10:1 Then 5 Aaron’s sons, Nadab and Abihu, each took his fire pan and put fire in it, set incense on it, and presented strange fire 6 before the Lord, which he had not commanded them to do.
6:11 I am as full of anger as you are, Lord, 7
I am tired of trying to hold it in.”
The Lord answered, 8
“Vent it, then, 9 on the children who play in the street
and on the young men who are gathered together.
Husbands and wives are to be included, 10
as well as the old and those who are advanced in years.
18:21 So let their children die of starvation.
Let them be cut down by the sword. 14
Let their wives lose their husbands and children.
Let the older men die of disease 15
and the younger men die by the sword in battle.
48:15 Moab will be destroyed. Its towns will be invaded.
Its finest young men will be slaughtered. 16
I, the King, the Lord who rules over all, 17 affirm it! 18
1 tn Heb “vengeance of covenant”; cf. NAB “the avenger of my covenant.”
2 tn Heb “and.” The Hebrew conjunction ו (vav, “and”) has a concessive force in this context.
3 tn Heb “in hand of enemy,” but Tg. Ps.-J. and Tg. Neof. have “in the hands of your enemies” (J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 454).
4 tn Heb “and my sanctuary you shall fear.” Cf. NCV “respect”; CEV “honor.”
5 tn Although it has been used elsewhere in this translation as an English variation from the ubiquitous use of vav in Hebrew, in this instance “then” as a rendering for vav is intended to show that the Nadab and Abihu catastrophe took place on the inauguration day described in Lev 9. The tragic incident in Lev 10 happened in close temporal connection to the
6 tn The expression “strange fire” (אֵשׁ זָרָה, ’esh zarah) seems imprecise (cf. NAB “profane fire”; NIV “unauthorized fire”; NRSV “unholy fire”; NLT “a different kind of fire”) and has been interpreted numerous ways (see the helpful summary in J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 132-33). The infraction may have involved any of the following or a combination thereof: (1) using coals from someplace other than the burnt offering altar (i.e., “unauthorized coals” according to J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:598; cf. Lev 16:12 and cf. “unauthorized person” אִישׁ זָר (’ish zar) in Num 16:40 [17:5 HT], NASB “layman”), (2) using the wrong kind of incense (cf. the Exod 30:9 regulation against “strange incense” קְטֹרֶת זָרָה (qÿtoreh zarah) on the incense altar and the possible connection to Exod 30:34-38), (3) performing an incense offering at an unprescribed time (B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 59), or (4) entering the Holy of Holies at an inappropriate time (Lev 16:1-2).
7 tn Heb “I am full of the wrath of the
8 tn These words are not in the text but are implicit from the words that follow. They are supplied in the translation for clarity.
9 tn Heb “Pour it out.”
10 tn Heb “are to be captured.”
11 tn Heb “Yahweh of armies.”
12 tn Heb “Behold I will.” For the function of this particle see the translator’s note on 1:6.
13 tn Heb “will die by the sword.” Here “sword” stands contextually for “battle” while “starvation” stands for death by starvation during siege.
14 tn Heb “be poured out to the hand [= power] of the sword.” For this same expression see Ezek 35:5; Ps 63:10 (63:11 HT). Comparison with those two passages show that it involved death by violent means, perhaps death in battle.
15 tn Heb “be slain by death.” The commentaries are generally agreed that this refers to death by disease or plague as in 15:2. Hence, the reference is to the deadly trio of sword, starvation, and disease which were often connected with war. See the notes on 15:2.
16 tn Heb “will go down to the slaughter.”
17 tn Heb “Yahweh of armies.” For an explanation of the translation and meaning of this title see the study note on 2:19.
18 tn Heb “Oracle of the King whose name is Yahweh of armies.” The first person form has again been adopted because the