Now Korah, the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, and Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On, the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took [men]: Ver. 1. _The son of Izhar._] And so first cousin to Moses and Aaron; for Izhar was brother to Amram their father. Exo 6:18 _ Sons of Reu... [ Continue Reading ]
_And they rose up before Moses, with certain of the children of Israel, two hundred and fifty princes of the assembly, famous in the congregation, men of renown:_ Ver. 2. _Princes of the assembly._] A very dangerous conspiracy: for as in a beast the body follows the head, so in that _bellua multoru... [ Continue Reading ]
And they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron, and said unto them, [Ye take] too much upon you, seeing all the congregation [are] holy, every one of them, and the LORD [is] among them: wherefore then lift ye up yourselves above the congregation of the LORD? Ver. 3. _Against... [ Continue Reading ]
_And when Moses heard [it], he fell upon his face:_ Ver. 4. _He fell upon his face._] As a suppliant to them, not to proceed in their rebellion; or rather to God, not to proceed against them for their sin.... [ Continue Reading ]
And he spake unto Korah and unto all his company, saying, Even to morrow the LORD will shew who [are] his, and [who is] holy; and will cause [him] to come near unto him: even [him] whom he hath chosen will he cause to come near unto him. Ver. 5. _And he spake unto Korah._] By the instinct of the Sp... [ Continue Reading ]
And put fire therein, and put incense in them before the LORD to morrow: and it shall be [that] the man whom the LORD doth choose, he [shall be] holy: [ye take] too much upon you, ye sons of Levi. Ver. 7. _Ye take too much upon you._] He retorts that upon them, that they had falsely charged upon hi... [ Continue Reading ]
And Moses said unto Korah, Hear, I pray you, ye sons of Levi: Ver. 8. _Ye sons of Levi._] He took these to task apart; as hoping, haply, to withdraw them from their purpose, and to hide pride from them, Job 33:17 but they proved uncounsellable, incorrigible.... [ Continue Reading ]
Numbers 16:9 [Seemeth it but] a small thing unto you, that the God of Israel hath separated you from the congregation of Israel, to bring you near to himself to do the service of the tabernacle of the LORD, and to stand before the congregation to minister unto them? Ver. 9. _Seemeth it but a small... [ Continue Reading ]
And he hath brought thee near [to him], and all thy brethren the sons of Levi with thee: and seek ye the priesthood also? Ver. 10. _And seek ye the priesthood also._] Ambition is restless and unsatisfiable; for, like the crocodile, it grows as long as it lives.... [ Continue Reading ]
For which cause [both] thou and all thy company [are] gathered together against the LORD: and what [is] Aaron, that ye murmur against him? Ver. 11. _And what is Aaron?_] _q.d., _ Is it not God whom ye wound through Aaron's sides? "Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?" Act 9:4... [ Continue Reading ]
And Moses sent to call Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab: which said, We will not come up: _Ver 12. We will not come up._] Sturdy rebels, ripe for destruction. See Proverbs 29:1. _See Trapp on "_ Pro 29:1 _"_ One perhaps had knocked off, and is therefore no more mentioned. _Satius est recurrere,... [ Continue Reading ]
Numbers 16:13 [Is it] a small thing that thou hast brought us up out of a land that floweth with milk and honey, to kill us in the wilderness, except thou make thyself altogether a prince over us? Ver. 13. _That floweth with milk and honey._] So they falsely and maliciously speak of the land of Egy... [ Continue Reading ]
Moreover thou hast not brought us into a land that floweth with milk and honey, or given us inheritance of fields and vineyards: wilt thou put out the eyes of these men? we will not come up. Ver. 14. _We will not come up,_] _sc., _ To the place of judgment. So they add rebellion to sin, and justify... [ Continue Reading ]
And Moses was very wroth, and said unto the LORD, Respect not thou their offering: I have not taken one ass from them, neither have I hurt one of them. Ver. 15. _And Moses was very wroth._] Or, Very sore grieved. He might have said, as one once did, _Felix essem si non imperitassem,_ Happy had I be... [ Continue Reading ]
And Moses said unto Korah, Be thou and all thy company before the LORD, thou, and they, and Aaron, to morrow: Ver. 16. _Thy company._] Or, Thy congregation, thy faction, or Church malignant, as Psa 26:5 Acts 19:32; Acts 19:40 .... [ Continue Reading ]
And take every man his censer, and put incense in them, and bring ye before the LORD every man his censer, two hundred and fifty censers; thou also, and Aaron, each [of you] his censer. Ver. 17. _And take every man his censer._] Which they had ready provided, when first they combined to thrust them... [ Continue Reading ]
And they took every man his censer, and put fire in them, and laid incense thereon, and stood in the door of the tabernacle of the congregation with Moses and Aaron. Ver. 18. _And stood in the door._] Such an impudency had sin oaded in their faces, that they stood stouting it out before the Lord, a... [ Continue Reading ]
And Korah gathered all the congregation against them unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation: and the glory of the LORD appeared unto all the congregation. Ver. 19. _All the congregation._] Not his own company only: for the whole multitude was too ready to favour his attempt, as he pers... [ Continue Reading ]
Separate yourselves from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment. Ver. 21. _Separate yourselves._] Good men are taken away from the evil to come. When God pulls away the pillars, what will become of the building? Lot was no sooner taken out of Sodom, but Sodom was taken out of... [ Continue Reading ]
And they fell upon their faces, and said, O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and wilt thou be wroth with all the congregation? Ver. 22. _The God of the spirits._] The Former and Father of spirits, Zec 12:1 Heb 12:9 "that giveth to all ζωην και πνοην, life and breath," Ac... [ Continue Reading ]
Speak unto the congregation, saying, Get you up from about the tabernacle of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. Ver. 24. _Get you up from about._] "Save yourselves from this untoward generation"; Act 2:40 force yourselves from them, stave them off, as the word signifies (στελλεσθαι παραγγελλομεν, 2Th 3:6),... [ Continue Reading ]
And he spake unto the congregation, saying, Depart, I pray you, from the tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing of theirs, lest ye be consumed in all their sins. Ver. 26. _Lest ye be consumed._] See Numbers 16:24, _See Trapp on "_ Rev 18:4 _"_ Hamath fares the worse for lying so near Damascus... [ Continue Reading ]
So they gat up from the tabernacle of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, on every side: and Dathan and Abiram came out, and stood in the door of their tents, and their wives, and their sons, and their little children. Ver. 27. _Came out and stood._] As out facing Moses, and scorning the judgment threatened... [ Continue Reading ]
And Moses said, Hereby ye shall know that the LORD hath sent me to do all these works; for [I have] not [done them] of mine own mind. Ver. 28. _Hereby ye shall know._] Thus he engageth the truth and honour of his office upon a miracle. But now he that expects a miracle, is himself a miracle, saith... [ Continue Reading ]
If these men die the common death of all men, or if they be visited after the visitation of all men; [then] the LORD hath not sent me. Ver. 29. _The common death of all men._] _Ne quisquam sua morte defunctus est,_ said Suetonius of Caesar's murderers. So may we say of our gun powder plotters; Your... [ Continue Reading ]
But if the LORD make a new thing, and the earth open her mouth, and swallow them up, with all that [appertain] unto them, and they go down quick into the pit; then ye shall understand that these men have provoked the LORD. Ver. 30. _Quick unto the pit._] Not into hell, as the Papists conclude from... [ Continue Reading ]
And it came to pass, as he had made an end of speaking all these words, that the ground clave asunder that [was] under them: Ver. 31. _As he had made an end of speaking._] _Dictum factum; _ so it is still. Joh 20:23 Vengeance is every whit as ready in God's hands, as in his ministers' mouths. 2Co 1... [ Continue Reading ]
And the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up, and their houses, and all the men that [appertained] unto Korah, and all [their] goods. Ver. 32. _And the earth opened her mouth and swallowed them up._] So it did a great part of Antioch, by a horrible earthquake, _anno_ 527, for their horribl... [ Continue Reading ]
They, and all that [appertained] to them, went down alive into the pit, and the earth closed upon them: and they perished from among the congregation. Ver. 33. _And they perished from among._] So the gun powder plotters here; and before them the northern rebels. That rebellion, saith one, like the... [ Continue Reading ]
And all Israel that [were] round about them fled at the cry of them: for they said, Lest the earth swallow us up [also]. Ver. 34. _Lest the earth swallow us up also._] Let the destruction of others be a terror to us, that we may wash our feet in the blood of the wicked. Psa 52:6 But he that is swal... [ Continue Reading ]
And there came out a fire from the LORD, and consumed the two hundred and fifty men that offered incense. Ver. 35. _And there came out a fire._] By fire they sinned, and by a fire they suffer: - “ _Per quod quis peccat, per idem punitur ipse._ ”... [ Continue Reading ]
Speak unto Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest, that he take up the censers out of the burning, and scatter thou the fire yonder; for they are hallowed. Ver. 37. _For they are hallowed._] And therefore may not be turned to any other use.... [ Continue Reading ]
The censers of these sinners against their own souls, let them make them broad plates [for] a covering of the altar: for they offered them before the LORD, therefore they are hallowed: and they shall be a sign unto the children of Israel. Ver. 38. _These sinners against their own souls._] So are al... [ Continue Reading ]
Numbers 16:40 [To be] a memorial unto the children of Israel, that no stranger, which [is] not of the seed of Aaron, come near to offer incense before the LORD; that he be not as Korah, and as his company: as the LORD said to him by the hand of Moses. Ver. 40. _To be a memorial._] God cannot abide... [ Continue Reading ]
But on the morrow all the congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron, saying, Ye have killed the people of the LORD. Ver. 41. _But on the morrow._] That after conviction they should so soon again rebel, and run away with the bit in their mouths, was prodigious c... [ Continue Reading ]
And it came to pass, when the congregation was gathered against Moses and against Aaron, that they looked toward the tabernacle of the congregation: and, behold, the cloud covered it, and the glory of the LORD appeared. Ver. 42. _And behold the cloud._] _Deus_ εκ μηχανης. God, as out of an engine,... [ Continue Reading ]
And Moses said unto Aaron, Take a censer, and put fire therein from off the altar, and put on incense, and go quickly unto the congregation, and make an atonement for them: for there is wrath gone out from the LORD; the plague is begun. Ver. 46. _For there is wrath._] Moses is quick sighted, and sp... [ Continue Reading ]
And Aaron took as Moses commanded, and ran into the midst of the congregation; and, behold, the plague was begun among the people: and he put on incense, and made an atonement for the people. Ver. 47. _The plague._] Which ran as a fire in a grain field.... [ Continue Reading ]
And he stood between the dead and the living; and the plague was stayed. Ver. 48. _And he stood between._] A clear type of Christ.... [ Continue Reading ]