Numbers 16
Expanded Bible
Korah, Dathan, Abiram, and On
16 Korah, Dathan, Abiram, and On turned against Moses. (Korah was the son of Izhar [26:9–11; 27:3; Ex. 6:21, 24], the son of Kohath, the son of Levi; Dathan and Abiram were brothers [Deut. 11:6; Ps. 106:17], the sons of Eliab; and On was the son of Peleth; Dathan, Abiram, and On were from the tribe of Reuben [Gen. 49:3–4].) 2 These men gathered two hundred fifty other ·Israelite men [L men of the sons/T children of Israel], ·well-known leaders [L men of name/reputation] chosen by the ·community [congregation; assembly], and ·challenged [confronted] Moses. 3 They ·came as a group to speak to [L assembled against] Moses and Aaron and said, “You have gone too far. All the ·people [community; congregation; assembly] are holy, every one of them, and the Lord is among them [Ex. 19:6]. So why do you put yourselves above all the ·people [assembly; crowd] of the Lord?”
4 When Moses heard this, he ·bowed facedown [L fell on his face]. 5 Then he said to Korah and all his ·followers [community; congregation; assembly]: “Tomorrow morning the Lord will show who belongs to him. He will bring the one who is holy near to him; he will bring to himself the person he chooses. 6 So Korah, you and all your ·followers [community; congregation; assembly] do this: Get some ·pans for burning incense [censers; firepans]. 7 Tomorrow put fire and incense in them and take them before the Lord [Lev. 10:1–2]. He will choose the man who is holy. You ·Levites [L sons/descendants of Levi] have gone too far.”
8 Moses also said to Korah, “Listen, you ·Levites [L sons of Levi]. 9 The God of Israel has ·separated [divided] you from the rest of the ·Israelites [L community/congregation/assembly of Israel]. He brought you near to himself to do the work in the Lord’s ·Holy Tent [Tabernacle] and to stand before all the ·Israelites [community; congregation; assembly] and ·serve [minister to] them [8:14; Ex. 32:29; Lev. 8–9; Deut. 33:8–11]. ·Isn’t that enough [L Is it too little for you]? 10 He has brought you and all your ·fellow [brother] ·Levites [L sons of Levi] near to himself, yet now you ·want to be priests [L seek the priesthood]. 11 You and your ·followers [community; congregation; assembly] have joined together against the Lord. ·Your complaint is not against Aaron [L Who is Aaron that you complain/grumble against him?].”
12 Then Moses called Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, but they said, “We will not come! 13 Is it too little that you have brought us out of a ·fertile land [L land flowing with milk and honey; C Egypt] to this ·desert [wilderness] to kill us? Now you want to ·order us around [lord it over us]. 14 You haven’t brought us into a ·fertile land [L land flowing with milk and honey; Ex. 3:8]; you haven’t given us ·any land [L an inheritance] with fields and vineyards. Will you put out the eyes of these men? No! We will not come!”
15 Then Moses became very angry and said to the Lord, “Don’t accept their ·gifts [tribute]. I have not taken anything from them, not even a donkey, and I have not done wrong to any of them.”
16 Then Moses said to Korah, “You and all your ·followers [community; congregation; assembly] must stand before the Lord tomorrow. And Aaron will stand there with you and them. 17 Each of you must take your ·pan [censer; firepan] and put incense in it; present these two hundred fifty ·pans [censers; firepans] before the Lord. You and Aaron must also present your ·pans [censers; firepans].” 18 So each man got his ·pan [censer; firepan] and put burning incense in it and stood with Moses and Aaron at the entrance to the Meeting Tent. 19 Korah ·gathered [assembled] all his ·followers [community; congregation; assembly] who were against Moses and Aaron, and they stood at the entrance to the Meeting Tent. Then the glory of the Lord [C representing God’s manifest presence, often in the form of fire and smoke] appeared to everyone.
20 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, 21 “·Move away [Separate/Divide yourselves] from these men so I can destroy them quickly.”
22 But Moses and Aaron ·bowed facedown [L fell on their faces] and cried out, “God, you are the God ·over [of] the spirits of all ·people [flesh; 27:16; Gen 2:7]. Please don’t be angry with this whole ·group [community; congregation; assembly]. Only one man has really sinned.”
23 Then the Lord said to Moses, 24 “Tell ·everyone [the community/congregation/assembly] to ·move away from [L go up from around] the ·tents [dwellings] of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.”
25 Moses stood and went to Dathan and Abiram; the elders of Israel followed him. 26 Moses warned the people, “·Move away [Turn aside] from the tents of these evil men! Don’t touch anything of theirs, or you will be ·destroyed [swept away] because of their sins.” 27 So they ·moved away [went up] from the ·tents [dwellings] of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. Dathan and Abiram were standing outside their tents with their wives, children, and little babies.
28 Then Moses said, “Now you will know that the Lord has sent me to do all these things; it was not ·my idea [L from my heart/mind]. 29 If these men die a normal death—·the way men usually die [if a normal fate comes on them]—then the Lord did not really send me. 30 But if the Lord ·does [L creates] something new, you will know they have ·insulted [despised] the Lord. The ground will open and swallow them. They will be buried alive and will go to ·the place of the dead [L Sheol; C the grave or the underworld], and everything that belongs to them will go with them.”
31 When Moses finished saying these things, the ground under the men split open. 32 The earth opened its mouth and swallowed them and all their families. All Korah’s men and everything they owned went down. 33 They were buried alive, going to ·the place of the dead [L Sheol ;C the grave or the underworld], and everything they owned went with them. Then the earth covered them. They ·died and were gone [perished] from the ·community [assembly; crowd]. 34 ·The people of [L All] Israel around them heard their screams and ran away, saying, “The earth will swallow us, too!”
35 Then a fire came ·down [or out] from the Lord and ·destroyed [consumed] the two hundred fifty men who had presented the incense [Lev. 10:1–2].
36 The Lord said to Moses, 37 “Tell Eleazar son of Aaron, the priest, to take all the ·incense pans [censers; firepans] out of the ·fire [flames]. Have him scatter the ·coals [L fire] a long distance away. But the ·incense pans [censers; firepans] are still holy. 38 Take the ·pans [censers; firepans] of these men who sinned and lost their lives, and hammer them into flat sheets that will be used to cover the altar. They are holy, because they were presented to the Lord, and they will be a sign to the ·Israelites [L sons/T children of Israel].”
39 So Eleazar the priest gathered all the bronze ·pans [censers; firepans] that had been brought by the men who were burned up. He had the ·pans [censers; firepans] hammered into flat sheets to put on the altar, 40 as the Lord had commanded him through Moses. These sheets were to remind the Israelites that only ·descendants [L the seed] of Aaron should burn incense before the Lord. Anyone else would die like Korah and his ·followers [community; congregation; assembly].
Aaron Saves the People
41 The next day all the ·Israelites [L community/congregation/assembly of the sons/T children of Israel] ·complained [grumbled] against Moses and Aaron and said, “You have killed the Lord’s people.”
42 When the ·people [community; congregation; assembly] ·gathered [assembled] to ·complain [grumble] against Moses and Aaron, they turned toward the Meeting Tent, and the cloud covered it. The glory of the Lord [C representing his manifest presence] appeared. 43 Then Moses and Aaron went in front of the Meeting Tent.
44 The Lord said to Moses, 45 “Move away from ·these people [this community/congregation/assembly] so I can ·destroy [consume] them quickly.” So Moses and Aaron ·bowed facedown [L fell on their faces].
46 Then Moses said to Aaron, “Get your ·pan [censer; firepan], and put fire from the altar and incense in it. Hurry to the people and ·remove their sin [make atonement for them]. The Lord is angry with them; the ·sickness [plague; pestilence] has already started.” 47 So Aaron did as Moses said. He ran to the middle of the ·people [assembly; crowd], where the ·sickness [plague; pestilence] had already started among them. So Aaron offered the incense to ·remove their sin [make atonement for them]. 48 He stood between the dead and the living, and the ·sickness [plague; pestilence] stopped there. 49 But 14,700 people died from that ·sickness [plague; pestilence], in addition to those who died because of Korah. 50 Then Aaron went back to Moses at the entrance to the Meeting Tent. The terrible ·sickness [plague; pestilence] had been stopped.
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 2 two hundred and fifty Israelites who were leaders in the community, members of the council and men of note, and confronted Moses. 3 Holding 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?”
4 When Moses heard this, he fell prostrate. 5 Then 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. 6 Do this: take your censers, Korah and all his faction, 7 and 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!”
8 Moses 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? 10 He has allowed you and your Levite kinsmen with you to approach him, and yet you seek the priesthood too. 11 It 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. 12 Moses summoned Dathan and Abiram, sons of Eliab, but they answered, “We will not go.[c] 13 Are 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? 14 Far 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.”
15 Then 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. 16 Moses said to Korah, “You and all your faction shall appear before the Lord tomorrow—you and they and Aaron too. 17 Then 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.” 18 So 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. 19 Then, 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, 20 and the Lord said to Moses and Aaron: 21 Stand apart from this community, that I may consume them at once. 22 But 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?” 23 The Lord answered Moses: 24 Speak to the community and tell them: Withdraw from the area around the tent[e] of Korah, Dathan and Abiram.
Punishment of Dathan and Abiram. 25 Moses, followed by the elders of Israel, arose and went to Dathan and Abiram.[f] 26 Then 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.” 27 So 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, 28 Moses 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: 29 if these die an ordinary death, merely suffering the fate common to all humanity, the Lord has not sent me. 30 But 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, 32 and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them and their families and all of Korah’s people[h] with all their possessions. 33 They went down alive to Sheol with all belonging to them; the earth closed over them, and they disappeared from the assembly. 34 But all the Israelites near them fled at their shrieks, saying, “The earth might swallow us too!”
Punishment of Korah. 35 And 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.
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