in 1994.]] A population is all the organisms that both belong to the same species and live in the same geographical area. The area that is used to define the population is such that inter-breeding is possible between any pair within the area and more probable than cross-breeding with individuals from other areas. Normally breeding is substantially more common within the area than across the border.

In sociology, population refers to a collection of human beings. Demography is a sociological discipline which entails the statistical study of human populations. This article refers mainly to human population.

Population genetics

In population genetics a population is a set of organisms in which any pair of members can breed together. This implies that all members belong to the same species and live near each other. .

World human population

As of , the world population is estimated by the United States Census Bureau to be /1000000000) round 3}} billion.

According to papers published by the United States Census Bureau, the world population hit 6.5 billion (6,500,000,000) on 24 February 2006. The United Nations Population Fund designated 12 October 1999 as the approximate day on which world population reached 6 billion. This was about 12 years after world population reached 5 billion in 1987, and 6 years after world population reached 5.5 billion in 1993. The population of some countries, such as Nigeria and China, is not even known to the nearest million, so there is a considerable margin of error in such estimates.

Growth

Population growth increased significantly as the Industrial Revolution gathered pace from 1700 onwards. The last 50 years have seen a yet more rapid increase in the rate of population growth made by the Green Revolution. In 2007 the United Nations Population Division projected that the world's population will likely surpass 10 billion in 2055. In the future, world population has been expected to reach a peak of growth, from there it will decline due to economic reasons, health concerns, land exhaustion and environmental hazards. There is around an 85% chance that the world's population will stop growing before the end of the century. There is a 60% probability that the world's population will not exceed 10 billion people before 2100, and around a 15% probability that the world's population at the end of the century will be lower than it is today. For different regions, the date and size of the peak population will vary considerably.

The population pattern of less-developed regions of the world in recent years has been marked by gradually declining birth rates following an earlier sharp reduction in death rates. This transition from high birth and death rates to low birth and death rates is often referred to as the demographic transition.

Worldwide, the population control movement was active throughout the 1960s and 1970s, driving many reproductive health and family planning programs. In the 1980s, tension grew between population control advocates and women's health activists who advanced women's reproductive rights as part of a human rights-based approach. Growing opposition to the narrow population control focus led to a significant change in population control policies in the early 1990s.

See also

Crude birth rate

Crude death rate

Demography

Life expectancy

Median age

Net migration rate

Mortality under age 5

Net migration

Net reproduction rate

Nurgaliev's law

Overpopulation

Population change

Population density

Population growth rate

Rate of natural increase

Sex ratio

Rural area

Urban population

World population

Zero population growth

Lists:

List of countries by fertility rate

List of countries by population

List of countries by population density

List of religious populations

World's largest cities

Population economics:

Demographic economics

Dependency ratios

Non-human specific:

Animal population control

Biological dispersal

Biological exponential growth

Overpopulation in companion animals

Overpopulation in wild animals

Population ecology

Notes

External links

UNFPA, The United Nations Population Fund

United Nations Population Division

United Nations Population Division: World Population Prospects, the 2008 Revision

CICRED homepage a platform for interaction between research centres and international organizations, such as the United Nations Population Division, UNFPA, WHO and FAO.

Current World Population

NECSP HomePage

Overpopulation

Population and Health InfoShare. Retrieved 13 February 2005.

Population in the news homepage

Optimum Population Trust

Gallery: The World's Ten Most Populous Countries Retrieved 13 May 2009.

Population Reference Bureau (2005). Retrieved 13 February 2005.

Population World: Population of World. Retrieved 13 February 2004.

PopulationData.net - Information and maps about populations around the world. Retrieved 4 March 2005. PopulationData.net (2005).

SIEDS, Italian Society of Economics Demography and Statistics

United Nations (2004). Population Division, Department of Economic and Social Affairs. Retrieved 13 February 2004.

United Nations Economic Commission for Europe - Official Web Site

United States Census Bureau (2005). Census Bureau - Countries Ranked by Population. Retrieved 13 February 2005.

World Population Counter, and separate regions.

WorldPopClock.com. (French)

Populations du monde. (French)

OECD population data

Category:Population ecology Category:Sociology Category:Demography

Caption	A Bible illustration depicting Aaron.
Titles	Prophet, Priest, Helper of Moses, Apostle to Pharaoh, Holy Forefather
Name	Aaron
Feast day	September 4
Venerated in	JudaismEastern OrthodoxyIslamArmenian Apostolic ChurchMaronite Church

In the Hebrew Bible and the Qur'an, Aaron ( or ; Ahărōn, Hārūn, Greek (Septuagint): Ααρών ), sometimes called Aaron the Levite (), was the brother of Moses, (Exodus 6:16-20; Qur'an 28:34) and a prophet of God. He represented the priestly functions of his tribe, becoming the first High Priest of the Israelites. While Moses was receiving his education at the Egyptian royal court, and during his exile among the Midianites, Aaron and his sister Miriam remained with their kinsmen in the eastern border-land of Egypt (Goshen). There, Aaron gained a name for eloquent and persuasive speech, so that when the time came for the demand upon the Pharaoh to release Israel from captivity, Aaron became his brother’s nabi, or spokesman, to his own people (Exodus 7:1) and, after their unwillingness to hear, to the Pharaoh himself (Exodus 7:9). Various dates for his life have been proposed, ranging from approximately 1600 to 1200 BC.

Etymology

The etymology of the name "Aaron" is unknown, with suggestions ranging from an Egyptian origin to meaning "woe to this pregnancy" or as derived from the Hebrew word for 'Ark'.

Account in the Hebrew Bible

Traditional Genealogy

Descended from Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob

Great-grandfather: Levi, third of 12 sons and tribes of Israel

Grandfather: Kohath

Father: Amram

Mother: Jochebed

Sister: Miriam

Brother: Moses

Uncles: Izhar, Hebron, Uzziel

Sons: Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, Ithamar

Grandson: Phinehas

Function

Aaron’s function included the duties of speaker and implied personal dealings with the Egyptian royal court on behalf of Moses, who was always the central moving figure. The part played by Aaron in the events that preceded the Exodus was, therefore, ministerial, and not directive. He, along with Moses, performed “signs” before his people which impressed them with a belief in the reality of the divine mission of the brothers (Exodus 4:15–16).

At the command of Moses he stretched out his rod in order to bring on the first of three plagues (Exodus 7:19, 8:1,12). In the infliction of the remaining plagues, he appears to have acted merely as the attendant of Moses, whose outstretched rod drew the divine wrath upon the Pharaoh and his subjects (Exodus 9:23, 10:13,22). The display of potency from Aaron's rod had already been demonstrated in the presence of Pharaoh's magicians; when Aaron's rod was thrown down to the ground it had turned into a snake, so Pharaoh's magicians performed the same act with their own rods. However, Aaron's snake ate up all the other snakes (Exodus 7:9) proving his rod was victorious.

During the journey in the wilderness, Aaron is not always prominent or active; and he sometimes appears guilty of rebellious or treasonable conduct. At the battle with Amalek, he is chosen with Hur to support the hand of Moses that held the “rod of God” (Exodus 17:9). When the revelation was given to Moses at Mount Sinai, he headed the elders of Israel who accompanied Moses on the way to the summit. Joshua, however, was admitted with his leader to the very presence of the Lord, while Aaron and Hur remained below to look after the people (Exodus 24:9-14). It was during the prolonged absence of Moses that Aaron yielded to the clamors of the people, and made a Golden Calf as a visible image of the divinity who had delivered them from Egypt (Exodus 32:1-6). (It should be noted that in the account given of the same events, in the Qur'an, Aaron is not the idol-maker and upon Moses' return begged his pardon as he had felt mortally threatened by the Israelites (Quran 7:142-152).) At the intercession of Moses, Aaron was saved from the plague which smote the people (Deuteronomy 9:20, Exodus 32:35), although it was to Aaron’s tribe of Levi that the work of punitive vengeance was committed (Exodus 32:26).

Priesthood

At the time when the tribe of Levi was set apart for the priestly service, Aaron was anointed and consecrated to the priesthood, arrayed in the robes of his office, and instructed in its manifold duties (Exodus 28, Exodus 29).

On the very day of his consecration, his sons, Nadab and Abihu, were consumed by fire from the Lord for having offered incense in an unlawful manner (Leviticus 10).

Scholarly consensus is that in Aaron's high priesthood the sacred writer intended to describe a model, the prototype, so to say, of the Jewish high priest. God, on Mount Sinai instituting a worship, also instituted an order of priests. According to the patriarchal customs, the firstborn son in every family used to perform the functions connected with God's worship. It might have been expected, consequently, that Reuben's family would be chosen by God for the ministry of the new altar. However, according to the biblical narrative it was Aaron who was the object of God's choice. To what jealousies this gave rise later, has been indicated above. The office of the Aaronites was at first merely to take care of the lamp which was to burn perpetually before the veil of the tabernacle Exodus 27:21. A more formal calling soon followed (Exodus 28:1). Aaron and his sons, distinguished from the commoners by their sacred functions, were also to receive holy garments suitable to their office.

Aaron offered the various sacrifices and performed the many ceremonies of the consecration of the new priests, according to the divine instructions (Exodus 29), and repeated these rites for seven days, during which Aaron and his sons were entirely separated from the rest of the people. When, on the eighth day, the high priest had inaugurated his office of sacrifice by killing the animals, he blessed the people (very likely according to the prescriptions of Numbers 6:24-26), and, with Moses, entered into the tabernacle to possess it. They "came forth and blessed the people. And the glory of the Lord appeared to all the multitude: And behold a fire, coming forth from the Lord, devoured the holocaust, and the fat that was upon the altar: which when the multitude saw, they praised the Lord, falling on their faces" (Leviticus 9:23-24). In this way the institution of the Aaronic priesthood was established. In the present instance it is made clear by the express words of the oracle (Numbers 12:6-8) that Moses was unique among men as the one with whom the Lord spoke face to face. The failure to recognize or concede this prerogative of their brother was the sin of Miriam and Aaron.

The validity of the exclusive priesthood of the family of Aaron was attested after the ill-fated rebellion of Korah, who was a first cousin of Aaron. When the earth had opened and swallowed up the leaders of the insurgents (Numbers 16:25-35), Eleazar, the son of Aaron, was commissioned to take charge of the censers of the dead priests. And when the plague had broken out among the people who had sympathized with the rebels, Aaron, at the command of Moses, took his censer and stood between the living and the dead till the plague was stayed (Numbers 17:1-15, 16:36-50).

Another memorable transaction followed. Each of the tribal princes of Israel took a rod and wrote his name upon it, and the twelve rods were laid up over night in the tent of meeting. The next morning Aaron’s rod was found to have budded and blossomed and produced ripe almonds (Numbers 17:8). The miracle proved merely the prerogative of the tribe of Levi; but now a formal distinction was made in perpetuity between the family of Aaron and the other Levites. While all the Levites (and only Levites) were to be devoted to sacred services, the special charge of the sanctuary and the altar was committed to the Aaronites alone (Numbers 18:1-7). The scene of this enactment is unknown, as is the time mentioned.

Death

Aaron, like Moses, was not permitted to enter Canaan with the others. The reason alleged is that the two brothers showed impatience at Meribah (Kadesh) in the last year of the desert pilgrimage (Numbers 20:12-13), when Moses brought water out of a rock to quench the thirst of the people. Thus Aaron, the first priest, ranks below Moses: he is his mouthpiece, and the executor of the will of God revealed through Moses, although it is pointed out that it is said fifteen times in the Pentateuch that “the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron.” Under the influence of the priesthood which shaped the destinies of the nation under Persian rule, a different ideal of the priest was formed, as is learned from Malachi 2:4–7; and the prevailing tendency was to place Aaron on a footing equal with Moses. Accompanied by Moses, his brother, and by Eleazar, his son, Aaron went to the summit of Mount Hor, where the rock suddenly opened before him and a beautiful cave lit by a lamp presented itself to his view.

The rabbis also dwell with special laudation on the brotherly sentiment which united Aaron and Moses.

When Moses poured the oil of anointment upon the head of Aaron, Aaron modestly shrank back and said: "Who knows whether I have not cast some blemish upon this sacred oil so as to forfeit this high office."

Moses

According to Tanhuma, Aaron’s activity as a prophet began earlier than that of Moses. Hillel held Aaron up as an example, saying: “Be of the disciples of Aaron, loving peace and pursuing peace; love your fellow creatures and draw them nigh unto the Law!” This is further illustrated by the tradition preserved in Abot de-Rabbi Natan 12, Sanhedrin 6b, and elsewhere, according to which Aaron was an ideal priest of the people, far more beloved for his kindly ways than was Moses. Moses was bewailed by “the sons of Israel” only (). His fortitude and silent submission to the will of God on the loss of his two sons are referred to as an excellent example to men how to glorify God in the midst of great affliction. Especially significant are the words represented as being spoken by God after the princes of the Twelve Tribes had brought their dedication offerings into the newly reared Tabernacle: “Say to thy brother Aaron: Greater than the gifts of the princes is thy gift; for thou art called upon to kindle the light, and, while the sacrifices shall last only as long as the Temple lasts, thy light shall last forever.”

Christianity

icon of Aaron (18th century, Iconostasis of Kizhi monastery, Karelia, Russia).]] While Aaron and his descendants were the high priests of Judaism, Melchizedek, a mystical figure who appeared over 700 years before Moses, is considered a type of Christ, the high priest of the new dispensation(see the Book of Hebrews).

However, in the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Maronite Church Aaron is venerated as a saint, with a feast day celebrated on September 4, together with Moses (for those churches which follow the traditional Julian Calendar, September 4 falls on September 17 of the modern Gregorian Calendar). He is also commemorated, together with other righteous saints from the Old Testament on the Sunday of the Holy Fathers (the Sunday before Christmas).

He is commemorated as one of the Holy Forefathers in the Calendar of Saints of the Armenian Apostolic Church on July 30. He is commemorated on July 1 in the modern Latin calendar and in the Syriac Calendar.

Latter-day Saints

In the LDS church, the Aaronic order is the lesser order of priesthood, comprising the grades (from lowest to highest) of deacon, teacher, and priest. The chief office of the Aaronic priesthood is the presiding bishopric; the head of the priesthood is the bishop. Each ward has one or more quorum of each office of the Aaronic priesthood.

Aaron in Islam

Aaron (Arabic: هارون; meaning Mountain of strength) (circa 1439 BC - 1317 BC?), is an Islamic prophet and messenger mentioned in the Qur'an. Aaron preached and prophesied with Moses during the reign of the terrible Pharaoh of the Exodus. Aaron is one of the prophets who Muhammad is said to have met on the night of the Mi'raj (Night Journey), his ascension through the heavens. Aaron is also important for being a patriarch the ancestor of the priestly lineage of the family of Amram. The figures mentioned in the Qur'an who came from Aaron's lineage were Mary and Jesus. Furthermore, the other figures present in the household - such as the high priest Zachariah and his wife Elizabeth - are also mentioned as coming through the same bloodline.

Aaron in the Qur'an

The Qur'an states that Aaron was the brother of Moses and like his brother he too was a prophet who was tasked by God with saving the Israelites from the tyrannical Pharaoh. In the Qur'an God says:

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Aaron was a gifted speaker. He was largely responsible with teaching the Israelites the way of worship as it was laid out in the Torah of the time. According to the Qur'an, Moses prayed to God to grant him his brother Aaron as a helper to be with him in all his tasks ahead. God, in the Qur'an, says that Moses said:

God granted Moses his request and told him that he could take his brother along with him. God says:

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Aaron, being a prophetic messenger, was also given the law by God, to preach to the Children of Israel according to the Torah. The Qur'an mentions the holy scripture as a light and guidance for those who would accept the Message. God says in the Qur'an:

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When Moses led his people on the Exodus to Mount Sinai, he told them that he would be gone for a few days to receive the Tablets of the Law. He informed the Israelites that Aaron would be their leader in his absence. However, the moment Moses left, an evil man, Samiri, fashioned an idol calf out of the people's gold and jewelry and he made the Israelites succumb to idolatry.

Aaron preached with powerful zeal to his people, but they refused to listen to him. It is here that the Qur'anic narrative of the incident sharply contrasts with the Biblical story, which blames Aaron for making the golden calf. Aaron was overpowered and was threatened with being killed by his people. When Moses returned from Mount Sinai, he blamed Aaron for allowing the Israelites to worship this idol and seized his brother by his beard, but Aaron then gave his explanation, after which Moses prayed to God to forgive both of them. As God says in the Qur'an:

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Aaron in Muhammad's time

Muhammad, in many of his sayings, speaks of Aaron. In the event of the Mi'raj, his miraculous ascension through the Heavens, Muhammad is said to have encountered Aaron in the fifth heaven. According to old scholars, including Ibn Hisham, Muhammad, in particular, mentioned the beauty of Aaron when he encountered him in Heaven. Martin Lings, in his biographical Muhammad, speaks of Muhammad's wonderment at seeing fellow prophets in their heavenly glory:

Aaron was also mentioned by Muhammad in likeness to Ali. Muhammad had left Ali to look after his family, but the hypocrites of the time begun to spread the rumor that the prophet found Ali a burden and was relieved to be rid of his presence. Ali, grieved at hearing this wicked taunt, told Muhammad what the local people were saying. In reply, the prophet said: "They lie, I bade thee remain for the sake of what I had left behind me. So return and represent me in my family and in thine. Art thou not content, O Ali, that thou should be unto me as Aaron was unto Moses, save that after me there is no prophet. "

Burial Place

, Jordan.]] According to Islamic tradition the tomb of Aaron is located on Jabal Harun, or Aaron's Mountain, near Petra in Jordan. At 1350 meters above sea-level it is the highest peak in the area; and it is a place of great sanctity to the local people for here. A 14th century Jordanian mosque stands here with its white dome visible from most areas in and around Petra.

Genetics

Recently, the tradition that Kohanim (the Jewish priesthood) are actually descended from a single patriarch, Aaron, was found to be apparently consistent with genetic testing. The majority of Jewish men with the tradition of being Kohanim, but not all, share a direct male lineage with a common Y-chromosome, and testing was done across sectors of the Jewish population to see if there was any commonality between the Y-chromosomes of Kohanim. The results were found to cluster rather closely around a specific DNA signature, found in the Semitic Haplogroup J1, which the researchers named the Cohen modal haplotype, implying that many of the Kohanim do share a distinctive common ancestry. This information was also used to support the claim that the Lemba (a sub-Saharan tribe) are in fact descendant from a group of Jewish priests.

The Cohen Modal Haplotype or CMH is found in haplogroup J1, which geneticists estimate originated in the Southern Levant (modern day Israel, Jordan; biblical Canaan) or North Africa (Egypt) approximately 10,000–15,000 years ago. Biblical tradition holds that Abraham and his ancestors, the Semitic tribes, originated from Southern Arabia or East Africa (Genesis 10); Aaron and Moses were 7th generation descendants from Abraham (Exodus 6). An estimated 20% of the modern Jewish community fall into haplogroup J1. The traditional date for Abraham is circa 2200–2000 BC. Behar, et al., found Kohanim in a variety of haplogroups (E3b, G2, H, I1b, J, K2, Q, R1a1, R1b), which included those which originated in the Levant (J1, J2) and those from Southern Arabia, East Africa, or another geographic region.

Dr. Karl Skorecki, the founder of CMH, reported during a Conference for Kohanim in Jerusalem 2007, that he and his research team have discovered not one but two Cohen Modal Haplotypes, which he called J1 and J2. “Pinchas the zealot mentioned in the Bible may be the origin of J2” said Skorecki. According to the observed mutations rates, certain J2 haplotypes found on FTDNA database projects share a common ancestor who lived 3100+/-200 years bp, as Skorecki revealed to the public.

Descendants

Aaron married Elisheba, daughter of Amminadab and sister of Nahshon (Exod 6:23). The sons of Aaron were Eleazar, Ithamar, Nadab and Abihu. A descendant of Aaron is an Aaronite, or Kohen, meaning Priest. Any non-Aaronic Levite descended from Levi but not of the priestly division would be assigned to assist the Levitical priests of the family of Aaron in the care of the tabernacle and later of the temple.

Art history

Depictions of Aaron within art history are rare. Other than Aaron's inclusion in the crowd of revelers around the Golden Calf ceremony—most notably in Nicolas Poussin’s “The Adoration of the Golden Calf” (ca. 1633–34, National Gallery London)—there is little else. The recent discovery in 1991 of Pier Francesco Mola’s “Aaron, Holy to the Lord” (ca. 1650, Private Collection, New York: image available for study at Fred R. Kline Gallery Archives) adds significantly to the Aaronic mythos. The painting offers a dramatic, deeply psychological portrayal of the single figure of Aaron in his priestly garments celebrating Yom Kippur in the wilderness Tabernacle. The Mola “Aaron” is considered, quite surprisingly, the unique single figure of Aaron to have been painted by a European old master artist, circa 15th–18th centuries (A.Pigler, "Barockthemen" Vol. 1; although unknown to Pigler). The carefully rendered Judaic iconographic details in the Mola painting are rare and the subject itself may have importance in relationship to mid-17th century Jewish history, characterized by a controversial messianic movement involving a serious contender for a new Messiah, Shabtai Zvi, whose influence was felt in Jewish communities worldwide (Harris Lenowitz, "The Jewish Messiahs"). It is highly probable that the Zvi messianic phenomenon was noted by the Catholic Church as a possible threat to Jesus, their sanctified Messiah. It may be significant to note, in considering the possible influence of the Roman Catholic Church in choices of lay-commissioned religious art during this period and considering as well the importance of Aaron in the Christian tradition, that "Aaron, Holy to the Lord" was originally commissioned along with a now lost pendant of Moses (both from Mola) by the nobel Colonna family, wealthy Catholic art patrons living in Rome (Getty Museum Archives).

See also

Tomb of Aaron

Harun

Kohen

Y-chromosomal Aaron

Moses in rabbinic literature

References

;Attribution

Further reading

Aberbach, Moses and Leivy Smolar. "Aaron, Jeroboam and the Golden Calves." Journal of Biblical Literature 86 (1967): 129-140.

Ginzberg, Louis. The Legends of the Jews. Translated by Henrietta Szold and Paul Radin. 7 vols. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society of America, 1909-1938.

Kaufmann, Yehezkel. The Religion of Israel. Translated by Moshe Greenberg. New York: Schocken Books, 1960.

Kennett, R.H. "The Origin of the Aaronite Priesthood." The Journal of Theological Studies 6 (January, 1905): 161-186.

McCurdy, J. F. and Kaufmann Kohler. "Aaron". Jewish Encyclopedia. Funk and Wagnalls, 1901–1906; which cites

* Numbers Rabbah 9

* Leviticus Rabbah 10

in Jellinek’s Bet ha-Midrash, 1:91–95

764

* Sabine Baring-Gould, Legends of Old Testament Characters

* Chronicles of Jerahmeel, ed. M. Gaster, pp. cx1:130–133

* Holweck, F. G., A Biographical Dictionary of the Saint. St. Louis, MO: B. Herder Book Co. 1924.

Meek, Theophile James. "Aaronites and Zadokites." The American Journal of Semitic Languages and Literatures 45 (April, 1920): 149-166.

Meek, Theophile James. Hebrew Origins. Rev. ed. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1950.

References in the Qur'an

Aaron's prophecy: , , Aaron is made helper of Moses: , , , , Aaron and Moses sent to Pharaoh: , , , Praise for Aaron: , , , , , The Golden Calf: ,

External links

MFnames.com - Origin and Meaning of Aaron

Category:High Priests of Israel Category:Torah people Category:Old Testament saints Category:Moses Category:Kohanim *Main Category:Book of Exodus