Leviticus 10:7

7 but you must not even leave the Meeting Tent. If you go out of the entrance, you will die, because the Lord has appointed you to his service." So Aaron, Eleazar, and Ithamar obeyed Moses.

Leviticus 10:7 Meaning and Commentary

Leviticus 10:7

And ye shall not go out from the door of the tabernacle of
the congregation, lest ye die
That is, they were not to relinquish the service of the sanctuary, on the account of the death of these relations of theirs, and through grief for it, but go on in it; not Aaron on account of his children, nor his sons on account of their brethren: from hence, says Ben Gersom, we learn, that whatsoever priest leaves his service, and goes out of the sanctuary, is guilty of death: some think the seven days of consecration were not quite over, during which time Aaron and his sons were obliged to continue there, on pain of death, ( Leviticus 8:33 Leviticus 8:35 ) but it is pretty plain those days were over, and that it was the day after the consecration was finished; see ( Leviticus 9:1 ) and (See Gill on Leviticus 10:2) wherefore this respects their continuance in the tabernacle on the day the above affair happened, and they were obliged to continue in and go through the service of the day, notwithstanding that:

for the anointing oil of the Lord is upon you;
a learned man F15 infers from hence, that this affair happened within the days of consecration, they being every day afresh anointed with oil, at least had it, with the blood of the sacrifices, sprinkled on them, on their garments, taking it in the strict sense, for the oil being still upon them; whereas it seems only to signify, that inasmuch as they were consecrated with oil to the priest's office, they were under obligation to continue and perform their service without being let or hindered by what had happened:

and they did according to the word of Moses;
they showed no tokens of mourning on account of the dead, and did not offer to go out of the tabernacle and leave their service.


FOOTNOTES:

F15 Clayton's Chronology of the Hebrew Bible, p. 353.

Leviticus 10:7 In-Context

5 So Mishael and Elzaphan obeyed Moses and carried the bodies of Nadab and Abihu, still clothed in the special priest's inner robes, outside the camp.
6 Then Moses said to Aaron and his other sons, Eleazar and Ithamar, "Don't show sadness by tearing your clothes or leaving your hair uncombed. If you do, you will die, and the Lord will be angry with all the people. All the people of Israel, your relatives, may cry loudly about the Lord burning Nadab and Abihu,
7 but you must not even leave the Meeting Tent. If you go out of the entrance, you will die, because the Lord has appointed you to his service." So Aaron, Eleazar, and Ithamar obeyed Moses.
8 Then the Lord said to Aaron,
9 "You and your sons must not drink wine or beer when you go into the Meeting Tent. If you do, you will die. This law will continue from now on.
Scripture taken from the New Century Version. Copyright © 1987, 1988, 1991 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.