Moses said to Korah, “You and all your company go before Yahweh, you, and they, and Aaron, tomorrow. Each man take his censer and put incense on it, and each man bring before Yahweh his censer, two hundred fifty censers; you also, and Aaron, each with his censer.”
They each took his censer, and put fire in it, and laid incense on it, and stood at the door of the Tent of Meeting with Moses and Aaron. Korah assembled all the congregation opposite them to the door of the Tent of Meeting. Yahweh’s glory appeared to all the congregation.
Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, “Separate yourselves from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment!”
They fell on their faces, and said, “God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and will you be angry with all the congregation?”
Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the congregation, saying, ‘Get away from around the tent of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram!’ ”
Moses rose up and went to Dathan and Abiram; and the elders of Israel followed him. He spoke to the congregation, saying, “Depart, please, from the tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing of theirs, lest you be consumed in all their sins!”
So they went away from the tent of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, on every side. Dathan and Abiram came out, and stood at the door of their tents with their wives, their sons, and their little ones.
Moses said, “Hereby you shall know that Yahweh has sent me to do all these works; for they are not from my own mind. If these men die the common death of all men, or if they experience what all men experience, then Yahweh hasn’t sent me. But if Yahweh makes a new thing, and the ground opens its mouth, and swallows them up with all that belong to them, and they go down alive into Sheol, then you shall understand that these men have despised Yahweh.”
As he finished speaking all these words, the ground that was under them split apart. The earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up with their households, all of Korah’s men, and all their goods. So they, and all that belonged to them went down alive into Sheol. The earth closed on them, and they perished from among the assembly. All Israel that were around them fled at their cry; for they said, “Lest the earth swallow us up!” Fire came out from Yahweh, and devoured the two hundred fifty men who offered the incense.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv16, 19, 22, 26, 28, 30 At the door of the Tabernacle.
At the door of the Tabernacle.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv16, 17, 18, 19, 21, 22, 24, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35 Num 16:16 And Moses said unto Korah, Be thou…
Num 16:16 And Moses said unto Korah, Be thou and all thy company before the LORD, thou, and they, and Aaron, to morrow:
Ver. 16. Thy company.] Or, Thy congregation, thy faction, or Church malignant, as Psa 26:5 Act 19:32; Act 19:40.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv16, 18, 19, 21, 22, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 32, 33, 35 Not in the tabernacle, which was not capable of…
Not in the tabernacle, which was not capable of so many persoms severally offering incense, but at the door of the tabernacle, Num 16:18, which place is oft said to be
before the Lord, as Exo 29:42; Lev 1:11, &c.; where they might now lawfully offer it by Moses’s direction upon this extraordinary occasion and necessity, because this work could not be done in that place, which alone was allowed for the offering up of incense, not only from its smallness, but also because none but priests might enter to do this work. Here also the people, who wcrc to be instructed by this experiment, might see the proof and success of it.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On vv23, 35 We have here the determining of the controversy with…
We have here the determining of the controversy with Dathan and Abiram, who rebelled against Moses, as in the next paragraph the determining of the controversy with Korah and his company, who would be rivals with Aaron. It should seem that Dathan and Abiram had set up a spacious tabernacle in the midst of the tents of their families, where they kept court, met in council, and hung out their flag of defiance against Moses; it is here called the tabernacle of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, Num 16:24, Num 16:27. There, as in the place of rendezvous, Dathan and Abiram staid, when Korah and his friends went up to the tabernacle of the Lord, waiting the issue of their trial; but here we are told how they had their business done, before that trial was over. For God will take what method he pleases in his judgments.
I. Public warning is given to the congregation to withdraw immediately from the tents of the rebels. 1. God bids Moses speak to this purport, Num 16:24. This was in answer to Moses's prayer. He had begged that God would not destroy the whole congregation. "Well," says God, "I will not, provided they be so wise as to shift for their own safety, and get out of the way of danger. If they will quit the rebels, well and good, they shall not perish with them; otherwise, let them take what follows." Note, We cannot expect to reap benefit by the prayers of our friends for our salvation, unless we ourselves be diligent and faithful in making use of the means of salvation; for God never promised to save by miracles those that would not save themselves by means. Moses that had prayed for them must preach this to them, and warn them to flee from this wrath to come. 2. Moses accordingly repairs to the head-quarters of the rebels, leaving Aaron at the door of the tabernacle, Num 16:25. Dathan and Abiram had contumaciously refused to come up to him (Num 16:12), yet he humbly condescends to go down to them, to try if he could yet convince and reclaim them. Ministers must thus with meekness instruct those that oppose themselves, and not think it below them to stoop to those that are most stubborn, for their good. Christ himself stretches out his hand to a rebellious and gainsaying people. The seventy elders of Israel attend Moses and his guard, to secure him from the insolence of the rabble, and by their presence to put an honour upon him, and if possible to strike an awe upon the rebels. It is our duty to contribute all we can to the countenance and support of injured innocency and honour. 3. Proclamation is made that all manner of persons, as they tendered their own safety, should forthwith depart from the tents of these wicked men (Num 16:26), and thus should signify that they deserted their cause and interest, detested their crimes and counsels, and dreaded the punishment coming upon them. Note, Those that would not perish with sinners must come out from among them, and be separate. In vain do we pray, Gather not our souls with sinners, if we save not ourselves from the untoward generation. God's people are called out of Babylon, lest they share both in her sins and in her plagues, Rev 18:4.
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II. The congregation takes the warning, but the rebels themselves continue obstinate, Num 16:27. 1. God, in mercy, inclined the people to forsake the rebels: They got up from the tabernacle of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, both those whose lot it was to pitch near them (who doubtless with themselves removed their families, and all their effects) and those also who had come from all parts of their camp to see the issue. It was in answer to the prayer of Moses that God thus stirred up the hearts of the congregation to shift for their own preservation. Note, To those whom God will save he gives repentance, that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil. Grace to separate from evil doers is one of the things that accompany salvation. 2. God, in justice, left the rebels to the obstinacy and hardness of their own hearts. Though they saw themselves abandoned by all their neighbours, and set up as a mark to the arrows of God's justice, yet instead of falling down and humbling themselves before God and Moses, owning their crime and begging pardon, instead of fleeing and dispersing themselves to seek for shelter in the crowd, they impudently stood in the doors of their tents, as if they would out-face God himself, and dare him to his worst. Thus were their hearts hardened to their own destruction, and they were fearless when their case was most fearful. But what a pity was it that their little children, who were not capable of guilt or fear, should by the presumption of their parents be put in this audacious posture! Happy they who are taught betimes to bow before God, and not as those unhappy little ones to stand it out against him!
III. Sentence is solemnly pronounced upon them by Moses in the name of the Lord, and the decision of the controversy is put upon the execution of that sentence by the almighty power of God. Moses, by divine instinct and direction, when the eyes of all Israel were fastened upon him, waiting the event, moved with a just and holy indignation at the impudence of the rebels, boldly puts the whole matter to a surprising issue, Num 16:28-30. 1. If the rebels die a common death, he will be content to be called and counted an impostor; not only if they die a natural death, but if they die by any sort of judgment that has formerly been executed on other malefactors. "If they die by the plague, or by fire from heaven, or by the sword, then say, God has disowned Moses;" but, 2. "If the earth open and swallow them up" (a punishment without precedent), "then let all the house of Israel know assuredly that I am God's servant, sent by him, and employed for him, and that those that fight against me fight against him." The judgment itself would have been proof enough of God's displeasure against the rebels, and would have given all men to understand that they had provoked the Lord; but when it was thus solemnly foretold and appealed to by Moses beforehand, when there was not the least previous indication of it from without, the convincing evidence of it was much the stronger, and it was put beyond dispute that he was not only a servant but a favourite of Heaven, who was so intimately acquainted with the divine counsels, and could obtain such extraordinary appearances of the divine power in his vindication.
IV. Execution is immediately done. It appeared that God and his servant Moses understood one another very well; for, as soon as ever Moses had spoken the word, God did the work, the earth clave asunder (Num 16:31), opened her mouth, and swallowed them all up, them and theirs (Num 16:32), and then closed upon them, Num 16:33. This judgment was, 1. Unparalleled. God, in it, created a new thing, did what he never did before; for he has many arrows in his quiver; and there are diversities of operations in wrath as well as mercy. Dathan and Abiram thought themselves safe because they were at a distance from the shechinah, whence the fire of the Lord had sometimes issued, qui procul Jove (they say) procul fulmine - he who is far from Jove is far from the thunderbolt. But God made them to know that he was not tied up to one way of punishing; the earth, when he pleases, shall serve his justice as effectually as the fire. 2. It was very terrible to the sinners themselves to go down alive into their own graves, to be dead and buried in an instant, to go down thus to the bars of the pit when they were in their full strength wholly at ease and quiet. 3. It was severe upon their poor children, who, for the greater terror of the judgment, and fuller indication of the divine wrath, perished as parts of their parents, in which, though we cannot particularly tell how bad they might be to deserve it or how good God might be otherwise to them to compensate it, yet of this we are sure in the general, that Infinite Justice did them no wrong. Far be it from God that he should do iniquity. 4. It was altogether miraculous. The cleaving of the earth was as wonderful, and as much above the power of nature, as the cleaving of the sea, and the closing of the earth again more so than the closing of the waters. God has all the creatures at his command, and can make any of them, when he pleases, instruments of his justice; nor will any of them be our friends if he be our enemy. God now confirmed to Israel what Moses had lately taught them in that prayer of his, Psa 90:11, Who knows the power of thy anger? He has, when he pleases, strange punishments for the workers of iniquity, Job 31:3. Let us therefore conclude, Who is able to stand before this holy Lord God? 5. It was very significant. They set their mouths against the heavens, and their throat was an open sepulchre; justly therefore does the earth open her mouth upon them and swallow them up. They made a rent in the congregation; justly therefore is the earth rent under them. Presumptuous sinners, that hate to be reformed, are a burden to the earth, the whole creation groans under them, which here was signified by this, that the earth sunk under these rebels, as weary of bearing them and being under them. And, considering how the earth is still in like manner loaded with the weight of iniquity, we have reason to wonder that this was the only time it ever sunk under its load. 6. It was typical of the eternal ruin of sinners who die impenitent, who, perhaps in allusion to this, are said to sink down into the pit (Psa 9:15) and to go down quickly into hell, Psa 55:15. But David, even when he sinks in deep mire, yet prays in faith, Let not the pit shut her mouth upon me, as it does on the damned, between whom and life there is a gulf fixed, Psa 69:2-15. His case was bad, but not, like this, desperate.
V. All Israel is alarmed at the judgment: They fled at the cry of them, Num 16:34. They cried for help when it was too late. Their doleful shrieks, instead of fetching their neighbours in to their relief, drove them so much the further off; for knowing their own guilt, and one another's, they hastened one another, saying, Lest the earth swallow us up also. Note, Others' ruins should be our warnings. Could we by faith hear the outcries of those that have gone down to the bottomless pit, we should give more diligence than we do to escape for our lives, lest we also come into that condemnation.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv16–35 And Moses said unto Korah,.... Who was still with…
And Moses said unto Korah,.... Who was still with him, when the messenger returned from Dathan and Abiram, and who heard what Moses said in his own defence:
be thou and all thy company before the Lord; at the tabernacle, at the door of it; the Targum of Jonathan is, at the house of judgment, the court of judicature, where this affair was to be tried, and that was at the tabernacle, as appears by what follows:
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thou, and they, and Aaron, tomorrow; the day after Moses had sent to Dathan and Abiram, on the morning of the next day; which as it was the time of sitting in judgment, so of offering incense; meaning Korah and his company, the two hundred fifty men with him, and not Dathan and Abiram; and Aaron also, he was ordered to appear, whom they opposed, and with whom the trial was to be made.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv16, 18, 19, 22, 24, 25, 27, 28, 29, 32, 33, 35 Before the Lord - Not in the tabernacle, which…
Before the Lord - Not in the tabernacle, which was not capable of so many persons severally offering incense, but at the door of the tabernacle, where they might offer it by Moses's direction upon this extraordinary occasion. This work could not be done in that place, which alone was allowed for the offering up of incense; not only for its smallness, but also because none but priests might enter to do this work. Here also the people, who were to be instructed by this experiment, might see the proof and success of it.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv22, 30, 33 Verse 22. O God, the God of the spirits…
Verse 22. O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh] אל אלהי הרוחת לכל בשר El Elohey haruchoth lechol basar. This address sufficiently proves that these holy men believed that man is a being compounded of flesh and spirit, and that these principles are perfectly distinct. Either the materiality of the human soul is a human fable, or, if it be a true doctrine, these men did not pray under the influence of the Divine Spirit. In Nu 27:16 there is a similar form of expression: Let the Lord, the God of the spirits of all flesh. And in Job 12:10: In whose hand is the soul (נפש nephesh) of all living; and the spirit (רוח ruach) of all flesh of man. Are not these decisive proofs that the Old Testament teaches that there is an immortal spirit in man? "But does not רוח ruach signify wind or breath?" Sometimes it does, but certainly not here; for how absurd would it be to say, O God, the God of the breaths of all flesh!
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv16, 18, 19, 22, 24, 27, 28, 29, 32, 35 Num 16:16. Be thou and thy company before the…
Num 16:16. Be thou and thy company before the Lord — Not in the tabernacle, which was not capable of containing so many persons severally offering incense, but at the door of the tabernacle, where they might offer it by Moses’s direction upon this extraordinary occasion. Indeed, this work could not be done in that place, which alone was allowed for the offering up of incense; not only for its smallness, but also because none but priests might enter to do this work. Here also the people, who were to be instructed by this experiment, might see the proof and success of it.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv24, 27, 32, 35 The tent, “the tabernacle” of Korah, as a Kohathite,…
The tent, “the tabernacle” of Korah, as a Kohathite, stood on the south side of the tabernacle of the Lord; and those of Dathan and Abiram, as Reubenites, in the outer line of encampment on the same side. Yet though the tents of these three were thus contiguous, they did not share the same fate. Korah and his company who dared to intrude themselves on the priestly office were destroyed by fire from the Lord at the door of the tabernacle of the Lord Num 16:35; the Reubenites, who had reviled Moses for the failure of the promises about the pleasant land, were suddenly engulfed while standing at their own tent-doors in the barren wilderness Num 16:31-33.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv22, 26, 27, 30, 32, 33, 35 God, who givest life to all, and searchest the…
God, who givest life to all, and searchest the inmost recesses of the heart. (Menochius)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv16, 17, 20, 22, 24, 27, 28, 35 Moses said unto Korah, Be thou and all thy…
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.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv16, 17, 18, 19, 21, 22, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35 16. Before the Lord — At the door of…
16. Before the Lord — At the door of the tabernacle. See Lev_1:3, and Num_16:18.
Thou and… Aaron — As in Elijah’s controversy with the priests of Baal, the contestants stand side by side in the sight of all the people.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv16, 19, 20, 22, 24, 25, 26, 27, 30, 35 16–19. Korah and his company accept Moses’ challenge.
16–19. Korah and his company accept Moses’ challenge.
16, 17 are a repetition of Num_16:6-7, and were probably inserted together with Num_16:8-11; Num_16:36-40.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv17, 19, 21, 24, 27, 28, 30, 32, 35 (17) Take every man his censer.—These censers may have…
(17) Take every man his censer.—These censers may have been household vessels resembling censers, and available for the same purpose; or they may have been vessels which were used by the heads of houses, as priests, before the order of priesthood was restricted to the family of Aaron; or they may have been made by Korah and his company for their own use.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv16, 18, 19, 21, 22, 23, 24, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 34, 35 And Moses said unto Korah. After the interchange of…
And Moses said unto Korah. After the interchange of messages with the Reubenites, Moses repeats his injunctions to Korah to be ready on the morrow to put his claims to the test, adding that Aaron too should be there, that the Lord might judge between them.
Vers. 16-35. The destruction of Korah and his company.
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I THE APPLICATION OF THE TEST.
1. Moses and Aaron put themselves on a perfect outward equality with the rest. They humbled themselves that they might be exalted. Aaron, already chosen of the Lord, stands with his censer and incense in the midst of the company of rebels, as if he were but a candidate waiting for approval. Such is not the way of the dignitaries of the world. Their pomp and honour is mostly a mere convention; strip them of their titles and gauds, and you would scarcely notice them in the street. But Aaron was the priest of God wherever he went, and howsoever he was surrounded. Therefore, without fear or shame, he could take the lowest place, sure that he would presently be addressed, "Come up hither." So Jesus was numbered with the transgressors, reduced to the level of criminals, crucified instead of Barabbas. Christians have often had to stand among the ranks of evildoers, but in due time they have gone out from them, because they were not of them. (1Pe_2:19-23)
2. Korah shows unquailing audacity to the last, i.e., up to the appearing" of the glory. The more the servants of God humbled themselves, the higher and more confident were his enemies in their pride. Korah was at his very highest before he fell. Aaron, whom he had so often seen going where he was forbidden, stands now on a level with the ordinary Levite; nay, more, he is as low as the other tribes. The congregation too has gathered round Korah in sympathy and expectation, for doubtless he has promised them such things as they love. And even as God had allowed rebellious Israel to go on even to the lifting of stones against Caleb and Joshua (chapter 14:10), so here he allows the pride of Korah to swell to its fullest extent. And hence God"s people should ever gain confidence in the times when he seems to be inactive. We are not to be discouraged because the wicked go on from strength to strength. The Jews rejected Christ; they consulted to slay him; they seized him; they put him through an examination in their own court; they handed him to Pilate: he was mocked, scourged, crucified; yet God did not intervene. And who now does not see that all this time he was in process of answering the prayer, "Glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee"? (Joh_17:1) Korah, rising, was lifting Moses and Aaron with him. He fell; they remained.
3. The first expression of Divine wrath. A general destruction is threatened, without mitigation or delay. And if we only consider, we shall see how fitting it was that the first word should be a menace of complete and terrible destruction. The holiness of God is a great reality, keenly sensitive to any sin. How much then was it outraged by such a daring attempt as that of Korah and his company! And the whole congregation had shown a sad alacrity in their support. Why, even we ourselves, when we hear of some great crime in which many are engaged, do not stop to make distinctions between principals and accomplices. We feel that our first, word must be one of utter abhorrence and condemnation with respect to all who had part in such great wickedness. It is only because we are so little sensitive to the evil of sin, that we find difficulty in understanding the menace of verse 21.
4. Moses and Aaron promptly intercede. God has already shown what a distance separates them from the rest of the people. Now they proceed to show it themselves. It was the hour of exaltation and triumph but, like truly humble and holy men, they were occupied with intense pity for the great multitude suddenly exposed to the full wrath of God. Was there any in that great multitude who would thus have thought of them? Their position towards God and men comes out in something like its completeness. If Moses had much on behalf of God to say to men, so he had much on behalf of men to say to God. And Jesus is put before us as the great High Priest. If the sinful Aaron could be touched with a feeling of the infirmities of his brethren, not less is the same true of the sinless Jesus. Amid the threatening penalties of sin, and with the growing consciousness of our own helplessness, we can look to him for intercessory services, even. those which he came to earth specially to render. His Father, who is God of the spirits of all flesh, sent him not to destroy men"s lives, but to save them. (Luk_9:56)
II THE AWFUL PRACTICAL CONSEQUENCE.
1. Korah, Dathan, and Abiram are devoted to destruction. The intercession of Moses and Aaron, earnest and prevailing as it is, has a limit in the request and the result. "If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask, and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto death: I do not say that he shall pray for it. (1Jn_5:16) The people are first of all included in menace with the three chief rebels that presently they may be separated front them. Leaders and followers are both guilty, but there are degrees in wickedness as in holiness. It is perhaps of great significance, if only we will consider that God in this manifestation of his wrath came not only with three separate punishments, but three different modes of punishment. He seems to shadow forth something of degrees of punishment in the eternal world. If the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the pit; but surely the woe of a deeper fall is to those presumptuous blind who drag others with them. Here were those who would not admit that Moses and Aaron had been Divinely separated for a peculiar service, and now in their towering pride they are separated for a peculiar doom. If they had not climbed so high they would not have fallen so far.
2. As we see the people falling away from Korah, we notice what a feeble bond unites the wicked. Only a few minutes ago the people were pressing admiringly on him as he bearded Moses in the very door of the tabernacle; now they flee from him and the other two as if they infected the air with death. The bond that looks so firm is but a rope of sand. It will not hold when anything" appears that looks like a peril to individual selfishness. We may be reminded indeed of "honour among thieves," hut this at the most can only mean that wicked men may act together till the last, not that they may be trusted to do it. There is no such coherency possible amongst the wicked as amongst the good. They have no entirely common purpose; each has his own advantage to seek, and so one may easily thwart all the rest. The Jews in the hour of their triumph over Jesus are chagrined by the inscription which obstinate Pilate puts on the cross.
3. Notice the reference to the elders in verse 25. They had been appointed, seventy of them, to help Moses in the burden which had become so grievous. (Nu 11) Where then had they been all this time? Men with the Spirit of God upon them should surely have sided boldly with Moses, even before the glory appeared. Perhaps indeed they were on his side; and we must not infer too much from silence, else Caleb and Joshua would appear in a dubious light. But this much at all events may be said, that even though they were select and judicious men, and God took of the spirit that was upon Moses and put it upon them, all this was insufficient to help Moses in his extremest needs. We may take their appointment rather as an expression of regard and sympathy, something fitted to teach the elders themselves to be fall of consideration and attention towards Moses. The great crowning needs of life cannot be met by human help, even when sanctified; we must still, like Moses, fall on our faces before God. Not until God has appeared, vindicated his servant, and scattered the unfriendly crowd, do we hear that the elders of Israel followed him.
4. The carrying out of the judgment on Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. Moses announces that the mode of their death was to have great evidential value with respect to himself. Those who had been foremost as accusers and slanderers shall now be chief witnesses on his side, speaking more loudly for him in their death than ever they had spoken against him in their life. It had been their charge against Moses that he had assumed undue authority; therefore, to show how much he was in the secrets of the Divine government, he announces, not only that God himself would take in hand the execution of a righteous sentence, but would execute it in a way hitherto unheard of. And this very way Moses proceeds to indicate. What a point of faith he here reaches! what a perfect community of thought with God! for scarcely has he spoken when that happens which he said would happen, and in exactly the same way. Death and burial are included in the same act. No one was made unclean by these three men or any of their belongings. Y.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On v23 The Punishment of the Rebellious Faction
The Punishment of the Rebellious Faction
v. 23. And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
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v. 24. Speak unto the congregation, saying, Get you up from about the tabernacle, the place of habitation, of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.
v. 25. ; And Moses rose up and went unto Dathan and Abiram, who, it seems, had stayed in their tents, as they had said,
v. 12. while Korah led the revolt against the Tabernacle; and the elders of Israel followed him.
v. 26. 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, be punished as partakers in their transgression.
v. 27. So they gat up from the tabernacle of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram on every side, moved back in a wide circle from their place of habitation. And Dathan and Abiram came out and stood in the door of their tents, and their wives, and their sons, and their little children, apparently defying the authority of Moses and Aaron to the very last.
v. 28. And Moses said, Hereby ye shall know that the Lord hath sent me to do all these works, everything connected with the leadership of the people; for I have not done them of mine own mind; he was not governed by any selfish motives.
v. 29. If these men die the common death of all men, as men usually die, or if they be visited after the visitation of all men, then the Lord hath not sent me. If Providence would keep the rebellious people from a violent death, then Moses was ready to be accused of being an impostor.
v. 30. But if the Lord make a new thing, something unheard of until now, and the earth open her mouth and swallow them up, with all that appertain unto them, and they go down quick, while still alive, into the pit, then ye shall understand that these men have provoked the Lord.
v. 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;
v. 32. and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up and their houses, the families of the leaders, and all the men that appertained unto Korah, that is, his servants, and all their goods. The catastrophe included Korah, although he was probably not in his tent at the time, but somewhere between the Tabernacle and the section of the camp south of the Tabernacle, and next to the camp of the Kohathites, where the tribe of Reuben was encamped.
v. 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. It should be noted that the sons of Korah were not included in this punishment, Num 26:11. Their descendants were later known as the sons of Korah, a noted family of singers, 1Ch 6:18-22; 1Ch 9:19.
v. 34. And all Israel that were round about them fled at the cry of them, for the noise, as the abyss opened beneath them, was mingled with the shrieks of the doomed; for they said, Lest the earth swallow us up also. It was not a case of wholesome fear, however, which would have led them to repentance, but of slavish dread, which cowed without conquering them.
v. 35. And there came out a fire from the Lord and consumed the two hundred and fifty men that offered incense, and thus, like Nadab and Abihu, offered strange fire before the Lord, Lev 10:2.
v. 36. And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
v. 37. Speak unto Eleazar, the son of Aaron, the priest, that he take up the censers out of the burning, out of the midst of those that had been destroyed by the fire of the Lord, and scatter thou the fire yonder, that is, the coals of fire that were in the censers; for they are hallowed, consecrated by virtue of the fact that they had been presented before Jehovah.
v. 38. The censers of these sinners against their own souls, who by their sin had forfeited their lives, let them (the artisans) make them broad plates for a covering of the altar; for they offered them before the Lord, although without authority, therefore they are hallowed; and they shall be a sign unto the children of Israel, lest some one else encroach upon the functions of the priesthood in the same manner and perish for his foolhardiness.
v. 39. And Eleazar, the priest, took the brazen censers, wherewith they that were burned had offered; and they were made broad plates for a covering of the altar,
v. 40. to be a memorial unto the children of Israel, that no stranger, which is not of the seed of Aaron, even an Israelite who does not belong to the family of priests, 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. Christians will also be careful to remember that God is opposed to the haughty spirits who occasionally rise and wish to set aside the regular office of the ministry.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv18, 20, 23, 25, 28, 31, 33 tent of meeting
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tent of meeting
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unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv16, 18, 19, 21, 26, 28, 31, 34 16:16-17 Moses gave final instructions concerning the test to…
16:16-17 Moses gave final instructions concerning the test to see if the Lord would accept what the rebels brought or what Aaron offered.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.