Leviticus 16:1

Leviticus 16:1

And the LORD spake unto Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they offered before the LORD, and died;

a. ASV: And Jehovah spake unto Moses, after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they drew near before Jehovah, and died;

b. YLT: And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses, after the death of the two sons of Aaron, in their drawing near before Jehovah, and they die;

c. Amplified Bible Classic: After the death of Aaron’s two sons, when they drew near before the Lord [offered false fire] and died,

d. Septuagint: and the Lord spoke to Moses after the two sons of Aaron died in bringing strange fire before the Lord, so they died.

e. Stone Edition Torah/Prophets/Writings: HASHEM spoke to Moses after the death of Aaronn’s two sons, when they approached before HASHEM, and they died.

1. “And the LORD spake unto Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron…”

a. [And the] LORD [Strong: 3068 Yᵉhôvâh, yeh-ho-vaw'; from H1961; (the) self-Existent or Eternal; Jeho-vah, Jewish national name of God:—Jehovah, the Lord.]

b. spake [Strong: 1696 dâbar, daw-bar'; a primitive root; perhaps properly, to arrange; but used figuratively (of words), to speak; rarely (in a destructive sense) to subdue:—answer, appoint, bid, command, commune, declare, destroy, give, name, promise, pronounce, rehearse, say, speak, be spokesman, subdue, talk, teach, tell, think, use (entreaties), utter, × well, × work.]

c. unto [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).]

d. Moses [Strong: 4872 Môsheh, mo-sheh'; from H4871; drawing out (of the water), i.e. rescued; Mosheh, the Israelite lawgiver:—Moses.]

e. after [Strong: 310 ʼachar, akh-ar'; from H309; properly, the hind part; generally used as an adverb or conjunction, after (in various senses):—after (that, -ward), again, at, away from, back (from, -side), behind, beside, by, follow (after, -ing), forasmuch, from, hereafter, hinder end, + out (over) live, + persecute, posterity, pursuing, remnant, seeing, since, thence(-forth), when, with.]

f. [the] death [Strong: 4194 mâveth, maw'-veth; from H4191; death (natural or violent); concretely, the dead, their place or state (hades); figuratively, pestilence, ruin:—(be) dead(-ly), death, die(-d).]

g. [of the] two [Strong: 8147 shᵉnayim, shen-ah'-yim; dual of H8145; feminine שְׁתַּיִם shᵉttayim; two; also (as ordinal) twofold:—both, couple, double, second, twain, twelfth, twelve, twenty (sixscore) thousand, twice, two.]

h. sons [Strong: 1121 bên, bane; from H1129; 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.):—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, × came up in, child, colt, × common, × corn, daughter, × of first, firstborn, foal, + very fruitful, + postage, × in, + kid, + lamb, (+) man, meet, +mighty, + nephew, old, (+) people, rebel, + robber, × servant born, × soldier, son, +spark, steward, + stranger, × surely, them of, + tumultuous one, valiant(-est), whelp, worthy, young (one), youth.]

i. [of] Aaron [Strong: 175 ʼAhărôwn, a-har-one'; of uncertain derivation; Aharon, the brother of Moses:—Aaron.]

2. “...when they offered before the LORD, and died;”

a. [when they] offered [Strong: 7126 qârab, kaw-rab'; a primitive root; to approach (causatively, bring near) for whatever purpose:—(cause to) approach, (cause to) bring (forth, near), (cause to) come (near, nigh), (cause to) draw near (nigh), go (near), be at hand, join, be near, offer, present, produce, make ready, stand, take.]

b. before [Strong: 6440 pânîym, paw-neem'; plural (but always as singular) of an unused noun פָּנֶה pâneh; from H6437); the face (as the part that turns); used in a great variety of applications (literally and figuratively); also (with prepositional prefix) as a preposition (before, etc.):— accept, a-(be-) fore(-time), against, anger, × as (long as), at, battle, because (of), beseech, countenance, edge, employ, endure, enquire, face, favour, fear of, for, forefront(-part), form(-er time, -ward), from, front, heaviness, × him(-self), honourable, impudent, in, it, look(-eth) (-s), × me, meet, × more than, mouth, of, off, (of) old (time), × on, open, out of, over against, the partial, person, please, presence, prospect, was purposed, by reason of, regard, right forth, serve, × shewbread, sight, state, straight, street, × thee, × them(-selves), through ( -out), till, time(-s) past, (un-) to(-ward), upon, upside ( down), with(-in, -stand), × ye, × you.]

c. [the] LORD [Strong: 3068 Yᵉhôvâh, yeh-ho-vaw'; from H1961; (the) self-Existent or Eternal; Jeho-vah, Jewish national name of God:—Jehovah, the Lord.]

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

1). There were three violations in this tragedy  The term “strange fire” indicates that it did not come from the altar, the instructions given six chapters later in Leviticus show the fire for the censers was to come from the altar. A problem with this is that the command about where to get the fire from was given after this unfortunate incident.

a). Leviticus 16:12, 13 And he shall take a censer full of burning coals of fire from off the altar before the LORD, and his hands full of sweet incense beaten small, and bring it within the vail:

16:13 And he shall put the incense upon the fire before the LORD, that the cloud of the incense may cover the mercy seat that is upon the testimony, that he die not:

b). Some Bible scholars refer to the passage in Exodus 30:1-9 regarding the construction of the altar of incense when discussing Leviticus 10:1. It is the only commandment previous to this incident that we have that might show some light. Close attention is paid to verse 9.

(1) Exodus 30:1-9  And thou shalt make an altar to burn incense upon: of shittim wood shalt thou make it.

30:2 A cubit shall be the length thereof, and a cubit the breadth thereof; foursquare shall it be: and two cubits shall be the height thereof: the horns thereof shall be of the same.

30:3 And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, the top thereof, and the sides thereof round about, and the horns thereof; and thou shalt make unto it a crown of gold round about.

30:4 And two golden rings shalt thou make to it under the crown of it, by the two corners thereof, upon the two sides of it shalt thou make it; and they shall be for places for the staves to bear it withal.

30:5 And thou shalt make the staves of shittim wood, and overlay them with gold.

30:6 And thou shalt put it before the vail that is by the ark of the testimony, before the mercy seat that is over the testimony, where I will meet with thee.

30:7 And Aaron shall burn thereon sweet incense every morning: when he dresseth the lamps, he shall burn incense upon it.

30:8 And when Aaron lighteth the lamps at even, he shall burn incense upon it, a perpetual incense before the LORD throughout your generations.

30:9 Ye shall offer no strange incense thereon, nor burnt sacrifice, nor meat offering; neither shall ye pour drink offering thereon.

2). Another passage that sheds light on this is given later in Leviticus. In the whole chapter of Leviticus 16 God gives the instructions for the Day of Atonement. In the first two verses we see God linking the death of Nadab and Abihu with the instructions not to go into the Holy of Holies, except on the Day of Atonement. I believe the link is obvious; Nadab and Abihu were attempting to go into the very presence of God and offer incense uninvited; hence the commands in Leviticus 16.

a). Leviticus 16:1, 2 And the LORD spake unto Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they offered before the LORD, and died;

And the LORD said unto Moses, Speak unto Aaron thy brother, that he come not at all times into the holy place within the vail before the mercy seat, which is upon the ark; that he die not: for I will appear in the cloud upon the mercy seat.

b). Under the Old Covenant, entrance into the Holy of Holies into the presence of God was strictly at the invitation of God. There was daily ministering by the priests in the Holy Place, but the High Priest went into the Holy of Holies on the Day of Atonement only once a year. This strongly implies they went into the Holy of Holies!

3). Finally some Bible scholars teach and I agree with them that Nadab and Abihu were under the influence of alcohol, enough so that their judgment was clouded and their inhibitions lowered that they made the worst mistake of their life, and one that ended their life. Notice that the command forbidding priests from drinking wine or strong drink before entering the Tabernacle.

a). Leviticus 10:8-11 And the Lord said to Aaron,

10:9 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.

10:10 You shall make a distinction and recognize a difference between the holy and the common or unholy, and between the unclean and the clean;

10:11 And you are to teach the Israelites all the statutes which the Lord has spoken to them by Moses.

(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. Instead of Nadab and Abihu doing that also they fill their censers and enter the Holy of Holies to offer incense and consequently lose their lives.