Numbers 33:38 - Exposition

In the fortieth year … in the first day of the fifth month. This is the only place where the date of Aaron's death is given. It is in strict accordance with the Divine intimation that Israel was to wander forty years in the wilderness ( Numbers 14:33 , Numbers 14:34 ), that period being understood, according to the usual mercy of God, which shortens the days of evil, to include the time already spent in the wilderness.