Av 1 – Mountain Tops – Today in the Bible

Av 1, 5785; from sunset July 25, 2025, to sunset July 26, 2025

(The first day of the fifth month)

Noah’s Ark (1846), by the American folk painter Edward Hicks.

We’ve been following the timeline for Noah as calculated by the medieval rabbi, Rashi. The last time we checked in with Noah, the ark had come to rest in the mountains of Ararat. Today, Rashi placed the milestone of the mountain tops which were seen for the first time since the rains started. He understood the text to read the first day of the tenth month since the beginning of the flood.

And the waters decreased continually until the tenth month. In the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the tops of the mountains were seen. – Genesis 8:5 (NKJ)

Finally, Noah and his family had a fixed point so they could begin measuring the decrease of the waters! Our next story continues today’s theme of mountain tops.

This is the name “Aharon” (“Aaron”) as seen in Deuteronomy 32:50 of the Aleppo Codex, written over one thousand years ago.

Today in the Bible, we’re focusing on Moses’ brother, Aaron. After forty years of ministering to God in the wilderness, Aaron had one more commandment to follow.

Then the children of Israel, the whole congregation, journeyed from Kadesh and came to Mount Hor. And the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron in Mount Hor by the border of the land of Edom, saying:

“Aaron shall be gathered to his people, for he shall not enter the land which I have given to the children of Israel, because you rebelled against My word at the waters of Meribah. Take Aaron and Eleazar his son, and bring them up to Mount Hor; and strip Aaron of his garments and put them on Eleazar his son; for Aaron shall be gathered to his people and die there.”

So Moses did just as the LORD commanded, and they went up to Mount Hor in the sight of all the congregation. Moses stripped Aaron of his garments and put them on Eleazar his son; and Aaron died there on the top of the mountain. Then Moses and Eleazar came down from the mountain. Now when all the congregation saw that Aaron was dead, all the house of Israel mourned for Aaron thirty days. – Numbers 20:22-29 (NKJ)

Aaron is the only person in the Hebrew Scriptures whose date of death is recorded. It’s interesting to think that, during the 30-day mourning period for Aaron, both the First and Second Temples were destroyed. Aaron would have presided over them had they been built in his day.

Then Aaron the priest went up to Mount Hor at the command of the LORD, and died there in the fortieth year after the children of Israel had come out of the land of Egypt, on the first day of the fifth month. Aaron was one hundred and twenty-three years old when he died on Mount Hor. – Numbers 33:38-39 (NKJ)

וַיַּעַל אַהֲרֹן הַכֹּהֵן אֶל-הֹר הָהָר

And he went up, Aaron the priest, to Hor, the mountain

הֹר הָהָר

Mount Hor is kind of a funny name. When speaking in Hebrew, you would say, “Hor hahar” — Hor, the mountain. The word har = mountain or hill. Fausett’s Bible Dictionary says that “hor” is an archaic form of the word “har.” So, “Hor hahar” could translate to “Mountain, the Mountain” or “Mount Mountain.”

אַהֲרֹן

So Aaron was commanded to climb Mount Mountain. Here’s the kicker, many Bible dictionaries say that “Aaron” (which is pronounced “Aharon” in Hebrew, shown above) comes from this same root word. The “on” ending in Hebrew often indicates a diminutive form of the word – or – “little mountain.” Jerome (c. 342-420 CE), who is famous for translating the Bible into Latin (his translation is known as the Vulgate), assigns the meaning of “Mountain of Strength” to Aaron’s name. Others render “Mountaineer.”

Still others disagree and say that his name comes from the word “or” which means “to be or become light;” or “aran” which means “to be agile, aroused, or at the center of cheer.” Others see his name as having an Egyptian origin. We may never know for sure; but the place of his death may be an indicator. We kind of like the idea of his name being connected to mountains…

A man named Little Mountain climbed Mount Mountain and that is where he died.

Perhaps 🙂

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