Yahweh spoke to Moses, after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they came near before Yahweh, and died;
Parallel translations
- KJV And the LORD spake unto Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they offered before the LORD, and died;
- BSB Now the LORD spoke to Moses after the death of two of Aaron’s sons when they approached the presence of the LORD.
- NKJV Now the Lord spoke to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they offered profane fire before the Lord, and died;
- NASB Now the Lord spoke to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they had approached the presence of the Lord and died.
- NLT The Lord spoke to Moses after the death of Aaron’s two sons, who died after they entered the Lord’s presence and burned the wrong kind of fire before him.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
God speaks to Moses after Aaron's two sons died for unauthorized worship. This sets the solemn context for the Day of Atonement laws.
Overview
Chapter 16 opens by recalling the death of Nadab and Abihu (Lev 10), who died offering unauthorized fire before the LORD. Their fate frames the following instructions as a warning that approaching the holy God carelessly is deadly. The Day of Atonement that follows reveals the only safe way to draw near, ultimately fulfilled in Christ, our great High Priest.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 1
- Lev 10:1–2Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, each took his censer, and put fire in it, and laid incense on it, and offered strange fire before Yahweh, which he had not commanded them.
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Christ at the center
Every sacrifice, every priest, and every day of atonement points beyond itself to the one perfect offering and the great High Priest who, by his own blood, makes the unclean holy once for all.
How Leviticus 16:1 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.