1And Korah, the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, took also Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab, and On, the son of Peleth, the sons of Reuben; 2and they rose up before Moses, with certain of the sons of Israel, two hundred and fifty rulers of the congregation, elect men of the assembly, men of name. 3And they were assembled against Moses and against Aaron, and said to them, You take too much! For all the congregation, all of them are holy, and Jehovah is among them. Why then do you lift up yourselves above the assembly of Jehovah? 4And Moses heard and fell on his face. 5And he spoke to Korah, and to all his company, saying, In the morning Jehovah will know who are His, and him who is holy, and shall cause him to come near Him; even him whom He may choose, He will cause to come near to Him. 6Do this: take fire-pans for yourselves, Korah, and all his company, 7and put fire in them, and put incense on them before Jehovah tomorrow; and it shall be, the man whom Jehovah chooses, he shall be the holy one. You take too much, sons of Levi! 8And Moses said to Korah, Hear now, you sons of Levi, 9is it but a small thing to you that the God of Israel has separated you from the congregation of Israel to bring you near to Himself, to do the service of the tabernacle of Jehovah, and to stand before the congregation to minister to them? 10Yea, He has brought you near, and all your brothers, the sons of Levi, with you. And will you seek the priesthood also? 11Therefore, you and all your company that have gathered against Jehovah, What is Aaron that you murmur against him? 12And Moses sent to call for Dathan and for Abiram, the sons of Eliab; and they said, We will not come up. 13Is it a small thing that you have brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey, to kill us in the wilderness, but must you seizing also seize dominion over us? 14Yea, you have not brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey, and given us inheritance in fields and vineyards; will you put out the eyes of these men? We will not come up! 15And Moses was very angry, and said to Jehovah, Do not respect their offering; I have not taken one ass from them, nor have I done evil to one of them. 16And Moses said to Korah, You and all your company, you be there before Jehovah, you and they, and Aaron tomorrow. 17And each man take his firepan, and you shall put incense on them, and shall offer before Jehovah, each man his firepan, two hundred and fifty firepans; even you and Aaron, each man his firepan. 18And they each man took his firepan, and put fire on them, and lay incense on them, and they stood at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, with Moses and Aaron. 19And Korah assembled all the congregation against them, to the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and the glory of Jehovah was seen by all the congregation. 20And Jehovah spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, 21Separate yourselves from the midst of this company, and I will consume them in a moment. 22And they fell on their faces, and said, O God, God of the spirits of all flesh; shall one man sin, and will You be angry with all the congregation? 23And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying, 24Speak to the congregation, saying, You get away from around the tent of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. 25And Moses rose up and went to Dathan and Abiram, and the elders of Israel went after him. 26And he spoke to the congregation, saying, Please turn away from the tents of these wicked men, and do not touch anything that is to them, lest you be consumed in all their sins. 27And they got away from around the tent of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram; and Dathan and Abiram came out, standing at the door of their tents, and their wives, their sons, and their infants. 28And Moses said, By this you shall know that Jehovah has sent me to do all these works, and that not from my own heart. 29If these die according to the death of all men, and are visited according to the visitation of all men, then Jehovah has not sent me. 30And if Jehovah makes a new thing, and the ground opens its mouth and swallows them, and all that they have, and they go down alive to Sheol, then you shall know that these men have despised Jehovah. 31And it happened, as he made an end of speaking all these words, the ground which was under them split apart, 32and the earth opened her mouth and swallowed them, and their houses, and all the men who were for Korah, and all their possessions. 33And they went down, they and all that they had, alive to Sheol, and the earth covered over them; and they perished from the midst of the assembly. 34And all Israel who were around them fled at their cry; for they said, Lest the earth swallow us up. 35And fire came forth from Jehovah and consumed the two hundred and fifty men that offered the incense. 36And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying, 37Speak to Eleazar, the son of Aaron, the priest, and he shall lift up the firepans from the midst of the burning, and shall scatter the fire yonder, for they have become holy, 38the firepans of these sinners against their own souls. And they shall make of them spreadout plates, a covering for the altar, for they have brought them near before Jehovah, and they are holy. And they shall become a sign to the sons of Israel. 39And Eleazar the priest took the bronze fire-pans, which they who were burned had brought near, and they spread them out, a covering for the altar, 40a memorial to the sons of Israel, so that a man, an alien, is not of the seed of Aaron shll not draw near to offer incense before Jehovah, and shall not be as Korah, and as his company; as Jehovah had spoken by the hand of Moses to him. 41And all the congregation of the sons of Israel murmured on the next day against Moses and against Aaron, saying, You have killed the people of Jehovah. 42And it happened, as the company was called together against Moses and against Aaron, that they turned toward the tabernacle of the congregation. And, behold, the cloud had covered it, and the glory of Jehovah appeared! 43And Moses and Aaron came to the front of the tabernacle of the congregation. 44And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying, 45Get away from the midst of this company, and I shall consume them in a moment; and they fell on their faces. 46And Moses said to Aaron, Take the firepan, and put fire on it from the altar, and lay on incense, and go, hurry to the congregation, and atone for them, for the wrath has gone out from the presence of Jehovah; the plague has begun. 47And Aaron did as Moses had spoken, and ran into the midst of the assembly. And, behold, the plague had begun among the people! And he laid on the incense and atoned for the people, 48and stood between the dead and the living, and the plague was stayed. 49And those who died by the plague were fourteen thousand and seven hundred, besides those who died for the matter of Korah. 50And Aaron turned back to Moses, to the door of the tabernacle of the congregation; and the plague was stayed.
Jamieson Fausset Brown Bible Commentary 1 THE REBELLION OF KORAH. (Num. 16:1-30)
Now Korah, the son of Izhar--Izhar, brother of Amram (
Exod 6:18), was the second son of Kohath, and for some reason unrecorded he had been supplanted by a descendant of the fourth son of Kohath, who was appointed prince or chief of the Kohathites (
Num 3:30). Discontent with the preferment over him of a younger relative was probably the originating cause of this seditious movement on the part of Korah.
Dathan and Abiram, . . . and On--These were confederate leaders in the rebellion, but On seems to have afterwards withdrawn from the conspiracy [compare
Num 16:12,
Num 16:24-
Num 16:25,
Num 16:27;
Num 26:9;
Deut 11:6;
Ps 106:17].
took men--The latter mentioned individuals, being all sons of Reuben, the eldest of Jacob's family, had been stimulated to this insurrection on the pretext that Moses had, by an arbitrary arrangement, taken away the right of primogeniture, which had vested the hereditary dignity of the priesthood in the first-born of every family, with a view of transferring the hereditary exercise of the sacred functions to a particular branch of his own house; and that this gross instance of partiality to his own relations, to the permanent detriment of others, was a sufficient ground for refusing allegiance to his government. In addition to this grievance, another cause of jealousy and dissatisfaction that rankled in the breasts of the Reubenites was the advancement of Judah to the leadership among the tribes. These malcontents had been incited by the artful representations of Korah (
Jude 1:11), with whom the position of their camp on the south side afforded them facilities of frequent intercourse. In addition to his feeling of personal wrongs, Korah participated in their desire (if he did not originate the attempt) to recover their lost rights of primogeniture. When the conspiracy was ripe, they openly and boldly declared its object, and at the head of two hundred fifty princes, charged Moses with an ambitious and unwarrantable usurpation of authority, especially in the appropriation of the priesthood, for they disputed the claim of Aaron also to pre-eminence [
Num 16:3].
3 they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron--The assemblage seems to have been composed of the whole band of conspirators; and they grounded their complaint on the fact that the whole people, being separated to the divine service (
Exod 19:6), were equally qualified to present offerings on the altar, and that God, being graciously, present among them by the tabernacle and the cloud, evinced His readiness to receive sacrifices from the hand of any others as well as from theirs.
4 when Moses heard it, he fell upon his face--This attitude of prostration indicated not only his humble and earnest desire that God would interpose to free him from the false and odious imputation, but also his strong sense of the daring sin involved in this proceeding. Whatever feelings may be entertained respecting Aaron, who had formerly headed a sedition himself [
Num 12:1], it is impossible not to sympathize with Moses in this difficult emergency. But he was a devout man, and the prudential course he adopted was probably the dictate of that heavenly wisdom with which, in answer to his prayers, he was endowed.
5 he spake unto Korah and unto all his company--They were first addressed, not only because they were a party headed by his own cousin and Moses might hope to have more influence in that quarter, but because they were stationed near the tabernacle; and especially because an expostulation was the more weighty coming from him who was a Levite himself, and who was excluded along with his family from the priesthood. But to bring the matter to an issue, he proposed a test which would afford a decisive evidence of the divine appointment.
Even to-morrow--literally, "in the morning," the usual time of meeting in the East for the settlement of public affairs.
the Lord will show who are his, . . . even him whom he hath chosen will he cause to come near unto him--that is, will bear attestation to his ministry by some visible or miraculous token of His approval.
6 Take your censers, Korah, and all his company, &c.--that is, since you aspire to the priesthood, then go, perform the highest function of the office--that of offering incense; and if you are accepted well. How magnanimous the conduct of Moses, who was now as willing that God's people should be priests, as formerly that they should be prophets (
Num 11:29). But he warned them that they were making a perilous experiment.
12 Moses sent to call Dathan and Abiram--in a separate interview, the ground of their mutiny being different; for while Korah murmured against the exclusive appropriation of the priesthood to Aaron and his family, they were opposed to the supremacy of Moses in civil power. They refused to obey the summons; and their refusal was grounded on the plausible pretext that their stay in the desert was prolonged for some secret and selfish purposes of the leader, who was conducting them like blind men wherever it suited him.
15 Moses was very wroth--Though the meekest of all men [
Num 12:3], he could not restrain his indignation at these unjust and groundless charges; and the highly excited state of his feeling was evinced by the utterance of a brief exclamation in the mixed form of a prayer and an impassioned assertion of his integrity. (Compare
1Sam 12:3).
and said unto the Lord, Respect not thou their offering--He calls it their offering, because, though it was to be offered by Korah and his Levitical associates, it was the united appeal of all the mutineers for deciding the contested claims of Moses and Aaron.
16 Moses said unto Korah, Be thou and all thy company before the Lord--that is, at "the door of the tabernacle" (
Num 16:18), that the assembled people might witness the experiment and be properly impressed by the issue.
17 two hundred fifty censers--probably the small platters, common in Egyptian families, where incense was offered to household deities and which had been among the precious things borrowed at their departure [
Exod 12:35-
Exod 12:36].
20 the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron, saying, Separate yourselves from among this congregation--Curiosity to witness the exciting spectacle attracted a vast concourse of the people, and it would seem that the popular mind had been incited to evil by the clamors of the mutineers against Moses and Aaron. There was something in their behavior very offensive to God; for after His glory had appeared--as at the installation of Aaron (
Lev 9:23), so now for his confirmation in the sacred office--He bade Moses and Aaron withdraw from the assembly "that He might consume them in a moment."
22 they fell upon their faces, and said, O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh--The benevolent importunity of their prayer was the more remarkable that the intercession was made for their enemies.
24 Speak unto the congregation, . . . Get you up from about the tabernacle--Moses was attended in the execution of this mission by the elders. The united and urgent entreaties of so many dignified personages produced the desired effect of convincing the people of their crime, and of withdrawing them from the company of men who were doomed to destruction, lest, being partakers of their sins, they should perish along with them.
27 the tabernacle of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram--Korah being a Kohathite, his tent could not have been in the Reubenite camp, and it does not appear that he himself was on the spot where Dathan and Abiram stood with their families. Their attitude of defiance indicated their daring and impenitent character, equally regardless of God and man.
28 Moses said, Hereby ye shall know that the Lord hath sent me to do all these works--The awful catastrophe of the earthquake which, as predicted by Moses, swallowed up those impious rebels in a living tomb, gave the divine attestation to the mission of Moses and struck the spectators with solemn awe.
35 there came out a fire from the Lord--that is, from the cloud. This seems to describe the destruction of Korah and those Levites who with him aspired to the functions of the priesthood. (See
Num 26:11,
Num 26:58;
1Chr 6:22,
1Chr 6:37).
37 Speak unto Eleazar--He was selected lest the high priest might contract defilement from going among the dead carcasses.
39 the brazen censers . . . made broad plates to be a memorial--The altar of burnt offerings, being made of wood and covered with brass, this additional covering of broad plates not only rendered it doubly secure against the fire, but served as a warning beacon to deter all from future invasions of the priesthood.
41 the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron, saying, Ye have killed the people of the Lord--What a strange exhibition of popular prejudice and passion--to blame the leaders for saving the rebels! Yet Moses and Aaron interceded for the people--the high priest perilling his own life in doing good to that perverse race.
48 he stood between the living and the dead--The plague seems to have begun in the extremities of the camp. Aaron, in this remarkable act, was a type of Christ.