Leviticus 10:1-7
Lexham English Bible
The Deaths of Nadab and Abihu
10 And Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu each took his censer, and they put fire in them and placed incense on it;[a] then[b] they presented before[c] Yahweh illegitimate fire, which he had not commanded them. 2 So[d] fire went out from before[e] Yahweh, and it consumed them so that[f] they died before[g] Yahweh. 3 Therefore[h] Moses said to Aaron, “This is what Yahweh spoke, saying, ‘Among those who are close to me I will show myself holy, and in the presence of[i] all the people I will display my glory.’”[j] So[k] Aaron was silent.
4 Then[l] Moses summoned Mishael and Elzaphan the sons of Uzziel, Aaron’s uncle, and he said to them, “Come forward.[m] Carry your brothers from the front of[n] the sanctuary to outside the camp.”[o] 5 So[p] they came forward,[q] and they carried them outside the camp[r] in their tunics, just as Moses had ordered.
6 Then[s] Moses said to Aaron and to his sons Eleazar and Ithamar, “You must not let your hair hang loosely, and you must not tear your garments, so that[t] you will not die and he[u] will be angry with all the community. But[v] your brothers, all the house of Israel, may weep because of the burning that Yahweh caused,[w] 7 but[x] you must not go out from the entrance to[y] the tent of assembly lest you die, because Yahweh’s anointing oil is on you.” So[z] they did according to Moses’ word.
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- Leviticus 10:1 That is, the fire
- Leviticus 10:1 Or “and”
- Leviticus 10:1 Literally “to the faces of”
- Leviticus 10:2 Or “And”
- Leviticus 10:2 Literally “from to the faces of”
- Leviticus 10:2 Or “and”
- Leviticus 10:2 Literally “to the faces of”
- Leviticus 10:3 Or “And”
- Leviticus 10:3 Literally “upon the faces of”
- Leviticus 10:3 Or “I will be glorified”
- Leviticus 10:3 Or “And”
- Leviticus 10:4 Or “And”
- Leviticus 10:4 Or “Come near” or “Approach”
- Leviticus 10:4 Literally “the faces of”
- Leviticus 10:4 Literally “from an outside place of the camp”
- Leviticus 10:5 Or “And”
- Leviticus 10:5 Or “came near” or “approached”
- Leviticus 10:5 Literally “to from an outside place of the camp”
- Leviticus 10:6 Or “And”
- Leviticus 10:6 Or “and”
- Leviticus 10:6 That is, God
- Leviticus 10:6 Or “And”
- Leviticus 10:6 Literally “the burning that Yahweh burned”
- Leviticus 10:7 Or “and”
- Leviticus 10:7 Or “of”
- Leviticus 10:7 Or “And”
Leviticus 10:1-7
New English Translation
Nadab and Abihu
10 Then[a] Aaron’s sons, Nadab and Abihu, each took his fire pan and put fire in it, set incense on it, and presented strange fire[b] before the Lord, which he had not commanded them to do. 2 So fire went out from the presence of the Lord[c] and consumed them so that they died before the Lord. 3 Moses then said to Aaron, “This is what the Lord spoke: ‘Among the ones close to me I will show myself holy,[d] and in the presence of all the people I will be honored.’”[e] So Aaron kept silent. 4 Moses then called to Mishael and Elzaphan, the sons of Uzziel, Aaron’s uncle, and said to them, “Come near, carry your brothers from the front of the sanctuary to a place outside the camp.” 5 So they came near and carried them away in their tunics to a place outside the camp just as Moses had spoken. 6 Then Moses said to Aaron and to Eleazar and Ithamar his other two sons, “Do not[f] dishevel the hair of your heads[g] and do not tear your garments, so that you do not die and so that wrath does not come on the whole congregation. Your brothers, all the house of Israel, are to mourn the burning that the Lord has caused,[h] 7 but you must not go out from the entrance of the Meeting Tent lest you die, for the Lord’s anointing oil is on you.” So they acted according to the word of Moses.
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- Leviticus 10:1 tn Although it has been used elsewhere in this translation as an English variation from the ubiquitous use of vav in Hebrew, in this instance “then” as a rendering for vav is intended to show that the Nadab and Abihu catastrophe took place on the inauguration day described in Lev 9. The tragic incident in Lev 10 happened in close temporal connection to the Lord’s fire that consumed the offerings at the end of Lev 9. Thus, for example, the “sin offering” male goat referred to in Lev 10:16-19 is the very one referred to in Lev 9:15.
- Leviticus 10:1 tn The expression “strange fire” (אֵשׁ זָרָה, ʾesh zarah) seems imprecise (cf. NAB “profane fire”; NIV “unauthorized fire”; NRSV “unholy fire”; NLT “a different kind of fire”) and has been interpreted numerous ways (see the helpful summary in J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 132-33). The infraction may have involved any of the following or a combination thereof: (1) using coals from someplace other than the burnt offering altar (i.e., “unauthorized coals” according to J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:598; cf. Lev 16:12 and cf. “unauthorized person” אִישׁ זָר (ʾish zar) in Num 16:40 [17:5 HT], NASB “layman”), (2) using the wrong kind of incense (cf. the Exod 30:9 regulation against “strange incense” קְטֹרֶת זָרָה (qetoret zarah) on the incense altar and the possible connection to Exod 30:34-38), (3) performing an incense offering at an unprescribed time (B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 59), or (4) entering the Holy of Holies at an inappropriate time (Lev 16:1-2).
- Leviticus 10:2 tn See the note on 9:24a.
- Leviticus 10:3 tn The Niphal verb of the Hebrew root קָדַשׁ (qadash) can mean either “to be treated as holy” (so here, e.g., BDB 873 s.v. קָּדַשׁ, LXX, NASB, and NEB) or “to show oneself holy” (so here, e.g., HALOT 1073 s.v. קדשׁ, nif. 1, NIV, NRSV, NLT; J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:595, 601-3; and J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 133-34). The latter rendering seems more likely here since, in the immediate context, the Lord himself had indeed shown himself to be holy by the way he responded to the illegitimate incense offering of Nadab and Abihu. They had not treated the Lord as holy, so the Lord acted on his own behalf to show that he was indeed holy.
- Leviticus 10:3 tn In this context the Niphal of the Hebrew root כָּבֵד (kaved) can mean “to be honored” (e.g., NASB and NIV here), “be glorified” (ASV, NRSV and NLT here), or “glorify oneself, show one’s glory” (cf. NAB; e.g., specifically in this verse HALOT 455 s.v. כבד, nif. 3; J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:595, 603-4; and J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 126, 134). Comparing this clause with the previous one (see the note above), the point may be that when the Lord shows himself to be holy as he has done in 10:1-2, this results in him being honored (i.e., reverenced, feared, treated with respect) among the people. This suggests the passive rendering. It is possible, however, that one should use the reflexive rendering here as in the previous clause. If so, the passage means that the Lord showed both his holiness and his glory in one outbreak against Nadab and Abihu.
- Leviticus 10:6 tc Smr has “you must not” (לֹא, loʾ) rather than the MT’s “do not” (אַל, ʾal; cf. the following negative לֹא, loʾ, in the MT).
- Leviticus 10:6 tn Heb “do not let free your heads.” Some have taken this to mean, “do not take off your headgear” (cf. NAB, NASB), but it probably also involves leaving one’s hair unkempt as a sign of mourning (see J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:608-9; cf. NCV, TEV, CEV, NLT).
- Leviticus 10:6 tn Heb “shall weep [for] the burning which the Lord has burned”; NIV “may mourn for those the Lord has destroyed by fire.”
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