# Moses Brother Aaron **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 15, 2007, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moses-brother-aaron/430102 "2007-12-15T14:47:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![monavis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e0b2c6/32.png) [@monavis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monavis)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2007, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moses-brother-aaron/430102/1 "2007-12-15T14:47:26Z")
I was wondering who the father of Moses Brother Aaron was. Since Moses mother placed him in the bulrushes and was raised by the Pharoh’s daughter, was Arron older or younger than Moses? Was Aaron the grandson of the Pharoh? Since Historians found no evidence of a Moses, and nothing was written about him in the Egyptian writings, it leads one to wonder. Monavis ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2007, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moses-brother-aaron/430102/2 "2007-12-15T15:02:16Z")
According to the Bible, Aaaron was Moses’s older brother, presumably from the same father. As the Pharoah’s edict to drown all the newborn boys came after he was born, he was spared his brother’s fate. Of course, this is all a matter of faith and mythology. There is no real evidence either of did or did not exist. ---
**Author:** ![jimmmy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/73ab20/32.png) [@jimmmy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jimmmy)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2007, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moses-brother-aaron/430102/3 "2007-12-15T16:35:38Z")
[QUOTE=Alessan] According to the Bible, Aaaron was Moses’s older brother, presumably from the same father. . [/QUOTE] Just to be clear Exodus 6 says they had the same father \* 20 Amram married his father’s sister Jochebed, who bore him Aaron and Moses. Amram lived 137 years. 23 Aaron married Elisheba, daughter of Amminadab and sister of Nahshon, and she bore him Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. 24 The sons of Korah were Assir, Elkanah and Abiasaph. These were the Korahite clans. 25 Eleazar son of Aaron married one of the daughters of Putiel, and she bore him Phinehas. These were the heads of the Levite families, clan by clan. 26 It was this same Aaron and Moses to whom the LORD said, “Bring the Israelites out of Egypt by their divisions.” 27 They were the ones who spoke to Pharaoh king of Egypt about bringing the Israelites out of Egypt. It was the same Moses and Aaron. \* It seems someone is going to alot of trouble in the first millenium BCE to tell us they were the same guys with the same Dad and to make sure no one misses that point. Just to be GQ about it. ---
**Author:** ![zev\_steinhardt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/97f17d/32.png) [@zev\_steinhardt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zev_steinhardt)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2007, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moses-brother-aaron/430102/4 "2007-12-17T19:28:33Z")
[QUOTE=monavis] was Arron older or younger than Moses? [/quote] Older by three years. See Exodus 7:7 > [@](#): > > Was Aaron the grandson of the Pharoh? No, and neither was Moses, except by adoption. Aaron, of course, wasn’t adopted by Pharaoh’s daughter at all, so he certainly couldn’t be considered Pharaoh’s grandson in any respect. Zev Steinhardt ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2007, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moses-brother-aaron/430102/5 "2007-12-18T03:21:13Z")
> [@](#): > > Amram married his father’s sister Jochebed His _own_ father’s sister? He married his goddam aunt? ---
**Author:** ![muttrox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a8b319/32.png) [@muttrox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muttrox)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2007, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moses-brother-aaron/430102/6 "2007-12-18T14:25:18Z")
“goddamn” may not be appropriate here, seeing as how they’re from a “godblessed” family… ---
**Author:** ![filmyak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/94ad74/32.png) [@filmyak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmyak)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2007, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moses-brother-aaron/430102/7 "2007-12-18T19:50:46Z")
[QUOTE=muttrox] “goddamn” may not be appropriate here, seeing as how they’re from a “godblessed” family… [/QUOTE] Helps me understand how the religious nuts in the Southern boondocks are so incestuous… Very creepy. ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2007, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moses-brother-aaron/430102/8 "2007-12-18T19:58:18Z")
[QUOTE=Askance] His _own_ father’s sister? He married his goddam aunt? [/QUOTE] Yup. The Torah later forbade marrying your father’s sister. The rationalization is that Amram lived before this rule was handed down from Sinai, so he wasn’t expected to follow it. ---
**Author:** ![Ruffian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/71e660/32.png) [@Ruffian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruffian)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2007, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moses-brother-aaron/430102/9 "2007-12-18T20:10:29Z")
[QUOTE=filmyak] Helps me understand how the religious nuts in the Southern boondocks are so incestuous… Very creepy. [/QUOTE] Not to veer far off the OP’s path, but…man, you haven’t even scratched the surface of the weird sexual stuff in the Old Testament. I’m a Christian, though not of the “fundie” type, and I had my jaw on the floor about some of the stuff in there. At one point, Lot’s daughters decide to get their father drunk so they can have sex with him. Ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww. The story didn’t end up going down that path, but…bleh. A little too Ricky Lake for me. ---
**Author:** ![filmyak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/94ad74/32.png) [@filmyak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmyak)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2007, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moses-brother-aaron/430102/10 "2007-12-18T20:50:41Z")
[QUOTE=Ruffian] At one point, Lot’s daughters decide to get their father drunk so they can have sex with him. Ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww. The story didn’t end up going down that path, but…bleh. A little too Ricky Lake for me. [/QUOTE] Hey, if you have to repopulate an entire post-flood planet… hehehe ---
**Author:** ![Rube\_E.Tewesday](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f0a364/32.png) [@Rube\_E.Tewesday](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rube_E.Tewesday)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2007, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moses-brother-aaron/430102/11 "2007-12-18T20:54:05Z")
[QUOTE=Ruffian] At one point, Lot’s daughters decide to get their father drunk so they can have sex with him. Ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww. The story didn’t end up going down that path, but…bleh. A little too Ricky Lake for me. [/QUOTE] Huh? As I recall, that’s exactly the path the story went, complete with the children of incest growing up to father nations that the Israelites just happened to hate. Am I misremembering, or am I misunderstanding you? ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2007, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moses-brother-aaron/430102/12 "2007-12-18T21:15:31Z")
[QUOTE=Ruffian] At one point, Lot’s daughters decide to get their father drunk so they can have sex with him. Ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww. The story didn’t end up going down that path, but…bleh. A little too Ricky Lake for me. [/QUOTE] Yeah, but you have to take that story with a grain of salt. After all, their mother did. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2007, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moses-brother-aaron/430102/13 "2007-12-18T21:15:54Z")
> [@](#): > > At one point, Lot’s daughters decide to get their father drunk so they can have sex with him. Ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww. And this differs from all later Heinlein how? ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2007, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moses-brother-aaron/430102/14 "2007-12-18T22:27:18Z")
Rube E. Tewesday: > [@](#): > > Huh? As I recall, that’s exactly the path the story went, complete with the children of incest growing up to father nations that the Israelites just happened to hate. The Israelites did not hate them. G-d commanded the Israelites to not instigate any wars against them. True, they were also not allowed to convert to Judaism, but that’s for specific acts of non-kindness toward the Israelites, not a generalized hatred. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2007, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moses-brother-aaron/430102/15 "2007-12-18T23:48:39Z")
[QUOTE=cmkeller] True, they were also not allowed to convert to Judaism, but that’s for specific acts of non-kindness toward the Israelites, not a generalized hatred. [/QUOTE] Which reminds me of a question…how did Ruth manage it? ---
**Author:** ![zev\_steinhardt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/97f17d/32.png) [@zev\_steinhardt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zev_steinhardt)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2007, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moses-brother-aaron/430102/16 "2007-12-18T23:52:59Z")
[QUOTE=Captain Amazing] Which reminds me of a question…how did Ruth manage it? [/QUOTE] The Talmud derives from the use of “Moavi” in the masculine that the rule only applies to males. Zev Steinhardt ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2007, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moses-brother-aaron/430102/17 "2007-12-19T00:24:45Z")
[QUOTE=Captain Amazing] Which reminds me of a question…how did Ruth manage it? [/QUOTE] Her (first) father-and mother-in-law consented to the marriage while they were living in Moab. That effectively made her into an Israelite by marriage. Her (second) mother-in-law may have had some influence there, too – being a Canaanite and formerly a harlot in Jericho, after all. ---
**Author:** ![aptronym](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e47774/32.png) [@aptronym](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aptronym)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2007, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moses-brother-aaron/430102/18 "2007-12-19T01:36:59Z")
[QUOTE=monavis] nothing was written about him in the Egyptian writings [/QUOTE] That may not be true. My memory is a little hazy, but I just took a trip to Egypt last month and I distinctly remember carvings of a man named Musa, whose hieroglyphs translate to “water boy”, who was in a royal household of the early New Kingdom (which most scholars believe is the period of Egyptian history that would involve the Israelites). Of course, not much is said about him other than that he existed. ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2007, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moses-brother-aaron/430102/19 "2007-12-19T03:54:37Z")
IIRC, didn’t the Pharoah of Moses’ day have oh, about 50 bazillion kids anyway? ---
**Author:** ![Triskadecamus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b19c9b/32.png) [@Triskadecamus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Triskadecamus)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2007, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moses-brother-aaron/430102/20 "2007-12-19T04:04:55Z")
I think the preponderance of guys named Levi still have the same Y chromosome as of the end of last century. So, if there was no Aaron, then there was another guy from the same time and place with the same name, who did found the priest family of the Hebrews. I could be wrong, though. Tris [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moses-brother-aaron/430102.md?page=2)