Numbers 16:36-40

36 The LORD said to Moses,

37 “Tell Eleazar son of Aaron, the priest, to remove the censers from the charred remains and scatter the coals some distance away, for the censers are holy—

38 the censers of the men who sinned at the cost of their lives. Hammer the censers into sheets to overlay the altar, for they were presented before the LORD and have become holy. Let them be a sign to the Israelites.”

39 So Eleazar the priest collected the bronze censers brought by those who had been burned to death, and he had them hammered out to overlay the altar,

40 as the LORD directed him through Moses. This was to remind the Israelites that no one except a descendant of Aaron should come to burn incense before the LORD, or he would become like Korah and his followers.

Numbers 16:36-40 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

• 1. S Exodus 6:23
• 2. ver 6
• 3. Leviticus 10:1; Proverbs 20:2
• 4. S Exodus 20:24; Exodus 38:1-7
• 5. Numbers 26:10; Deuteronomy 28:46; Jeremiah 44:29; Ezekiel 14:8; 2 Peter 2:6
• 6. 2 Chronicles 26:18
• 7. S Leviticus 20:14
• 8. S Exodus 30:1; 2 Kings 12:3; Isaiah 1:13; Isaiah 66:3; Jeremiah 41:5; Jeremiah 44:3; Exodus 30:7-10; Numbers 1:51
• 9. S Exodus 30:9; 2 Chronicles 26:18
• 10. S Numbers 3:10