Numbers 16:42

42 Now when the people had come together against Moses and Aaron, looking in the direction of the Tent of meeting, they saw the cloud covering it, and the glory of the Lord came before their eyes.

Numbers 16:42 Meaning and Commentary

Numbers 16:42

And it came to pass, when the congregation was gathered
against Moses and against Aaron
To kill them, as the Targum of Jonathan adds; who, perhaps, upon uttering their murmurs, made up to them, and by their gestures showed an intention to murder them:

that they looked toward the tabernacle of the congregation;
either the people did, to see whether they could observe any appearance of the displeasure of God against them; or rather Moses and Aaron looked that way for help and deliverance in this extreme danger, knowing there was no salvation for them but of the Lord, ( Jeremiah 3:23 ) ;

and, behold, the cloud covered it;
as when it was first erected, and which was a token of the divine Presence, ( Numbers 9:15 Numbers 9:16 ) ; perhaps it had dispersed immediately upon the death of the rebels, and now returned again in favour of the servants of the Lord:

and the glory of the Lord appeared;
in the cloud, as in ( Numbers 16:19 ) ; to encourage Moses and Aaron, and to deliver them out of the hands of the people, and to the terror of them.

Numbers 16:42 In-Context

40 To be a sign, kept in memory for ever by the children of Israel, that no man who is not of the seed of Aaron has the right of burning spices before the Lord, so that he may not be like Korah and his band: as the Lord said to him by the mouth of Moses.

41 But on the day after, all the children of Israel made an outcry against Moses and against Aaron, saying, You have put to death the Lord's people.

42 Now when the people had come together against Moses and Aaron, looking in the direction of the Tent of meeting, they saw the cloud covering it, and the glory of the Lord came before their eyes.

43 Then Moses and Aaron came to the front of the Tent of meeting.

44 And the Lord said to Moses,