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Leviticus 10

The triumph of chapter 9 turns to catastrophe in two verses. Nadab and Abihu offer "strange fire" the LORD had not commanded, and the same fire that had just accepted the offerings now devours them. Aaron's response is a single, staggering line: he "held his peace." What follows is fallout management: the bodies carried out by cousins, a ban on mourning for Aaron and his surviving sons, a new rule against wine before service, and a dispute over an uneaten sin offering that Aaron's answer defuses.

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Leviticus 10 (WEB)

1
Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, each took his censer, and put fire in it, and laid incense on it, and offered strange fire before the LORD, which he had not commanded them.
2
Fire came out from before the LORD, and devoured them, and they died before the LORD.
3
Then Moses said to Aaron, “This is what the LORD spoke of, saying, ‘I will show myself holy to those who come near me, and before all the people I will be glorified.’” Aaron held his peace.
4
Moses called Mishael and Elzaphan, the sons of Uzziel the uncle of Aaron, and said to them, “Draw near, carry your brothers from before the sanctuary out of the camp.”
5
So they came near, and carried them in their tunics out of the camp, as Moses had said.
6
Moses said to Aaron, and to Eleazar and to Ithamar, his sons, “Don’t let the hair of your heads go loose, and don’t tear your clothes, so that you don’t die, and so that he will not be angry with all the congregation; but let your brothers, the whole house of Israel, bewail the burning which the LORD has kindled.
7
You shall not go out from the door of the Tent of Meeting, lest you die; for the anointing oil of the LORD is on you.” They did according to the word of Moses.
8
Then the LORD said to Aaron,
9
“You and your sons are not to drink wine or strong drink whenever you go into the Tent of Meeting, or you will die. This shall be a statute forever throughout your generations.
10
You are to make a distinction between the holy and the common, and between the unclean and the clean.
11
You are to teach the children of Israel all the statutes which the LORD has spoken to them by Moses.”
12
Moses spoke to Aaron, and to Eleazar and to Ithamar, his sons who were left, “Take the meal offering that remains of the offerings of the LORD made by fire, and eat it without yeast beside the altar; for it is most holy;
13
and you shall eat it in a holy place, because it is your portion, and your sons’ portion, of the offerings of the LORD made by fire; for so I am commanded.
14
The waved breast and the heaved thigh you shall eat in a clean place, you, and your sons, and your daughters with you: for they are given as your portion, and your sons’ portion, out of the sacrifices of the peace offerings of the children of Israel.
15
They shall bring the heaved thigh and the waved breast with the offerings made by fire of the fat, to wave it for a wave offering before the LORD. It shall be yours, and your sons’ with you, as a portion forever, as the LORD has commanded.”
16
Moses diligently inquired about the goat of the sin offering, and, behold, it was burned. He was angry with Eleazar and with Ithamar, the sons of Aaron who were left, saying,
17
“Why haven’t you eaten the sin offering in the place of the sanctuary, since it is most holy, and he has given it to you to 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 should have eaten it in the sanctuary, as I commanded.”
19
Aaron spoke to Moses, “Behold, today they have offered their sin offering and their burnt offering before the LORD; and such things as these have happened to me. If I had eaten the sin offering today, would it have been pleasing in the LORD’s sight?”
20
When Moses heard that, it was pleasing in his sight.

Levítico 10 (RV1909)

1
Y LOS hijos de Aarón, Nadab y Abiú, tomaron cada uno su incensario, y pusieron fuego en ellos, sobre el cual pusieron perfume, y ofrecieron delante de Jehová fuego extraño, que él nunca les mandó.
2
Y salió fuego de delante de Jehová que los quemó, y murieron delante de Jehová.
3
Entonces dijo Moisés á Aarón: Esto es lo que habló Jehová, diciendo: En mis allegados me santificaré, y en presencia de todo el pueblo seré glorificado. Y Aarón calló.
4
Y llamó Moisés á Misael, y á Elzaphán, hijos de Uzziel, tío de Aarón, y díjoles: Llegaos y sacad á vuestros hermanos de delante del santuario fuera del campo.
5
Y ellos llegaron, y sacáronlos con sus túnicas fuera del campo, como dijo Moisés.
6
Entonces Moisés dijo á Aarón, y á Eleazar y á Ithamar, sus hijos: No descubráis vuestras cabezas, ni rasguéis vuestros vestidos, porque no muráis, ni se levante la ira sobre toda la congregación: empero vuestros hermanos, toda la casa de Israel, lamentarán el incendio que Jehová ha hecho.
7
Ni saldréis de la puerta del tabernáculo del testimonio, porque moriréis; por cuanto el aceite de la unción de Jehová está sobre vosotros. Y ellos hicieron conforme al dicho de Moisés.
8
Y Jehová habló á Aarón, diciendo:
9
Tú, y tus hijos contigo, no beberéis vino ni sidra, cuando hubiereis de entrar en el tabernáculo del testimonio, porque no muráis: estatuto perpetuo por vuestras generaciones;
10
Y para poder discernir entre lo santo y lo profano, y entre lo inmundo y lo limpio;
11
Y para enseñar á los hijos de Israel todos los estatutos que Jehová les ha dicho por medio de Moisés.
12
Y Moisés dijo á Aarón, y á Eleazar y á Ithamar, sus hijos que habían quedado: Tomad el presente que queda de las ofrendas encendidas á Jehová, y comedlo sin levadura junto al altar, porque es cosa muy santa.
13
Habéis, pues, de comerlo en el lugar santo: porque esto es fuero para ti, y fuero para tus hijos, de las ofrendas encendidas á Jehová, pues que así me ha sido mandado.
14
Comeréis asimismo en lugar limpio, tú y tus hijos y tus hijas contigo, el pecho de la mecida, y la espaldilla elevada, porque por fuero para ti, y fuero para tus hijos, son dados de los sacrificios de las paces de los hijos de Israel.
15
Con las ofrendas de los sebos que se han de encender, traerán la espaldilla que se ha de elevar, y el pecho que será mecido, para que lo mezas por ofrenda agitada delante de Jehová: y será por fuero perpetuo tuyo, y de tus hijos contigo, como Jehová lo ha mandado.
16
Y Moisés demandó el macho cabrío de la expiación, y hallóse que era quemado: y enojóse contra Eleazar é Ithamar, los hijos de Aarón que habían quedado, diciendo:
17
¿Por qué no comisteis la expiación en el lugar santo? porque es muy santa, y dióla él á vosotros para llevar la iniquidad de la congregación, para que sean reconciliados delante de Jehová.
18
Veis que su sangre no fué metida dentro del santuario: habíais de comerla en el lugar santo, como yo mandé.
19
Y respondió Aarón á Moisés: He aquí hoy han ofrecido su expiación y su holocausto delante de Jehová: pero me han acontecido estas cosas: pues si comiera yo hoy de la expiación, ¿hubiera sido acepto á Jehová?
20
Y cuando Moisés oyó esto, dióse por satisfecho.

The unexpected sequel to the wine ban

Verses 9-11 forbid priests wine or strong drink before entering the tent, placed right after the deaths and tied to teaching Israel "a distinction between the holy and the common." Many readers hear a hint about what went wrong with the two sons.

The closing scene (v.16-20) shows the system already flexing: Moses is angry that Eleazar and Ithamar burned rather than ate the sin offering, but Aaron's grief-shaped reply — could he have eaten on such a day? — satisfies him. Even strict law leaves room for a father's mourning.

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Forgiveness

In the New Testament, forgiveness is something received from God and then handed on to others. These passages tie the two together so closely that Jesus makes the second the proof of the first.

Peace

In the New Testament peace is less a calm mood than a relationship set right. Jesus hands it over like a gift in John 14:27, and Paul ties it to being justified with God in Romans 5:1.

Wisdom

In Scripture wisdom is less a stockpile of facts than a way of living rightly before God. From Proverbs to James, it begins with the fear of the LORD and shows up in how you treat people and time.

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