Tafsiran Imamat 16:17: Tze'enah Ure'enah, Rabbeinu Bahya, Rav Hirsch & Chizkuni

“Nobody else shall be in the Tent of meeting” [16:17]. Our sages say in the Talmud, in tractate Yoma, that even the angels that were on the cover of the Tabernacle, moved out from the Tabernacle so that the high priest should have room.⁹J. Yoma, 1.5. That is to say, the angels moved out of the Tabernacle for the sake of his honor. There was a high priest who did not observe what the sages said, that the incense should be prepared inside the holy part of the Tabernacle. However, he wanted to prepare it outside and bring in the incense into the holy part. He was not supposed to do this, since the essence of the incense was when one began to prepare it. Then its smell was very good and strong. However, if he prepared the incense outside, the smell would have evaporated before he entered the holy place. One priest did not want to go inside and prepared the incense outside. An angel came and killed him in the courtyard before he came into the holy place. The priests came and saw the mark of a calf’s foot between his shoulders, since the angels have feet like a calf.¹⁰Bahya, Leviticus, 16:17.

וכל אדם לא יהיה באהל מועד, “No one shall be in the Tent of Meeting, etc.” Our sages in the Jerusalem Talmud Yuma 1,5 commented that even the creatures (angels) who have been described as having the likeness of אדם פני in Ezekiel 1,10 must also not be present in the Inner Sanctuary at the time Aaron performs this service. What a wonderful stature did the High Priest possess if he was allowed in a place where even angels were not allowed! This confirms that the High Priest was indeed מלאך ה' צבאות, “an angel of the Lord of Hosts” (compare Maleachi 2,7).
The Sadducee High Priest (Yuma 19) who was struck down by the angel because he had arranged the fire and incense before entering the Inner Sanctuary had already left the Sanctuary before the angel struck him down.

According to Rabbi Chiya a sound was heard in the courtyard, עזרה, at that time. When the other priests entered to see what had caused this sound they found a calf’s foot between the feet of that High Priest. The reason this happened to this High Priest was because he ignored the instructions of the sages that there is a tradition not to enter the Sanctuary with the incense already fixed on top of the fire in the censer. The reason for the traditional procedure was because of the fragrance which was so important at the time when the incense was prepared. The High Priest in question wanted to defy the tradition; this is why he was punished. May the Lord save us from punishment and requite us for the sake of His righteousness.