Chapter Ten
The Death of Nadab and Abihu
10:1 Now Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, each took his censer and put fire in it and laid incense on it and offered unauthorized fire before the LORD, which he had not commanded them. 2 And fire came out from before the LORD and consumed them, and they died before the LORD.
Before joining the many readers who contest this event, the first thing to keep in mind is the seriousness of the problem of sin.[1] It is difficult to understand God’s rigid enforcement of His regulations from a Christian’s perspective, as Jesus did everything for their salvation. However, Christians and non-believers alike, often view this incident as nothing more than a minor infraction, something that certainly should not warrant death. Part of understanding the serious nature of sin includes the recognition that the gap between God’s holiness and man’s sin is so large that there is absolutely no way for any human being to resolve the problem of sin without the help of God. Therefore, every rule and every detail, up to the time the Messiah provided the ultimate solution, must be rigidly adhered to, no exceptions, even if done unintentionally.
Nadab and Abihu were Aaron’s oldest sons, they were old enough to know what they were doing. They had even been with Aaron and the elders when Moses had gone up on Mount Sinai (see Exodus 24:1). Just as they were ordained as priests, on the same day (or shortly afterward) they disobeyed God. Some believe that God knew their hearts were deceitful and punished them with death. God certainly would know their hearts, but we should not discount the fact that they made a grievous error and disobeyed God, reducing the priesthood from five to three individuals.
It is not very clear as to exactly what the two sons did and what regulation was violated. The text states that they took the censer and put fire in it, which was the role of the censer. But then they laid incense on the censer undoubtedly igniting the incense. This raises several questions. Where were they? The incense and censer would have been inside to service the golden altar. Did they enter the Holy Place with the intention of taking the censor and some of the incense? We know that there was a prohibition of offering unauthorized incense on the golden altar (see Exodus 30:9) and that the incense was "holy to the LORD" (see Exodus 30:37). But, according to verse four their bodies were outside, in front of the structure. Only two other clues are given, the first is that the act was unauthorized and the second is that God did not tell them to do it. Were they trying to do something special for God, or did they have a different agenda in mind? Only God knows, and He is the one who meted out the punishment. Regardless of motives, as we can only speculate, the event provided a powerful lesson to Aaron’s family and to the Israelites, follow God’s instructions, do not improvise or deviate.
10:3 Then Moses said to Aaron, “This is what the LORD has said: ‘Among those who are near me I will be sanctified, and before all the people I will be glorified.’ ” And Aaron held his peace.
Perhaps reminding Aaron of a statement God made earlier, although there is no record of this precise statement in Scripture, it can be interpreted to mean that God’s holiness can be seen through those who serve Him. Exemplary service is expected and required for each priest. This statement, while it may not have offered much comfort to Aaron, reminded him that God was indeed righteous, and that the punishment was justified.
10:4 And Moses called Mishael and Elzaphan, the sons of Uzziel the uncle of Aaron, and said to them, “Come near; carry your brothers away from the front of the sanctuary and out of the camp.”
Moses called on Mishael and Elzaphan to move their cousins from the Tabernacle to a location somewhere outside of the camp. Being ceremonially clean, Moses and none of the priests, could not touch a dead body without becoming unclean (see Numbers 19:11). It would also be later prohibited for any priest to touch, even inadvertently, a dead person, other than a close family member, which was the case here (see Leviticus 21:1-4).
10:5 So they came near and carried them in their coats out of the camp, as Moses had said. 6 And Moses said to Aaron and to Eleazar and Ithamar his sons, “Do not let the hair of your heads hang loose, and do not tear your clothes, lest you die, and wrath come upon all the congregation; but let your brothers, the whole house of Israel, bewail the burning that the LORD has kindled. 7 And do not go outside the entrance of the tent of meeting, lest you die, for the anointing oil of the LORD is upon you.” And they did according to the word of Moses.
Mishael and Elzaphan moved Nadab’s and Abihu’s bodies just as Moses asked them to do. Moses warned Aaron and his remaining two sons, Eleazar and Ithamar that God forbid them from demonstrating their mourning in the traditional sense by tearing their clothes or purposely “messing up” their hair (see Genesis 37:29; Leviticus 13:45; 21:10). However, God said the congregation, the people of Israel would weep (Hebrew word ‘yiḇ·kǔb’,[2] meaning to weep or to wail, due to grief) for them. They were also not to leave the courtyard, as they were anointed (possibly due to additional priestly duties that had to be performed, needless to say being down two priests undoubtedly made the job more difficult for the three remaining priests).
10:8 And the LORD spoke to Aaron, saying, 9 “Drink no wine or strong drink, you or your sons with you, when you go into the tent of meeting, lest you die. It shall be a statute forever throughout your generations. 10 You are to distinguish between the holy and the common, and between the unclean and the clean, 11 and you are to teach the people of Israel all the statutes that the LORD has spoken to them by Moses.”
Continuing with the theme that the priesthood demands exemplary service, God speaks to Aaron to inform him of one additional regulation and to clarify the role of the priesthood beyond their duties around the Tabernacle. First, He tells Aaron that the priests are not allowed to drink any alcoholic beverage before or while doing their tasks around the Tabernacle, under penalty of death. Some believe that this instruction may have been the result of the incident with Nadab and Abihu, suggesting that they may have been under the influence of alcohol when they offered unauthorized fire. This may be true, however, there is no further evidence in the text to support that conclusion.
Secondly, each priest is to be able to identify and distinguish the differences of what is and what is not holy as well as what is and what is not clean. The next five chapters of Leviticus will define what it means to be clean and presents the regulations regarding the various processes to restore cleanliness. Then thirdly, each priest is to teach the people of Israel regarding the regulations that YHWH gave Moses, a task that will later be shared with non-priest Levites (see Deuteronomy 33:10).
10:12 Moses spoke to Aaron and to Eleazar and Ithamar, his surviving sons: “Take the grain offering that is left of the LORD’s food offerings, and eat it unleavened beside the altar, for it is most holy. 13 You shall eat it in a holy place, because it is your due and your sons’ due, from the LORD’s food offerings, for so I am commanded. 14 But the breast that is waved and the thigh that is contributed you shall eat in a clean place, you and your sons and your daughters with you, for they are given as your due and your sons’ due from the sacrifices of the peace offerings of the people of Israel. 15 The thigh that is contributed and the breast that is waved they shall bring with the food offerings of the fat pieces to wave for a wave offering before the LORD, and it shall be yours and your sons’ with you as a due forever, as the LORD has commanded.”
Moses tells Aaron and his sons to finish the offerings that were started prior to Nadab’s and Abihu’s death. Beginning with the grain offering that was to be eaten (as it was given to them). Then they were to finish the peace offering, which was to be eaten by them and their family. Remember, the consumption of the peace offering could not be delayed long (see Leviticus 7:11-15).
10:16 Now Moses diligently inquired about the goat of the sin offering, and behold, it was burned up! And he was angry with Eleazar and Ithamar, the surviving sons of Aaron, saying, 17 “Why have you not eaten the sin offering in the place of the sanctuary, since it is a thing most holy and has been given to you that you may bear the iniquity of the congregation, to make atonement for them before the LORD? 18 Behold, its blood was not brought into the inner part of the sanctuary. You certainly ought to have eaten it in the sanctuary, as I commanded.” 19 And Aaron said to Moses, “Behold, today they have offered their sin offering and their burnt offering before the LORD, and yet such things as these have happened to me! If I had eaten the sin offering today, would the LORD have approved?” 20 And when Moses heard that, he approved.
Tensions must have been high, between the strict timelines and procedures of the offerings and the emotions of losing two family members, Aaron and his sons undoubtedly were on edge. After all, this set of offerings were their first official duties as priests.
Soon Moses noted that they had not finished eating the sin offering. In anger, he asks Eleazar and Ithamar why they had not fully consumed the goat meat, which was the sin offering for the people. Since the blood had not been brought into the Tabernacle but had been sprinkled on the altar of burnt offering, the priests should have eaten the meat of the offering (see Leviticus 6:30). Aaron steps in on their behalf, clarifying that their error had not been because they were careless, but instead they are now being cautious, perhaps even overly cautious. Aaron admits, “such things as these have happened to me!” In other words, “After the fire of judgment killed my sons Nadab and Abihu, I wasn’t going to risk doing anything wrong, such as eating the meat of that sacrifice!” Moses then understood and accepted Aaron’s explanation.
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[1] See also Considerations under Genesis 1:3-5, the commentary under Genesis 3:21 and “A Brief Introduction to God’s Law” between Exodus chapters 19 and 20, regarding the serious nature of sin.
[2] Strong’s Hebrew 1058.