Numbers 16

New American Bible (Revised Edition)

Chapter 16

Rebellion of Korah. ¹^[a]Korah, son of Izhar, son of Kohath, son of Levi, and the Reubenites Dathan and Abiram, sons of Eliab, and On, son of Peleth,^[b] son of Reuben took ²two hundred and fifty Israelites who were leaders in the community, members of the council and men of note, and confronted Moses. ³Holding an assembly against Moses and Aaron, they said,^(A) “You go too far! The whole community, all of them, are holy; the Lord is in their midst. Why then should you set yourselves over the Lord’s assembly?”

⁴When Moses heard this, he fell prostrate. ⁵Then he said to Korah and to all his faction, “May the Lord make known tomorrow morning who belongs to him and who is the holy one and whom he will have draw near to him! The one whom he chooses, he will have draw near to him. ⁶Do this: take your censers, Korah and all his faction, ⁷and put fire in them and place incense in them before the Lord tomorrow. He whom the Lord then chooses is the holy one. You Levites go too far!”

⁸Moses also said to Korah, “Hear, now, you Levites! ⁹^(B)Are you not satisfied that the God of Israel has singled you out from the community of Israel, to have you draw near him to maintain the Lord’s tabernacle, and to attend upon the community and to serve them? ¹⁰He has allowed you and your Levite kinsmen with you to approach him, and yet you seek the priesthood too. ¹¹It is therefore against the Lord that you and all your faction are conspiring. As for Aaron, what has he done that you should grumble against him?”

Rebellion of Dathan and Abiram. ¹²Moses summoned Dathan and Abiram, sons of Eliab, but they answered, “We will not go.^[c] ¹³Are you not satisfied that you have brought us here from a land flowing with milk and honey to have us perish in the wilderness, that now you must also lord it over us? ¹⁴Far from bringing us to a land flowing with milk and honey, or giving us fields and vineyards for our inheritance, will you gouge out our eyes?^[d] No, we will not go.”

¹⁵Then Moses became very angry and said to the Lord, “Pay no attention to their offering. I have never taken a single donkey from them, nor have I wronged any one of them.”^(C)

Korah. ¹⁶Moses said to Korah, “You and all your faction shall appear before the Lord tomorrow—you and they and Aaron too. ¹⁷Then each of you take his own censer, put incense in it, and present it before the Lord, two hundred and fifty censers; and you and Aaron, each with his own censer, do the same.” ¹⁸So each of them took their censers, and laying incense on the fire they had put in them, they took their stand by the entrance of the tent of meeting along with Moses and Aaron. ¹⁹Then, when Korah had assembled all the community against them at the entrance of the tent of meeting, the glory of the Lord appeared to the entire community, ²⁰and the Lord said to Moses and Aaron: ²¹Stand apart from this community, that I may consume them at once. ²²But they fell prostrate and exclaimed, “O God, God of the spirits of all living creatures, if one man sins will you be angry with the whole community?” ²³The Lord answered Moses: ²⁴Speak to the community and tell them: Withdraw from the area around the tent^[e] of Korah, Dathan and Abiram.

Punishment of Dathan and Abiram. ²⁵Moses, followed by the elders of Israel, arose and went to Dathan and Abiram.^[f] ²⁶Then he spoke to the community, “Move away from the tents of these wicked men and do not touch anything that is theirs: otherwise you too will be swept away because of all their sins.” ²⁷So they withdrew from the area around the tents of Korah, Dathan and Abiram. When Dathan and Abiram had come out and were standing at the entrance of their tents with their wives, their children, and their little ones, ²⁸Moses said, “This is how you shall know that the Lord sent me to do all I have done, and that it was not of my own devising: ²⁹if these die an ordinary death, merely suffering the fate common to all humanity, the Lord has not sent me. ³⁰But if the Lord makes a chasm, and the ground opens its mouth and swallows them with all belonging to them, and they go down alive to Sheol,^[g] then you will know that these men have spurned the Lord.” ³¹^(D)No sooner had he finished saying all this than the ground beneath them split open, ³²and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them and their families and all of Korah’s people^[h] with all their possessions. ³³They went down alive to Sheol with all belonging to them; the earth closed over them, and they disappeared from the assembly. ³⁴But all the Israelites near them fled at their shrieks, saying, “The earth might swallow us too!”

Punishment of Korah. ³⁵And fire from the Lord came forth which consumed the two hundred and fifty men who were offering the incense.

Footnotes

16:1–3 The evidence seems to show that accounts of two, if not more, distinct rebellions have been combined in this chapter. The most obvious are the rebellions of Korah and his faction (Nm 27:3) and of Dathan and Abiram (Dt 11:6); cf. Ps 106. The present account combines both events into one narrative; but even here it is rather easy to separate the two. The rebellion of the Reubenites, Dathan and Abiram, was more political in character, against Moses alone as the civil leader (cf. v. 13); these rebels were punished by being swallowed alive in an earthquake. The rebellion of Korah was more religious in character, directed primarily against the religious leadership of Aaron (though in vv. 19–22 it is Korah and the whole community against both Moses and Aaron). About two hundred and fifty malcontents joined Korah’s faction, and they are punished by fire. The parts of the present section which refer to the rebellion of Dathan and Abiram are vv. 12–15 and vv. 25–34 of chap. 16; the rest of chap. 16 and all of chap. 17 chiefly concern the rebellion of Korah.
16:1 The Reubenites…son of Peleth: some suggest on the basis of 26:5, 8 and Gn 46:9 reading instead of the traditional Hebrew text: “son of Levi, and Dathan and Abiram, sons of Eliab, son of Pallu, son of Reuben.”
16:12 We will not go: to appear before Moses’ “tribunal.”
16:14 Gouge out our eyes: blind us to the real state of affairs.
16:24 Withdraw from the area around the tent: the word for “tent,” mishkan, here and in v. 27, is otherwise used in the singular only for the tent of meeting, suggesting possibly the erection of a rival sanctuary by the rebels. Note further, as an indication of the fact that various accounts of rebellion have been fused here, that in v. 19 the entire community had been assembled by Korah at the tent of meeting.
16:25 Since Dathan and Abiram had refused to go to Moses (vv. 12–14), he, with the elders as witnesses, was obliged to go to their tents.
16:30 Sheol: see note on Ps 6:6.
16:32 And all of Korah’s people: the implication of this secondary addition to the text is, on the one hand, that Korah met his death elsewhere, presumably with the two hundred and fifty offering incense (vv. 16–17, 35); or, on the other hand, he died along with Dathan and Abiram in the splitting of the earth.

民數記 16

Chinese Union Version Modern Punctuation (Traditional)

可拉黨叛亂

16 利未的曾孫、哥轄的孫子、以斯哈的兒子可拉，和魯本子孫中以利押的兒子大坍、亞比蘭，與比勒的兒子安， ²並以色列會中的二百五十個首領，就是有名望選入會中的人，在摩西面前一同起來， ³聚集攻擊摩西、亞倫，說：「你們擅自專權。全會眾個個既是聖潔，耶和華也在他們中間，你們為什麼自高，超過耶和華的會眾呢？」

⁴摩西聽見這話就俯伏在地， ⁵對可拉和他一黨的人說：「到了早晨，耶和華必指示誰是屬他的，誰是聖潔的，就叫誰親近他。他所揀選的是誰，必叫誰親近他。 ⁶可拉啊，你們要這樣行：你和你的一黨要拿香爐來， ⁷明日在耶和華面前，把火盛在爐中，把香放在其上。耶和華揀選誰，誰就為聖潔。你們這利未的子孫擅自專權了！」 ⁸摩西又對可拉說：「利未的子孫哪，你們聽我說。 ⁹以色列的神從以色列會中將你們分別出來，使你們親近他，辦耶和華帳幕的事，並站在會眾面前替他們當差。 ¹⁰耶和華又使你，和你一切弟兄利未的子孫，一同親近他，這豈為小事，你們還要求祭司的職任嗎？ ¹¹你和你一黨的人聚集是要攻擊耶和華，亞倫算什麼，你們竟向他發怨言呢？」

¹²摩西打發人去召以利押的兒子大坍、亞比蘭。他們說：「我們不上去。 ¹³你將我們從流奶與蜜之地領上來，要在曠野殺我們，這豈為小事，你還要自立為王轄管我們嗎？ ¹⁴並且你沒有將我們領到流奶與蜜之地，也沒有把田地和葡萄園給我們為業。難道你要剜這些人的眼睛嗎？我們不上去。」

¹⁵摩西就甚發怒，對耶和華說：「求你不要享受他們的供物。我並沒有奪過他們一匹驢，也沒有害過他們一個人。」 ¹⁶摩西對可拉說：「明天你和你一黨的人，並亞倫，都要站在耶和華面前。 ¹⁷各人要拿一個香爐，共二百五十個，把香放在上面，到耶和華面前。你和亞倫也各拿自己的香爐。」 ¹⁸於是他們各人拿一個香爐，盛上火，加上香，同摩西、亞倫站在會幕門前。 ¹⁹可拉招聚全會眾到會幕門前，要攻擊摩西、亞倫。耶和華的榮光就向全會眾顯現。

²⁰耶和華曉諭摩西、亞倫說： ²¹「你們離開這會眾，我好在轉眼之間把他們滅絕。」 ²²摩西、亞倫就俯伏在地，說：「神，萬人之靈的神啊！一人犯罪，你就要向全會眾發怒嗎？」 ²³耶和華曉諭摩西說： ²⁴「你吩咐會眾說：你們離開可拉、大坍、亞比蘭帳篷的四圍。」

²⁵摩西起來，往大坍、亞比蘭那裡去，以色列的長老也隨著他去。 ²⁶他吩咐會眾說：「你們離開這惡人的帳篷吧，他們的物件，什麼都不可摸，恐怕你們陷在他們的罪中，與他們一同消滅。」 ²⁷於是眾人離開可拉、大坍、亞比蘭帳篷的四圍。大坍、亞比蘭帶著妻子、兒女、小孩子，都出來，站在自己的帳篷門口。 ²⁸摩西說：「我行的這一切事本不是憑我自己心意行的，乃是耶和華打發我行的，必有證據使你們知道。 ²⁹這些人死若與世人無異，或是他們所遭的與世人相同，就不是耶和華打發我來的。 ³⁰倘若耶和華創作一件新事，使地開口，把他們和一切屬他們的都吞下去，叫他們活活地墜落陰間，你們就明白這些人是藐視耶和華了。」

可拉黨受刑

³¹摩西剛說完了這一切話，他們腳下的地就開了口， ³²把他們和他們的家眷，並一切屬可拉的人丁、財物，都吞下去。 ³³這樣，他們和一切屬他們的都活活地墜落陰間。地口在他們上頭照舊合閉，他們就從會中滅亡。 ³⁴在他們四圍的以色列眾人聽他們呼號，就都逃跑，說：「恐怕地也把我們吞下去！」 ³⁵又有火從耶和華那裡出來，燒滅了那獻香的二百五十個人。

³⁶耶和華曉諭摩西說： ³⁷「你吩咐祭司亞倫的兒子以利亞撒從火中撿起那些香爐來，把火撒在別處，因為那些香爐是聖的。 ³⁸把那些犯罪自害己命之人的香爐，叫人錘成片子，用以包壇。那些香爐本是他們在耶和華面前獻過的，所以是聖的，並且可以給以色列人做記號。」 ³⁹於是祭司以利亞撒將被燒之人所獻的銅香爐拿來，人就錘出來，用以包壇， ⁴⁰給以色列人做紀念，使亞倫後裔之外的人不得近前來在耶和華面前燒香，免得他遭可拉和他一黨所遭的。這乃是照耶和華藉著摩西所吩咐的。

民怨摩西亞倫致遘疫癘

⁴¹第二天，以色列全會眾都向摩西、亞倫發怨言說：「你們殺了耶和華的百姓了！」 ⁴²會眾聚集攻擊摩西、亞倫的時候，向會幕觀看，不料，有雲彩遮蓋了，耶和華的榮光顯現。 ⁴³摩西、亞倫就來到會幕前。 ⁴⁴耶和華吩咐摩西說： ⁴⁵「你們離開這會眾，我好在轉眼之間把他們滅絕。」他們二人就俯伏於地。 ⁴⁶摩西對亞倫說：「拿你的香爐，把壇上的火盛在其中，又加上香，快快帶到會眾那裡，為他們贖罪。因為有憤怒從耶和華那裡出來，瘟疫已經發作了。」 ⁴⁷亞倫照著摩西所說的拿來，跑到會中，不料，瘟疫在百姓中已經發作了。他就加上香，為百姓贖罪。 ⁴⁸他站在活人死人中間，瘟疫就止住了。 ⁴⁹除了因可拉事情死的以外，遭瘟疫死的，共有一萬四千七百人。 ⁵⁰亞倫回到會幕門口，到摩西那裡，瘟疫已經止住了。

New American Bible (Revised Edition) (NABRE)

Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Chinese Union Version Modern Punctuation (Traditional) (CUVMPT)

Numbers 16 New American Bible (Revised Edition)