Nadab

Several men in scripture share the name Nadab. Two stand out: the eldest son of Aaron, who perished offering strange fire at the inauguration of the priesthood, and Nadab king of Israel, son of Jeroboam, whose two-year reign was cut off by conspiracy. A great-grandson of Jerahmeel and a Benjamite of the line of Saul also bear the name in the Chronicler's genealogies.

The Eldest Son of Aaron

Nadab is named first among the four sons born to Aaron by Elisheba: "she bore him Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar" (Ex 6:23). He stood close to the leaders of the exodus from the beginning. When Yahweh summoned Moses up the mountain, the call extended to Nadab as well: "Come up to Yahweh, you, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel" (Ex 24:1). Together with that company "they saw the God of Israel; and there was under his feet as it were a paved work of sapphire stone, and as it were the very heaven for clearness" (Ex 24:9-10).

Set Apart to the Priesthood

With his brothers, Nadab was consecrated for priestly service. Yahweh told Moses to bring near "Aaron your brother, and his sons with him, from among the sons of Israel, that he may serve me in the priest's office, even Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar, Aaron's sons" (Ex 28:1). Holy garments were prepared for them — a breastplate, an ephod, a robe, a coat of checker work, a turban, and a belt (Ex 28:4). Coats and belts and head-tires for Aaron's sons were made "for glory and for beauty," and they were anointed and sanctified to minister at the tent of meeting (Ex 28:40-43).

Strange Fire and the Death of the Priests

The narrative turns abruptly at Leviticus 10. "Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, each of them took his censer, and put fire in it, and laid incense on it, and offered strange fire before Yahweh, which he had not commanded them. And there came forth fire from before Yahweh, and devoured them, and they died before Yahweh" (Le 10:1-2). Numbers fixes the place and underscores the consequence: "Nadab and Abihu died before Yahweh, when they offered strange fire before Yahweh, in the wilderness of Sinai, and they had no sons" (Nu 3:4); "Nadab and Abihu died, when they offered strange fire before Yahweh" (Nu 26:61). The priesthood passed to the surviving brothers: "Eleazar and Ithamar served in the priest's office in the presence of Aaron their father" (Nu 3:4).

Burial Without Mourning

Even the disposal of the bodies was governed by the holiness of the sanctuary. Moses called Mishael and Elzaphan, sons of Aaron's uncle Uzziel, to "draw near, carry your⁺ brothers from before the sanctuary out of the camp" (Le 10:4). "So they drew near, and carried them in their coats out of the camp, as Moses had said" (Le 10:5). Aaron and the surviving sons were forbidden the customary signs of grief: "Don't let the hair of your⁺ heads go loose, neither rend your⁺ clothes; that you⁺ will not die, and that he is not angry with all the congregation: but let your⁺ brothers, the whole house of Israel, bewail the burning which Yahweh has kindled" (Le 10:6). They were not even to leave the door of the tent of meeting, "for the anointing oil of Yahweh is on you⁺" (Le 10:7).

Nadab Son of Jeroboam, King of Israel

A second Nadab succeeded his father on the throne of the northern kingdom. "The days which Jeroboam reigned were two and twenty years: and he slept with his fathers, and Nadab his son reigned in his stead" (1Ki 14:20). His tenure was brief: "Nadab the son of Jeroboam began to reign over Israel in the second year of Asa king of Judah; and he reigned over Israel two years" (1Ki 15:25). The verdict on his reign was unrelieved: "he did that which was evil in the sight of Yahweh, and walked in the way of his father, and in his sin with which he made Israel to sin" (1Ki 15:26).

Conspiracy at Gibbethon

Nadab fell while pressing a siege against Philistine Gibbethon. "Baasha the son of Ahijah, of the house of Issachar, conspired against him; and Baasha struck him at Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines; for Nadab and all Israel were laying siege to Gibbethon. Even in the third year of Asa king of Judah, Baasha slew him, and reigned in his stead" (1Ki 15:27-28). The fall of the dynasty followed at once: "as soon as he was king, he struck all the house of Jeroboam: he did not leave to Jeroboam any that breathed, until he had destroyed him; according to the saying of Yahweh, which he spoke by his slave Ahijah the Shilonite" (1Ki 15:29). The cause is named twice over — "the sins of Jeroboam which he sinned, and with which he made Israel to sin, because of his provocation with which he provoked Yahweh, the God of Israel, to anger" (1Ki 15:30). The chronicler closes the notice in the customary form: "Now the rest of the acts of Nadab, and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?" (1Ki 15:31).

Other Bearers of the Name

Two further men named Nadab appear in the Chronicler's genealogies. In the line of Jerahmeel, "the sons of Onam were Shammai, and Jada. And the sons of Shammai: Nadab, and Abishur" (1Ch 2:28). His own line is short: "the sons of Nadab: Seled, and Appaim; but Seled died without sons" (1Ch 2:30). A Nadab also stands among the Benjamite descendants of Jeiel and Maacah, listed twice in identical terms: "his firstborn son Abdon, and Zur, and Kish, and Baal, and Ner, and Nadab" (1Ch 8:30; 1Ch 9:36).