Bible Chapter Summary
Leviticus 10 Summary
Strange Fire and Priestly Holiness
Nadab and Abihu, sons of Aaron, offer unauthorized ("strange") fire before the LORD, and fire from the LORD consumes and kills them. Moses instructs Aaron and his remaining sons, Eleazar and Ithamar, not to mourn outwardly nor leave the tabernacle, and God directly commands Aaron that priests must abstain from wine and strong drink when entering the tabernacle, so they can distinguish between the holy and the unholy. Moses then directs the surviving priests on how to eat the remaining portions of the offerings in the proper places, consistent with the statutes given through Moses. When Moses discovers that the sin offering goat had been burnt rather than eaten in the holy place, Aaron defends his sons' conduct given the tragic circumstances of the day, and Moses accepts the explanation.
Key themes
Key verses
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.”
Leviticus 10:2
“And there went out fire from the LORD, and devoured them, and they died before the LORD.”
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:”
Leviticus 10:10
“And that ye may put difference between holy and unholy, and between unclean and clean;”
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