Numbers 16:24-34

24 "Speak to the community, saying, 'Move away from the dwelling of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.'"
25 So Moses stood up and went to Dathan and Abiram; the elders of Israel followed after him.
26 He said to the community, saying, "Please turn away from the tents of these wicked men, and do not touch anything {that belongs to them}, or you will be destroyed with all their sins."
27 And so they moved away from around the dwellings of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram; and Dathan and Abiram came out standing [at] the doorway of their tents, with their wives, sons, and little children.
28 And Moses said, "In this you will know that Yahweh has sent me to do all these works; [it is] not from my heart.
29 {If they die a natural death} or {if a natural fate is visited upon them}, Yahweh has not sent me.
30 But if Yahweh creates something new, and the ground opens its mouth and swallows them up and {all that belongs to them}, and they go down alive [to] Sheol, and you will know that these men have despised Yahweh."
31 And it happened, as soon as he finished {speaking} all these words, the ground that [was] under them split open.
32 The land opened its mouth and swallowed them up with their houses and every person {that belonged to Korah} and all the property.
33 They went down alive [to] Sheol, they and all that belonged to them, and the land covered over them, and they perished from the midst of the assembly.
34 All Israel who [were] around them fled at their cry, because they said, "Lest the land swallow us up!"

Numbers 16:24-34 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO NUMBERS 16

This chapter gives an account of a sedition of Korah and others against Moses and Aaron, Nu 16:1-4, with whom Moses expostulates, and shows the unreasonableness of their clamour against Aaron, Nu 16:5-11; sends for Dathan and Abiram, who were in the confederacy, but refused to come, which greatly angered Moses, Nu 16:12-15; orders Korah and his company to appear before the Lord the next day, with Aaron, to have the controversy decided, Nu 16:16-18; when all the congregation gathered together would have been, consumed had it not been for the intercession of Moses and Aaron, Nu 16:19-22; and who, being separated from the rebels by the command of the Lord, some of the rebels were swallowed up in the earth, and others destroyed by fire from heaven, Nu 16:23-35; and their censers were made a covering for the altar, as a memorial of their sin, Nu 16:36-40; on which there was a new insurrection of the people, which brought a plague upon them, and destroyed 14,700 persons, and which was stopped at the intercession of Aaron, Nu 16:41-50.

Footnotes 7

  • [a]. Literally "that [is] to them"
  • [b]. Hebrew "dwelling"
  • [c]. Literally "If they die like the death of every human"
  • [d]. Literally "If the fate of every human is visited upon them"
  • [e]. Literally "All that [is] for them"
  • [f]. Literally "to speak"
  • [g]. Literally "that was to Korah"
Scripture quotations marked (LEB) are from the Lexham English Bible. Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software.