The absence from the camp of the two great leaders, and the fact that they had been accompanied by Eleazar, who, it was well known, was to be Aaron's successor in holy office, awakened a 427 feeling of apprehension, and their return was anxiously awaited. As the people looked about them, upon their vast congregation, they saw that nearly all the adults who left Egypt had perished in the wilderness. All felt a foreboding of evil as they remembered the sentence pronounced against Moses and Aaron. Some were aware of the object of that mysterious journey to the summit of Mount Hor, and their solicitude for their leaders was heightened by bitter memories and self-accusings.

Folket blev ængstelige, fordi de to store ledere havde forladt lejren og taget Eleazar med sig. Israelitterne vidste udmærket, at Eleazar skulle overtage det hellige embede efter Aron. Man ventede derfor spændt på, at de skulle komme tilbage. Når folket lod blikket glide ud over den store forsamling, så de, at næsten alle de voksne, som havde forladt Ægypten, savnedes. De var døde i ørkenen. De følte alle sammen, at der var noget ondt i vente, når de tænkte på den dom, der var blevet fældet over Moses og Aron. Nogle af dem var klar over, hvad hensigten var med den hemmelighedsfulde rejse til toppen af bjerget Hor, og deres bekymring for deres ledere forstærkedes af bitre minder og selvbebrejdelser.