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10 ‎[1] **Each of the **two eldest **sons of Aaron, Nadav and Avihu, took his fire-pan and placed in it **coals of **fire, and placed incense upon **the fire, **and they offered before the Lord strange fire that He had not commanded them. **
‎[2] **Fire emerged from before the Lord and consumed them. **It is uncertain from where this fire emerged. 11 **And they died before the Lord, **inside the Sanctuary. As will soon be made evident, although the fire killed them, their bodies were not burned, as would have been the case in a regular fire. Rather, their deaths resembled a death by electrocution or by lightning strike, as their bodies remained physically intact. 12
‎[3] **Moses said to Aaron: This **incident **is that **about **which the Lord spoke, saying: Through those who are near to Me I will be sanctified. ** That is, My sanctity will be manifest among those who are close to Me, **and **then **before all the people I will be glorified; and Aaron was silent. **It is possible that before this statement, Aaron cried in shock at the sudden deaths of his sons, 13 but upon hearing Moses’ statement he voiced no complaints and remained silent. There is no doubt that Aaron’s silence stemmed not from indifference, but from his acceptance of this divine decree.
‎[4] **Moses called Mishael and Eltzafan, the sons of Uzziel, **an **uncle of Aaron. **They were Levites and family members. **And **Moses **said to them: Approach, carry your brethren, **your cousins, **from inside the Sanctuary to outside the camp. **
‎[5] **They approached and carried them by their tunics to outside the camp, **for the dead were not left inside the camp, **as Moses had spoken. **It is clear from the verse that Aaron’s sons were not burned in an ordinary manner, as they were carried out in their garments, indicating that the garments were whole and durable enough to pull their wearers with them. 14
‎[6] **Moses said to Aaron, and to Elazar and to Itamar, his, **Aaron’s, other **sons: **Despite the tragedy that has occurred, **you shall not grow out the hair of your heads. **Do not allow your hair to grow wild during the mourning period, 15 **and you shall not rend your garments **in the manner of mourners, **that you will not die. **If you observe the usual customs of mourning, you will be liable to death, **and **not only will you be punished, but **He will rage against all the congregation, **as you are now their priests. 16 **And your brethren, the entire house of Israel, shall weep **over **the burning that the Lord has burned. **Mourning and weeping are of course a natural response to death. However, you have been consecrated, and you must remain in your posts within the confines of the Tabernacle. Consequently, you must not let their deaths affect you.
‎[7] **From the entrance of the Tent of Meeting you shall not emerge **for the entire period that you are obligated to be within the sacred area, so **that you not die, as the anointing oil of the Lord is upon you. **Since you have been anointed and consecrated for the service, you are no longer private citizens who may act according to their own discretion. **They acted in accordance with the word of Moses, **that is, Aaron and his surviving sons did not display any signs of mourning and they remained in the Tabernacle.
‎[8] **The Lord spoke to Aaron, saying: **
‎[9] **You shall not drink wine or **any **intoxicating drink **, 17 **neither you nor your sons with you, upon your entry into the Tent of Meeting, that you not die; **this is **an eternal statute for your generations. **This prohibition is not restricted to the unique occasion of the inauguration ceremony. Rather, it remains in force for all generations in which the priestly service is performed.
‎[10] The eternal prohibition against intoxicated priests performing the Temple service is not due merely to their presence in the Tent of Meeting. In addition to performing sacrificial rites, the priests must fulfill other functions:
**To distinguish **for the people **between the sacred and the profane, and between the impure and the pure, **
‎[11] **and to teach the children of Israel all the statutes that the Lord spoke to them at the hand of Moses. **The roles of instructing the people and teaching them to distinguish between the sacred and the profane demands that the priests avoid drunkenness, as this can easily lead to error and confusion. 18
‎[12] While the tragic incident of the deaths of Nadav and Avihu was still resonating in the consciousness of all those present, especially in the minds of Aaron, Elazar, and Itamar, Moses returns Aaron and his surviving sons to the ceremony of the consecration of the Tabernacle and to their inauguration as priests:
**Moses spoke to Aaron, and to Elazar and to Itamar, his surviving sons: Take the meal offering that remains from the fire offerings of the Lord, **after its handful has been sacrificed, **and eat it unleavened beside the altar, **in the Tabernacle courtyard, **as it is a sacred sacrament. **
‎[13] **You shall eat it in a holy place, as it is your allotment, **Aaron, **and the allotment of your sons from the fire offerings of the Lord, **as the majority of meal offerings are eaten by the priests, and it is their sustenance. **For so I was commanded. **This is not a voluntary consumption or a personal gift that I am bestowing upon you; rather, God has commanded that you must eat the meal offering.
‎[14] **You shall eat the breast of waving and the haunch of lifting in a pure place, **not necessarily inside the Sanctuary. This command is more inclusive: **You and your sons and your daughters with you **may partake of this portion, **as they are given as your allotment and the allotments of your sons from the peace offerings of the children of Israel. **
‎[15] **The haunch of lifting and the breast of waving they shall bring **to the altar **with the fire offerings of the fats, **not for burning on the fire like the fats, but **to wave it for a wave offering before the Lord; and it shall be for you and for your sons with you **a gift from the altar, as it were, **as an eternal allotment, as the Lord commanded. **
‎[16] **Moses inquired about the goat of the sin offering, **which was supposed to have been eaten by the priests as part of their service, after the removal of the portions designated for burning on the altar. **And **Moses discovered that **behold, it was burned; and he was angry with Elazar and with Itamar, the surviving sons of Aaron. **Perhaps Moses did not express his anger toward Aaron out of respect for his older brother, or because he held Aaron’s sons responsible, since they performed this part of the service. 19 Therefore, Moses addressed Elazar and Itamar, **saying: **
‎[17] **Why didn’t you eat the sin offering in the holy place, as it is a sacred sacrament, **and it should have been eaten there? Furthermore, while the breast and haunch are gifts bestowed upon the priests as ministers of the Tabernacle that may be consumed by the members of their households, the sin offering is consumed because **He gave it you to bear the iniquity of the congregation, to atone for them before the Lord. **The consumption of the sin offering by the priests is part of the atonement process, together with the sprinkling of the blood and the sacrifice of the offering. Since its consumption is a part of the service and does not depend on your wishes or your appetite, why have you not eaten the sin offering?
‎[18] **Behold, its blood was not brought to the Sanctuary within. **Moses already taught that the flesh of a sin offering whose blood is brought inside the Sanctuary may not be eaten; rather, it is burned (6:23). In this case, however, the blood was not brought inside the Sanctuary. Therefore, **you should have eaten it in the holy place, as I commanded. **Since I instructed you to eat the sin offering, why did you burn it?
‎[19] **Aaron spoke to Moses. **Out of respect for his brother, Moses rebuked Aaron’s sons rather than Aaron himself. It is clear, however, that Aaron was involved in this incident, and it is even likely that his sons acted on instructions from him. Consequently, Aaron accepted responsibility for their actions and replied to Moses: 20 **Indeed, today they offered their sin offering and their burnt offering before the Lord, **
‎[20] **Moses heard; it was satisfactory in his eyes. **Although Moses did not instruct Aaron in this manner, he agreed that Aaron and his sons acted properly, which means that their behavior was satisfactory in the eyes of the Lord as well.
Version: The Steinsaltz Tanakh - English
Source: https://korenpub.com/collections/the-steinsaltz-tanakh/products/steinsaltz-tanakh
License: Copyright: Steinsaltz Center