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2 [1] SPEAK UNTO AARON THY BROTHER. The meaning of the epithet *thy brother* is that “you are to warn him because he is your brother, for even though you are not under this prohibition against coming [into the holy place at all times, thus you might think that Aaron, too, is not subject to this restriction, since he is your brother, nonetheless] Aaron, your brother, *is* under the prohibition against coming [into the holy place at all times].”
Now Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra commented that this Scriptural section indicates that Aaron’s sons [died because they] brought the fire of incense into the innermost part of the Sanctuary. But in my opinion this is not correct. For the verses which mention their sin always say, *when they offered ‘strange’ fire before the Eternal*. And if [you accept as] proof that they entered into the innermost part of the Sanctuary, the prohibition with which G-d warned Moses concerning their father [i.e., Aaron], so that he die not [as Ibn Ezra said], then [you should] certainly accept as proof [that they died because] they entered the Sanctuary whilst intoxicated by wine, the prohibition that was said to Aaron himself immediately after their death, [*Drink no wine nor strong drink* etc.]! Moreover, how could it have occurred to them to enter on that day the [innermost] part [of the Sanctuary] which [even] their father did not enter, for Aaron burnt the incense on the “inner” altar [which stood in the Sanctuary proper], and why should they bring in their incense to a place further inside [the Sanctuary] than their father! Now I have already hinted at the nature of their sin, and the language of the verses point thereto. But the expression *‘b’korvatham’* (when they approached) [does not mean, as Ibn Ezra interpreted it, “*when they approached* by entering the innermost part of the holy place”, but] according to its plain meaning is like the expression *‘uv’korvatham’* (*and when they come near*) *to the altar* *to minister*. Thus the verse here is stating that Aaron’s sons died when they ministered before G-d. If so, [the sense of the warning here] is that He warned Aaron that he should only minister in the place which He commands [that it be done], and at the time He specifies for it.
It is possible that the sense of the verse is similar to that which our Rabbis have said, that the people were speaking perversely of the incense, saying, “Through it Nadab and Abihu [Aaron’s sons] died etc.” Therefore Scripture stated that *after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they drew near before the Eternal* with the incense, He said to Aaron that he should come even nearer before the Eternal than they did, and *with* incense, for if he comes into the holy place [i.e., the Holy of Holies] *without* the incense, he will die, for with it he shall enter there first, just as He said, *and he shall bring it within the Veil … and the cloud of the incense will cover the ark-cover that is upon the testimony, that he die not*. This then is the meaning of the phrase [here in Verse 2 before us], *for I will appear in the cloud upon the ark-cover*, meaning that he [Aaron now, and the High Priest in succeeding generations] is only to enter there with the incense whose cloud rises up there [upon the ark-cover], even as He said, *and the cloud of the incense will cover the ark-cover*.
[2] THAT HE COME NOT AT ALL TIMES INTO THE HOLY PLACE WITHIN THE VEIL. The meaning of the expression *at all times* is that since He had already mentioned the Day of Atonement, saying, *And Aaron shall make atonement upon the horns of it* [i.e., the golden altar which stood within the Sanctuary] *once in the year*, therefore He stated here that Aaron is not to come at any time *into the holy place* [*within the Veil*], except *with this* [procedure], that is to say, on the day that he brings these offerings to effect atonement. Later on in this section He explains with what Aaron shall enter, just as He said, *and he shall bring it within the Veil*, and then He specifies the day, that it be *in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month*, and then He states again that it be [only] *once in the year*.
Version: Commentary on the Torah by Ramban (Nachmanides). Translated and annotated by Charles B. Chavel. New York, Shilo Pub. House, 1971-1976
Source: https://www.nli.org.il/he/books/NNL_ALEPH002108945/NLI
License: CC-BY