Numbers 16:42

42 When the people gathered to complain against Moses and Aaron, they turned toward the Meeting Tent, and the cloud covered it. The glory of the Lord appeared.

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 as the Lord had commanded him through Moses. These sheets were to remind the Israelites that only descendants of Aaron should burn incense before the Lord. Anyone else would die like Korah and his followers.
41 The next day all the Israelites complained against Moses and Aaron and said, "You have killed the Lord's people."
42 When the people gathered to complain against Moses and Aaron, they turned toward the Meeting Tent, and the cloud covered it. The glory of the Lord appeared.
43 Then Moses and Aaron went in front of the Meeting Tent.
44 The Lord said to Moses,
Scripture taken from the New Century Version. Copyright © 1987, 1988, 1991 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.