The Bible

The Bible › Leviticus

Leviticus 10

1Aaron's sons Nadab and Abihu each took his firepan, put fire in them, and placed incense on it. They presented strange fire before Yahweh, which he had not commanded them. 2Fire came out from before Yahweh and consumed them, and they died before Yahweh. 3Moses said to Aaron, “This is what Yahweh spoke of: ‘Among those near me I will show myself holy, and before all the people I will be glorified.’” Aaron was silent.

4Moses called Mishael and Elzaphan, the sons of Aaron's uncle Uzziel, and said to them, “Come forward. Carry your brothers away from the front of the holy place, outside the camp.” 5They came forward and carried them outside the camp in their tunics, as Moses said. 6Moses said to Aaron and his sons Eleazar and Ithamar, “Do not let your hair hang loose or tear your garments, so that you do not die and wrath does not come on the whole congregation. But your brothers, the whole house of Israel, may weep over the burning Yahweh has brought about. 7Do not go out from the entrance of the tent of meeting, or you will die, because Yahweh's anointing oil is on you.” They did as Moses said.

8Yahweh spoke to Aaron: 9“You and your sons with you must not drink wine or strong drink when you enter the tent of meeting, so that you do not die. This is a lasting statute throughout your generations, 10so that you distinguish between the holy and the common and between the unclean and the clean, 11and teach the sons of Israel all the statutes Yahweh has spoken to them through Moses.”

12Moses said to Aaron and his remaining sons Eleazar and Ithamar, “Take the grain offering left from Yahweh's offerings by fire and eat it unleavened beside the altar, because it is most holy. 13Eat it in a holy place, because it is your allotted share and your sons' allotted share from Yahweh's offerings by fire, for this is what I was commanded. 14But the breast of the wave offering and the thigh of the contribution you may eat in a clean place—you, your sons, and your daughters with you—because they have been given as your allotted share and your sons' allotted share from the peace sacrifices of the sons of Israel. 15They must bring the thigh of the contribution and the breast of the wave offering with the offerings by fire of fat, to wave as a wave offering before Yahweh. They will be yours and your sons' with you as a lasting allotted share, as Yahweh commanded.”

16Moses made a careful inquiry about the goat of the purification offering, and found that it had been burned. He was angry with Eleazar and Ithamar, Aaron's remaining sons, and said, 17“Why did you not eat the purification offering in the holy place? It is most holy, and he gave it to you to bear the congregation's guilt, to make atonement for them before Yahweh. 18Look, its blood was not brought inside the holy place. You certainly should have eaten it in the holy place, as I commanded.” 19Aaron said to Moses, “Look, today they presented their purification offering and their burnt offering before Yahweh, and things like these have happened to me. If I had eaten a purification offering today, would it have been good in Yahweh's eyes?” 20Moses heard this, and it was good in his eyes.

Translation notes 7

10:1–2 — Strange fire. The Hebrew calls the fire foreign or strange and says Yahweh had not commanded it. Proposals include unauthorized coals, incense, timing, or entry, but this verse does not identify the precise infraction. The draft does not supply drunkenness or another unstated cause of the deaths.

10:3 — Show myself holy. “Be treated as holy” is another possible meaning of the Hebrew verb. The draft understands the clause as Yahweh manifesting his holiness; “be glorified” in the next clause can also mean showing his glory. Aaron's silence is reported without a supplied explanation of his thoughts.

10:4, 6 — Brothers; mourning. “Brothers” can describe fellow members of a family or people; Mishael and Elzaphan are not the dead men's literal brothers. Loose hair and torn clothing are mourning practices. The others may mourn, while the anointed priests are commanded to remain at their post.

10:9–11 — Wine; distinctions. The instruction applies when entering the tent of meeting; it is not phrased as a ban on all drinking by every Israelite. Holy/common and unclean/clean are distinct pairs of ritual categories. Common does not mean wicked, and ritual uncleanness is not by itself a verdict on moral character.

10:14–15 — Daughters included. This priestly share may be eaten by Aaron's daughters as well as his sons in a clean place. The draft retains the contrast with the most holy offering eaten in a holy place in verses 12–13, rather than carrying a male-only restriction into every priestly meal.

10:17–18 — Bear the congregation's guilt. The Hebrew keeps bearing guilt and making atonement together. Whether eating the offering itself bears the guilt or the portion is given for the priests' atoning service is disputed. The draft does not insert a theory of how eating performs atonement. The blood's not having entered the inner sanctuary is the stated reason the offering should have been eaten.

10:19–20 — Good in the eyes. The repeated expression concerns what is acceptable or pleasing. Aaron refers to the day's calamity without spelling out every reason that eating would have been inappropriate; Moses accepts the answer. The draft retains the repeated bodily idiom in both verses.