Bamidbar 16:31

31 And it came to pass, as he had made an end of speaking all these devarim, that haadamah split asunder that was under them:

Bamidbar 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.

Bamidbar 16:31 In-Context

29 If these men die the common death of kol haAdam, or if they be visited after the visitation of kol haAdam, then Hashem hath not sent me.

30 But if Hashem creates a new thing, and haadamah open her mouth, and swallow them up, with all that appertain unto them, and they go down chayyim into Sheol; then ye shall have da’as that these men have spurned Hashem.

31 And it came to pass, as he had made an end of speaking all these devarim, that haadamah split asunder that was under them:

32 And ha’aretz opened her mouth, and swallowed them up, their batim (houses), all the men that were of Korach, and all their possessions.

33 They, and all that were of them, went down chayyim into Sheol, and ha’aretz closed over them; and they perished from the midst of the Kahal.