hands.”
“Thou canst not, for my hands have held the diamond tables, on which was engraven the Tora.”
Then God bade the Angel of Death obtain from Rhidwan, the porter of Paradise, an apple from the garden, and give it to Moses to smell.
Moses took the apple out of the hand of the Angel of Death, and smelt at it; and as he smelt thereat, the angel drew his soul forth at his nostrils.
None know where is the grave of Moses, save Gabriel, Michael, Israfiel, and Azrael, for they buried him and defend his grave to the Judgment Day.[581]
By Nebo’s lonely mountain,On this side Jordan’s wave,In a vale in the land of MoabThere lies a lonely grave.And no man knows that sepulchre,And no man saw it e’er,For the angels of God upturned the sod,And laid the dead man there.That was the grandest funeralThat ever passed on earth;But no man heard the trampling,Or saw the train go forth—Noiselessly as the daylightComes back when night is done,And the crimson streak on Ocean’s cheekGrows into the great sun;Noiselessly as the spring-timeHer crown of verdure weaves,And all the trees on all the hillsOpen their thousand leaves;So without sound of music,Or voice of them that wept,Silently down from the mountain’s crownThe great procession swept.And had he not high honour—The hill-side for a pall,To lie in state, while angels waitWith stars for tapers tall;And the dark rock-pines, like tossing plumes,Over his bier to wave,And God’s own hand in that lonely landTo lay him in the grave?[582]
By Nebo’s lonely mountain,On this side Jordan’s wave,In a vale in the land of MoabThere lies a lonely grave.And no man knows that sepulchre,And no man saw it e’er,For the angels of God upturned the sod,And laid the dead man there.That was the grandest funeralThat ever passed on earth;But no man heard the trampling,Or saw the train go forth—Noiselessly as the daylightComes back when night is done,And the crimson streak on Ocean’s cheekGrows into the great sun;Noiselessly as the spring-timeHer crown of verdure weaves,And all the trees on all the hillsOpen their thousand leaves;So without sound of music,Or voice of them that wept,Silently down from the mountain’s crownThe great procession swept.And had he not high honour—The hill-side for a pall,To lie in state, while angels waitWith stars for tapers tall;And the dark rock-pines, like tossing plumes,Over his bier to wave,And God’s own hand in that lonely landTo lay him in the grave?[582]
By Nebo’s lonely mountain,On this side Jordan’s wave,In a vale in the land of MoabThere lies a lonely grave.And no man knows that sepulchre,And no man saw it e’er,For the angels of God upturned the sod,And laid the dead man there.
By Nebo’s lonely mountain,
On this side Jordan’s wave,
In a vale in the land of Moab
There lies a lonely grave.
And no man knows that sepulchre,
And no man saw it e’er,
For the angels of God upturned the sod,
And laid the dead man there.
That was the grandest funeralThat ever passed on earth;But no man heard the trampling,Or saw the train go forth—Noiselessly as the daylightComes back when night is done,And the crimson streak on Ocean’s cheekGrows into the great sun;
That was the grandest funeral
That ever passed on earth;
But no man heard the trampling,
Or saw the train go forth—
Noiselessly as the daylight
Comes back when night is done,
And the crimson streak on Ocean’s cheek
Grows into the great sun;
Noiselessly as the spring-timeHer crown of verdure weaves,And all the trees on all the hillsOpen their thousand leaves;So without sound of music,Or voice of them that wept,Silently down from the mountain’s crownThe great procession swept.
Noiselessly as the spring-time
Her crown of verdure weaves,
And all the trees on all the hills
Open their thousand leaves;
So without sound of music,
Or voice of them that wept,
Silently down from the mountain’s crown
The great procession swept.
And had he not high honour—The hill-side for a pall,To lie in state, while angels waitWith stars for tapers tall;And the dark rock-pines, like tossing plumes,Over his bier to wave,And God’s own hand in that lonely landTo lay him in the grave?[582]
And had he not high honour—
The hill-side for a pall,
To lie in state, while angels wait
With stars for tapers tall;
And the dark rock-pines, like tossing plumes,
Over his bier to wave,
And God’s own hand in that lonely land
To lay him in the grave?[582]
Once when the Persian Empire was at the summit of its power, an attempt was made to discover the body of Moses. A countless host of Persian soldiers was sent to search Mount Nebo. When they had reached the top of the mountain, they saw the sepulchre of Moses distinctly at the bottom. They hastened to reach the valley, and then they clearly distinguished the tomb of Moses at the summit. Thus, whenever they were at the top, they saw it at the foot; and when they were at the foot, it appeared at the top; so they were forced to abandon the prosecution of their search.[583]
The incident of the contention of Michael with Satan for the body of Moses mentioned byS.Jude is contained in the apocryphal “Assumption of Moses,” now lost, but which has been quoted by Origen and other Fathers.