Description
Aaron, the first High Priest of Israel, was the brother of Moses the Law Receiver (and Friend of God) and Miriam. He was anointed by God’s command to serve the priestly sacrifices revealed to Moses in great detail. His name means “high mountain” or “the enlightened” in its Egyptian origin. His life and priesthood are related in the books of Exodus through Deuteronomy. God Himself showed Aaron as His chosen priest, when others wished to take this honor to themselves without a Divine appointment, by the miraculous budding of Aaron’s rod (Num: 17:1-8).
It was only from the direct bloodline of the family of Aaron, who was of the Tribe of Levi, that the Priests of Israel who served in the Tabernacle and the Temple came, and these were called Kohen (or Kohein), in plural Kohanim. The budding of Aaron’s rod was repeated many centuries later in the budding of St. Joseph the Betrothed’s rod to be chosen as the guardian of the Virgin Mary. In this icon Aaron is depicted wearing the Jewish teffillin on his forehead, carrying his budded staff, and holding cradled in his arm a golden censer. This is a modern Greek icon.