Leviticus 10:3

Footnotes

1. 4 The Niphal verb of the Hebrew root קָדַשׁ (qadash) can mean either “to be treated as holy” (so here, e.g., 873 קָּדַשׁ, , , and ) or “to show oneself holy” (so here, e.g., קדשׁ nif.1, , , ; J. Milgrom, Leviticus [], 1:, ; and J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [], ). The latter rendering seems more likely here since, in the immediate context, the Lord himself had indeed shown himself to be holy by the way he responded to the illegitimate incense offering of Nadab and Abihu. They had not treated the Lord as holy, so the Lord acted on his own behalf to show that he was indeed holy.
2. 5 In this context the Niphal of the Hebrew root כָּבֵד (kaved) can mean “to be honored” (e.g., and here), “be glorified” (, and here), or “glorify oneself, show one’s glory” (cf. ; e.g., specifically in this verse כבד nif.3; J. Milgrom, Leviticus [], 1:, ; and J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [], , ). Comparing this clause with the previous one (see the above), the point may be that when the Lord shows himself to be holy as he has done in 10:1–2, this results in him being honored (i.e., reverenced, feared, treated with respect) among the people. This suggests the passive rendering. It is possible, however, that one should use the reflexive rendering here as in the previous clause. If so, the passage means that the Lord showed both his holiness and his glory in one outbreak against Nadab and Abihu.