Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Leviticus 10:6
And Moses said unto Aaron, and unto Eleazar and unto Ithamar, his sons, Uncover not your heads, neither rend your clothes; lest ye die, and lest wrath come upon all the people: but let your brethren, the whole house of Israel, bewail the burning which the LORD hath kindled.
6. The ordinary priest might defile himself for those near of kin (Lev 21:2) but the high priest was not allowed to do so (Lev 21:11). On this occasion Aaron, Eleazar, and Ithamar were all subject to the stricter rule. The whole house of Israel joined in the mourning.
Let not the hair of your heads go loose ] It was said to Ezekiel when forbidden to mourn, ‘bind thy headtire upon thee’ (Eze 24:17). On removing the headtire the hair would fall down, so that the prohibition ‘Uncover not your heads’ (A.V.), is in effect the same. To let the hair loose and to rend the garments were and still are signs of mourning among the Jews and Eastern nations.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Aaron and his two surviving sons are forbidden to show the accustomed signs of mourning, or to leave the court of the tabernacle in order to attend the funeral, because, from their office, they were especially concerned as consecrated priests in outwardly maintaining the honor of Yahweh. They were to bear visible testimony to the righteousness of the punishment of Nadab and Abihu. The people, on the other hand, as not formally standing so near to Yahweh, were permitted to bewail as an acknowledgment that the nation had a share in the sin of its priests. (Compare 1Co 12:26.)
Lev 10:6
Uncover not your heads – Or, set free … let go loose. It was a custom to let the hair grow long and fall loosely over the head and face Lev 13:45; 2Sa 15:30; 2Sa 19:4; and the substance of the command would thus be that they should not let the hair go disheveled. Ripping the clothes in front so as to lay open the breast was one of the most common manifestations of grief (see Gen 37:29; Gen 44:13; 2Sa 1:11; Job 1:20; Joe 2:13, etc.). The garments as well as the persons of the priests were consecrated; this appears to be the reason of the prohibition of these ordinary signs of mourning. Compare Lev 20:10.
Lest ye die – See Exo 28:35 note.
Lev 10:7
The anointing oil … is upon you – See Lev 8:12, Lev 8:30. The holy oil, as the symbol of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Life and immortality and joy, was the sign of the priests being brought near to Yahweh. It was therefore by its meaning connected both with the general law which forbade the high priest ever to put on signs of mourning on account of death Lev 21:10-12, and with the special reason for the prohibition on this occasion.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 6. Uncover not your heads, c.] They were to use no sign of grief or mourning,
1. Because those who were employed in the service of the sanctuary should avoid every thing that might incapacitate them for that service and,
2. Because the crime of their brethren was so highly provoking to God, and so fully merited the punishment which he had inflicted, that their mourning might be considered as accusing the Divine justice of undue severity.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Uncover not your heads; either,
1. By putting off your mitres and bonnets, or ornaments, and going bare-headed, as mourners sometimes did. See Lev 13:45; Eze 24:17,23. Or,
2. By shaving off the hair of your heads and beards, as mourners did. See Job 1:20; Jer 7:29; 41:5; Eze 44:20; Mic 1:16. This latter may seem to be principally intended,
1. Because this ceremony of uncovering the head being used by the people as well as by the priests in case of mourning, as the places now alleged show; and the other ceremony here joined with it, of rending the clothes, being also common to the people; seems to imply that he speaks not of that uncovering of the head which was peculiar to the priests, but of that which was common both to priests and people, especially seeing that which is here forbidden to these priests is in the following words allowed to the people, to
bewail their death, which as at other times it was, so now probably might be performed by these same ceremonies.
2. Because the high priest is forbidden to uncover his head in way of mourning for the dead, not only at that time when he was in actual ministration, but at all times, even when he had neither his mitre nor any of the holy garments upon him, Lev 21:10.
Neither rend your clothes; give no signification of your sorrow; mourn not for them; partly lest you should seem to justify and approve of your brethren, and tacitly reflect upon God as too severe in his proceedings with them; and partly lest thereby you should be diverted from or disturbed in your present service, which God expects should be done cheerfully.
But let your brethren…bewail the burning, not so much in compassion to them against whom God hath showed such great and just indignation, as in sorrow for the tokens of Divine displeasure.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
6. Uncover not your headsTheywho were ordered to carry out the two bodies, being engaged in theirsacred duties, were forbidden to remove their turbans, in conformitywith the usual customs of mourning; and the prohibition “neitherrend your garments,” was, in all probability, confined also totheir official costume. For at other times the priests wore theordinary dress of their countrymen and, in common with theirfamilies, might indulge their private feelings by the usual signs orexpressions of grief.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And Moses said unto Aaron, and unto Eleazar, and unto Ithamar, his sons,…. His two younger sons, which yet remained; and so the Septuagint version adds, as in Le 10:12
uncover not your heads; that is, do not take off your mitre, as the Septuagint version; or the bonnets which they wore in the time of their ministry; for the Jewish priests always had their mitres and bonnets on when they sacrificed; in imitation of which, the Heathens had their heads covered when they offered their sacrifices k: now it was the way, or custom of a mourner, as Ben Melech observes, to remove his mitre, bonnet, or tiara, from his head; but in this case, that no sign of mourning might be shown, Aaron and his sons are forbid to uncover the head: the Targum of Onkelos is,
“do not increase the hair,”
or nourish it, or suffer it to grow, as Jarchi and Ben Gersom interpret it: now in times of distress and mourning they used to let the hair grow, whether on the head or beard, see 2Sa 19:24 and in this the Jews were imitated by the Egyptians, contrary to other nations; the priests of the gods in other places, says Herodotus l, took care of their hair (or wore their hair), in Egypt they are shaved; with others the custom is, for the head immediately to be shaved at funerals; but the Egyptians, at death, suffer their hair to grow in the parts before shaved; but this custom with the Jews, though at other times used, is here forbid Aaron and his sons:
neither rend your clothes, which was sometimes done at the report of the death of near relations, as children, in token of mourning,
Ge 37:34 but here it is forbid, that there might be no sign of it: it is a particular word that is here used: Ben Melech says, there is a difference between rending and tearing; tearing is in the body of a garment where there is no seam, but rending (which is what is here meant) where there is a seam: the priests rending their garments was after this manner, according to the Jewish canons m,
“an high priest rends below and a common priest above;”
that is, as one of their commentators n interprets it, the former rends the extreme part of his garment next the feet, and the latter at the breast near the shoulder; but in this case no rent at all was to be made:
lest ye die, and lest wrath come upon all the people; so very provoking to God would be any signs of mourning in Aaron and his sons, on this account:
but let your brethren, the whole house of Israel, bewail the burning which the Lord hath kindled: though Aaron and his sons might not mourn on this occasion, the whole body of the people might, though not bewail so much the death of the persons, as the cause of it; and be concerned for the awful judgment of God, and for the wrath that was sone forth, lest it should proceed and destroy others also, all being sinners.
k “Purpureo velare comas”, &c. Virgil. Aeneid. l. 3. Vid. Kipping. Rom. Antiqu. l. 1. c. 12. sect. 17. p. 495. l Euterpe sive, l. 2. c. 36. m Misn. Horayot, c. 3. sect. 5. n Bartenora in ib.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Moses prohibited Aaron and his remaining sons from showing any sign of mourning on account of this fatal calamity. “ Uncover not your heads, ” i.e., do not go about with your hair dishevelled, or flowing free and in disorder (Lev 13:45). does not signify merely uncovering the head by taking off the head-band (lxx, Vulg., Kimchi, etc.), or by shaving off the hair ( Ges. and others; see on the other hand Knobel on Lev 21:10), but is to be taken in a similar sense , the free growth of the hair, not cut short with scissors (Num 6:5; Eze 44:20). It is derived from , to let loose from anything (Pro 1:25; Pro 4:5, etc.), to let a people loose, equivalent to giving them the reins (Exo 32:25), and signifies solvere crines, capellos , to leave the hair in disorder, which certainly implies the laying aside of the head-dress in the case of the priest, though without consisting in this alone. On this sign of mourning among the Roman and other nations, see M. Geier de Ebraeorum luctu viii. 2. The Jews observe the same custom still, and in times of deep mourning neither wash themselves, nor cut their hair, nor pare their nails (see Buxtorf, Synog. jud. p. 706). They were also not to rend their clothes, i.e., not to make a rent in the clothes in front of the breast-a very natural expression of grief, by which the sorrow of the heart was to be laid bare, and one which was not only common among the Israelites (Gen 37:29; Gen 44:13; 2Sa 1:11; 2Sa 3:31; 2Sa 13:31), but was very widely spread among the other nations of antiquity (cf. Geier l.c. xxii. 9). , to rend, occurs, in addition to this passage, in Lev 13:45; Lev 21:10; in other places , to tear in pieces, is used. Aaron and his sons were to abstain from these expressions of sorrow, “lest they should die and wrath come upon all the people.” Accordingly, we are not to seek the reason for this prohibition merely in the fact, that they would defile themselves by contact with the corpses, a reason which afterwards led to this prohibition being raised into a general law for the high priest (Lev 21:10-11). The reason was simply this, that any manifestation of grief on account of the death that had occurred, would have indicated dissatisfaction with the judgment of God; and Aaron and his sons would thereby not only have fallen into mortal sin themselves, but have brought down upon the congregation the wrath of God, which fell upon it through every act of sin committed by the high priest in his official position (Lev 4:3). “ Your brethren, (namely) the whole house of Israel, may bewail this burning ” (the burning of the wrath of Jehovah). Mourning was permitted to the nation, as an expression of sorrow on account of the calamity which had befallen the whole nation in the consecrated priests. For the nation generally did not stand in such close fellowship with Jehovah as the priests, who had been consecrated by anointing.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
(6) Uncover not your heads.Better, let not your heads be dishevelled. It was the custom for mourners to let their hair grow long, and let it fall in a disorderly and wild manner over the head and face. (See Lev. 13:45; Lev. 21:10; 2Sa. 15:30; 2Sa. 19:4, &c.) For this reason the priests who are consecrated to the service of the Lord are even on ordinary occasions not to shave their heads nor suffer their locks to grow long. (Eze. 44:20.) On this occasion more especially Aaron and his two surviving sons are forbidden to give way to these manifestations of grief, since it might be considered as a reflection upon the justice of the punishment.
Neither rend your clothes.This was another ordinary manifestation of sorrow and mourning. (See Gen. 37:29; Gen. 37:34; Jos. 7:6; 2Sa. 13:21, &c.) To this day the Jews observe this custom of mourning for the death of their near relations; they tear their garments, let their hair and nails grow, and do not wash.
And lest wrath come upon all the people.The transgression of this command would not only bring down upon Aaron and his sons the same awful judgment, but would expose the whole community to the Divine wrath. In virtue of the intimate connection which subsisted between the representative of the nation and the people, a sin committed by the high priest in his official position involved the whole community, and they had to share the consequences of the offence. (See Lev. 4:3.)
But let your brethren.The afflicted relatives were, however, not to be deprived of all the customary expressions of mourning. The whole house of Israel, who are here designedly called the brethren of the bereaved, to show the depth of their sympathy, were allowed to mourn over the great calamity which had thus befallen them.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
6. Uncover not your heads “It was the law that the priest should never leave the altar to go to burials, or interrupt his sacred ministry by shedding tears. He represented God as well as represented the people, and he must abide at his duty whoever died. It was military religion in its mechanical arrangement; it was spiritual obedience in the acceptation of its intention.” Joseph Parker. They were forbidden to remove their hats, to unbind their head-bands, and dishevel their hair in token of grief. This was an act derogatory to priestly dignity. This command was generalized in the case of the high priest, who was forever prohibited to attend a funeral or to give any indication of mourning for the dead. Neither Judaism nor Christianity ignores the ties of human kindred except when they stand in the way of duty. All affections must yield to the paramount claims of God. Luk 14:26. Those who are brought nigh to God by the anointing of the Holy Spirit must move in a sphere beyond the range of nature’s influences. Priestly nearness to God gives the soul such an insight into all his ways as right and good that one is enabled joyfully to worship in his presence, even though the stroke of his hand has removed from us the object of tender affection.
Neither rend clothes This act was an oriental symbol of grief, despair, or indignation.
Lest wrath come upon all the people Personal gratification must be subordinate to the public weal. “For even Christ,” our high priest, “pleased not himself.” Thus vicarious suffering by the priest is early foreshadowed as a requisite of the coming great High Priest. Nevertheless the erring priests are not to die unwept. The whole house of Israel are commanded to bewail the stroke of vengeance, and to soothe the wounded family of Aaron.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Lev 10:6. Moses said unto Aaron, &c. All signs of mourning are forbidden Aaron and his sons upon this occasion: the reason of which is given in the 7th verse, for the anointing oil of the Lord is upon you: “You are immediately devoted and consecrated to the service of God; separated, as it were, from all human ties and relations; and must by no means suffer private concerns to interrupt that duty, to the performance of which you are so immediately dedicated.” This affords a striking lesson to all the ministers of religion, upon whom this law, in its spirit, is still binding: they ought to preserve such elevated affections, as to pass, with an unbroken, manly fortitude, through all calamities and afflictions, private and public, which are incident to humanity. Though religion does not require that they should divest themselves entirely of their passions, (for religion never requires impossibilities,) yet they ought to be examples to others how to moderate those passions, and keep them within due bounds; especially shewing, that they are never so swallowed up with the sorrows of this world, as to incapacitate themselves from discharging the duties of their station.
REFLECTIONS.The punishment of the sons of Aaron was an awful stroke, which must have spread a terror around, and particularly affected Aaron and his family. But Moses beheld the justice of the judgment, and, therefore, takes the proper means to prevent any interruption in the present solemnity.
1. He endeavours to suggest arguments of resignation to Aaron, from the justice of the sentence, and the glory of God therein manifested. God had before often admonished them of being holy in their approaches to him: and if they will not glorify him by obedience to his will, he must glorify himself by some exemplary stroke, for a warning to others. Note; (1.) God’s word will surely be fulfilled; and it becomes us to acquiesce in it, however nearly concerned therein. (2.) They who draw near to God, must remember what a holy God they have to do with, that they may approach him with reverence and godly fear. (3.) When sinners, especially wicked ministers, rob him of his glory by their impiety and profaneness, he will sometimes make them fearful monuments of his holy vengeance.
2. Aaron held his peace. Deeply touched as he was with the death of his sons, he acknowledged the justice of God, and, if He was glorified, dared not complain. Note; (1.) When God corrects us, it becomes us to be dumb, and not to open our mouths. We must always own that we have less than our iniquities deserve. (2.) If our children are wicked, and God breaks forth upon them, parental tenderness must be swallowed up in approbation of the Divine holiness.
3. Moses commands the bodies to be removed, to be carried out of the camp, and buried in the clothes. Thus God gave the host a solemn warning: if he began at his own priests, surely no other transgressors could hope to go unpunished.
4. Aaron and his sons are forbidden to shew any token of mourning, on penalty of death, and lest they should bring down wrath on all the people. They were now no longer their own, the holy anointing oil was upon them, and, therefore, all private regards must give way to their present relation to God. Note; (1.) They who would serve the Lord without distraction, must forget their worldly cares and sorrows when they appear before him. (2.) To repine at God’s judgments, is to rebel against his government. (3.) The visitations of God upon others, should beget in our hearts holy jealousy for ourselves, not to provoke the like. (4.) The grace of God will restrain all immoderate grief: they who know that God does all things right, will kiss the rod.
5. Though Aaron might not mourn, the people must. That fire which was kindled, might have burnt much farther than these. They might see herein the mercy of God, who had spared them notwithstanding their own deserts; and this would lead them to grieve for their past provocations, while they beheld what a fearful thing it was to fall into the hands of that God who is such a consuming fire. Judgments on others are blessings to us, when they lead us to deeper mourning over our own sins.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Observe the workings of grace. Nature dared not complain: the deed was the LORD’S, and that was enough to prove the rectitude of it. This stopped the mouth of Eli, 1Sa 3:18 . The same consideration was urged to Job. Job 8:4 . Reader! the best way to ascertain the real regard we have to the LORD, is not only to acquiesce in things when all is smooth and even, but when the LORD’S will thwarts our will. Then to desire GOD’S glory, though in the accomplishment of it everything looks black around us; this is grace, and grace in blessed exercise. That was a precious frame of mind in Neh 9:32-33 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Lev 10:6 And Moses said unto Aaron, and unto Eleazar and unto Ithamar, his sons, Uncover not your heads, neither rend your clothes; lest ye die, and lest wrath come upon all the people: but let your brethren, the whole house of Israel, bewail the burning which the LORD hath kindled.
Ver. 6. And Moses said unto Aaron. ] Philo reporteth that the high priest of the Jews, to keep always his soul pure, never saw any mournful object. Tiberius, counterfeiting grief at the funeral of Drusus, had a vail laid betwixt the dead and him, that he might not see the body, because he was, as the rest of the emperors also were, pontifex maximus, or the high priest; and therefore a sacred person. Mourning in Aaron might have seemed murmuring; he is therefore forbidden it, and accordingly he forbears. So did Luther when he buried his daughter; he was not seen to shed a tear. a No more did Rev. William Whately, late pastor of Banbury, when, after he had preached his own child’s funeral upon this text, “The will of the Lord be done,” he and his wife laid the child in the grave with their own hands.
Bewail the burning.
a Manlii, loc. com., p. 215.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
unto (Hebrew. ‘el)
Aaron unto (= to Hebrew. l)
Eleazar, &c. rend. Hebrew. param, only here, Lev 14:45, and Lev 21:10.
lest ye die, and lest wrath come = and so ye will not (Hebrew. ‘al) die, and. wrath will not (Hebrew. l’o) come.
people = assembly.
but let, &c. = but your brethren . . . will bewail.
whole house of Israel. See note on Exo 16:31.
burning. Hebrew. saraph. See App-43.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
El-e-a-zar, ‘God has helped.’ Ith-a-mar, ‘isle of palms.’
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
Uncover: Lev 13:45, Lev 21:1-15, Exo 33:5, Num 5:18, Num 6:6, Num 6:7, Num 14:6, Deu 33:9, Jer 7:29, Eze 24:16, Eze 24:17, Mic 1:16
lest wrath: Num 16:22, Num 16:41-47, Jos 7:1, Jos 7:11, Jos 22:18, Jos 22:20, 2Sa 24:1, 2Sa 24:15-17
Reciprocal: Exo 33:4 – and no Lev 21:5 – not make baldness Lev 21:10 – uncover Num 1:53 – there be Num 16:46 – there is wrath Ezr 7:5 – Eleazar
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Lev 10:6. Uncover not your heads That is, give no signification of your sorrow; mourn not for them; partly lest you should seem to justify your brethren, and tacitly reflect upon God as too severe; and partly lest thereby you should be diverted from, or disturbed, in your present service, which God expects to be done cheerfully. But let the whole house of Israel bewail the burning Not so much in compassion to them, as in sorrow for the tokens of divine displeasure.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
10:6 And Moses said unto Aaron, and unto Eleazar and unto Ithamar, his sons, {c} Uncover not your heads, neither rend your clothes; lest ye die, and lest wrath come upon all the people: but let your brethren, the whole house of Israel, bewail the burning which the LORD hath {d} kindled.
(c) As though you lamented for them, preferring your carnal affection to God’s just judgment; Lev 19:18, De 14:1.
(d) In destroying Nadab and Abihu the chief, and menacing the rest, unless they repent.