Leviticus 16:1

The Day of Atonement

1 The Lord spoke to Moses after the death of two of Aaron's sons when they approached the presence of^[a] the Lord and died.^[b]

Leviticus 16:1 Meaning and Commentary

Leviticus 16:1

And the Lord spake unto Moses, after the death of the two sons
of Aaron
That is, either immediately after their death, and so this chapter would have stood in its natural order next to the tenth; or else after the above laws concerning uncleanness on various accounts were delivered out, designed to prevent the people entering into the tabernacle defiled, whereby they would have incurred the penalty of death; wherefore, as Aben Ezra observes, after the Lord had given cautions to the Israelites, that they might not die, he bid Moses to caution Aaron also, that he might not die as his sons died; these were Nadab and Abihu: when they offered before the Lord, and died;
offered strange fire, and died by flaming fire, as the Targum of Jonathan; or fire sent down from heaven, as Gersom, by lightning; see ( Leviticus 10:1 Leviticus 10:2 ) .

Leviticus 16:1 In-Context

1 The Lord spoke to Moses after the death of two of Aaron's sons when they approached the presence of the Lord and died.

2 The Lord said to Moses: "Tell your brother Aaron that he may not come whenever he wants into the holy place behind the veil in front of the mercy seat on the ark or else he will die, because I appear in the cloud above the mercy seat.

3 "Aaron is to enter the [most] holy place in this way: with a young bull for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering.

4 He is to wear a holy linen tunic, and linen undergarments are to be on his body. He must tie a linen sash [around him] and wrap his head with a linen turban. These are holy garments; he must bathe his body with water before he wears them.

5 He is to take from the Israelite community two male goats for a sin offering and one ram for a burnt offering.

Footnotes

• [a]. LXX, Tg, Syr, Vg read they brought strange fire before; Nm 3:4
• [b]. Lv 10:1-2