Leviticus 10:9

Do not drink wine nor strong drink, thou, nor thy sons with thee, when ye go into the tabernacle of the congregation, lest ye die: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations:

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
drink	תֵּ֣שְׁתְּ Te.shet	H8354	to imbibe (literally or figuratively) · verb, qal jussive, 2nd person masculine singular
wine	יַ֣יִן Ya.yin	H3196	wine (as fermented) · noun, common masculine singular absolute
drink	וְשֵׁכָ֞ר ve.she.Khar	H7941	an intoxicant · conjunction + noun, common masculine singular absolute
sons	וּבָנֶ֣יךָ u.va.Nei.kha	H1121	a son (as a builder of the family name) · conjunction + noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
go	בְּבֹאֲכֶ֛ם be.vo.'a.Khem	H935	to go or come (in a wide variety of applications) · preposition + verb, qal infinitive construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine plural
tabernacle	אֹ֥הֶל 'O.hel	H168	a tent (as clearly conspicuous from a distance) · noun, common masculine singular construct
congregation	מוֹעֵ֖ד mo.'Ed	H4150	properly · noun, common masculine singular absolute
die	תָמֻ֑תוּ ta.Mu.tu	H4191	to die (literally or figuratively) · verb, qal imperfect, 2nd person masculine plural
statute	חֻקַּ֥ת chu.Kat	H2708	an enactment · noun, common feminine singular construct
ever	עוֹלָ֖ם o.Lam	H5769	properly · noun, common masculine singular absolute
generations	לְדֹרֹתֵיכֶֽם le.do.ro.tei.Khem	H1755	properly · preposition + noun, common feminine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine plural

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

Luke 1:15 For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, e…
1 Timothy 3:3 Not given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre; but patient, not a brawler, not covetous;
Isaiah 28:7 But they also have erred through wine, and through strong drink are out of the way; the priest and the prophet have erred through strong dri…
Ezekiel 44:21 Neither shall any priest drink wine, when they enter into the inner court.
Ephesians 5:18 And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;
Titus 1:7 For a bishop must be blameless, as the steward of God; not selfwilled, not soon angry, not given to wine, no striker, not given to filthy lu…
Numbers 6:3 He shall separate himself from wine and strong drink, and shall drink no vinegar of wine, or vinegar of strong drink, neither shall he drink…
1 Timothy 3:8 Likewise must the deacons be grave, not doubletongued, not given to much wine, not greedy of filthy lucre;

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Leviticus 10:8-11

Aaron having been very observant of what God said to him by Moses, now God does him the honour to speak to him immediately (Lev 10:8): The Lord spoke unto Aaron, and the rather because what was now to be said Aaron might perhaps have taken amiss from Moses, as if he had suspected him to have been a gluttonous man and a wine-bibber, so apt are we to resent cautions as accusations; therefore God saith it himself to him, Do not drink wine, nor strong drink, when you go into the tabernacle, and this at their peril, lest you die, Lev 10:9. Probably they had seen the ill effect of it in Nadab and Abihu, and therefore must take warning by them. Observe here, 1. The prohibition itself: Do not drink…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Leviticus 10:8

Do not drink wine nor strong drink--This prohibition, and the accompanying admonitions, following immediately the occurrence of so fatal a catastrophe [Lev 10:1-2], has given rise to an opinion entertained by many, that the two disobedient priests were under the influence of intoxication when they committed the offense which was expiated only by their lives. But such an idea, though the presumption is in its favor, is nothing more than conjecture.

Adam Clarke on Leviticus 10:9

Do not drink wine nor strong drink - The cabalistical commentator, Baal Hatturim, and others, have supposed, from the introduction of this command here, that Aaron's sons had sinned through excess of wine, and that they had attempted to celebrate the Divine service in a state of inebriation. Strong drink - The word שכר shechar, from shachar, to inebriate, signifies any kind of fermented liquors. This is exactly the same prohibition that was given in the case of John Baptist, Luk 1:15 : Οινον και σικερα ου μη πιῃ· Wine and sikera he shall not drink. Any inebriating liquor, says St. Jerome, (Epist. ad nepot)., is called sicera, whether made of corn, apples, honey, dates, or other fruit. One o…

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John Gill

The Church Fathers

Priests given to wine are both condemned by the apostle and forbidden by the old law. Those who serve the altar, we are told, must drink neither wine nor shechar. Now every intoxicating drink is in Hebrew called shechar, whether it is made of corn or of the juice of apples, whether you distil from the honeycomb a rude kind of mead or make a liquor by squeezing dates or strain a thick syrup from a decoction of corn. Whatever intoxicates and disturbs the balance of the mind avoid as you would wine.
— Jerome, LETTER 52.11

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

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).…
Luke, Gospel according to — Was written by Luke. He does not claim to have been an eye-witness of our Lord’s ministry, but to have gone to the best sources of information within his reach, and to have written an orderly…
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.…
Abstinence, Total · FROM INTOXI — FROM INTOXI
Holiness · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Ministers · Should be: Sober, just, and temperate — Should be: Sober, just, and temperate
Priests · Special laws respecting: Not to drink wine, &c while attending in the tabernacle — Special laws respecting: Not to drink wine, &c while attending in the tabernacle
Prohibition · To priests “on duty,” — To priests “on duty,”
Wine · Forbid — Forbid

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).

Leviticus 10:9

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Leviticus 10:8-11

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Leviticus 10:8

Adam Clarke on Leviticus 10:9

John Gill

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Leviticus 10:9

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Leviticus 10:8-11

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Leviticus 10:8

Adam Clarke on Leviticus 10:9

John Gill

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Calvin on Leviticus 10:8–end

Keil & Delitzsch on Leviticus 10:8-11

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Leviticus 10:8-10

Rashi on Leviticus 10:9