Aaron shall be gathered unto his people: for he shall not enter into the land which I have given unto the children of Israel, because ye rebelled against my word at the water of Meribah.

Let Aaron, saith he, go to his people: for he shall not go into the land which I have given the children of Israel, because he was incredulous to my words, at the waters of contradiction.

Aaron shall be gathered unto his peoples; for he shall not enter into the land that I have given unto the children of Israel, because ye rebelled against my commandment at the waters of Meribah.

'Aaron is gathered unto his people, for he doth not go in unto the land which I have given to the sons of Israel, because that ye provoked My mouth at the waters of Meribah.

"Let Aaron," he said, "go to his people. For he shall not enter into the land which I have given to the sons of Israel, because he did not believe my mouth at the Waters of Contradiction.

Congregabitur Aharon ad populos suos.: Non enim ingredietur terram quam dedi filiis Israel: eo quod rebelles fueritis ori meo in aquis jurgii.

Aaron shall be (l) gathered unto his people: for he shall not enter into the land which I have given unto the children of Israel, because ye rebelled against my word at the water of Meribah.
(l) Read (Genesis 25:8).

Aaron shall be gathered unto his people,.... That is, shall die, for this phrase is a periphrasis of death, and is used in common both of good and bad men, and designs death in general, without regard to persons and places men go to at death:
for he shall not enter into the land which I have given unto the children of Israel; the land of Canaan; and Aaron the priest, and so Moses the lawgiver, not being suffered to enter into that land, show the weakness and imperfection of the law, and of the Levitical priesthood, and the insufficiency of them, and of obedience to them to bring men to, and give them an entrance into the heavenly glory; that is done by another person, the antitype of Joshua, even Jesus:
because ye rebelled against my word at the water of Meribah; that is, you Moses and Aaron; their unbelief is called a rebelling against the word of the Lord, for which it was threatened them, that they should not bring the people of Israel into the land of Canaan, and now the threatening begins to take place, see Numbers 20:12.

Aaron shall be gathered unto his people--In accordance with his recent doom, he, attired in the high priest's costume, was commanded to ascend that mountain and die. But although the time of his death was hastened by the divine displeasure as a punishment for his sins, the manner of his death was arranged in tenderness of love, and to do him honor at the close of his earthly service. His ascent of the mount was to afford him a last look of the camp and a distant prospect of the promised land. The simple narrative of the solemn and impressive scene implies, though it does not describe, the pious resignation, settled faith, and inward peace of the aged pontiff.

Because they rebelled - This was one but not the only reason. God would not have Moses and Aaron to carry the people into Canaan, for this reason also, to signify the insufficiency of the Mosaical law and Aaronical priesthood to make them perfectly happy, and the necessity of a better, and to keep the Israelites from resting in them, so as to be taken off from their expectation of Christ.