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Numbers 16

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Korah's Rebellion against Moses and Aaron 1–11

1
Now Korah, the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, and Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On, the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took men: ​
2
And they rose up before Moses, with certain of the children of Israel, two hundred and fifty princes of the assembly, famous in the congregation, men of renown:
3
And they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron, and said unto them, Ye take too much upon you, seeing all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the LORD is among them: wherefore then lift ye up yourselves above the congregation of the LORD? ​
4
And when Moses heard it, he fell upon his face: ​
5
And he spake unto Korah and unto all his company, saying, Even to morrow the LORD will shew who are his, and who is holy; and will cause him to come near unto him: even him whom he hath chosen will he cause to come near unto him.
6
This do; Take you censers, Korah, and all his company;
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And put fire therein, and put incense in them before the LORD to morrow: and it shall be that the man whom the LORD doth choose, he shall be holy: ye take too much upon you, ye sons of Levi. ​
8
And Moses said unto Korah, Hear, I pray you, ye sons of Levi:
9
Seemeth it but a small thing unto you, that the God of Israel hath separated you from the congregation of Israel, to bring you near to himself to do the service of the tabernacle of the LORD, and to stand before the congregation to minister unto them?
10
And he hath brought thee near to him, and all thy brethren the sons of Levi with thee: and seek ye the priesthood also? ​
11
For which cause both thou and all thy company are gathered together against the LORD: and what is Aaron, that ye murmur against him?

Dathan and Abiram Defy Moses 12–19

12
And Moses sent to call Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab: which said, We will not come up:
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Is it a small thing that thou hast brought us up out of a land that floweth with milk and honey, to kill us in the wilderness, except thou make thyself altogether a prince over us? ​
14
Moreover thou hast not brought us into a land that floweth with milk and honey, or given us inheritance of fields and vineyards: wilt thou put out the eyes of these men? we will not come up.
15
And Moses was very wroth, and said unto the LORD, Respect not thou their offering: I have not taken one ass from them, neither have I hurt one of them.
16
And Moses said unto Korah, Be thou and all thy company before the LORD, thou, and they, and Aaron, to morrow:
17
And take every man his censer, and put incense in them, and bring ye before the LORD every man his censer, two hundred and fifty censers; thou also, and Aaron, each of you his censer.
18
And they took every man his censer, and put fire in them, and laid incense thereon, and stood in the door of the tabernacle of the congregation with Moses and Aaron.
19
And Korah gathered all the congregation against them unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation: and the glory of the LORD appeared unto all the congregation.

God Commands Separation and Judgment 20–35

20
And the LORD spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying,
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Separate yourselves from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment.
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And they fell upon their faces, and said, O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and wilt thou be wroth with all the congregation? ​
23
And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
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Speak unto the congregation, saying, Get you up from about the tabernacle of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.
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And Moses rose up and went unto Dathan and Abiram; and the elders of Israel followed him.
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And he spake unto the congregation, saying, Depart, I pray you, from the tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing of theirs, lest ye be consumed in all their sins. ​
27
So they gat up from the tabernacle of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, on every side: and Dathan and Abiram came out, and stood in the door of their tents, and their wives, and their sons, and their little children.
28
And Moses said, Hereby ye shall know that the LORD hath sent me to do all these works; for I have not done them of mine own mind.
29
If these men die the common death of all men, or if they be visited after the visitation of all men; then the LORD hath not sent me.
30
But if the LORD make a new thing, and the earth open her mouth, and swallow them up, with all that appertain unto them, and they go down quick into the pit; then ye shall understand that these men have provoked the LORD. ​
31
And it came to pass, as he had made an end of speaking all these words, that the ground clave asunder that was under them:
32
And the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up, and their houses, and all the men that appertained unto Korah, and all their goods. ​
33
They, and all that appertained to them, went down alive into the pit, and the earth closed upon them: and they perished from among the congregation.
34
And all Israel that were round about them fled at the cry of them: for they said, Lest the earth swallow us up also.
35
And there came out a fire from the LORD, and consumed the two hundred and fifty men that offered incense. ​

The Censers as a Perpetual Warning 36–40

36
And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
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Speak unto Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest, that he take up the censers out of the burning, and scatter thou the fire yonder; for they are hallowed.
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The censers of these sinners against their own souls, let them make them broad plates for a covering of the altar: for they offered them before the LORD, therefore they are hallowed: and they shall be a sign unto the children of Israel. ​
39
And Eleazar the priest took the brasen censers, wherewith they that were burnt had offered; and they were made broad plates for a covering of the altar:
40
To be a memorial unto the children of Israel, that no stranger, which is not of the seed of Aaron, come near to offer incense before the LORD; that he be not as Korah, and as his company: as the LORD said to him by the hand of Moses.

The Congregation Murmurs and the Plague 41–50

41
But on the morrow all the congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron, saying, Ye have killed the people of the LORD. ​
42
And it came to pass, when the congregation was gathered against Moses and against Aaron, that they looked toward the tabernacle of the congregation: and, behold, the cloud covered it, and the glory of the LORD appeared.
43
And Moses and Aaron came before the tabernacle of the congregation.
44
And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
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Get you up from among this congregation, that I may consume them as in a moment. And they fell upon their faces.
46
And Moses said unto Aaron, Take a censer, and put fire therein from off the altar, and put on incense, and go quickly unto the congregation, and make an atonement for them: for there is wrath gone out from the LORD; the plague is begun. ​
47
And Aaron took as Moses commanded, and ran into the midst of the congregation; and, behold, the plague was begun among the people: and he put on incense, and made an atonement for the people.
48
And he stood between the dead and the living; and the plague was stayed. ​
49
Now they that died in the plague were fourteen thousand and seven hundred, beside them that died about the matter of Korah. ​
50
And Aaron returned unto Moses unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation: and the plague was stayed.

Bible text: King James Version (1769 Blayney text) · Public domain

Study Notes for Numbers 16

Verse 1

Korah, the son of Izhar — Izhar was a brother of Amram, the father of Moses and Aaron (Ex 6:18, 20–21), so Korah is their cousin. His family, the Kohathites, carried the holy things (Num 4:15) and camped on the south of the tabernacle (3:29), the same side as Reuben (2:10), the tribe of Dathan and Abiram.

Verse 3

all the congregation are holy — The claim echoes Ex 19:6, ‘an holy nation’, and ‘the LORD is among them’ is true. The LORD had still appointed ‘Aaron and his sons’ to the priest’s office, with death for the stranger who came nigh (Num 3:10). Ps 106:16 calls Aaron ‘the saint of the LORD’. ‘Too much’ is rab, ‘much’.

Verse 4

he fell upon his face — Moses and Aaron respond to Israel’s rebellion in the same way elsewhere: ‘fell on their faces before all the assembly’ (14:5), again in 16:22 and 16:45, and at the tabernacle door in 20:6. His answer to Korah follows in v.5: ‘Even to morrow the LORD will shew who are his, and who is holy’.

Verse 7

put incense in them before the LORD — Burning incense was Aaron’s charge: ‘Aaron shall burn thereon sweet incense every morning’ (Ex 30:7). Nadab and Abihu died for offering ‘strange fire’ with incense (Lev 10:1–2). The test uses the rebels’ own word: ‘the man whom the LORD doth choose, he shall be holy’ (compare ‘holy’ in v.3).

Verse 10

seek ye the priesthood also? — V.9 says that God had ‘separated you… to bring you near to himself’ for the service of the tabernacle. ‘Brought thee near’ is the verb qarab, the same used of the incense offered in v.35. Kehunnah, the priesthood, had been given to Aaron and his sons (Num 3:10); the Levites served them.

Verse 13

a land that floweth with milk and honey — The phrase is the LORD’s description of Canaan (Ex 3:8; Num 14:8). Dathan and Abiram apply it to Egypt, from which Moses ‘brought us up’ (the verb alah of Ex 3:8). ‘Make thyself altogether a prince’ is the verb sarar, to rule, used here doubled.

Verse 22

the God of the spirits of all flesh — Moses uses the same title when he asks for a successor in Num 27:16. ‘Spirits’ is ruach, breath or spirit. The plea, ‘shall one man sin, and wilt thou be wroth with all the congregation?’, is close to Abraham’s at Sodom: ‘Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked?’ (Gen 18:23).

Verse 26

Depart… from the tents of these wicked men — ‘Consumed’ is saphah, the verb of Sodom: ‘lest thou be consumed in the iniquity of the city’ (Gen 19:15). The call to separate is repeated in Rev 18:4, ‘Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins’. In v.27 they ‘gat up from the tabernacle of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram’.

Verse 30

make a new thing — The Hebrew is bara, ‘create’, with the noun beriah, a creation, found only here, so the LORD would literally create a creation. They are to ‘go down quick’, alive, ‘into the pit’ (sheol), as in Ps 55:15. ‘Provoked’ is na’ats, to scorn, the verb of 14:11, ‘How long will this people provoke me?’

Verse 32

the earth opened her mouth — The verb ‘swallowed’ is bala, used of the Egyptians in Ex 15:12, ‘the earth swallowed them’. Ps 106:17 and Deut 11:6 recall this judgment. Korah’s company was taken with Dathan and Abiram’s households, yet ‘the children of Korah died not’ (Num 26:11).

Verse 35

a fire from the LORD — Fire ‘from the LORD’ consumed Nadab and Abihu in Lev 10:2, and the 250 here had ‘offered incense’ (the test of v.7). The two judgments are named together in Num 26:10: ‘the earth opened her mouth… what time the fire devoured two hundred and fifty men: and they became a sign.’ Ps 106:18 recalls the fire.

Verse 38

sinners against their own souls — The censers ‘are hallowed’ (qadash, the root of ‘holy’ in v.3), having been offered ‘before the LORD’. Eleazar made them ‘broad plates for a covering of the altar’ (v.39). Their purpose is ‘a memorial unto the children of Israel, that no stranger, which is not of the seed of Aaron, come near to offer incense’ (v.40).

Verse 41

Ye have killed the people of the LORD — This comes ‘on the morrow’, after the earth and the fire. ‘Murmured’ is lun, the verb of Ex 16:2 and Num 14:2. The LORD answers with a plague and Moses sends Aaron with a censer (vv.46–48). Jude 11 says of such men that they ‘perished in the gainsaying of Core’.

Verse 46

make an atonement for them — The censer and incense that brought death in v.35 now stand in the priest’s hand. ‘Atonement’ is kaphar. ‘Wrath’ is qetseph, from the root of ‘wroth’ in v.22. The priests’ charge is ‘that there be no wrath any more upon the children of Israel’ (Num 18:5). Aaron ‘ran into the midst’ (v.47).

Verse 48

between the dead and the living — ‘Stayed’ is atsar, to restrain. The same verb ends the plague after Baal-peor, where ‘Then stood up Phinehas, and executed judgment: and so the plague was stayed’ (Ps 106:30), and at David’s altar (2 Sam 24:21). V.50 repeats it of this plague.

Verse 49

fourteen thousand and seven hundred — This number is counted apart from ‘them that died about the matter of Korah’, whose earlier deaths were the earth and the fire. Jude 11 names the ‘gainsaying of Core’. Paul warns of those who ‘murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer’ (1 Cor 10:10).