Numbers 3:1-4

"Now these are the generations of Aaron and Moses in the day that Jehovah spoke with Moses in mount Sinai. And these are the names of the sons of Aaron: Nadab the first born, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. These are the names of the sons of Aaron, the priests that were anointed whom he consecrated to minister in the priest's office. And Nadab and Abihu died before Jehovah, when they offered strange fire before Jehovah, in the wilderness of Sinai, and they had no children; and Eleazar and Ithamar ministered in the priest's office in the presence of Aaron their father."

"These are the generations ... " (Numbers 3:1). Here again we have the magnificent [~toledowth] encountered ten times in Genesis. "It is used here in a technical sense, referring to what follows (as in Genesis 2:4; 5:1; 6:9; 10:1; 11:10; 11:27; 25:12; 25:19; 36:1; and Genesis 37:2). It marks a new departure looking DOWN not UP the course of history."[2] Moses and Aaron were in themselves the beginning of vast influences that would flow downward throughout the course of history; and the account of that begins here.

"In the day that Jehovah spoke with Moses in Sinai ..." Noth referred to this as "a completely meaningless indication of time,"[3] presumably meaning that it was meaningless to him. The words used here are very similar to the passage in Genesis 2:4, where is found the very first use of this word [~toledowth] in the Bible along with the qualifying words "in the day that Jehovah God made earth and heaven." The significance of this is profound, proving that the passages in Genesis subsequent to Genesis 2:4 are a record not of the original creation, but what took place afterward, and that the new focus would not be on the heavens and the earth, but on the earth and heaven! The same implications are here, and are clearly indicated by the use of these words lifted from Genesis 2:4, where first the significant term [~toledowth] was used. Note the two pairs of words: earth and heaven, indicating the shift of emphasis to the lesser from the greater, and Aaron and Moses, indicating that same definite shift from the greater to the lesser in the passage here.

Numbers 3:2 has the names of Aaron's four sons, but the punctuation takes no notice of their being named as pairs. "The names are listed in pairs: Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar."[4]

In Numbers 3:2 and Numbers 3:3 are the identical words, "these are the names of the sons of Aaron ... these are the names of the sons of Aaron the priests." Jewish writers make much of this verbatim repetition in successive verses:

The statement, "These are the names of the sons of Aaron" occurs twice, first in the naming of the sons, and then in the characterization of the sons as priests, in order to show that even after their appointment to the priesthood, the sons of Aaron did not receive new names but were still considered the same human beings as before.[5]

We find full agreement with the Jewish deductions from this passage, regardless of the fact that the purpose of the repetition here may not necessarily be connected with their deductions. Certainly the conceit of the Medieval Church in giving new names to their Cardinals and Popes upon their elevation to certain offices is not at all justified by anything in the Holy Scriptures.

"Nadab and Abihu died ... when they offered strange fire ... " (Numbers 3:4). The very mention of this unhappy event proves that post-exilic priests had nothing to do with composing, editing, adding to, or deleting anything from the Book of Numbers! This sad story of Nadab and Abihu would never have been found in any kind of Bible they could or would have produced. This verse, of course, explains why NO descendants of Nadab and Abihu were ever to be found among the priests of Israel, as they had died childless. Eleazar and Ithamar became thus the heads of the Aaronic order.

"In the presence of their father ..." The true meaning of this is not that they served "under the oversight of Aaron,"[6] although, of course, they might actually have done this also. The true meaning is in the RSV, as noted by Whitelaw, "in the lifetime of their father."[7]