The cultic violation of the “strange fire” offered to Yahweh by Nadab and Abihu in Leviticus 10:1–11 has long puzzled commentators. Similarly perplexing has been the apparently related prohibition of imbibing intoxicating liquids (v. 8) prescribed for all officiating priests following the debacle. This paper considers the episode in the broader context of the use of mind-altering substances in religious practices of the ancient Near East attested to in texts, iconography, and archaeology, and includes specific interaction with the recent discovery of cannabis at the Judahite temple of Arad, as well as potential material paraphernalia from other Late Bronze and Iron Age sites. These archaeological finds provide a backdrop for a discussion of competing incense traditions preserved in the priestly texts and support the proposition that the story may be understood as polemic against the use of mind-altering substances propagated by at least one state-sponsored priestly group, in contrast to common religious practices of those around them and perhaps rival factions within them.
Jonathan S. Greer (Mon,) studied this question.