_A.M. 2514. B.C. 1490._ The death of Nadab and Abihu, and quieting of Aaron, Leviticus 10:1. Orders given to bury them, and not to mourn, Leviticus 10:4. A command not to drink wine or strong drink, and to distinguish between holy and unholy, Leviticus 10:8. Directions concerning the parts of the b... [ Continue Reading ]
_Nadab and Abihu, sons of Aaron_ He had other sons; but these were the two eldest, Exodus 6:23. _Took either of them his censer_ That is, a certain vessel, in which they put coals of fire for burning incense. This is supposed to have happened on the last day of their consecration, when fire came dow... [ Continue Reading ]
_And there went out a fire from the Lord_ From heaven, or rather, from the sanctuary; _and devoured them_ Not reduced them to ashes, as the word signifies at the end of the former chapter, but struck them dead in a moment, their bodies and garments remaining entire. Thus the sword is said to devour,... [ Continue Reading ]
_Moses said unto Aaron_ This awful stroke having wounded Aaron with deep anguish, Moses endeavours to allay his sorrows, by representing to him how very faulty his two sons had been, and how agreeable their punishment was to the wisdom of the divine government, and what good ends it might answer. _T... [ Continue Reading ]
_Moses called Mishael_ For Aaron and his sons were employed in their holy ministrations, from which they were not to be called for funeral solemnities. _Brethren_ That is, kinsmen, as that word is often used. _Out of the camp_ Where the burying-places of the Jews were, that the living might neither... [ Continue Reading ]
_In their coats_ In the holy garments wherein they ministered; which might be done, either, 1st, As a testimony of respect due to them, notwithstanding their present failure; and that God in judgment remembered mercy, and when he took away their lives, spared their souls. Or, 2d, Because, being poll... [ Continue Reading ]
_Uncover not your heads_ That is, give no signification of your sorrow; mourn not for them; partly lest you should seem to justify your brethren, and tacitly reflect upon God as too severe; and partly lest thereby you should be diverted from, or disturbed, in your present service, which God expects... [ Continue Reading ]
_Ye shall not go from the tabernacle_ Where at this time they were, because this happened within seven days of their consecration: _for the oil of the Lord is upon you_ You are devoted and consecrated to the service of God and of his people, which, therefore, it is proper you should prefer before al... [ Continue Reading ]
_Do not drink wine nor strong drink_ It is certainly not improbable that the sin of Nadab and Abihu was owing to this. But if not, yet drunkenness is so odious a sin in itself, especially in a minister, and most of all at the time of his administration of sacred things, that God saw fit to prevent a... [ Continue Reading ]
_Between holy and unholy_ Persons and things, which Nadab and Abihu did not, mistaking unholy or common fire for that which was sacred and appointed of God for their use. _Ye may teach_ Which drunken persons are very unfit to do.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Moses spake unto Aaron_ Moses, being apprehensive that Aaron, in the confusion of his grief for the loss of his two sons, might forget or omit some part of his duty, here puts him in mind of it, repeating to him the order about eating the remains of the _meat_ or _meal-offering_, (Leviticus 6:16,)... [ Continue Reading ]
_Behold, it was burnt_ This justified Moses's suspicion that some mistake might be committed in the holy things; for upon inquiry he found that the priests had burned upon the altar those parts of the people's sin-offering which they ought to have eaten, Leviticus 6:26; Leviticus 6:29. _He was angry... [ Continue Reading ]
_God hath given it you to bear the iniquity of the congregation _ It was given them as an encouragement to, and a reward of the careful performance of that part of their duty, whereby they expiated, bore, and took away the sins of the people by offering those sacrifices, by which, as being typical o... [ Continue Reading ]
_Behold the blood was not brought within the holy place_ And consequently it was not one of those sacrifices ordered to be burned, (Leviticus 6:30,) but should have been eaten in the court of the tabernacle, Leviticus 6:26.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Aaron said unto Moses_ Though Moses expostulates only with Eleazar and Ithamar, yet Aaron, taking the reproof to himself, makes an apology in his own and their behalf, the amount of which is, that he and his sons had performed the substance of their duty, offering the people's sin- offering and bur... [ Continue Reading ]
_Moses was content_ He rested satisfied with Aaron's answer, who, it appeared, had sincerely aimed at pleasing God; and those who do so, will find he is not _extreme to mark what is amiss._... [ Continue Reading ]