Back to Psalms 106

Psalms 106:16

They envied Moses also in the camp, and Aaron, Yahweh’s saint.

World English Bible · Public Domain

Parallel Translations

  • WEB World English Bible

    They envied Moses also in the camp, and Aaron, Yahweh’s saint.

  • KJV King James Version

    They envied Moses also in the camp, and Aaron the saint of the LORD.

  • JPS JPS Tanakh (1917)

    They were jealous also of Moses in the camp, and of Aaron the holy one of the LORD.

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Cross-references (4)

Passages linked to Psalms 106:16 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.

  • Numbers 16:1-50 Now Korah, the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, with Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On, the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took some men. They rose up before Moses, with some of the children of Israel, two hundred fifty princes of the congregation, called to the assembly, men of renown. They assembled themselves together against Moses and against Aaron, and said to them, “You take too much on yourself, since all the congregation are holy, everyone of them, and Yahweh is among them! Why do you lift yourselves up above Yahweh’s assembly?” When Moses heard it, he fell on his face. He said to Korah and to all his company, “In the morning, Yahweh will show who are his, and who is holy, and will cause him to come near to him. Even him whom he shall choose, he will cause to come near to him. Do this: have Korah and all his company take censers, put fire in them, and put incense on them before Yahweh tomorrow. It shall be that the man whom Yahweh chooses, he shall be holy. You have gone too far, you sons of Levi!” Moses said to Korah, “Hear now, you sons of Levi! Is it 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 Yahweh’s tabernacle, and to stand before the congregation to minister to them; and that he has brought you near, and all your brothers the sons of Levi with you? Do you seek the priesthood also? Therefore you and all your company have gathered together against Yahweh! What is Aaron that you complain against him?” Moses sent to call Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab; and they said, “We won’t come up! Is 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 you must also make yourself a prince over us? Moreover you haven’t brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey, nor given us inheritance of fields and vineyards. Will you put out the eyes of these men? We won’t come up.” Moses was very angry, and said to Yahweh, “Don’t respect their offering. I have not taken one donkey from them, neither have I hurt one of them.” 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. Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest, that he take up the censers out of the burning, and scatter the fire away from the camp; for they are holy, even the censers of those who sinned against their own lives. Let them be beaten into plates for a covering of the altar, for they offered them before Yahweh. Therefore they are holy. They shall be a sign to the children of Israel.” Eleazar the priest took the bronze censers which those who were burned had offered; and they beat them out for a covering of the altar, to be a memorial to the children of Israel, to the end that no stranger who isn’t of the offspring of Aaron, would come near to burn incense before Yahweh, that he not be as Korah, and as his company; as Yahweh spoke to him by Moses. But on the next day all the congregation of the children of Israel complained against Moses and against Aaron, saying, “You have killed Yahweh’s people!” When the congregation was assembled against Moses and against Aaron, they looked toward the Tent of Meeting. Behold, the cloud covered it, and Yahweh’s glory appeared. Moses and Aaron came to the front of the Tent of Meeting. Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, “Get away from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment!” They fell on their faces. Moses said to Aaron, “Take your censer, put fire from the altar in it, lay incense on it, carry it quickly to the congregation, and make atonement for them; for wrath has gone out from Yahweh! The plague has begun.” Aaron did as Moses said, and ran into the middle of the assembly. The plague had already begun among the people. He put on the incense, and made atonement for the people. He stood between the dead and the living; and the plague was stayed. Now those who died by the plague were fourteen thousand and seven hundred, in addition to those who died about the matter of Korah. Aaron returned to Moses to the door of the Tent of Meeting, and the plague was stopped.
  • Leviticus 21:10-12 “ ‘He who is the high priest among his brothers, upon whose head the anointing oil is poured, and who is consecrated to put on the garments, shall not let the hair of his head hang loose, or tear his clothes. He must not go in to any dead body, or defile himself for his father or for his mother. He shall not go out of the sanctuary, nor profane the sanctuary of his God; for the crown of the anointing oil of his God is upon him. I am Yahweh.
  • Exodus 28:36 “You shall make a plate of pure gold, and engrave on it, like the engravings of a signet, ‘HOLY TO YAHWEH.’
  • Leviticus 21:6-8 They shall be holy to their God, and not profane the name of their God, for they offer the offerings of Yahweh made by fire, the bread of their God. Therefore they shall be holy. “ ‘They shall not marry a woman who is a prostitute, or profane. A priest shall not marry a woman divorced from her husband; for he is holy to his God. Therefore you shall sanctify him, for he offers the bread of your God. He shall be holy to you, for I Yahweh, who sanctify you, am holy.

Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)

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Explain this verse (16 sources)

Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.

John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 16. And they envied He refers here very shortly…

16. And they envied He refers here very shortly to another transgression, and that, too, in such a way as to furnish both to himself and others ample grounds for deep consideration. For, as the people, in devising from time to time new modes of sinning, displayed so much cunning in their attempts to provoke God’s anger, so we ought the more to be filled with fear on that account. Moreover, when he says that they envied Moses and Aaron, his meaning is, that, acting under the influence of diabolic pride, they had risen up against God, and were endeavoring to throw off the yoke which he had laid upon them; according as Moses also said,

“What am I, and what is Aaron, that ye murmur against us?” (Numbers 16:11)

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As it was the will of God to rule the people by means of Moses and Aaron, not to submit to their rule was virtually to set themselves obstinately to resist the authority of God himself. There is therefore great importance attached to the term, envy, namely, that at the very time when God was treating the children of Israel with the utmost kindness and care, they yet were discontented with their lot, and rebelled against him. Could such madness serve any other purpose than to show, that, casting off all farther dependence upon the providence of God for their support, they aspire to rise above the very heavens? In this sense Aaron is called the saint of Jehovah, in order that we might know that both he and Moses were equally identified with God; for under the person of the one, the designation is applied to both, and in this way the prophet shows that they had been Divinely invested with that authority which they were exercising. In renouncing their authority, therefore, and, to the utmost of their power, dishonoring these saints, Dathan and Abiram were rebelling not against men, but against God.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Psa 106:16 They envied Moses also in the camp,…
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain So called here, not so much for his inherent…
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain They envied Moses also in the camp,.... That he…
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain The saint - So called, because he was consecrated…
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 16. They envied Moses] A reference to the…
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Psa 106:16-18. They envied Moses also — His authority;…
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain They envied Moses also in the camp - They…
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 16. Envied Moses… and Aaron—The allusion is to the…
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 16. the saint of the Lord] The holy one…
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (16) Saint.—The holy one. The complaint of the disaffected…
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain They envied Moses also in the camp. The writer…
Charles H. Spurgeon 1885 · Public Domain Ver. 16. They envied Moses also in the camp.…
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain They envied Moses.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 In the camp
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 106:16-18 The people became jealous because they presumed to…

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