Another version is this: God announced to Moses that he would call Aaron to Himself. Then Moses took his brother from the camp, and they went into the desert, till they came to a tree. When Aaron saw the shadow, he said, “O my brother, whose tree is this?”
Moses said, “God alone knows.”
Then spake Aaron, “I am weary, and the shadow is cool; suffer me to repose a little while under the tree.”
Moses said, “Lie down my brother; and may thy rest be sweet.”
Aaron lay down, and Moses sat by him till he died.
Then suddenly the tree, the shadow, and Aaron vanished; and Moses returned alone to the Israelites. They were angry with him, that he had not brought back Aaron, and they took up stones against him. But Moses cried to the Lord, and the Lord showed them Aaron on a bed, and he was dead; and the people looked, and wondered, and wept: then said a voice from heaven, “God hath taken him.” The people bewailed him many days.[576]
14. THE DEATH OF MOSES.
When the time came for Moses to die, the Lord called Gabriel to Him, and said, “Go and bring the soul of My servant Moses to Paradise.”
The angel Gabriel answered in astonishment, “Lord, Lord, how can I venture to give death to that man, the like of whom all generations of men have not seen?”
Then the Most High called to Him Michael, and said, “Go and bring the soul of My servant Moses to Paradise.”