Leviticus 10:4

4 En Mozes riep Misael en Elzafan, de zonen van Uzziel, de oom van Aaron, en zeide tot hen: Treedt toe, draagt uw broederen weg, van voor het heiligdom tot buiten het leger.

Leviticus 10:4 Meaning and Commentary

Leviticus 10:4

And Moses called Mishael and Elzaphan, the sons of Uzziel,
the uncle of Aaron
Uzziel was a son of Kohath, a brother of Amram, the father of Aaron, and so Aaron's uncle, as here; he had four sons, two of which are here mentioned as called by Moses; these were first cousins to Aaron, and second to his sons; see ( Exodus 6:18 Exodus 6:22 ) :

and said unto them, come near;
it is very probable they were in the court of the tabernacle, being Kohathites, of the tribe of Levi; but not being priests, had no right to go into the holy place, where the two sons of Aaron lay dead, without a special order for it, which they here had for this time, and upon this occasion:

carry your brethren from before the sanctuary, out of the camp;
the sons of Aaron are called their brethren, though but cousins, it being usual to call any relations brethren, and even if only of the same tribe, yea, of the same nation. Now these were ordered to take the dead bodies of Aaron's sons out of the holy place, and out of the tabernacle, even from before it, which, as Aben Ezra says, was the court over against the camp; and they were to carry them out of the camp into some field, or place adjacent, and there bury them; it not being usual in those times to bury in cities and towns, and much less in places devoted to sacred worship, as the tabernacle was; and therefore they were carried from both the sanctuary and the camp: it is an observation of Aben Ezra, that

``some say the incense was before the altar of burnt offering, and the Levites entered there;''

but if by incense is meant the altar of incense, the place where these sons of Aaron offered theirs, that was in the holy place, and not in the court, where stood the altar of burnt offering: but they seem to mean as if their incense was offered in another place, and not on the altar, somewhere in the court, and before you come to the altar of burnt offering; and so the persons Moses called could come in thither, and take up their bodies there fallen: but the same writer observes, that others say, that

``it was upon the altar of incense (i.e. that their incense was offered), and Moses brought them out of the tabernacle of the congregation,''

and then called these men to carry them from thence without the camp.

Leviticus 10:4 In-Context

2 Toen ging een vuur uit van het aangezicht des HEEREN, en verteerde hen; en zij stierven voor het aangezicht des HEEREN.

3 En Mozes zeide tot Aaron: Dat is het, wat de HEERE gesproken heeft, zeggende: In degenen, die tot Mij naderen, zal Ik geheiligd worden, en voor het aangezicht van al het volk zal Ik verheerlijkt worden. Doch Aaron zweeg stil.

4 En Mozes riep Misael en Elzafan, de zonen van Uzziel, de oom van Aaron, en zeide tot hen: Treedt toe, draagt uw broederen weg, van voor het heiligdom tot buiten het leger.

5 Toen traden zij toe, en droegen hen, in hun rokken, tot buiten het leger, gelijk als Mozes gesproken had.

6 En Mozes zeide tot Aaron, en tot Eleazar, en tot Ithamar, zijn zonen: Gij zult uw hoofden niet ontbloten, noch uw klederen verscheuren, opdat gij niet sterft, en grote toorn over de ganse vergadering kome; maar uw broederen, het ganse huis van Israel, zullen dezen brand, dien de HEERE aan gestoken heeft, bewenen.