Numbers 16:28-38

28 Moses said, "By this you shall know that 1the LORD has sent me to do all these deeds; for this is not my doing *.
29 "If these men die the death of all men or if they suffer the 2fate of all men, then the LORD has not sent me.
30 "But 3if the LORD brings about an entirely new thing and the ground opens its mouth and swallows them up with all that is theirs, and they 4descend alive into Sheol, then you will understand that these men have spurned the LORD."
31 As he finished speaking all these words, the ground that was under them split open;
32 and 5the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, and their households, and 6all the men who belonged to Korah with their possessions.
33 So they and all that belonged to them went down alive to Sheol; and the earth closed over them, and they perished from the midst of the assembly.
34 All Israel who were around them fled at their outcry, for they said, "The earth may swallow us up!"
35 7Fire also came forth from the LORD and consumed the 8two hundred and fifty men who were offering the incense.
36 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
37 "Say to Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, that he shall take up the censers out of the midst of the blaze, for they are holy; and you scatter the burning coals abroad.
38 "As for the censers of these men * who have sinned at the cost of their lives, let them be made into hammered sheets for a plating of the altar, since they did present them before the LORD and they are holy; and 9they shall be for a sign to the sons of Israel."

Numbers 16:28-38 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.

Cross References 9

  • 1. Exodus 3:12-15; Exodus 4:12, 15
  • 2. Ecclesiastes 3:19
  • 3. Job 31:2, 3
  • 4. Psalms 55:15
  • 5. Numbers 26:10; Deuteronomy 11:6; Psalms 106:17
  • 6. Numbers 26:11
  • 7. Numbers 11:1-3; Numbers 26:10
  • 8. Numbers 16:2
  • 9. Ezekiel 14:8; 2 Peter 2:6

Footnotes 11

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