Numbers 16:23-33

23 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

24 “Say to the congregation, Get away from the dwelling of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. ”

25 Then Moses rose and went to Dathan and Abiram, and the elders of Israel followed him.

26 And he spoke to the congregation, saying, ¹“Depart, please, from the tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing of theirs, lest you be swept away with all their sins. ”

27 So they got away from the dwelling of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. And Dathan and Abiram came out and stood ²at the door of their tents, together with their wives, their sons, and their little ones.

28 And Moses said, “Hereby you shall know that the Lord has sent me to do all these works, and that it has not been ³of my own accord.

29 If these men die as all men die, or if they are visited by the fate of all mankind, ⁴then the Lord has not sent me.

30 But if the Lord creates something new, and ⁵the ground opens its mouth and swallows them up with all that belongs to them, and they ⁶go down alive into Sheol, then you shall know that these men have despised the Lord. ”

31 ⁷And as soon as he had finished speaking all these words, the ground under them split apart.

32 And the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, with their households and ⁸all the people who belonged to Korah and all their goods.

33 So they and all that belonged to them went down alive into Sheol, and the earth closed over them, and ⁹they perished from the midst of the assembly.

Numbers 16:23-33 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. 16:26 [Gen. 19:12-14; Isa. 52:11; 2 Cor. 6:17; Rev. 18:4]
• 2. 16:27 [Ex. 33:8]
• 3. 16:28 [Jer. 23:16; Ezek. 13:2, 17]
• 4. 16:29 [1 Kgs. 22:28]
• 5. 16:30 [Gen. 4:11]
• 6. 16:30 ver. 33; Ps. 55:15
• 7. 16:31 ch. 26:10; 27:3; Deut. 11:6; Ps. 106:17
• 8. 16:32 [ch. 26:11; 1 Chr. 6:22, 27]
• 9. 16:33 Jude 11