Numbers 16:34

34 And all Israel that were round about them fled at their cry; for they said, Lest the earth swallow us up!

Numbers 16:34 Meaning and Commentary

Numbers 16:34

And all Israel that were round about them fled at the cry of
them
Or because of it, as Aben Ezra; their cry was so loud, their shrieks so dreadful and piercing, that the Israelites about them fled to get out of the sound of them, as well as for their own safety. The Targum of Jonathan not only represents their cry as terrible, but gives the words they expressed at it;

``and all Israel that were round about them fled, because of the terror of their voice, when they cried and said, the Lord is righteous and his judgments truth, and truth are the words of Moses his servant, but we are wicked who have rebelled against him:''

for they said, lest the earth swallow us up [also];
which they might fear, since they had provoked the Lord, by associating with these men, and countenancing them by their presence, as they had done; who would have consumed them in a moment at first, had it not been for the intercession of Moses and Aaron.

Numbers 16:34 In-Context

32 And the earth opened its mouth, and swallowed them up, and their households, and all the men that belonged to Korah, and all their property.

33 And they went down, they and all that they had, alive into Sheol, and the earth covered them; and they perished from among the congregation.

34 And all Israel that were round about them fled at their cry; for they said, Lest the earth swallow us up!

35 And there came out a fire from Jehovah, and consumed the two hundred and fifty men that had presented incense.

36 And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying,