Numbers 16:3-13

3 They came as a group to speak to Moses and Aaron and said, "You have gone too far. All the people are holy, every one of them, and the Lord is among them. So why do you put yourselves above all the people of the Lord?"

4 When Moses heard this, he bowed facedown.

5 Then he said to Korah and all his followers: "Tomorrow morning the Lord will show who belongs to him. He will bring the one who is holy near to him; he will bring to himself the person he chooses.

6 So Korah, you and all your followers do this: Get some pans for burning incense.

7 Tomorrow put fire and incense in them and take them before the Lord. He will choose the man who is holy. You Levites have gone too far."

8 Moses also said to Korah, "Listen, you Levites.

9 The God of Israel has sep-arated you from the rest of the Israelites. He brought you near to himself to do the work in the Lord's Holy Tent and to stand before all the Israelites and serve them. Isn't that enough?

10 He has brought you and all your fellow Levites near to himself, yet now you want to be priests.

11 You and your followers have joined together against the Lord. Your complaint is not against Aaron."

12 Then Moses called Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, but they said, "We will not come!

13 You have brought us out of a fertile land to this desert to kill us, and now you want to order us around.

Numbers 16:3-13 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.