Verse
Lv10-01:03
discussing
the death of Aaron's sons for drunken sacrifice offerings
states
And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took each of them his censer, and put fire in it, and put incense on it, and offered strange fire before the Lord, which he commanded them not.
And there went out fire from the Lord, and devoured them, and they died before the Lord.
Then Moses said to Aaron, This [death] corresponds to what God said: I will be sanctified in them that are near to me, and before all the people I will be honored. And Aaron held his peace.
Rashi notes
that
the underlined words,
sanctified, near, people, honored
references
verses
Ex29-43c
discussing
the honor and holiness of God in the Temple.
Hence the Rashi comment
The verse (talking about the Temple and the daily offerings)
states And I will designate that place as a meeting place
with the Jewish nation and I will be sanctified
with my honor. The underlined references to
Jewish nation, sanctification and honor
echo and cross reference
the similar words people, sanctification, honor
and near in verse Lv10-01:03.
Text of Target Verse Lv10-01:03
|
Text of Reference Verse Ex29-43c
|
And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took each of them his censer, and put fire in it, and put incense on it, and offered strange fire before the Lord, which he commanded them not.
And there went out fire from the Lord, and devoured them, and they died before the Lord.
Then Moses said to Aaron, This [death] corresponds to what God said: I will be sanctified in them that come near to me, and before all the people I will be honored. And Aaron held his peace.
|
And I will designate that place as a meeting place
with the Jewish nation and I will be sanctified
with my honor
|
Rashi comments:
The verse (talking about the Temple and the daily offerings)
states And I will designate that place as a meeting place
with the Jewish nation and I will be sanctified
by my honorees. The underlined references to
Jewish nation, sanctification and honor
echo and cross reference
the similar words people, sanctification,honor
and near in verse Lv10-01:03.
|
Advanced Rashi: Rashi's literal comment is Don't read
the Biblical textual word I will be sanctified in my Honor
but rather read it as I will be sanctified by my Honorees. Rashi
of course was not advocating misreading the authorized Masoretic text but rather
was making a pun. This pun is not necessary in order to understand the cross
references of the verse.
Rather Rashi can be simply understood as follows:
- The Exodus verse speaks about God being sanctified in honor among the people
- The Leviticus verse speaks about God being sanctified in those Near him, and
being honored in the nation.
The underlined words are certainly sufficient to see the Exodus verse as the referent
of the citation of the Leviticus verse. I believe this is the proper approach to Rashi
without need of exact citation or puns.
|