How does Aaron answer Moses when the sin-offering goat has been burned instead of eaten?

Atlas of Saints · Chapter summary

Aaron says that the day’s sin offering and burnt offering have been made, but the loss that Moses has seen has left him sorrowful. He asks how he could eat the offering or please the Lord in the ceremonies with a sorrowful heart. Moses hears him and is satisfied.

Chapter breakdown

Nadab and Abiu, Aaron’s sons, take their censers, the containers for burning incense, put fire in them and incense on it, and offer before the Lord a strange fire that he has not commanded. Fire comes from the Lord and destroys them, and they die before him. Moses tells Aaron that the Lord has said he will be sanctified in those who approach him and glorified in the sight of all the people. Aaron hears this and remains silent.

Moses calls Misael and Elisaphan, the sons of Oziel, Aaron’s uncle. He tells them to take their dead relatives from before the sanctuary and carry them outside the camp. They go at once, take Nadab and Abiu as they lie in their linen tunics, and carry them out as commanded.

Moses tells Aaron and his remaining sons, Eleazar and Ithamar, not to uncover their heads or tear their garments, warning that they might die and anger might come upon the whole congregation. Their brethren and the whole house of Israel are to mourn the burning the Lord has kindled. Aaron and his sons must not leave the tabernacle door, or they will perish, because the holy anointing oil is on them. They follow Moses’ instructions.

The Lord speaks to Aaron: neither he nor his sons may drink wine or anything that can make them drunk when they enter the tabernacle of testimony, lest they die. This is an everlasting command through their generations. They must be able to distinguish holy from unholy and unclean from clean, and teach the Israelites all the ordinances the Lord has given through Moses.

Moses tells Aaron, Eleazar and Ithamar to take what remains of the offering to the Lord and eat it without leaven beside the altar, because it is most holy. They must eat it in a holy place; it is given to Aaron and his sons from the Lord’s offerings, as Moses has been commanded. The breast that is offered and the shoulder that is set aside have a different eating rule. Aaron, his sons and his daughters may eat these in a most clean place. They are set aside for him and his children from Israel’s peace offerings. The shoulder and breast have been lifted before the Lord with the fat that is burned on the altar; the shoulder and breast belong to Aaron and his sons by a perpetual law, as the Lord commanded.

While this is going on, Moses looks for the male goat offered for sin and finds it burned. He is angry with Eleazar and Ithamar, Aaron’s remaining sons. He asks why they did not eat the most holy sin offering in the holy place. It had been given to them to bear the people’s sin and pray for them before the Lord. None of its blood had been carried into the holy places, so, Moses says, they should have eaten it in the sanctuary as he was commanded.

Aaron answers that the sin offering and burnt offering have been offered before the Lord that day, and that what Moses sees has happened to him. He asks how he could eat the offering or please the Lord in the ceremonies with a sorrowful heart. Moses hears this and is satisfied.

The story inside

The dispute over the burned goat is a separate episode with a question and an answer (10:16–20). Moses finds the sin offering burned and asks Eleazar and Ithamar why they have not eaten it. His objection has specific grounds: it is most holy, it was given so that they might bear the people’s sin and pray for them, and none of its blood was brought into the holy places. Aaron answers by pointing to the day’s offerings and what has happened to him, then asks whether eating with a sorrowful heart would please the Lord. Moses is satisfied when he hears this. The exchange matters because both the commanded handling of the offering and Aaron’s answer are retained in the account. It gives no further rule about future cases and does not explain Moses’ satisfaction beyond reporting it.

Lessons worth keeping

1
The deaths follow an offering the Lord had not commanded. The chapter names Nadab and Abiu’s act, the fire from the Lord and their deaths, followed by Moses’ words and Aaron’s silence. It does not give their motives or say that they were drunk, so those explanations should not be added.
2
The drinking command is tied to entering the tabernacle and to stated duties. Aaron and his sons must distinguish holy from unholy and clean from unclean, and teach all the Lord’s ordinances delivered through Moses. This preserves both the boundary of the command and the work it accompanies.
3
The food rules require attention to the offering, place and people. The remaining most holy offering is eaten beside the altar in a holy place, while the breast and shoulder may be eaten in a most clean place by Aaron, his sons and his daughters. Moses’ later question about the goat also turns on whether its blood entered the holy places.

Test your recall

Why does Moses say the sin-offering goat should have been eaten, and how does Aaron explain his response after the day’s loss?

Source edition and notes

Douay–Rheims, revised by Richard Challoner (1749–1752). Project Gutenberg no. 1581. Locators refer to lines in the admitted pg1581.txt edition. Source notes may include Challoner commentary.

Lines 11536–11552
Leviticus Chapter 10 Nadab and Abiu for offering strange fire, are burnt by fire. Priests are forbidden to drink wine, when they enter into the tabernacle. The law of eating the holy things. 10:1. And Nadab and Abiu, the sons of Aaron, taking their censers, put fire therein, and incense on it, offering before the Lord strange fire: which was not commanded them. 10:2. And fire coming out from the Lord destroyed them: and they died before the Lord. 10:3. And Moses said to Aaron: This is what the Lord hath spoken. I will be sanctified in them that approach to me: and I will be glorified in the sight of all the people. And when Aaron heard this, he held his peace.
Lines 11554–11559
10:4. And Moses called Misael and Elisaphan, the sons of Oziel, the uncle of Aaron, and said to them: Go and take away your brethren from before the sanctuary, and carry them without the camp. 10:5. And they went forthwith and took them as they lay, vested with linen tunicks, and cast them forth, as had been commanded them.
Lines 11561–11569
10:6. And Moses said to Aaron, and to Eleazar and Ithamar, his sons: Uncover not your heads, and rend not your garments, lest perhaps you die, and indignation come upon all the congregation. Let your brethren, and all the house of Israel, bewail the burning which the Lord has kindled. 10:7. But you shall not go out of the door of the tabernacle: otherwise you shall perish, for the oil of the holy unction is on you. And they did all things according to the precept of Moses.
Lines 11571–11582
10:8. The Lord also said to Aaron: 10:9. You shall not drink wine nor any thing that may make drunk, thou nor thy sons, when you enter into the tabernacle of the testimony, lest you die. Because it is an everlasting precept; through your generations: 10:10. And that you may have knowledge to discern between holy and unholy, between unclean and clean: 10:11. And may teach the children of Israel all my ordinances which the Lord hath spoken to them by the hand of Moses.
Lines 11584–11599
10:12. And Moses spoke to Aaron, and to Eleazar and Ithamar, his sons that were left: Take the sacrifice that is remaining of the oblation of the Lord, and eat it without leaven beside the altar, because it is holy of holies. 10:13. And you shall eat it in a holy place: which is given to thee and thy sons of the oblations of the Lord, as it hath been commanded me. 10:14. The breast also that is offered, and the shoulder that is separated, you shall eat in a most clean place, thou and thy sons, and thy daughters with thee. For they are set aside for thee and thy children, of the victims of peace offerings of the children of Israel. 10:15. Because they have elevated before the Lord the shoulder and the breast, and the fat that is burnt on the altar: and they belong to thee and to thy sons by a perpetual law, as the Lord hath commanded.
Lines 11601–11611
10:16. While these things were a doing, when Moses sought for the buck goat, that had been offered for sin, he found it burnt. And being angry with Eleazar and Ithamar, the sons of Aaron that were left, he said: 10:17. Why did you not eat in the holy place the sacrifice for sin, which is most holy, and given to you, that you may bear the iniquity of the people, and may pray for them in the sight of the Lord. 10:18. Especially, whereas none of the blood thereof hath been carried within the holy places: and you ought to have eaten it in the sanctuary, as was commanded me?
Lines 11613–11618
10:19. Aaron answered: This day hath been offered the victim for sin, and the holocaust before the Lord: and to me what thou seest has happened. How could I eat it, or please the Lord in the ceremonies, having a sorrowful heart? 10:20. Which when Moses had heard he was satisfied.