Leviticus 10:17 illustrates that faithful obedience to God’s instructions is necessary for preserving holiness and ministering atonement on behalf of the community.
Moses, angered at the failure of Aaron’s surviving sons to fulfill their priestly duty, says to them: “Why did you not eat the sin offering at the holy place? For it is most holy, and He gave it to you to bear away the guilt of the congregation, to make atonement for them before the LORD?” (v.17). The location of this incident is the wilderness at Mount Sinai, around 1446 - 1445 BC, shortly after Nadab and Abihu (Aaron’s two elder sons) died for offering “strange fire” to the LORD (Leviticus 10:1-2). By addressing Eleazar and Ithamar here, Moses underscores the gravity of properly observing the rituals God ordained. The “sin offering” was a sacrifice used to symbolically transfer the sins of the people and secure their purification (Leviticus 4). Consequently, to eat the remainder of the sacrifice within the sanctuary was a sacred obligation, showing the priests’ role in carrying the people’s guilt before God.
Moses’s stern question, “Why did you not eat…?”, exposes a deeper concern about obedience and reverence for God’s commands in a moment of crisis. Under the Levitical system, priests acted as mediators, representing the congregation as they carried out covenantal duties. By withholding themselves from the sin offering, Eleazar and Ithamar risked neglecting part of their indispensable role. The fact that Moses highlights the holiness of the sin offering (“it is most holy”) suggests that every aspect of the ritual was critical, down to the final act of consuming the sacrifice in God’s holy place. Such details showed Israel the seriousness of sin, the need for atonement, and the mercy of a holy God who provided a means to be cleansed (Hebrews 9:22).
This episode, placed soon after the tragedy of Nadab and Abihu, reminds readers that drawing near to God carries both weighty responsibility and blessing. The Levitical instructions foreshadow the work of Jesus Christ in the New Testament, who offered Himself to bear away the guilt of humanity once for all (Hebrews 7:27). The requirement that priests should “make atonement” by eating the sacrifice points forward to a greater and final Atonement. In Christ, believers discover a complete fulfillment of these symbols, ultimately enjoying restored fellowship with God.
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Leviticus 10:17 meaning
Moses, angered at the failure of Aaron’s surviving sons to fulfill their priestly duty, says to them: “Why did you not eat the sin offering at the holy place? For it is most holy, and He gave it to you to bear away the guilt of the congregation, to make atonement for them before the LORD?” (v.17). The location of this incident is the wilderness at Mount Sinai, around 1446 - 1445 BC, shortly after Nadab and Abihu (Aaron’s two elder sons) died for offering “strange fire” to the LORD (Leviticus 10:1-2). By addressing Eleazar and Ithamar here, Moses underscores the gravity of properly observing the rituals God ordained. The “sin offering” was a sacrifice used to symbolically transfer the sins of the people and secure their purification (Leviticus 4). Consequently, to eat the remainder of the sacrifice within the sanctuary was a sacred obligation, showing the priests’ role in carrying the people’s guilt before God.
Moses’s stern question, “Why did you not eat…?”, exposes a deeper concern about obedience and reverence for God’s commands in a moment of crisis. Under the Levitical system, priests acted as mediators, representing the congregation as they carried out covenantal duties. By withholding themselves from the sin offering, Eleazar and Ithamar risked neglecting part of their indispensable role. The fact that Moses highlights the holiness of the sin offering (“it is most holy”) suggests that every aspect of the ritual was critical, down to the final act of consuming the sacrifice in God’s holy place. Such details showed Israel the seriousness of sin, the need for atonement, and the mercy of a holy God who provided a means to be cleansed (Hebrews 9:22).
This episode, placed soon after the tragedy of Nadab and Abihu, reminds readers that drawing near to God carries both weighty responsibility and blessing. The Levitical instructions foreshadow the work of Jesus Christ in the New Testament, who offered Himself to bear away the guilt of humanity once for all (Hebrews 7:27). The requirement that priests should “make atonement” by eating the sacrifice points forward to a greater and final Atonement. In Christ, believers discover a complete fulfillment of these symbols, ultimately enjoying restored fellowship with God.