Leviticus 16:1

The Day of Atonement

1 Then Yahweh spoke to Moses after the death of Aaron's two sons, when they had come near {before} Yahweh and they died.

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 Then Yahweh spoke to Moses after the death of Aaron's two sons, when they had come near {before} Yahweh and they died.

2 And Yahweh said to Moses, "Tell your brother Aaron [that] he should not enter at any time into the sanctuary {behind} the curtain {in front of} the atonement cover that [is] on the ark, so that he might not die, because I appear in the cloud over the atonement cover.

3 "Aaron must enter the sanctuary with this: {a young bull} as a sin offering and a ram as a burnt offering.

4 He must put on {a holy linen tunic}, and linen undergarments must be on his body, and he must fasten [himself] with a linen sash, and he must wrap a linen turban around [his head]--they [are] holy garments, and he shall wash his body with water, then he shall put them on.

5 And he must take from the {Israelites}' community two he-goats as a sin offering and one ram as a burnt offering.

Footnotes

• [a]. Or "And"
• [b]. Literally "before faces of"