Brother of Moses, First High Priest in the Hebrew Bible
The Hebrew Bible records that Aaron was Moses’ elder brother; since Moses judged himself poor of speech, God appointed Aaron his spokesman, to go with him before Pharaoh to demand Israel’s release. After the Exodus, Aaron was made the first high priest, and his descendants inherited the priestly office through the generations, the source of the Jewish priesthood. But the Bible also records that while Moses was on the mountain, under pressure from the people, he cast a golden calf for them to worship — one of the Hebrew Bible’s complex figures in whom "faith and weakness coexist."
When Moses did not return from forty days and nights on Mount Sinai, the people gathered and demanded of Aaron, "make us gods to go before us," and Aaron collected their gold jewelry and cast a golden calf, which the people called the god that had led them out of Egypt. Coming down and seeing this, Moses smashed the tablets of the Ten Commandments in anger. This episode is often cited in discussions of "the wavering of faith under group pressure."
Below are how modern works borrow or reinterpret this name or story — not the original material. The two differ, so keep them apart.
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