Commentary for Numbers 20:26

את בגדיו [AND STRIP AARON OF] HIS GARMENTS — i.e., the garments of the high priesthood. — He clothed him in these and stripped them off him to place them on his son in his presence. He (Moses) said to him (Aaron), “Enter the cave”, and he entered. — He saw a bed already made (more lit., outspread, i.e., with its sheets, etc.) and a light burning. He said to him, “Ascend the bed”, and he ascended. — “Stretch out your hands”, and he stretched them out. — “Close your mouth”, and he closed it. — “Close your eyes”, and he closed them. At that moment Moses longed for that self-same death, and this is what was said to him (Deuteronomy 32:50), “[And die] … as Aaron thy brother died” — the death, for which you longed (Siphre on that verse).

AND STRIP AARON OF HIS GARMENTS. These are the garments [reserved only] for the High Priest, with which Eleazar his son was now appointed [High Priest in his stead]. It is likely that when Aaron came down from offering the Daily Whole-offering, and burnt the incense and kindled the lamps, Moses took him up to Mount Hor whilst he was still dressed in the garments of the [High] Priest, and [then] he stripped him of them. And according to the plain meaning of Scripture [the verse is to be interpreted: And strip Aaron of his garments in order to] put on him the shrouds of a dead man which he had prepared for him, and then he stripped Eleazar of his ordinary clothes and put the sacred garments upon him, as he did to him on the day of initiation. And according to the Midrashic interpretation of our Rabbis,²¹¹Sifra, Tzav Milu’im 1:6. various miracles occurred in connection with these garments.²¹²The miraculous nature of the event which occurred here has been explained in various ways, but from Ramban’s quotation of it the explanation is as follows: Since it is obvious that Aaron would not be left naked for even one moment, we must say that as soon as the uppermost garment was removed from him, the Divine Glory wrapped him with a corresponding celestial garment. But if so, how could Moses proceed to remove the lower garments “in their proper order,” since there was now a [celestial] upper garment upon them? The answer is given in the following text of the Torath Kohanim [Sifra]. See the following note. Thus they said: “How could Moses strip Aaron of his garments in their proper order? Are not the upper ones always on top, and the lower ones always underneath? But G-d did miraculous deeds for Aaron at the time of his death, even more so than during his lifetime. Thus Moses put Aaron upon the rock and stripped him of the priestly garments, and [alternative] celestial garments clothed themselves [upon him] underneath them.²¹³“Underneath them.” Thus as Aaron was stripped of his upper robe, he was covered with a corresponding celestial garment underneath his tunic [which was the lower garment directly on his body]. Moses could then proceed to remove the tunic [which was now above the celestial “upper” robe, thereby fulfilling the Divine command of stripping Aaron of his garments “in their proper order.” As he removed the tunic, a corresponding celestial tunic likewise clothed itself underneath the celestial robe. This interpretation of the Torath Kohanim is based upon Malbim’s commentary. And he put them upon Eleazar his son.²¹⁴Verse 28. But how could Moses put the garments upon Eleazar in their proper order?²¹⁵For as soon as he stripped Aaron of the upper robe, Moses had to put it upon Eleazar, so that he would be clothed in the order in which the clothes are worn. If so, how could he later on put the lower garments [such as the tunic] underneath? In answer to this question the Torath Kohanim presents a second miracle, namely, that Aaron found himself arrayed in eight celestial garments and then he put on the eight garments of the high priesthood in opposite order, first the robe and finally the tunic. [Ordinarily this is not permitted, but since he was now attired already in the celestial garments underneath it was permissible for him to do it.] When Moses removed the tunic from upon Aaron and put it upon Eleazar it was thus done in proper order. See my Hebrew commentary pp. 380-381. [We must say that this was not natural], but that G-d bestowed a great honor upon Aaron at the time of his death, even more so than during his lifetime, in that celestial garments first [miraculously] clothed themselves underneath [the other garments], and then Moses stripped Aaron of the priestly garments in their proper order,²¹⁶I.e., in the order he had put them on after he found himself arrayed in the eight celestial garments, which as explained above (Note 215), was in the opposite order: first the robe and finally the tunic as the uppermost garment. and [also] put them on Eleazar in their proper order.” So it is taught in the Torath Kohanim.²¹¹Sifra, Tzav Milu’im 1:6.

והפשט אהרן את בגדיו, the garments that were exclusively those of a High Priest, i.e. those in addition to the garments worn by the ordinary priest.