Leviticus 10:8-20

8 Then the LORD said to Aaron,

9 “You and your sons are not to drink wine or other fermented drink whenever you go into the tent of meeting, or you will die. This is a lasting ordinance for the generations to come,

10 so that you can distinguish between the holy and the common, between the unclean and the clean,

11 and so you can teach the Israelites all the decrees the LORD has given them through Moses.”

12 Moses said to Aaron and his remaining sons, Eleazar and Ithamar, “Take the grain offering left over from the food offerings prepared without yeast and presented to the LORD and eat it beside the altar, for it is most holy.

13 Eat it in the sanctuary area, because it is your share and your sons’ share of the food offerings presented to the LORD; for so I have been commanded.

14 But you and your sons and your daughters may eat the breast that was waved and the thigh that was presented. Eat them in a ceremonially clean place; they have been given to you and your children as your share of the Israelites’ fellowship offerings.

15 The thigh that was presented and the breast that was waved must be brought with the fat portions of the food offerings, to be waved before the LORD as a wave offering. This will be the perpetual share for you and your children, as the LORD has commanded.”

16 When Moses inquired about the goat of the sin offering^[a] and found that it had been burned up, he was angry with Eleazar and Ithamar, Aaron’s remaining sons, and asked,

17 “Why didn’t you eat the sin offering in the sanctuary area? It is most holy; it was given to you to take away the guilt of the community by making atonement for them before the LORD.

18 Since its blood was not taken into the Holy Place, you should have eaten the goat in the sanctuary area, as I commanded.”

19 Aaron replied to Moses, “Today they sacrificed their sin offering and their burnt offering before the LORD, but such things as this have happened to me. Would the LORD have been pleased if I had eaten the sin offering today?”

20 When Moses heard this, he was satisfied.

Leviticus 10:8-20 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO LEVITICUS 10

This chapter begins with the sin and punishment of two sons of Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, Le 10:1-5 for whose death Aaron and his sons are commanded not to mourn, nor to depart from the tabernacle, Le 10:6,7 and an order is given, prohibiting the priests from drinking wine when they went into it, Le 10:8-11 the law of eating holy things, both those that were more, and those that were less holy, is enjoined, Le 10:12-15 and the flesh of the sin offering not being eaten, but burnt, Aaron's sons are blamed for it, for which he makes an apology to the satisfaction of Moses, Le 10:16-20.

Cross References

• 1. Genesis 9:21; Exodus 29:40; Leviticus 23:13; Numbers 15:5; Deuteronomy 28:39; Isaiah 5:22; Isaiah 22:13; Isaiah 28:1; Isaiah 29:9; Isaiah 56:12; Jeremiah 35:6; Hosea 4:11; Habakkuk 2:15-16
• 2. Numbers 6:3; Numbers 28:7; Deuteronomy 14:26; Deuteronomy 29:6; Judges 13:4; Proverbs 20:1; Proverbs 23:29-35; Proverbs 31:4-7; Isa Numbers 28:7; Ezekiel 44:21; Micah 2:11; Luke 1:15; S Ephesians 5:18; 1 Timothy 3:3; Titus 1:7
• 3. S Exodus 12:14
• 4. S Genesis 7:2; S Leviticus 6:27; Leviticus 14:57; Leviticus 11:47; Leviticus 20:25; Ezekiel 22:26
• 5. 2 Chronicles 15:3; 2 Chronicles 17:7; Ezra 7:25; Nehemiah 8:7; Malachi 2:7
• 6. Deuteronomy 17:10,11; Deuteronomy 24:8; Deuteronomy 25:1; Deuteronomy 33:10; Proverbs 4:27; Haggai 2:11; Malachi 2:7
• 7. S Exodus 29:41
• 8. Leviticus 6:14-18; Leviticus 21:22
• 9. S Leviticus 6:16
• 10. Ezekiel 42:13
• 11. Numbers 5:9
• 12. S Exodus 29:31; S Leviticus 4:12; Ex 29:24,26-27; Leviticus 7:31,34; Numbers 18:11
• 13. S Leviticus 7:34
• 14. S Exodus 29:28
• 15. S Leviticus 9:3
• 16. Leviticus 6:24-30; Ezekiel 42:13
• 17. S Exodus 28:38
• 18. S Leviticus 4:18; Leviticus 6:26; Lev Leviticus 6:26,30
• 19. S Leviticus 6:17
• 20. Leviticus 9:12

Footnotes

• [a]. Or "purification offering" ; also in verses 17 and 19