Numbers 16:31

31 He had hardly finished speaking the words when the ground suddenly split open beneath them.

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, or if nothing unusual happens, then the LORD has not sent me.

30 But if the LORD does something entirely new and the ground opens its mouth and swallows them and all their belongings, and they go down alive into the grave, then you will know that these men have shown contempt for the LORD .”

31 He had hardly finished speaking the words when the ground suddenly split open beneath them.

32 The earth opened its mouth and swallowed the men, along with their households and all their followers who were standing with them, and everything they owned.

33 So they went down alive into the grave, along with all their belongings. The earth closed over them, and they all vanished from among the people of Israel.