Leviticus10
New International Version
1Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu took their censers, put fire in them and added incense; and they offered unauthorized fire before the Lord, contrary to his command.
2So fire came out from the presence of the Lord and consumed them, and they died before the Lord.
3Moses then said to Aaron, “This is what the Lord spoke of when he said: “‘Among those who approach me I will be proved holy; in the sight of all the people I will be honored.’” Aaron remained silent.
4Moses summoned Mishael and Elzaphan, sons of Aaron’s uncle Uzziel, and said to them, “Come here; carry your cousins outside the camp, away from the front of the sanctuary.”
5So they came and carried them, still in their tunics, outside the camp, as Moses ordered.
6Then Moses said to Aaron and his sons Eleazar and Ithamar, “Do not let your hair become unkempt and do not tear your clothes, or you will die and the Lord will be angry with the whole community. But your relatives, all the Israelites, may mourn for those the Lord has destroyed by fire.
7Do not leave the entrance to the tent of meeting or you will die, because the Lord’s anointing oil is on you.” So they did as Moses said.
8Then the Lord said to Aaron,
9“You and your sons are not to drink wine or other fermented drink whenever you go into the tent of meeting, or you will die. This is a lasting ordinance for the generations to come,
10so that you can distinguish between the holy and the common, between the unclean and the clean,
11and so you can teach the Israelites all the decrees the Lord has given them through Moses.”
12Moses said to Aaron and his remaining sons, Eleazar and Ithamar, “Take the grain offering left over from the food offerings prepared without yeast and presented to the Lord and eat it beside the altar, for it is most holy.
13Eat it in the sanctuary area, because it is your share and your sons’ share of the food offerings presented to the Lord; for so I have been commanded.
14But you and your sons and your daughters may eat the breast that was waved and the thigh that was presented. Eat them in a ceremonially clean place; they have been given to you and your children as your share of the Israelites’ fellowship offerings.
15The thigh that was presented and the breast that was waved must be brought with the fat portions of the food offerings, to be waved before the Lord as a wave offering. This will be the perpetual share for you and your children, as the Lord has commanded.”
16When Moses inquired about the goat of the sin offering and found that it had been burned up, he was angry with Eleazar and Ithamar, Aaron’s remaining sons, and asked,
17“Why didn’t you eat the sin offering in the sanctuary area? It is most holy; it was given to you to take away the guilt of the community by making atonement for them before the Lord.
18Since its blood was not taken into the Holy Place, you should have eaten the goat in the sanctuary area, as I commanded.”
19Aaron replied to Moses, “Today they sacrificed their sin offering and their burnt offering before the Lord, but such things as this have happened to me. Would the Lord have been pleased if I had eaten the sin offering today?”
20When Moses heard this, he was satisfied.
Study Guide
Public-domain commentary and original-language notes for Leviticus 10.
Chapter Summary
In this chapter: The sin and death of Nadab and Abihu. (1, 2). Aaron and his sons forbidden to mourn for Nadab and Abihu. (3–7). Wine forbidden to the priests when in the service of the tabernacle. (8–11). Of eating the holy things. (12–20).
vv1-2
Next to Moses and Aaron, none were more likely to be honourable in Israel than Nadab and Abihu. There is reason to think that they were puffed up with pride, and that they were heated with wine. While the people were prostrate before the Lord, adoring his presence and glory, they rushed into the tabernacle to burn incense, though not at the appointed time; both together, instead of one alone, and with fire not taken from the altar. If it had been done through ignorance, they had been allowed to bring a sin-offering. But the soul that doeth presumptuously, and in contempt of God's majesty and justice, that soul shall be cut off. The wages of sin is death. They died in the very act of their sin. The sin and punishment of these priests showed the imperfection of that priesthood from the very beginning, and that it could not shelter any from the fire of God's wrath, otherwise than as it was typical of Christ's priesthood.
vv3-7
The most quieting considerations under affliction are fetched from the word of God. What was it that God spake? Though Aaron's heart must have been filled with anguish and dismay, yet with silent submission he revered the justice of the stroke. When God corrects us or ours for sin, it is our duty to accept the punishment, and say, It is the Lord, let him do what seemeth him good. Whenever we worship God, we come nigh unto him, as spiritual priests. This ought to make us very serious in all acts of devotion. It concerns us all, when we come nigh to God, to do every religious exercise, as those who believe that the God with whom we have to do, is a holy God. He will take vengeance on those that profane his sacred name by trifling with him.
vv8-11
Do not drink wine or strong drink. During the time they ministered, the priests were forbidden it. It is required of gospel ministers, that they be not given to wine, 1Ti 3:3. It is, Lest ye die; die when ye are in drink. The danger of death, to which we are continually exposed, should engage all to be sober.
Key Words
נָדָב: Nadab, the name of four Israelites
אֲבִיהוּא: Abihu, a son of Aaron
בֵּן: a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etc., (like father or brother), etc.)
אַהֲרוֹן: Aharon, the brother of Moses
אִישׁ: a man as an individual or a male person; often used as an adjunct to a more definite term (and in such cases frequently not expressed in translation)
לָקַח: to take (in the widest variety of applications)
מַחְתָּה: a pan for live coals
נָתַן: to give, used with greatest latitude of application (put, make, etc.)
אֵשׁ: fire (literally or figuratively)
הֵן: they (only used when emphatic)
Cross References
Leviticus 10Priests drawing near to God must sanctify themselves, the exact background warning Moses refers to here.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Direct prohibition of offering 'strange incense' on the altar, which Nadab and Abihu violated.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Requirement for ministers to not be given to wine, parallel to the priestly restriction.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Ezekiel's temple vision reiterates the prohibition against priests drinking wine when entering the inner court.
Supported by John Calvin
The holy fire from heaven just sent by God, which they ignored in favor of common fire.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Ananias and Sapphira represent a parallel New Testament judgment at the start of a new dispensation.
Supported by JFB
Genealogy showing Uzziel as Aaron's uncle, identifying Mishael and Elzaphan as cousins/brethren.
Supported by Matthew Poole
The priest's lips should keep knowledge, acting as the messenger of the Lord to teach statutes.
Supported by John Calvin
Historical recap of Nadab and Abihu dying before the Lord for offering strange fire.
Supported by Matthew Poole
God's promise that the tabernacle shall be sanctified by His glory.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Contrasts standard mourning rites like uncovered heads with the restriction placed on Aaron's family.
Supported by Matthew Poole
High priest forbidden from leaving the sanctuary for dead relatives because of the anointing oil.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Law of the meal offering and sin offering designated as most holy for Aaron's sons.
Supported by Matthew Henry, Matthew Poole
Aaron bearing the iniquity of the holy things, illustrating the priest's role in bearing sin.
Supported by JFB
Bread eaten in mourning is defiled; supports Aaron's defense that eating under grief was unacceptable.
Supported by Matthew Poole