Leviticus 10:9

Hebrew Bible

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, 9Do 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.”

Ezekiel 44:21

Hebrew Bible

19 When they go out to the outer court to the people, they must remove the garments they were ministering in and place them in the holy chambers; they must put on other garments so that they will not transmit holiness to the people with their garments. 20 “‘They must not shave their heads nor let their hair grow long; they must only trim their heads. 21 No priest may drink wine when he enters the inner court. 22 They must not marry a widow or a divorcee, but they may marry a virgin from the house of Israel or a widow who is a priest’s widow. 23 Moreover, they will teach my people the difference between the holy and the common and show them how to distinguish between the ceremonially unclean and the clean.

 Notes and References

"... The prohibition against drinking wine for priests on duty is echoed in Ezekiel 44:21. Nazirites are also commanded to abstain from alcoholic beverages (Numbers 6:2–4); even mothers bearing a child designated as a future Nazirite are to observe the restriction (Judges 13:4–5). The beverage should, however, not be considered an unclean substance; drink-offerings to be poured out in the sanctuary are commanded by Numbers 28:7–8. More likely, it is the effect of the substance upon the individual’s state that is repulsive in the holy precinct (Isaiah 28:7–13; Hosea 4:11). Here and throughout the analysis of the passage, the term ‘illicit mixtures’ goes beyond the dichotomous categories of clean and unclean, and profane and holy in Israel’s cultic terminology; deeds deemed morally repulsive to God also are under consideration. This extension is in keeping with the tenor of Leviticus 17–27 which extends the notion of holiness into the ethical realm. For example, Leviticus 19 combines ethical and cultic issues in its exhortation to Israel to be holy (19:2). Although cultic boundaries pertaining to notions of impurity dominate Leviticus 10:1–20, human shortcomings with or without connection to the maintenance of those boundaries are not far from the concern of the passage ..."

Lee, Bernon P. Between Law and Narrative: The Method and Function of Abstraction (p. 136) Gorgias Press, 2010

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