The trial of the Israelites and the intercession of Aaron

Wisdom 18: 20 - 25

IECOT edition (2019, Kohlhammer, Stuttgart)

editor: Luca Mazzinghi translator: Michael Tait

Certainly, the trial of death

struck the just also,

and in the desert there

was a slaughter of a

multitude, but the wrath

did not last for long;

for a blameless man [Aaron,

brother of Moses] rushed

to the fight, bearing the arms

of his ministry, the prayer and

incense of expiation: he opposed

the wrath and put an end to

the disaster, showing himself 

your servant.

He conquered that host,

not with physical power, nor

by force of arms, but with the

word he placated the one who

was punishing, calling to mind

the paths and covenants of the

fathers.  When the bodies had

already fallen in heaps, one on

top of the other, he, standing

in the midst, caused the wrath

to cease and cut off the way 

that led to the living.  On his

priestly robe was the entire

universe and, engraved on the

stones, arranged in four rows,

the glories of the fathers, and

on the diadem of his head your

majesty!

Before that, the destroyer yielded,

of this he was fearful,

because the sole proof of

his anger was sufficient.

______________________

Verse 21 introduces Aaron without naming him;

he is a "blameless man" like Job (Job 1:8  2:3);

Abraham (Genesis 17:1) -- compare Esther 

(Additions to Esther D) -- all figures who

took on the role of intercessors. . .The weapons

used by Aaron are those belonging to his ministry

explained NOT as sacrifices but as prayer [GREEK

proseuche ], a term typical of the LXX which does

not indicate the place of prayer but prayer in itself.

Just as Moses resisted Pharaoh (Wisdom 10:16), 

so Aaron resists the divine wrath, thanks to the

word and so puts an end to the disaster [Greek

symphora ].  Mentioned are the Twelve stones

engraved on the breastplate (Exodus 28: 17-21

and Exodus 39: 10 - 14) which represent the

"glories of the fathers" [Greek  Doxza ].  Aaron

represents not only the cosmos and the

ancestors of Israel but God himself.  He is

really "holy to the Lord" (a phrase inscribed on 

the gold sheet : Exodus 28:36 and Exodus 39:30). . .

in the texts of Exodus and Numbers, Aaron is

not always presented in a very favorable light;

not infrequently his faults are underlined.  In

Hellenistic Judaism, on the other hand, the

increased importance of the priesthood led to

a re-evaluation of his figure that is evident in

Ben Sira 45: 6 - 22, which is four times longer

than the section devoted to Moses, his brother

in Ben Sira 45: 1 - 5.  Aaron is presented as 

almost a messianic figure as in some DSS /

Qumranic texts like Community Rule XII - XIII.