John Gill's Bible Commentary Ver. 4. And Moses called Mishael and Elzaphan, the sons of Uzziel, the uncle of Aaron , etc.] Uzziel was a son of Kohath, a brother of Amram, the father of Aaron, and so Aaron’s uncle, as here; he had four sons, two of which are here mentioned as called by Moses; these were first cousins to Aaron, and second to his sons; (see Exodus 6:18,22): and said unto them, come near ; it is very probable they were in the court of the tabernacle, being Kohathites, of the tribe of Levi; but not being priests, had no right to go into the holy place, where the two sons of Aaron lay dead, without a special order for it, which they here had for this time, and upon this occasion: carry your brethren from before the sanctuary, out of the camp ; the sons of Aaron are called their brethren, though but cousins, it being usual to call any relations brethren, and even if only of the same tribe, yea, of the same nation. Now these were ordered to take the dead bodies of Aaron’s sons out of the holy place, and out of the tabernacle, even from before it, which, as Aben Ezra says, was the court over against the camp; and they were to carry them out of the camp into some field, or place adjacent, and there bury them; it not being usual in those times to bury in cities and towns, and much less in places devoted to sacred worship, as the tabernacle was; and therefore they were carried from both the sanctuary and the camp: it is an observation of Aben Ezra, that “some say the incense was before the altar of burnt offering, and the Levites entered there;” but if by incense is meant the altar of incense, the place where these sons of Aaron offered theirs, that was in the holy place, and not in the court, where stood the altar of burnt offering: but they seem to mean as if their incense was offered in another place, and not on the altar, somewhere in the court, and before you come to the altar of burnt offering; and so the persons Moses called could come in thither, and take up their bodies there fallen: but the same writer observes, that others say, that “it was upon the altar of incense (i.e. that their incense was offered), and Moses brought them out of the tabernacle of the congregation,” and then called these men to carry them from thence without the camp.
Matthew Henry Commentary
Verses 3-7 - The most quieting considerations under affliction are fetched from the word of God. What was it that God spake? Though Aaron's heart must have been filled with anguish and dismay, yet with silent submission he revered the justice of the stroke. When God corrects us or ours for sin, it is our duty to accept the punishment, and say, It is the Lord let him do what seemeth him good. Whenever we worship God, we come nig unto him, as spiritual priests. This ought to make us very serious in all acts of devotion. It concerns us all, when we come nigh to God, to do every religious exercise, as those who believe that the God with whom we have to do, is a holy God. He will take vengeance on those tha profane his sacred name by trifling with him.
Original Hebrew ויקרא7121 משׁה4872 אל413 מישׁאל4332 ואל413 אלצפן469 בני1121 עזיאל5816 דד1730 אהרן175 ויאמר559 אלהם413 קרבו7126 שׂאו5375 את853 אחיכם251 מאת853 פני6440 הקדשׁ6944 אל413 מחוץ2351 למחנה׃4264
