What happened to Nadab and Abihu?

Shalom,

In this weeks parsha we see the fire of YHWH "eat/devour/burn up" (Strongs # 0398) Nadab and Abihu:

Le 9:24 And there came a fire out from before YHWH, and consumed upon the altar the burnt offering and the fat: which when all the people saw, they shouted, and fell on their faces.

Le 10:1 And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took either of them his censer, and put fire therein, and put incense thereon, and offered strange fire before YHWH, which he commanded them not.

2 And there went out fire from YHWH, and devoured them, and they died before YHWH.

3 Then Moshe said unto Aaron, This is it that YHWH spake, saying, I will be sanctified in them that come nigh me, and before all the people I will be glorified. And Aaron held his peace.

There are many opinions as to why this happened, personally I think it had to do with them bringing their own fire, which was alien to YHWH. In other words, the fire of YHWH Himself was to be the only fire used on this day, and their bringing their own fire was an afront to YHWH.

But that isn't the reason for this post. I am more interested in what exactly happened to them, what exactly did YHWH consume? If this were normal fire, would it not have burnt them up, at least their clothing? This was no ordinary fire though, this fire of YHWH did not burn their physical being up, it did not "eat/devour/burn up" them as the text says:

Le 10:4 And Moshe called Mishael and Elzaphan, the sons of Uzziel the uncle of Aaron, and said unto them, Come near, carry your brethren from before the sanctuary out of the camp

5 So they went near, and carried them in their coats (ketonets) out of the camp; as Moshe had said.

So, what did it consume? Personally (without going into detail) I believe it consumed their neshama, but I am interested in what others think. Don't be afraid to share your thoughts.

Sincerely,

Tom

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Permalink Reply by ronald wayne copeland on April 11, 2010 at 11:12am

Shalom Tom Look at the verse Deuteronomy 33;2 Adonai came from Sinai; from Se'ir he dawned on his people, shone forth from Mount Pa'ran; and with him were myriads of holy one; at his right hand was a fiery law for them.
notice the fiery law was at his right hand not in his hand gives me the idea that its not the first thing Adonai would go to but is close by in case he needs it for judgment and as there are certain degrees of light so as fire some is more intense and at the other end is comforting I kinda like the aspect that we are judged severely at times and Hashem sweetens the judgment I suppose that from dust they came and from dust they return.
Brother Ron

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Permalink Reply by Tom Moniz on April 17, 2010 at 6:49am

Thank you Ronald and Jane for your thoughts on the matter. I wish I could say if either or you are correct, for I don't know. I have also wondered if maybe it has something to do with how this fire from before YHWH effects the object. The Hebrew and English suggest that it was the same fire that consumed the animal and its fat on the altar (which i figure means it burnt up completely), while it didn't burn up Nadab and Abihu, leaving them intact in their ketonets. Could the ketonets have been some kind of shield protecting thier physical bodies? Does this same fire either consume or refine? I don't know.

Personally, I do still think it may have something to do with the neshama, which I consider to not merely mean "breath" but has more to do with our conscience, the Voice of YHWH within us that tells us to choose good.

Is it possible that YHWH can remove it from a person? Have you ever wondered if a person didn't have a conscience, like some of our politicians, and or sociopaths? Is it possible that some people literally don't have a conscience, and are more like an animal than others, only having ruach but lacking neshama? If you notice, nowhere does Torah suggest that animals have neshama. Again, more questions I don't have answers to.

Here are a couple of verses with both ruach and neshama in them:

Job 32:8 But there is a spirit (ruach) in man: and the inspiration (neshama) of the Almighty giveth them understanding.
Job 33:4 The Spirit (ruach) of God hath made me, and the breath (neshama) of the Almighty hath given me life.

Seems to me that all animals (including humans) have ruach (07307), but not all have or follow the promptings from neshama (05397):

Ec 3:19 For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath (ruach) so that a man hath no preeminence above a beast: for all is vanity.
Ec 3:21 Who knoweth the spirit (ruach) of man that goeth upward, and the spirit (ruach) of the beast that goeth downward to the earth?

I wish translations would be more accurate, spirit/ruach, they don't seem to have a clue as to the differenece, but maybe having or not having neshama has something to do with why the animal was wholly burnt and Nadab and Abihu were not? Again, more questions.

It seems to me that true "life" comes from YHWH's gift of neshama, IF we follow its promptings, for it may be that it is neshama that causes us to choose good, ie, life:

Pr 20:27 The spirit (neshama) of man is the candle of YHWH, searching all the inward parts of the belly
Job 33:4 The Spirit (ruach) of God hath made me, and the breath (neshama) of the Almighty hath given me life.

Thanks again.

May all the beloveds of YHWH enjoy His Shabbat.

SIncererly,
Tom

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Permalink Reply by Denise Leicht on April 18, 2010 at 1:05pm

Could you tell me the Hebrew word used for fire in this passage?
Thanks, Denise

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Permalink Reply by Tom Moniz on April 19, 2010 at 4:59pm

Hi Denise,

The word is ash (alef, sheen):

0784 va ‘esh aysh

a primitive word; n f; {See TWOT on 172}

AV-fire 373, burning 1, fiery 1, untranslated variant 1, fire + 0800 1, flaming 1, hot 1; 379

1) fire
1a) fire, flames
1b) supernatural fire (accompanying theophany)
1c) fire (for cooking, roasting, parching)
1d) altar-fire
1e) God’s anger (fig.)

Do you have the bible on your computer? If not, you might want to check out some of the free downloads on the web. Esword is pretty good, and I personally use onlinebible.

Sincerely,
Tom

Denise said:

Could you tell me the Hebrew word used for fire in this passage?
Thanks, Denise

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Permalink Reply by Tom Moniz on April 24, 2010 at 12:16pm

Shalom,

After hearing Ross' message today, I can see how what I wrote here can be misleading and should be clarified.

These are merely questions of mine. I know for myself that for many years I lived as if I didn't have neshama, but when the time came in my life that I needed to change my ways or die, YHWH did intervene and started me on a journey of change. As I see it today, I did have this neshama within, but it was like a pilot light in a stove, doing nothing, just barely burning, and YHWH fueled it. Today, that pilot light sometimes burns brightly, other times it doesn't, but it seems it was always there, and as I see it today, torah study is the fuel and doing what torah instructs is what keeps this fire burning brightly.

So, when all is said and done, I also see the strong possibility that all humans have this neshama, but not all allow it to burn brightly. The bottom line is though, I do not know, and because of that I too believe that we should love all people as if they were ourselves, for I simply do not know what their condition is with YHWH, and for that matter, I often question my own condition with Him.

Sincerely,
Tom

Tom Moniz said:

BR>Personally, I do still think it may have something to do with the neshama, which I consider to not merely mean "breath" but has more to do with our conscience, the Voice of YHWH within us that tells us to choose good.

Is it possible that YHWH can remove it from a person? Have you ever wondered if a person didn't have a conscience, like some of our politicians, and or sociopaths? Is it possible that some people literally don't have a conscience, and are more like an animal than others, only having ruach but lacking neshama? If you notice, nowhere does Torah suggest that animals have neshama. Again, more questions I don't have answers to.