“You and your sons are not to drink wine or strong drink whenever you go into the Tent of Meeting, or you will die. This shall be a statute forever throughout your generations.
Parallel Translations
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“You and your sons are not to drink wine or strong drink whenever you go into the Tent of Meeting, or you will die. This shall be a statute forever throughout your generations.
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Do not drink wine nor strong drink, thou, nor thy sons with thee, when ye go into the tabernacle of the congregation, lest ye die: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations:
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'Drink no wine nor strong drink, thou, nor thy sons with thee, when ye go into the tent of meeting, that ye die not; it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations.
Examined in Scripture Analysis
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The laws of the Torah, each cited and shown as a primary source.
Cross-references (15)
Passages linked to Leviticus 10:9 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Luke 1:15 For he will be great in the sight of the Lord, and he will drink no wine nor strong drink. He will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb.
- 1 Timothy 3:3 not a drinker, not violent, not greedy for money, but gentle, not quarrelsome, not covetous;
- Isaiah 28:7 They also reel with wine, and stagger with strong drink. The priest and the prophet reel with strong drink. They are swallowed up by wine. They stagger with strong drink. They err in vision. They stumble in judgment.
- Ezekiel 44:21 None of the priests shall drink wine when they enter into the inner court.
- Ephesians 5:18 Don’t be drunken with wine, in which is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit,
- Titus 1:7 For the overseer must be blameless, as God’s steward, not self-pleasing, not easily angered, not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for dishonest gain;
- Numbers 6:3 he shall separate himself from wine and strong drink. He shall drink no vinegar of wine, or vinegar of fermented drink, neither shall he drink any juice of grapes, nor eat fresh grapes or dried.
- 1 Timothy 3:8 Servants, in the same way, must be reverent, not double-tongued, not addicted to much wine, not greedy for money,
- Numbers 6:20 and the priest shall wave them for a wave offering before Yahweh. They are holy for the priest, together with the breast that is waved and the thigh that is offered. After that the Nazirite may drink wine.
- Proverbs 20:1 Wine is a mocker and beer is a brawler. Whoever is led astray by them is not wise.
- Proverbs 31:4-5 It is not for kings, Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine, nor for princes to say, ‘Where is strong drink?’ lest they drink, and forget the law, and pervert the justice due to anyone who is afflicted.
- Hosea 4:11 Prostitution, wine, and new wine take away understanding.
- 1 Timothy 5:23 Be no longer a drinker of water only, but use a little wine for your stomach’s sake and your frequent infirmities.
- Jeremiah 35:5-6 I set before the sons of the house of the Rechabites bowls full of wine, and cups; and I said to them, “Drink wine!” But they said, “We will drink no wine; for Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, commanded us, saying, ‘You shall drink no wine, neither you, nor your sons, forever.
- Leviticus 3:17 “ ‘It shall be a perpetual statute throughout your generations in all your dwellings, that you shall eat neither fat nor blood.’ ”
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (12 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain Or, drink that maketh drunk.
Or, drink that maketh drunk.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Lev 10:9 Do not drink wine nor strong drink,…
Lev 10:9 Do not drink wine nor strong drink, thou, nor thy sons with thee, when ye go into the tabernacle of the congregation, lest ye die: [it shall be] a statute for ever throughout your generations:
Ver. 9. Do not drink wine, nor strong drink.] As some are of opinion Nadab and Abihu had done; which miscarriage of theirs occasioned this precept. {a} The perpetual equity whereof is, that ministers be no wine bibbers or tipplers or drunken sots. {1Ti 3:3} Why should it be said as of old, "They have erred because of wine, and have gone out of the way because of strong drink, even the priest and the prophet?" {Isa 28:7} Drunkenness is a crime in all, but it is a kind of sacrilege in ministers. And if other drunkards deserve double punishments for their misdemeanours, as Aristotle {b} judgeth, first for their drunkenness, and then for the sin committed in and by their drunkenness what do drunken priests? {Isa 56:12}
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{a} Ex malis moribus bonae leges.
{b} διπλα τα επιτιμια. - Arist., Ethic., lib. iii. cap. 5.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain This is here added, either because Nadab and Abihu…
This is here added, either because Nadab and Abihu had been led to their error by drinking too much, which might easily fall out when they were feasting and full of joy for their entrance into so honourable and profitable an employment; or at least because others might thereby be drawn to commit the same miscarriages, which they might now commit from other causes. Drunkenness is so odious a sin in itself, especially in a minister, and most of all in the time of his administration of sacred things, that God saw fit to prevent all occasions of it. And hence the devil, who is God’s ape in his prescriptions for his worship, required this abstinence from his priests in their idolatrous service.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain And that ye may put difference between holy and…
And that ye may put difference between holy and unholy,.... That being sober they might be able to distinguish between the one and the other; which a drunken man, having his mind and senses disturbed, is not capable of; as between holy and unholy persons, and between holy and unholy things; particularly, as Aben Ezra interprets it, between a sacred place and one that is common, and between a holy day and a common week day; the knowledge and memory of which may be lost through intemperance; and so that may be done in a place and on a day which ought not to be done, or that omitted on a day and in a place which ought to be done:
and between unclean and clean; between unclean men and women, beasts and fowls, and clean ones; and between unclean things in a ceremonial sense, and those that are clean, which a man in liquor may be no judge of: hence, as the above writer observes, after this section follow laws concerning fowls clean and unclean, the purification of a woman after childbirth, the leprosy in men, garments and houses, and concerning profluvious and menstruous persons; all which the priests were to be judges of, and therefore ought to be sober.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Drink not wine - it is not improbable, that…
Drink not wine - it is not improbable, that the sin of Nadab and Abihu was owing to this very thing. But if not, yet drunkenness is so odious a sin in itself, especially in a minister, and most of all in the time of his administration of sacred things, that God saw fit to prevent all occasions of it. And hence the devil, who is God's ape, required this abstinence from his priests in their idolatrous service.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 9. Do not drink wine nor strong drink]…
Verse 9. Do not drink wine nor strong drink] The cabalistical commentator, Baal Hatturim, and others, have supposed, from the introduction of this command here, that Aaron's sons had sinned through excess of wine, and that they had attempted to celebrate the Divine service in a state of inebriation.
Strong drink. - The word שכר shechar, from shachar, to inebriate, signifies any kind of fermented liquors. This is exactly the same prohibition that was given in the case of John Baptist, Lu 1:15: Οινον και σικερα ου μη πιῃ· Wine and sikera he shall not drink. Any inebriating liquor, says St. Jerome, (Epist. ad nepot.,) is called sicera, whether made of corn, apples, honey, dates, or other fruit. One of the four prohibited drinks among the Mohammedans in India is called [Arabic] sakar, (see the Hedaya, vol. iv., p. 158,) which signifies inebriating drink in general, but especially date wine or arrack. From the original word probably we have borrowed our term cider or sider, which among us exclusively signifies the fermented juice of apples. See on Lu 1:15.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Lev 10:9. Do not drink wine nor strong drink…
Lev 10:9. Do not drink wine nor strong drink — It is certainly not improbable that the sin of Nadab and Abihu was owing to this. But if not, yet drunkenness is so odious a sin in itself, especially in a minister, and most of all at the time of his administration of sacred things, that God saw fit to prevent all occasions of it. And hence the devil, who is God’s ape, required this abstinence from his priests in their idolatrous service. By strong drink here, is meant such inflammatory, intoxicating liquors as were made in imitation of wine, as of dates, figs, honey, with many other sorts of liquors, particularly palm-wine, which was much used in those countries, and was reckoned the most intoxicating of any. The intention of this law was to be always in force: accordingly it is required of the ministers of the gospel, that they be sober, not given to wine.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain When the priest was on duty he was to…
When the priest was on duty he was to abstain from wine and strong drink, lest he should commit excess (see Lev 10:1), and so become disqualified for carrying out the precepts of the ceremonial Law.
Lev 10:9
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Strong drink - The Hebrew word is employed here to denote strong drinks of any kind except wine made from the grape.
Lev 10:10
Unholy ... unclean - Common, as not consecrated; and what would occasion defilement by being touched or eaten. Compare Act 10:14.
Lev 10:11
That is, “that you may, by your example in your ministrations, preserve the minds of the Israelites from confusion in regard to the distinctions made by the divine Law.”
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Drunk. Hebrew shekar; which the Septuagint and Vulgate commonly…
Drunk. Hebrew shekar; which the Septuagint and Vulgate commonly translate by sicera, any strong liquor, (St. Jerome) particularly palm-wine. (St. Chrysostom in Isai. v. 11.) Jonathan says old wine. Hecateus assures us, that the Jews drink no wine at all in the temple. But the Rabbins admit of some exceptions. This abstinence was prescribed by any other nations to their priests and magistrates in office. (Calmet) --- The intent of the law, is to prevent any mistake arising from the fumes of wine, (ver. 10,) as likewise all drowsiness or foolish mirth. As mourning and excessive grief are prohibited on the one hand; so are intoxicating liquors, on the other. (Haydock)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (9) Do not drink wine.—As the command that the…
(9) Do not drink wine.—As the command that the priests are to abstain from any intoxicating liquors when performing their sacred functions follows so closely upon the death of Nadab and Abihu, the opinion obtained as early at least as the time of Christ that there is a connection between the specific sin and the general law, that the two sons of Aaron drank wine to excess when they offered strange fire, and that the present prohibition is based upon that circumstance. Accordingly, the Apostle enjoins that a bishop “must not be given to wine,” that “deacons must not be given to much wine” (1Ti_3:2-3). A similar law existed among the ancient Greeks and Persians, enjoining the priests to abstain from wine.
Nor strong drink.—The word (shçchâr) here rendered strong drink, is the general name of intoxicating drinks, whether made of wheat, barley, millet, apples, dates, honey, or other fruits. One of the four intoxicating drinks which are prohibited among the Mahommedans in India is called “Sachar.”
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When ye go into the tabernacle of the congregation.—Better, when ye go into the tent of meeting. The Palestinian Chaldee adds here, “as thy sons did who died by the burning fire.” The same precept is repeated in Eze_44:21, “Neither shall any priest drink wine when they enter into the inner court.” The injunction that on these particular occasions the priests are to abstain from taking it clearly implies that, ordinarily, when not going into the tent of meeting—that is, when not performing their sacred functions in the sanctuary—they were not forbidden to use it if required.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain Do not drink wine.
Lev_10:9-11
Do not drink wine.
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Help to temperance
Combine with this verse Jer_35:6; Eph_5:18; 1Th_5:7. Intemperance, one of the giant evils of the land, is self-imposed. This is its saddest feature. All the evils connected with it might be swept away if men so willed.
I. The natural. Use no intoxicants; and thus never acquire a passion for them.
II. The medical. Some treat drunkenness as a disease; and by medicine seek to destroy the appetite for alcohol.
III. The sanitary. Asylums for inebriates have been opened, which combine physical and moral means to effect a cure; and with success.
IV. The legal. Its object is to control or arrest the evil; and by prohibition of its manufacture and sale, to remove it from the land.
V. The voluntary. This involves the pledge and membership in societies banded together for mutual help and safety. Earnest work for others is a good preventative, so long as it is actively continued.
VI. The spiritual. Grace, wherever received, casts out the demon of drink.
VII. The philanthropic. Here is a reform in which to engage. The beneficent change in public sentiment demands devout thankfulness, and is prophetic of what shall be achieved. (Lewis O. Thompson.)
Abstinence recommended
It is one of the attractions of a glass of wine to those who like it, that it gives a different colour to everything the drinker looks at, just as soon as it has any effect at all. If there were no effect from wine-drinking, there would be no temptation to drink wine. But so soon as the wine takes hold of the brain, the brain takes hold with a new grip of everything it thinks of. Memory is keener, anticipation is brighter, and the present is a great deal livelier. Everybody in sight or in thought looks brighter, too. This isnt so bad a world as it seemed an hour ago! When the wine is in, the wit is out. What does a man under the influence of champagne know of sharp distinctions in morals, or in social life, or in logic? The inspired teacher was never more clearly inspired than when that teacher wrote, It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine, nor for princes strong drink; lest they drink and forget the law, and pervert the judgment of any of the afflicted. And it was God Himself who insisted that priests should let wine and strong drink alone, lest they should fail to know the difference between holy and unholy, clean and unclean, and lest they should be unable to teach the truth aright. If you want to know what is right, and to do what is right, and to be able to teach others to know and do right, do you let wine and strong drink alone--before you go to church, and after you come back from church. What is good enough for a king, and safe enough for a priest, can wisely be your choice wherever you are. (H. C. Trumbull.)
Excitement to be avoided by ministers
The effect of wine is to excite nature, and all natural excitement hinders that calm, well-balanced condition of soul which is essential to the proper discharge of the priestly office. The things which excite mere nature are manifold indeed--wealth, ambition, politics, the various objects of emulation around us in the world. All these things act, with exciting power, upon nature, and entirely unfit us for every department of priestly service. If the heart be swollen with feelings of pride, covetousness, or emulation, it is utterly impossible that the pure air of the sanctuary can be enjoyed, or the sacred functions of priestly ministry discharged. If we are not keeping our priestly garments unspotted, and if we are not keeping ourselves free from all that would excite nature, we shall, assuredly, break down. The priest must keep his heart with all diligence, else the Levite will fail, and the warrior will be defeated. It is, let me repeat it, the business of each one to be fully aware of what it is that to him proves to be wine and strong drink--what it is that produces excitement--that blunts his spiritual perception, or dims his priestly vision. It may be an auction-mart, a cattle-show, a newspaper. It may be the merest trifle. But no matter what it is, if it tends to excite, it will disqualify us for priestly ministry; and if we are disqualified as priests, we are unfit for everything, inasmuch as our success in every department and in every sphere must ever depend upon our cultivating a spirit of worship. (C. H. Mackintosh.)
Testimony of a clergyman as to the value of total abstinence
The Rev. S. Hooke, vicar of Clopton, Woodbridge, offers the following testimony:--As there are so many of my clerical brethren who are doubtful if they could carry on their arduous labours if they abstained from alcoholic drinks, I write my experience of the last seven years, during which time I have been an abstainer. I believe I can do treble the amount of work without the use of these drinks than with them. At first I doubted if I could, and it was with trembling hand that I signed the pledge of the C.E.T.S. But I thank God from the depth of my heart that I took that step, for I am certain that I have been able to do more real good by my advocacy of total abstinence than I did before. On looking through my diary of last year I find I have preached a hundred and seventy-five times, given forty-four temperance lectures, ninety-five gospel addresses and cottage lectures, besides travelling nearly four thousand miles. Included in the above are the sermons and addresses I delivered at two Church Missions of ten days each. I am thankful to say I enjoy robust health, which I am confident is the result, in part, at least, of total abstinence. I am sure the happiness and joy of doing good to our fallen brothers and sisters more than compensates for the loss of a trifling gratification.
The value of abstinence
It was Dr. Hooks boast that for more than thirty years he had laboured in the manufacturing districts, not for the working classes, but with them, in the measures desired by themselves for the improvement of their class, and having for their object the formation of habits of temperance and prudence; and especially that he had worked with them in the cause of rational recreation and education. It was with a view to aid this wide and general step in the education of the masses that, late in life, he joined the temperance movement, and became a pledged teetotaler. He used to tell the story of his change in this direction in the following way:--I had in my parish at Leeds a man who earned 18s. a week; out of this he used to give 7s. to his wife, and to spend the rest in drink; but for all that, he was a good sort of man. I went to him and said, Now, suppose you abstain altogether for six months. Well, if I do, will you, sir? was his reply. Yes, I said, I will. What, said he, from beer, from spirits, and from wine? Yes. And how shall I know if you keep your promise? Why, sir, you ask my missus, and Ill ask yourn. It was agreed between us for six months at first, and afterwards we renewed the promise. He never resumed the bad habit that he had left off; and he is now a prosperous and happy man in business at St. Petersburg, and I am Dean of Chichester.
Total abstinence a safeguard in responsible positions
On almost all boilers connected with engines there can be found a safety-valve. Whenever the boiler gets too full of steam and is in danger of bursting, this little valve opens and lets the steam out. No one has to watch it, for it opens of itself. There was once a man who wanted to travel on a certain steamboat. He went to the boat and examined the machinery, but he found that there was not an efficient safety-valve on the boiler, so he said to the captain, I wont go on your boat, captain. You havent a proper safety-valve, and I am afraid the boat may be blown up without it. Come down with me to the engine-room, said the captain, and I will show you the best safety-valve in the world. When they reached the engine-room the captain went up to the engineer, and laying his hand on his shoulder, said, There, sir, is my safety-valve, the best to be found anywhere--a man who never drinks anything but cold water. You are right, captain; I want no better safety-valve than that. I will go on this boat. He knew that the engineer would always watch the machinery, and if anything went wrong he would know it instantly. Only a sober man ought to be trusted in such a responsible position; and when boats have such engineers they have the best safety-valves in the world.
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain Chiefly of the Second Table
Chiefly of the Second Table
v. 9. And when ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not wholly reap the corners of thy field, to the very edge of the property line, neither shalt thou gather the gleanings of thy harvest, single stalks and ears that dropped when the sheaves were bound.
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v. 10. And thou shalt not glean thy vineyard after the first picking, neither shalt thou gather every grape of thy vineyard, those that had fallen to the ground during the picking; thou shalt leave them for the poor and stranger. I am the Lord, your God. Love toward one’s neighbor was emphasized again and again as a fundamental requirement of the Law.
v. 11. Ye shall not steal, neither deal falsely, hypocritically, neither lie one to another, said of deceit and perfidiousness. Note that falsehood and fraud are enumerated with theft, for the three go together.
v. 12. And ye shall not swear by My name falsely; true oaths are indeed permitted, those in the interest of one’s neighbor, but not false oaths; neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God, desecrate it by taking it in vain. I am the Lord.
v. 13. Thou shalt not defraud, oppress, thy neighbor, neither rob him, in any manner whatever deprive him of something which is due him; the wages of him that is hired shall not abide with thee all night until the morning. The day-laborer was to receive his pay at the end of each day, Deu 24:14-15.
v. 14. Thou shalt not curse the deaf, the poor man not being able to hear the maledictions and to defend himself, nor put a stumbling-block before the blind, to cause him to fall, a decidedly ill-conceived form of practical joke, but shalt fear thy God, who both hears and sees, and will avenge the wrong in due time. I am the Lord.
v. 15. Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment, not let personal interests influence you to disregard the demands of justice. Thou shalt not respect the person of the poor, take his part from false sympathy, nor honor the person of the mighty, with the aim of gaining his favor; but in righteousness shalt thou judge thy neighbor.
v. 16. Thou shalt not go up and down as a talebearer among thy people; neither shalt thou stand against the blood of thy neighbor, as the false witness often does. I am the Lord. This involves, of course, "casting aside all inhumane conduct, all ill will, as manifested in malicious belittling, blackening, and slandering, and especially in attempts against the life of a neighbor, whether in court or in private life. " (Lange. )
v. 17. Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart, not bear him any grudge. Thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbor, frankly and openly tell him his fault in the event of a transgression, as the Lord also bids us do, Mat 18:15-17, and not suffer sin upon him, that is, not bear a sin on his account by remaining silent, when a remonstrance in time might save one’s neighbor from severe transgressions. So even the Israelites, according to this precept, would become partakers of other men’s sins.
v. 18. Thou shalt not avenge, seek and take revenge for a wrong which has been inflicted, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, Rom 12:19, after a wrong has been committed, but thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. I am the Lord. Cf Mat 19:19; Mat 22:39. Many of these cases, if not all, are applications of the law of love, and therefore require to be observed by Christians to this day.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.