Chapter Sixteen
The Rebellion of Korah and His Men
16:1 Now Korah the son of Izhar, son of Kohath, 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 a number of the people of Israel, 250 chiefs of the congregation, chosen from the assembly, well-known men. 3 They assembled themselves together against Moses and against Aaron and said to them, “You have gone too far! For all in the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the LORD is among them. Why then do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the LORD?” 4 When Moses heard it, he fell on his face, 5 and he said to Korah and all his company, “In the morning the LORD will show who is his, and who is holy, and will bring him near to him. The one whom he chooses he will bring near to him. 6 Do this: take censers, Korah and all his company; 7 put fire in them and put incense on them before the LORD tomorrow, and the man whom the LORD chooses shall be the holy one. You have gone too far, sons of Levi!” 8 And Moses said to Korah, “Hear now, you sons of Levi: 9 is it too small a thing for you that the God of Israel has separated you from the congregation of Israel, to bring you near to himself, to do service in the tabernacle of the LORD and to stand before the congregation to minister to them, 10 and that he has brought you near him, and all your brothers the sons of Levi with you? And would you seek the priesthood also? 11 Therefore it is against the LORD that you and all your company have gathered together. What is Aaron that you grumble against him?”
Izhar was the brother of Moses’ father, making Korah Moses’ cousin (see Exodus 6:14-25). He and three members of the tribe of Reuben revolted against Moses, along with 250 influential men that were well-known leaders (no other information is provided about these men). Being Moses’ cousin may have blinded Korah with envy as he perceived Moses getting all the attention. Perhaps he was either thinking Moses was lying and promoting only his own agenda, or that he was no different than himself. Just as Jesus had little to no support from His family before His resurrection (see Matthew 13:55-57; Mark 3:21, 31-35; 6:4; Luke 4:24; John 1:11; 4:44; 7:5; Acts 1:14), close family and friends often have the greatest difficulty in accepting someone as being unique.
Korah and his men came together to confront and oppose Moses and Aaron. They told them that they have gone too far by ordering them to turn away from the Promised Land. They also told them that all the people of Israel are holy, set apart for God and that YHWH is with them, so they asked why they act as though they were greater than the rest of YHWH’s people. As soon as Moses heard those words, he immediately fell on his face, a humble act of contrition, understanding that God was certainly not going to allow another rebellion.
Moses then replied, “Tomorrow morning the LORD will show us who belongs to him and who is holy. The LORD will allow only those whom he selects to enter his own presence.” (Numbers 16:5, NLT) He then explains how this test will work, each are to take their censors (or fire pans) and place incense in them and light the incense on fire before YHWH and the one that God chooses will the holy one. Moses knew that God would not allow unauthorized fire to be presented before Him (see Leviticus 10:1-2).
Moses then warns Korah; that he is the one that has gone too far! Regarding the labor of the Levites serving God through the logistics of moving the Tabernacle, Moses asks Korah a series of direct questions. Is it not enough for you that God has separated him and the other Levites from the rest of Israel, to bring you to Himself in service of the Tabernacle, to stand before the congregation to minister to them? But now you are trying to get the priesthood too? It is against God that you have banded together, not me or Aaron, besides, why are you grumbling against Aaron anyway?
16:12 And Moses sent to call Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab, and they said, “We will not come up. 13 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, that you must also make yourself a prince over us? 14 Moreover, you have not 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 will not come up.” 15 And Moses was very angry and said to the LORD, “Do not respect their offering. I have not taken one donkey from them, and I have not harmed one of them.”
Apparently, Korah’s co-conspirators, Dathan and Abiram were not with Korah at this time, so Moses sent for them. They refused to come, replying, isn’t it enough that you brought us out of Egypt to die in the wilderness that you now want to order us around too? They further complain that he did not bring them to the land flowing with milk or honey nor has he given them any inheritance of any field or vineyard. They then ask a strange question, “Will you put out the eyes of these men?” Essentially the equivalent of the expression to, “pull the wool over the eyes,” asking if Moses intends to deceive these men (possibly referring to the elders or perhaps to themselves), in either case, they are not coming.
Moses became very angry and asked God to not respect their offering, saying that he has, “not taken so much as a donkey from them, and I have never hurt a single one of them.” (Numbers 16:15b, NLT)
It is interesting to note that there is no further mention of the third instigator ‘On’, his name only appears in the Bible the one time in verse one.
16:16 And Moses said to Korah, “Be present, you and all your company, before the LORD, you and they, and Aaron, tomorrow. 17 And let every one of you take his censer and put incense on it, and every one of you bring before the LORD his censer, 250 censers; you also, and Aaron, each his censer.” 18 So every man took his censer and put fire in them and laid incense on them and stood at the entrance of the tent of meeting with Moses and Aaron. 19 Then Korah assembled all the congregation against them at the entrance of the tent of meeting. And the glory of the LORD appeared to all the congregation.
Moses tells Korah to arrange having all the 250 men that oppose Moses and Aaron to come to the Tabernacle on the following day, each with censers and incense in hand. On that day they did what Moses asked and assembled in front of the entrance to the Tabernacle. The reference to the congregation is sometimes interpreted as being the 250 men, however the text here (and later, see verse 34) seems to imply that Korah was able to stir up the entire community against Moses and Aaron. But before they could proceed with the test Moses proposed, the glory of YHWH appeared.
16:20 And the LORD spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, 21 “Separate yourselves from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment.” 22 And they fell on their faces and said, “O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and will you be angry with all the congregation?” 23 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 24 “Say to the congregation, Get away from the dwelling of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.”
It is unclear if the test that Moses selected to identify who God would choose, using burning incense, was sanctioned by God. Whether approved or not, Moses’ test was countermanded by God, it was time for judgment. God told Moses and Aaron essentially to “step aside,” from the people so that He could eliminate them all. Both Moses and Aaron immediately fall prostrate before God, pleading with the “God of the spirits of all flesh,” to consider that it was only one man’s sin that brought these people out. The Hebrew word translated as ‘spirits’ is ‘rû·ḥōṯ’,[1] here referring to breath and since breathing is what indicates life in a person or animal, it can also refer to life, giving the phrase the meaning of “God, the source of life for all flesh.” Moses’ intercession worked as he was told by God to instruct the people to get away from Korath, Dathan, Abiram and their dwelling places.
16:25 Then Moses rose and went to Dathan and Abiram, and the elders of Israel followed him. 26 And he spoke to the congregation, saying, “Depart, please, from the tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing of theirs, lest you be swept away with all their sins.” 27 So they got away from the dwelling of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. And Dathan and Abiram came out and stood at the door of their tents, together with their wives, their sons, and their little ones. 28 And Moses said, “Hereby you shall know that the LORD has sent me to do all these works, and that it has not been of my own accord. 29 If these men die as all men die, or if they are visited by the fate of all mankind, then the LORD has not sent me. 30 But if the LORD creates something new, and the ground opens its mouth and swallows them up with all that belongs to them, and they go down alive into Sheol, then you shall know that these men have despised the LORD.”
Dathan and Abiram were not in attendance, as they refused to come to Moses, so Moses came to them to warn others to leave their tents. Dathan and Abiram together with their family members stood at the opening of their tents while Moses informed them the rules of another test, where the men responsible for instigating the insurrection will be judged first. If God did not appoint Moses to lead, they would live out their normal lives (referred to as the “fate of all mankind”). But, if God did send Moses to lead the people of Israel and these men are indeed in violation of God’s wishes, effectively despising YHWH, the ground will open and swallow them, their families and everything they own.
16:31 And as soon as he had finished speaking all these words, the ground under them split apart. 32 And the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, with their households and all the people who belonged to Korah and all their goods. 33 So they and all that belonged to them went down alive into Sheol, and the earth closed over them, and they perished from the midst of the assembly. 34 And all Israel who were around them fled at their cry, for they said, “Lest the earth swallow us up!” 35 And fire came out from the LORD and consumed the 250 men offering the incense.
The moment Moses finished speaking, the ground split open and swallowed Dathan, Abiram, Korah, their family members and all their belongings, sending them to Sheol. After the earth closed over them, the people of Israel ran off in a panic, concerned that they wound be next. God also sent fire to consume the 250 men who came that day to challenge Moses and Aaron, apparently still standing around the Tabernacle with incense in their censers.
16:36 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 37 “Tell Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest to take up the censers out of the blaze. Then scatter the fire far and wide, for they have become holy. 38 As for the censers of these men who have sinned at the cost of their lives, let them be made into hammered plates as a covering for the altar, for they offered them before the LORD, and they became holy. Thus they shall be a sign to the people of Israel.” 39 So Eleazar the priest took the bronze censers, which those who were burned had offered, and they were hammered out as a covering for the altar, 40 to be a reminder to the people of Israel, so that no outsider, who is not of the descendants of Aaron, should draw near to burn incense before the LORD, lest he become like Korah and his company—as the LORD said to him through Moses.
God told Moses to have Eleazar pick up all of the censers that the 250 men were holding. He was also to spread out the burning debris as it was considered holy (some believe that the original coals to light the incense were removed from the bronze altar, making the coals holy, however, that detail is not mentioned, nor is there any indication that the incense was previously lit). The 250 censers were to be fashioned into a cover for the bronze altar, to be a warning sign. When seen by the people of Israel they would remember this attempt of insurrection and rebellion. In addition, it would serve to remind them that only a priest could approach YHWH at the Tabernacle and burn incense. Eleazar did as he was instructed to do.
16:41 But on the next day all the congregation of the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and against Aaron, saying, “You have killed the people of the LORD.” 42 And when the congregation had assembled against Moses and against Aaron, they turned toward the tent of meeting. And behold, the cloud covered it, and the glory of the LORD appeared. 43 And Moses and Aaron came to the front of the tent of meeting, 44 and the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 45 “Get away from the midst of this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment.” And they fell on their faces. 46 And Moses said to Aaron, “Take your censer, and put fire on it from off the altar and lay incense on it and carry it quickly to the congregation and make atonement for them, for wrath has gone out from the LORD; the plague has begun.” 47 So Aaron took it as Moses said and ran into the midst of the assembly. And behold, the plague had already begun among the people. And he put on the incense and made atonement for the people. 48 And he stood between the dead and the living, and the plague was stopped. 49 Now those who died in the plague were 14,700, besides those who died in the affair of Korah. 50 And Aaron returned to Moses at the entrance of the tent of meeting, when the plague was stopped.
Sadly, the people did not understand what took place and were convinced that Moses and Aaron were working independently away from God and that they managed to kill off the real men of God. After accusing Moses and Aaron, they turned and looked toward the Tabernacle as a cloud covered it and the glory of YHWH appeared. God told Moses to get away as He was going to consume them there. Both Moses and Aaron immediately fell prostrate before God. Moses told Aaron to take his censer and light the incense with the fire from the bronze altar and carry it quickly to the people to make atonement for them, as the fast-acting plague had already begun (the previous argument regarding the guilt was from only a few men was no longer valid). Aaron did as he was instructed, and he ran into the midst of the people running before those that had died and those that were still living, then the plague stopped. A total of 14,700 died as a because of Korah’s rebellion. This act of rebellion and the subsequent loss of life was later referenced by Jude, in his epistle, as an example of where false teaching leads, namely to the destruction of themselves and to others (see Jude 11).
Like how some of the verses in Leviticus chapters five, six, and seven were either rearranged or assigned to a different chapter,[2] these last verses of chapter 16 were assigned as the first 15 verses of chapter 17 in many Jewish publications to provide story continuity.
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[1] See commentary under Genesis 1:26-27.
[2] See Considerations under Leviticus 5:17-19.