Leviticus 10:1 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Leviticus 10:1
And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took either of them his censer, and put fire therein, and put incense thereon, and offered strange fire before the LORD, which he commanded them not.
a son (as a builder of the family name) · noun, common masculine plural construct
Aaron
אַ֠הֲרֹן'A.ha.ron
H175
Aharon · proper noun, a man's name
took
וַיִּקְח֣וּvai.yik.Chu
H3947
to take (in the widest variety of applications) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
either
אִ֣ישׁ'ish
H376
a man as an individual or a male person · noun, common masculine singular absolute
censer
מַחְתָּת֗וֹmach.ta.To
H4289
a pan for live coals · noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
put
וַיִּתְּנ֤וּvai.yi.te.Nu
H5414
to give · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
fire
אֵ֔שׁ'Esh
H784
fire (literally or figuratively) · noun, common both genders singular absolute
therein
הֵןhên
H2004
they (only used when emphatic)
put
וַיָּשִׂ֥ימוּvai.ya.Si.mu
H7760
to put (used in a great variety of applications · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
incense
קְטֹ֑רֶתke.To.ret
H7004
a fumigation · noun, common feminine singular absolute
offered
וַיַּקְרִ֜בוּvai.yak.Ri.vu
H7126
to approach (causatively · conjunction + verb, hiphil sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
strange
זָרָ֔הza.Rah
H2114
to turn aside (especially for lodging) · verb, qal active participle, feminine singular absolute
fire
אֵ֣שׁ'esh
H784
fire (literally or figuratively) · noun, common both genders singular absolute
before
לִפְנֵ֤יlif.Nei
H6440
the face (as the part that turns) · preposition + noun, common masculine plural construct
LORD
יְהוָה֙Yah.weh
H3068
Jehovah · proper noun, a title
commanded
צִוָּ֖הtzi.Vah
H6680
(intensively) to constitute · verb, piel perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Numbers 26:61 And Nadab and Abihu died, when they offered strange fire before the LORD.
Deuteronomy 12:32 What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it.
Leviticus 16:12 And he shall take a censer full of burning coals of fire from off the altar before the LORD, and his hands full of sweet incense beaten smal…
Numbers 16:46 And Moses said unto Aaron, Take a censer, and put fire therein from off the altar, and put on incense, and go quickly unto the congregation,…
Exodus 6:23 And Aaron took him Elisheba, daughter of Amminadab, sister of Naashon, to wife; and she bare him Nadab, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.
Exodus 24:1 And he said unto Moses, Come up unto the LORD, thou, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel; and worship ye afar o…
Psalms 141:2 Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense; and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.
Exodus 24:9 Then went up Moses, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel:
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Leviticus 10:1-2
Here is, I. The great sin that Nadab and Abihu were guilty of: and a great sin we must call it, how little soever it appears in our eye, because it is evident by the punishment of it that it was highly provoking to the God of heaven, whose judgment, we are sure, is according to truth. But what was their sin? All the account here given of it is that they offered strange fire before the Lord, which he commanded them not (Lev 10:1), and the same Num 3:4. 1. It does not appear the they had any orders to burn incense at all at this time. It is true their consecration was completed the day before, and it was part of their work, as priests, to serve at the altar of incense; but, it should seem, the…
And Nadab and Abihu - took either of them his censer - The manner of burning incense in the temple service was, according to the Jews, as follows: -
"One went and gathered the ashes from off the altar into a golden vessel, a second brought a vessel full of incense, and a third brought a censer with fire, and put coals on the altar, and he whose office it was to burn the incense strewed it on the fire at the command of the governor. At the same time all the people went out of the temple from between the porch and the altar. Each day they burned the weight of a hundred denaries of incense, fifty in the morning, and fifty in the evening. The hundred denaries weighed fifty shekels of the sanctu…
And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron,.... His two eldest sons, as seems from Exodus 6:23,
took either of them his censer; a vessel in which coals of fire were put, and incense upon them, and burnt it, and so it follows:
and put fire therein, and put incense thereon; which, as Aben Ezra says, was on the eighth day, that is, of their consecration, the day after their consecration was completely finished, and the same day that Aaron had offered the offerings for himself and for the people, see Leviticus 9:1,
and offered strange fire before the Lord; upon the golden altar of incense, which stood in the holy place right against the vail, within which were the ark, mercy seat, and cherubim, t…
The Church Fathers
The sons of Aaron also, who set upon the altar a strange fire not commanded by the Lord, were at once blotted out in the sight of the avenging Lord. These examples, you will see, are being followed wherever the tradition which comes from God is despised by lovers of strange doctrine and replaced by teaching of merely human authority.
This is not far from being a sign of our unhappy time, in which some who have attained positions as priests and teachers—merely to mention it is both distressing and sad enough—are consumed by the fire of heavenly vengeance because they prefer the fire of cupidity to the fire of heavenly love. Their eternal damnation was prefigured by the temporal death of Aaron's sons.
Nor do we propose this, dearest brother, without the authority of divine Scripture, when we say that all things are arranged by divine direction by a certain law and by special ordinance, and that none can usurp to himself, in opposition to the bishops and priests, anything which is not of his own right and power. For Korah, Dathan, and Abiram endeavoured to usurp, in opposition to Moses and Aaron the priest, the power of sacrificing; and they did not do without punishment what they unlawfully dared. The sons of Aaron also, who placed strange fire upon the altar, were at once consumed in the sight of an angry Lord; which punishment remains to those who introduce strange water by a false baptism, that the divine vengeance may avenge and chastise when heretics do that in opposition to the Church, which the Church alone is allowed to do.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Aaron — The eldest son of Amram and Jochebed, a daughter of Levi (Ex. 6:20). Some explain the name as meaning mountaineer, others mountain of strength, illuminator. He was born in Egypt three years before…
Abihu — Father of Him; i.e., “worshipper of God”, the second of the sons of Aaron (Ex. 6:23; Num. 3:2; 26:60; 1 Chr. 6:3). Along with his three brothers he was consecrated to the priest’s office (Ex. 28:1).…
Eli — Ascent, the high priest when the ark was at Shiloh (1 Sam. 1:3, 9). He was the first of the line of Ithamar, Aaron’s fourth son (1 Chr. 24:3; comp. 2 Sam. 8:17), who held that office. The office…
Fire — (1.) For sacred purposes. The sacrifices were consumed by fire (Gen. 8:20). The ever-burning fire on the altar was first kindled from heaven (Lev. 6:9, 13; 9:24), and afterwards rekindled at the…
Firepan — (Ex. 27:3; 38:3), one of the vessels of the temple service (rendered “snuff-dish” Ex. 25:38; 37:23; and “censer” Lev. 10:1; 16:12). It was probably a metallic cinder-basin used for the purpose of…
Ithamar — Palm isle, the fourth and youngest son of Aaron (1 Chr. 6:3). He was consecrated to the priesthood along with his brothers (Ex. 6:23); and after the death of Nadab and Abihu, he and Eleazar alone…
Nadab — Liberal, generous. (1.) The eldest of Aaron’s four sons (Ex. 6:23; Num. 3:2). He with his brothers and their father were consecrated as priests of Jehovah (Ex. 28:1). He afterwards perished with…
Pan — A vessel of metal or earthenware used in culinary operations; a cooking-pan or frying-pan frequently referred to in the Old Testament (Lev. 2:5; 6:21; Num. 11:8; 1 Sam. 2:14, etc.). The “ash-pans”…
Wine — The common Hebrew word for wine is yayin, from a root meaning “to boil up,” “to be in a ferment.” Others derive it from a root meaning “to tread out,” and hence the juice of the grape trodden out.…
Leviticus 10:1-7, 20-Dec
1. And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took either of them his censer, and put fire therein, and put incense thereon, and offered strange fire before the Lord, which he commanded them not.
1. Acceperunt autem filii Aharon:, Nadab et Abihu quisque acerram sham, et posuerunt in ipsis ignem, et supposuerunt suffimentum, obtuleruntque eoram Jebova ignem alienum secus quam praeceperat eis.
2. And there went out fire from the Lord, and devoured them; and they died before the Lord.
2. Tunc egressus est ignis a facie Jehova, et mortui sunt coram Jehova.
3. Then Moses said unto Aaron, This is it that the Lord spake, saying, I will be sanctified in them that come nig…
A fire was to burn constantly on the bronze altar (6:9) to supply coals for burning incense (16:12). Perhaps careless from drinking wine (10:8-11), Nadab and Abihu took coals from another source. This violation of God’s instruction resulted in their deaths.
10:1 Aaron’s two older sons, Nadab and Abihu (Exod 6:23), had accompanied Moses and the seventy elders on Mount Sinai (Exod 24:1, 9) and had witnessed the great theophany (appearance of God) there. They died without male heirs (see also Exod 28:1; Num 3:2-4; 26:60-61; 1 Chr 6:3; 24:1-2). • The incense burners were fire pans or trays that held hot coals. Incense was sprinkled on them (Exod 30:34-38; see also Lev 16:12-13; 2 Chr 26:19; Rev…
Altar Of Incense · Punishment for: Offering strange fire on — Punishment for: Offering strange fire on
Censers · For burning incense — For burning incense
Desert, Journey Of Israel Through The · Nadab and Abihu destroyed for offering strange fire — Nadab and Abihu destroyed for offering strange fire
Disobedience To God · .Of Nadab and Abihu, in offering strange fire — .Of Nadab and Abihu, in offering strange fire
Fire · Sacred: Guilt of burning incense without — Sacred: Guilt of burning incense without
Incense · Offered by Nadab and Abihu in an unauthorized manner — Offered by Nadab and Abihu in an unauthorized manner
Judgments · Nadab and Abihu — Nadab and Abihu
Nadab · .Offers “strange” (unauthorized) fire to God, and is — .Offers “strange” (unauthorized) fire to God, and is
Presumption · .Nadab and Abihu — .Nadab and Abihu
Resignation · EXEMPLIFIED — EXEMPLIFIED
Sacrilege · .Nadab and Abihu offer “strange” (unauthorized) fire — .Nadab and Abihu offer “strange” (unauthorized) fire
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
