Bamidbar 16:33

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.

Bamidbar 16:33 Meaning and Commentary

Numbers 16:33

They, and all that [appertained] unto them, went down alive
into the pit
The grave which the opening earth made for them, they and their families:

and the earth closed upon them;
and covered them over; this it did of itself, as Aben Ezra remarks: this was a wonderful instance of almighty power, that it should open in such large fissures as to swallow up such a number of men, with their tents, goods, and cattle, and then close again so firmly, as not to have the least appearance upon it of what had happened, as Josephus observes ^F26,

and they perished from among the congregation;
and had a name and a place no more with them.

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FOOTNOTES:

F26 Antiqu. ut supra, (l. 4. c. 3.) sect. 3.

Bamidbar 16:33 In-Context

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.

34 And Kol Yisroel that were round about them fled at the cry of them, for they said, Lest ha’aretz swallow us up also.

35 And there came out from Hashem an eish, and consumed the 250 men that offered ketoret.