Leviticus 10
Summary for Lev 10:1-20: 10:1-20 a A fire was to burn constantly on the bronze altar (6:9 b) to supply coals for burning incense (16:12 c). Perhaps careless from drinking wine (10:8-11 d), Nadab and Abihu took coals from another source. This violation of God’s instruction resulted in their deaths. 10:1 e Aaron’s two older sons, Nadab and Abihu (Exod 6:23 f), had accompanied Moses and the seventy elders on Mount Sinai (Exod 24:1 g, 9 h) and had witnessed the great theophany (appearance of God) there. They died without male heirs (see also Exod 28:1 i; Num 3:2-4 j; 26:60-61 k; 1 Chr 6:3 l; 24:1-2 m).• The incense burners were fire pans or trays that held hot coals. Incense was sprinkled on them (Exod 30:34-38 n; see also Lev 16:12-13 o; 2 Chr 26:19 p; Rev 8:3-4 q).
• The wrong kind of fire (Hebrew ’esh zarah, “strange fire”) could mean “foreign,” and thus “unauthorized” (see Exod 30:9 r) or even “pagan” (as in Ps 44:20 s; 81:9 t). Apparently, Nadab and Abihu used fire from a source not approved by God (Num 3:4 u; 26:61 v), possibly even a pagan source. It is also possible that they offered incense not prepared according to God’s specifications (Exod 30:34-38 w), although the text does not mention that. They did not enter God’s presence on his terms but on their own.
10:2 x In 9:24 y, the fire blazed forth to show God’s acceptance. It now indicates his disapproval by bringing death to Nadab and Abihu, who had demonstrated a careless approach toward the worship of God (cp. Acts 5:1-11 z).
10:3 aa God’s holiness is his very essence, substance, and character, and it stands in contrast to the creaturely world. By performing this rash act, Nadab and Abihu failed to consider God’s holiness and failed to honor him.
10:4 ab Mishael and Elzaphan ... uncle Uzziel: See Exod 6:18 ac, 22 ad.
• carry away the bodies of your relatives: Aaron, the high priest, and the priests Eleazar and Ithamar (Lev 10:6 ae) could not defile themselves by making contact with a dead person (21:10-12 af).
10:5 ag Carrying the bodies by their garments avoided defilement.
10:6 ah Eleazar and Ithamar were Aaron’s two remaining sons (Exod 6:23 ai).
• leaving your hair uncombed: This practice and others like it were ways to show grief in biblical times (cp. Gen 37:29 aj; 44:13 ak; Deut 14:1 al; 2 Sam 1:11 am; Job 1:20 an; Jer 16:6 ao; 47:5 ap). As high priest, Aaron was prohibited from participating in these rituals or in any way displaying his grief (Lev 21:10 aq). The injunction extended to Eleazar and Ithamar; if God’s representatives had shown grief on this occasion, it might have been interpreted by observers as disagreeing with God’s justice. However, the laypeople were allowed to mourn.
10:7 ar must not leave: Eleazar and Ithamar were not to attend the funeral.
• the Lord’s anointing oil: Because they had recently been anointed as priests (see 7:36 as), they were to avoid any association with the dead.
Summary for Lev 10:8-10: 10:8-10 at The placement of this instruction suggests that Nadab and Abihu were under the influence of alcohol when they offered “the wrong kind of fire” (10:1 au). Priests were not to drink anything that could impair their judgment before serving in the Tabernacle.
• the Lord said to Aaron: God had been communicating only to Moses, but he now accepted Aaron as the people’s representative, and he communicated directly with Aaron as well.
• The word common means “secular” or “ordinary.”
• ceremonially unclean ... clean: See 7:19-21 av; 11:1–15:33 aw.
10:11 ax The decrees that the Lord has given were laws that came directly from God, rather than from a court decision.
10:12 ay The grain offering was part of the ordination ceremony (see 8:26 az; Exod 29:2 ba, 23 bb).
• no yeast, for it is most holy: Realizing that some time had passed, Moses wanted to be certain that no fermentation had occurred in the priest’s portion of the grain offering (Lev 6:14-18 bc).
Summary for Lev 10:13-15: 10:13-15 bd The priest’s share of the grain offering, the sin offering, and the guilt offering was “most holy” (see 2:3 be; 6:29 bf; 7:6 bg). Only the males in the priest’s family could eat it, and it had to be consumed in a holy place (that is, the Tabernacle court). The priest’s portion of the peace offering, though, was considered simply “holy.” It could be eaten by any family member in any clean place (22:10-13 bh).
Summary for Lev 10:16-17: 10:16-17 bi The goat of the sin offering was the offering for the people (9:3 bj, 15-17 bk; cp. 9:2 bl, 8-11 bm). On this special occasion, its blood was not carried into the Holy Place as required. The remaining portion, after the portions allocated to God had been offered, should have been eaten by the priests (see 6:29 bn). But the goat was entirely burned, even though its blood had not been taken into the sanctuary (10:18 bo; see 6:30 bp).
10:19 bq yet this tragedy has happened to me: Aaron was saying either that eating the goat of the sin offering would not have prevented the deaths of Nadab and Abihu or that it would not have been appropriate for him to eat it on the heels of such a grievous event.
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