Leviticus 10:9

Leviticus 10:9

Do not drink wine nor strong drink, thou, nor thy sons with thee, when ye go into the tabernacle of the congregation, lest ye die: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations:

a. NLT: “You and your descendants must never drink wine or any other alcoholic drink before going into the Tabernacle. If you do, you will die. This is a permanent law for you, and it must be observed from generation to generation.

b. NIV: “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,

c. YLT: 'Wine and strong drink thou dost not drink, thou, and thy sons with thee, in your going in unto the tent of meeting, and ye die not -- a statute age-during to your generations;

d. Amplified Bible Classic: Do not drink wine or strong drink, you or your sons, when you go into the Tent of Meeting, lest you die; it shall be a statute forever in all your generations.

e. Septuagint: Ye shall not drink wine nor strong drink, thou and thy sons with thee, whensoever ye enter into the tabernacle of witness, or when ye approach the altar, so shall ye not die; [it is] a perpetual statute for your generations,

f. Stone Edition Torah/Prophets/Writings: Do not drink intoxicating wine, you and your sons with you, when you come to the Tent of Meeting, that you not die—this is an eternal decree for your generations.

1. “Do not drink wine nor strong drink, thou, nor thy sons with thee, when ye go into the tabernacle of the congregation, lest ye die…”

a. [Do not] drink [Strong: 8354 shathah shaw-thaw'; a primitive root; to imbibe (literally or figuratively):--X assuredly, banquet, X certainly, drink(-er, -ing), drunk (X -ard), surely.]

b. wine [Strong: 3196 yayin yah'-yin; from an unused root meaning to effervesce; wine (as fermented); by implication, intoxication:--banqueting, wine, wine(-bibber).]

c. [nor] strong drink [Strong: 7941 shekar shay-kawr' from 7937; an intoxicant, i.e. intensely alcoholic liquor:--strong drink, + drunkard, strong wine.]

d. thou [Strong: 859 'attah at-taw' or (shortened); aatta {at-taw'}; or wath {ath}; feminine (irregular) sometimes nattiy {at-tee'}; plural masculine attem {at- tem'}; feminine atten {at-ten'}; or oattenah {at-tay'naw}; or fattennah {at-tane'-naw}; a primitive pronoun of the second person; thou and thee, or (plural) ye and you:--thee, thou, ye, you.]

e. [nor thy] sons [Strong: 1121  ben bane from 1129; 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 1, 251, etc.)):--+ afflicted, age, (Ahoh-) (Ammon-) (Hachmon-) (Lev-)ite, (anoint-)ed one, appointed to, (+) arrow, (Assyr-) (Babylon-) (Egypt-) (Grec-)ian, one born, bough, branch, breed, + (young) bullock, + (young) calf, X came up in, child, colt, X common, X corn, daughter, X of first, + firstborn, foal, + very fruitful, + postage, X in, + kid, + lamb, (+) man, meet, + mighty, + nephew, old, (+) people, + rebel, + robber, X servant born, X soldier, son, + spark, + steward, + stranger, X surely, them of, + tumultuous one, + valiant(-est), whelp, worthy, young (one), youth.]

f. with you [Strong: 854 'eth ayth probably from 579; properly, nearness (used only as a preposition or an adverb), near; hence, generally, with, by, at, among, etc.:--against, among, before, by, for, from, in(-to), (out) of, with. Often with another prepositional prefix.]

g. when ye go [Strong: 935 bow' bo a primitive root; to go or come (in a wide variety of applications):--abide, apply, attain, X be, befall, + besiege, bring (forth, in, into, to pass), call, carry, X certainly, (cause, let, thing for) to come (against, in, out, upon, to pass), depart, X doubtless again, + eat, + employ, (cause to) enter (in, into, -tering, -trance, -try), be fallen, fetch, + follow, get, give, go (down, in, to war), grant, + have, X indeed, (in-)vade, lead, lift (up), mention, pull in, put, resort, run (down), send, set, X (well) stricken (in age), X surely, take (in), way.]

h. into [Strong: 413 'el ale (but only used in the shortened constructive form sel {el}); a primitive particle; properly, denoting motion towards, but occasionally used of a quiescent position, i.e. near, with or among; often in general, to:--about, according to ,after, against, among, as for, at, because(-fore, -side), both...and, by, concerning, for, from, X hath, in(- to), near, (out) of, over, through, to(-ward), under, unto, upon, whether, with(-in).]

i. the tabernacle [Strong: 168 'ohel o'-hel from 166; a tent (as clearly conspicuous from a distance):--covering, (dwelling)(place), home, tabernacle, tent.]

j. of the congregation [Strong: 4150 mow`ed mo-ade' or moled {mo-ade'}; or (feminine) moweadah (2Chronicles 8:13) {mo-aw-daw'}; from 3259; properly, an appointment, i.e. a fixed time or season; specifically, a festival; conventionally a year; by implication, an assembly (as convened for a definite purpose); technically the congregation; by extension, the place of meeting; also a signal (as appointed beforehand):--appointed (sign, time), (place of, solemn) assembly, congregation, (set, solemn) feast, (appointed, due) season, solemn(-ity), synogogue, (set) time (appointed).]

k. lest [Strong: 3808 lo' lo or lowi {lo}; or loh (Deut. 3:11) {lo}; a primitive particle; not (the simple or abs. negation); by implication, no; often used with other particles (as follows):--X before, + or else, ere, + except, ig(-norant), much, less, nay, neither, never, no((-ne), -r, (-thing)), (X as though...,(can-), for) not (out of), of nought, otherwise, out of, + surely, + as truly as, + of a truth, + verily, for want, + whether, without.]

l. ye die [Strong: 4191 muwth mooth a primitive root: to die (literally or figuratively); causatively, to kill:--X at all, X crying, (be) dead (body, man, one), (put to, worthy of) death, destroy(-er), (cause to, be like to, must) die, kill, necro(-mancer), X must needs, slay, X surely, X very suddenly, X in (no) wise.]

1). Stone Edition of the Chumash; Note under Leviticus 10:9: Since this commandment was issued immediately after the deaths of Nadab and Abihu, R’ Yishmael ifers that their punishment must have been associated with the subject of the commandment. Thus, their sin was that they entered the Sanctuary after having had wine.

2). Gordon Lindsay, Through The Bible Series, Volume 12, p.18: The question may be asked as to how they came to commit so foolish and act. The explanation seemingly is found in the context. In the ninth verse which immediately follows the record of the incident, is a statute forbidding priests to drink wine (Leviticus 10:9). From this it would appear that the sons of Aaron had been drinking, probably not enough to be intoxicated, but sufficient to cause their judgment to be affected! When they heard the shout of the people as the Lord’s fire fell, they became excited and went in and offered their own fire.

3). When you study the context of this event it is understandable why such a severe punishment occurred. In Leviticus 8, 9, you have the consecration of the priesthood and consecration service for the dedication of the tabernacle. The last two verses of Leviticus 9 give us a perfect picture of what really was going on. The glory of God appears to all the congregation and the fire of God falls and consumes the sacrifice and everybody shouts and hits the floor face down.

a). Leviticus 9:23, 24 And Moses and Aaron went into the tabernacle of the congregation, and came out, and blessed the people: and the glory of the LORD appeared unto all the people.

9:24 And there came a fire out from before the LORD, and consumed upon the altar the burnt offering and the fat: which when all the people saw, they shouted, and fell on their faces.

4). It is at this minute that Nadab and Abihu get each of their censers put fire in them and incense on the fire and go into the Tabernacle and get killed. Two different schools of thought, one teaches they just went into the Tabernacle’s Holy place, while some teach they went into the Holy of Holies. My notes up to this date 3/25/17 has me believing they entered the Holy of Holies.

2. “…it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations:”

a. [it shall be] a statute [Strong: 2708 chuqqah khook-kaw' feminine of 2706, and meaning substantially the same:--appointed, custom, manner, ordinance, site, statute.]

b. forever [Strong: 5769 `owlam o-lawm' or lolam {o-lawm'}; from 5956; properly, concealed, i.e. the vanishing point; generally, time out of mind (past or future), i.e. (practically) eternity; frequentatively, adverbial (especially with prepositional prefix) always:--alway(-s), ancient (time), any more, continuance, eternal, (for, (n-))ever(-lasting, -more, of old), lasting, long (time), (of) old (time), perpetual, at any time, (beginning of the) world (+ without end).]

c. throughout your generations [Strong: 1755 dowr dore or (shortened) dor {dore}; from 1752; properly, a revolution of time, i.e. an age or generation; also a dwelling:--age, X evermore, generation, (n-)ever, posterity.]