# Leviticus 10 📖: Nadab and Abihu [[📚 Explore the Bible Books]] [[-Leviticus Overview]] | [[Leviticus 09]] | [[Leviticus 11]] > [!info] Table of Contents > [[#📜 Scripture Text (NET)]] > [[#📖 Verse-by-Verse Commentary]] > [[#🤔 Interesting Facts / Historical and Cultural Insights]] > [[#🧠 Chapter Summary]] > [[#✝️ Christ in This Chapter]] > [[#🔎 Key Principles / 🛟 Life Application]] > [[#💬 Discussion Questions]] > [[#✍️ Key Verses to Remember]] > [[#🔗 Related Passages/Cross Reference]] > [[#🙏 Devotional Reflection]] > [[#📂 Internal Notes]] ## 📜 Scripture Text (NET) (The NET Bible: New English Translation. Biblical Studies Press, 2005) ### Nadab and Abihu [[#Verse 01.]] Then Aaron’s sons, Nadab and Abihu, each took his fire pan and put fire in it, set incense on it, and presented strange fire before the Lord, which he had not commanded them to do.  [[#Verse 02.]] So fire went out from the presence of the Lord and consumed them so that they died before the Lord.  [[#Verse 03.]] Moses then said to Aaron, “This is what the Lord spoke: ‘Among the ones close to me I will show myself holy, and in the presence of all the people I will be honored.’” So Aaron kept silent.  [[#Verse 04.]] 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.”  [[#Verse 05.]] So they came near and carried them away in their tunics to a place outside the camp just as Moses had spoken.  [[#Verse 06.]] Then Moses said to Aaron and to Eleazar and Ithamar his other two sons, “Do not dishevel the hair of your heads 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,  [[#Verse 07.]] 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. ### Perpetual Statutes the Lord Spoke to Aaron [[#Verse 08.]] Then the Lord spoke to Aaron,  [[#Verse 09.]] “Do not drink wine or strong drink, you and your sons with you, when you enter into the Meeting Tent, so that you do not die. This is a perpetual statute throughout your generations,  [[#Verse 10.]] as well as to distinguish between the holy and the common, and between the unclean and the clean,  [[#Verse 11.]] and to teach the Israelites all the statutes that the Lord has spoken to them through Moses.” ### Perpetual Statutes Moses spoke to Aaron [[#Verse 12.]] Then Moses spoke to Aaron and to Eleazar and Ithamar, his remaining sons, “Take the grain offering which remains from the gifts of the Lord and eat it unleavened beside the altar, for it is most holy.  [[#Verse 13.]] You must eat it in a holy place because it is your allotted portion and the allotted portion of your sons from the gifts of the Lord, for this is what I have been commanded.  [[#Verse 14.]] Also, the breast of the wave offering and the thigh of the contribution offering you must eat in a ceremonially clean place, you and your sons and daughters with you, for the foods have been given as your allotted portion and the allotted portion of your sons from the peace-offering sacrifices of the Israelites.  [[#Verse 15.]] The thigh of the contribution offering and the breast of the wave offering they must bring in addition to the gifts of the fat parts to wave them as a wave offering before the Lord, and it will belong to you and your sons with you for a perpetual statute just as the Lord has commanded.” ### The Problem with the Inaugural Sin Offering [[#Verse 16.]] Later Moses sought diligently for the sin offering male goat, but it had actually been burnt. So he became angry at Eleazar and Ithamar, Aaron’s remaining sons, saying,  [[#Verse 17.]] “Why did you not eat the sin offering in the sanctuary? For it is most holy and he gave it to you to bear the iniquity of the congregation, to make atonement on their behalf before the Lord.  [[#Verse 18.]] See here! Its blood was not brought into the Holy Place within! You should certainly have eaten it in the sanctuary just as I commanded!”  [[#Verse 19.]] But Aaron spoke to Moses, “See here! Just today they presented their sin offering and their burnt offering before the Lord and such things as these have happened to me! If I had eaten a sin offering today would the Lord have been pleased?”  [[#Verse 20.]] When Moses heard this explanation, he was satisfied. ## 📖 Verse-by-Verse Commentary ###### Overall. ###### Verse 01. ###### Verse 02. ###### Verse 03. ###### Verse 04. ###### Verse 05. ###### Verse 06. ###### Verse 07. ###### Verse 08. ###### Verse 09. ###### Verse 10. ###### Verse 11. ###### Verse 12. ###### Verse 13. ###### Verse 14. ###### Verse 15. ###### Verse 16. ###### Verse 17. ###### Verse 18. ###### Verse 19. ###### Verse 20. ## 🤔 Interesting Facts / Historical and Cultural Insights 1. Nadab and Abihu were Aaron's two oldest sons (Exodus 6:23). 2. They had gone up Mount Sinai with the elders and seen the God of Israel (Exodus 24:1, 9-10). 3. The text does not explain exactly what made the fire "unauthorized." Suggestions include fire not taken from the altar or incense offered at the wrong time. 4. The fire that consumed them "went out from the Lord," the same wording used for the fire that accepted the offering in 9:24. 5. Because the ban on wine for priests comes right after (10:8-9), many have wondered whether drinking was involved, though the text does not say. 6. Mishael and Elzaphan, Aaron's cousins, carried the bodies out of the camp (10:4). 7. Aaron and his remaining sons were told not to show the usual signs of mourning (10:6). 8. Nadab and Abihu died without sons (Numbers 3:4), so the priesthood continued through Eleazar and Ithamar. 9. Moses was angry that the sin offering had been burned instead of eaten, but he accepted Aaron's explanation (10:16-20). 10. Jewish scribes counted the words of the Torah and placed its middle word in 10:16, in the phrase describing Moses searching carefully. ## 🧠 Chapter Summary > [!note] 🌱 Still growing. This section is on its way. ## ✝️ Christ in This Chapter Christ is the holy Priest who always pleases the Father. Nadab and Abihu offered unauthorized fire and died (10:1-2), but Jesus offered Himself without blemish to God through the eternal Spirit (Hebrews 9:14). ## 🔎 Key Principles / 🛟 Life Application > [!note] 🌱 Still growing. This section is on its way. ## 💬 Discussion Questions 1. God said He would show Himself holy among those near Him (10:3). Why are leaders held to a higher standard (James 3:1)? 2. Aaron was silent after his sons died (10:3). How do you respond when God's ways are hard to understand? 3. Priests were to distinguish between holy and common, clean and unclean (10:10). Where do you need discernment between what honors God and what does not? ## ✍️ Key Verses to Remember - 📖 verses 1-2: Nadab and Abihu offer unauthorized fire, and fire from the Lord consumes them. - 📖 verse 3: The Lord will be shown holy among those near Him and honored before all the people. - 📖 verses 10-11: Priests must distinguish holy from common and teach Israel God's statutes. ## 🔗 Related Passages/Cross Reference - 🔗 [[Hebrews 09#Verse 14.|Hebrews 9:14]] - Christ offered Himself without blemish. - 🔗 [[Hebrews 12#Verse 28.|Hebrews 12:28-29]] - Our God is a consuming fire. - 🔗 [[James 03#Verse 01.|James 3:1]] - Teachers will be judged more strictly. - 🔗 [[Acts 05#Verse 01.|Acts 5:1-11]] - Ananias and Sapphira. - 🔗 [[Numbers 03#Verse 04.|Numbers 3:4]] - Nadab and Abihu died before the Lord. ## 🙏 Devotional Reflection > [!note] 🌱 Still growing. This section is on its way. ## 📂 Internal Notes