Genut, Mordechai (2010). "טו באייר" [15 Iyar]. לוח דבר בעתו: ה'תשע"א [Luaḥ Davar be-ʻito: 5771 / Each Thing in its Proper Time] (in Hebrew). Bnei Brak: Ḳupat Gemaḥ Aḥiʻezer. p. 951. LCCN89645445. Retrieved 21 January 2013.
Genut, Mordechai (2010). "טו באייר" [15 Iyar]. לוח דבר בעתו: ה'תשע"א [Luaḥ Davar be-ʻito: 5771 / Each Thing in its Proper Time] (in Hebrew). Bnei Brak: Ḳupat Gemaḥ Aḥiʻezer. p. 951. LCCN89645445. Retrieved 21 January 2013.
A baraita cited in the Babylonian TalmudSukkah 25b offers two separate opinions: those carrying the body of Joseph (son of Jacob) (as per Genesis 50:25), or those who buried Aaron's sons Nadav and Avihu (as a consequence of the events of Leviticus 10:1–7). However, the Gemara rejects both of those possibilities and simply says that they had dealt with a met mitzvah (an unidentified person who had died).
Rashi, commenting on 9:7 and quoting Sifrei, suggests that the law was communicated in this way in order to reward the merit of those who asked.
