Lives of Scripture

Mishael was a son of Uzziel and a cousin of Moses and Aaron, identified in the genealogy of Exodus 6:22 among the Levite clan of Kohath. His one recorded action comes in the aftermath of a solemn tragedy: Aaron's sons Nadab and Abihu had offered 'strange fire' before the LORD that He had not commanded, and 'fire came out from the presence of the LORD and consumed them, and they died before the LORD' (Leviticus 10:1-2). In the immediate aftermath, with Aaron and his remaining sons forbidden from the normal rites of mourning so as not to interrupt their priestly duties, Moses called on Mishael and his brother Elzaphan, saying, 'Come near, carry your relatives away from the front of the sanctuary to the outside of the camp' (10:4). They did so, carrying the bodies out by their tunics, just as Moses had commanded (10:5). Mishael's role, though brief, placed him at the center of one of the wilderness narrative's most sobering moments -- a stark reminder, immediately following the tabernacle's dedication, that approaching the holy God on His own terms was a matter of life and death for the priesthood.