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Leviticus

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Chapter 10

1 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.⁠ 2 So fire went out from the presence of the Lord 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, and in the presence of all the people I will be honored.’” 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 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, 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. 8 Then the Lord spoke to Aaron, 9 “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,⁠ 10 as well as to distinguish between the holy and the common, and between the unclean and the clean,⁠ 11 and to teach the Israelites all the statutes that the Lord has spoken to them through Moses.” 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. 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. 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. 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.” 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, 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. 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!” 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?” 20 When Moses heard this explanation, he was satisfied.

Texts in conversation

Compare Instructions for Temple Officials and Leviticus 10:1

Ancient Near East, Hittite · Hebrew Bible

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Summary

The Hittite Instructions for Temple Officials warn that worship violations provoke severe divine punishment on the offender. Leviticus 10 follows this, describing a similar consequence when Nadab and Abihu’s unauthorized fire results in their death.

Passages

Instructions for Temple Officials

Ancient Near East, Hittite
2 Furthermore, let those who prepare the daily loaves be clean. Let them be bathed and groomed, let their body hair and nails be removed. Let them be clothed in clean dresses. While unclean, let them not prepare the loaves; let those who are agreeable to the gods’ soul and person prepare them. The bakers’ house in which they prepare them—let that be swept and scrubbed. 3 If then, on the other hand, anyone arouses the anger of a god, does the god take revenge on him alone? Does he not take revenge on his wife, his children, his descendants, his kin, his slaves, and slave-girls, his cattle and sheep together with his crop and will utterly destroy him? Be very reverent indeed to the word of a god! 4 Further: The festival of the month, the festival of the year, the festival of the stag, the festival of autumn, the festival of spring, the festival of thunder, the festival of pudahas, the festival of isuwas, the festival of dulassas, the festival of the holy priest, the festivals of the rhyton, the festivals of the Old Men, the festivals of the mothers-of-god, the festivals of dahiyas, the festivals of the upati men, the festivals of pulas, the festivals of hahratar, or whatever festival else will be celebrated in Hattusa—if you do not celebrate them with all the cattle, sheep, loaves, beer and wine set before the gods, and if you, the god’s priests, make a deal with those who give all that, you can be sure that the gods will notice what is amiss.
1300–1201 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in the Instructions for Temple Officials

Leviticus 10:1

Hebrew Bible
1 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. 2 So fire went out from the presence of the Lord 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, and in the presence of all the people I will be honored.’” So Aaron kept silent.
750–400 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Leviticus

References

“... A Hittite text, “Instructions for Temple Officials,” offers a striking parallel: “If ... the kitchen servant ... gives the god to eat from an unclean [vessel], to such a man the gods will give dung (and) urine to eat (and) to drink” (ANET 209, lines 600-18). Furthermore, Malachi’s karet penalty, which the Lord will impose on the offender and his descendants, is precisely matched in this Hittite text: “does the god take revenge on him alone? Does he not take revenge on his wife, his children, his descendants, his kin, his slaves, his slave-girls, his cattle (and) sheep together with his crop and will utterly destroy him?” (ANET 208, lines 35-38). These resemblances (and others) between the two documents are so remarkable that the possibility must be entertained that this Hittite text lay before Malachi (Segal 1983-84). Be that as it may, the comparison between the two clarifies and defines the exact meaning of karet: extirpation of the offender’s entire line. ...”
Jacob Milgrom, Leviticus 1-16: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary (New York: Doubleday, 1991), 370, 473.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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Instructions for Temple Officials and Leviticus 10:1

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