107 myths · Page 1 of 4
Moses made twelve logs of sacred oil in the wilderness. It anointed priests, vessels, and kings for centuries and never diminished by a drop.
Every time Aaron approached the altar as high priest, the shape of the Golden Calf appeared at its corner. Moses had to talk him through it each time.
David asked if Saul would keep hunting him. The high priest looked down. Three letters on the stones caught fire and spelled the chase.
The Ark traveled three days ahead of the camp and burned the snakes out of the road. The gold cherubim on its lid had the faces of boys.
Moses crossed the camp to tell his brother Aaron he would wear the High Priest's robes, and Aaron, who shunned distinctions, wept and said no.
Twelve tribal princes walked toward the Tabernacle, each carrying a silver plate, a silver bowl, a gold spoon. None weighed a feather more than another.
This was the best day of Elisheba's life. Her husband was high priest, her sons served beside him. Two were dead before the morning's service was over.
For seven days Moses put the Tent up and took it down. On the eighth, Aaron froze, because the calf was waiting at the altar's corner.
The flame did not burn cloth or blacken skin. It went in through the nostrils and took the soul, leaving two bodies dressed for service, garments whole.
The priests carry the Ark to the flooded Jordan and stop at the edge. The river will not part until their feet touch the water first.
Thirty verses put Moses first and Aaron second. Then one verse flips the order, and the reversal decides who outranks whom.
Moses tipped the holy oil over Aaron's head and felt it slide onto his own beard. One wet drop nearly broke him with fear.
Centuries before a single Levite served in the Tabernacle, Jacob counted his sons at Bethel and picked one out for God. It was not the one you would expect.
Abraham had killed the sons of a righteous man and rode home expecting to be cursed for it. Shem came out on the road carrying bread and wine.
Moses was weeping at the tent door. A man walked a Midianite woman through the camp in full view. Twenty-four thousand were already dead.
Reuben was born first and lost three crowns. Dying, he gathered his sons and told them to cleave to Levi, who would carry the priesthood.
Aaron covered the Ark with his own hands before every march. Then Israel stopped the registration to ask, out loud, who his son had married.
The crowd told Jeremiah they had fields to plow and hungry children, so Torah would have to wait. He came back holding a jar of old manna.
A genealogy hides the claim that Phinehas is Elijah. The priest who stopped a plague becomes the prophet who returns for Israel.
After the ground closed on Korach, God did not soothe Aaron with words. He had a deed written and sealed, so no later contest could reopen the field.
The gold came off their ears into Aaron's hands. Years later he ran into a plague with a firepan, and the dying stopped at his feet.
Moses asked if Aaron would accept death in a hundred years. Aaron said the Judge is righteous. Then Moses told him the day was today.
Jacob's sons were still boys among the tents when Michael took one of them up and set him before God as a tithe. God stretched out a hand and blessed him.
The letters fled the tablets when Moses came down and saw the calf, and the stone went heavy in his hands. Rise from your slumber, the Zohar calls to Aaron.
Levi and Simeon killed every man in Shechem and Jacob cursed them for it. Within a generation, God chose Levi for the priesthood. Jubilees explains why.
Titus walked out of the Holy of Holies with blood on his sword. Nadab and Abihu had gone in to serve, and the fire kept them.
Aaron's priesthood was bracketed by two catastrophes, the Golden Calf and Korah's rebellion. Both threatened him. Both failed to destroy him.
Inside the sanctuary the priest said the four-letter Name out loud. Anywhere else he said a substitute. Korah stood in the camp and watched Aaron do it.
Twenty-four thousand were already dead. Moses wept at the tent door. A young priest stood up with a spear no one had given him.
Long before Sinai, Abraham gave a tenth of everything he owned at the harvest feast. The Book of Jubilees says this quiet act was how the tithe began.
