Bible Strands
Leviticus 10:1
Now Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu took their censers, put fire in them and added incense, and offered unauthorized fire before the LORD, contrary to His command.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrator reports an act by Aaron's two sons, Nadab and Abihu, on the day following the tabernacle's consecration (Lev 8–9). They acted as priests in the holy place, each taking a censer.
The words — אִישׁ ('ish), "each," stresses that both sons acted independently rather than as a single joint offering. מַחְתָּה (mach'tah), "censer," is the same vessel prescribed in Leviticus 16:12 for use with coals taken from the altar, marking the deviation as one of source, not merely of substance.
The thread — Numbers 26:61 restates the event in genealogical summary; Deuteronomy 12:32 states the governing principle (do not add or subtract); Leviticus 16:12 shows the censer's authorized use with altar coals, making the unauthorized fire a matter of wrong source.
Why it lands — The command was specific about where fire came from and what was offered; the penalty was immediate and total. It asks the reader to treat the particularity of God's instructions as non-negotiable, not as a general guideline.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took either of them his censer, and put fire therein, and put incense thereon, and offered strange fire before the Lord, which he commanded them not.
Cross-references
- Numbers 26:61 but Nadab and Abihu died when they offered unauthorized fire before the LORD.
- Deuteronomy 12:32 See that you do everything I command you; do not add to it or subtract from it.
- Leviticus 16:12 Then he must take a censer full of burning coals from the altar before the LORD, and two handfuls of finely ground fragrant incense, and take them inside the veil.
- Numbers 16:46 Moses said to Aaron, “Take your censer, place fire from the altar in it, and add incense. Go quickly to the congregation and make atonement for them, because wrath has come out from the LORD; the plague has begun.”
- Exodus 6:23 And Aaron married Elisheba, the daughter of Amminadab and sister of Nahshon, and she bore him Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar.
- Exodus 24:1 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Come up to the LORD—you and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of Israel’s elders—and you are to worship at a distance.
- Psalms 141:2 May my prayer be set before You like incense; my uplifted hands, like the evening offering.
- Exodus 24:9 Then Moses went up with Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel,
- Exodus 28:1 “Next, have your brother Aaron brought to you from among the Israelites, along with his sons Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar, to serve Me as priests.
- Leviticus 22:9 The priests must keep My charge, lest they bear the guilt and die because they profane it. I am the LORD who sanctifies them.