{"id":44811,"date":"2018-11-28T17:26:39","date_gmt":"2018-11-28T15:26:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=44811"},"modified":"2022-06-22T18:38:30","modified_gmt":"2022-06-22T15:38:30","slug":"nadav-and-abihu-in-peshat-and-derash","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/nadav-and-abihu-in-peshat-and-derash\/","title":{"rendered":"Nadav And Abihu In Peshat And Derash"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Our chapter succinctly recounts the tragic deaths of Nadab and Abihu who briefly served alongside their father Aaron until they were struck dead by a heavenly flame.<\/span><\/p>\n

The circumstances leading to their deaths, however, are shrouded in ambiguity. Here (10:1), as well as on two subsequent occasions (cf. Numbers 3:4, 26:61), their crime is reported as \u201coffering a strange fire\u201d (\u2018<\/em><\/span>esh zarah<\/span><\/em>), a term used nowhere else in the Bible.<\/span><\/p>\n

A simple, straightforward reading (<\/span>peshat<\/span><\/em>) of 10:1 suggests that the conclusion of the verse, \u201c[a strange fire] which they were not commanded,\u201d serves as its explanation. They were expected to wait for the divine flame that was to descend, miraculously, from heaven; their production of a mortal flame, therefore, was \u201cstrange\u201d in the sense of unauthorized and for that they were punished.<\/span><\/p>\n

A more complex reading (<\/span>derash<\/span><\/em>), however, draws on the context. As soon as the corpses had been removed from the sanctuary (vs. 4-5) and the immediate family members instructed on the mourning rites (vs. 6-7), God issued this caution to Aaron and his surviving sons: \u201cDo not have wine or strong drink prior to entering the Tent of Meeting, lest you die\u201d (v. 9), implying that the deaths of Nadab and Abihu resulted from intoxication, described, figuratively, as a \u201cstrange fire.\u201d A combinations of the two approaches is also feasible: their disobedience could have resulted from their inebriation.<\/span><\/p>\n

Alternatively, the disobedience could be attributed to a misplaced zeal, a misdirected passion, which can also be termed a \u201cstrange fire.\u201d Indeed, while hardly conclusive evidence, the Yiddish word for zeal is \u201c<\/span>bren<\/span><\/em>,\u201d which literally means to burn.<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":44818,"id":44818,"title":"fire1","filename":"fire1.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/fire1.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/nadav-and-abihu-in-peshat-and-derash\/fire1\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"fire1","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":44811,"date":"2018-11-28 15:47:30","modified":"2021-12-06 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