Numbers 16:31

31 The moment he finished speaking, the ground under them split apart -

Numbers 16:31 Meaning and Commentary

Numbers 16:31

And it came to pass, as he had made an end of speaking all
these things
As soon as he had finished his discourse, which was addressed to the congregation, and, according to Josephus ^F21, after a long prayer to God, which that writer gives at large; immediately so it was,

that the ground clave asunder that [was] under them;
on which they stood, not from any natural cause, as by subterranean volcano, forcibly making their way and bursting the earth, and so getting vent, which has been thought to be the cause of earthquakes; but this was by the immediate hand and almighty power of God, and came to pass just as Moses suggested it would, and as soon as he had uttered his words, which made it the more observable.

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FOOTNOTES:

F21 Antiqu. l. 4. c. 3. Sect. 2.

Numbers 16:31 In-Context

29 if these men die a natural death like other people, only sharing the fate common to all humanity, then ADONAI has not sent me.

30 But if ADONAI does something new - if the ground opens up and swallows them with everything they own, and they go down alive to Sh'ol - then you will understand that these men have had contempt for ADONAI."

31 The moment he finished speaking, the ground under them split apart -

32 the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up with their households, all the people who had sided with Korach and everything they owned.

33 So they and everything they owned went down alive into Sh'ol, the earth closed over them and their existence in the community ceased.