_The rebellion of Dathan and Abiram. The self-assertion of Korah and his followers, and the status and rights of the Levites_ In chs. Numbers 1:47-54; Numbers 1:3-4; Numbers 1:8 the separation of the Levites for divine service, and their duties, have been described. But their privileged position is... [ Continue Reading ]
Numbers 16:1. AND _Dathan and Abiram_ These words are from the opening of the J E narrative, and the verb which belongs to them is -rose up" in Numbers 16:2. _and On, the son of Peleth_ The name On does not appear again in the narrative, or anywhere else in the O.T. In Numbers 26:8 f. Dathan and Abi... [ Continue Reading ]
_called to the assembly_ Selected from the congregation to meet in assembly. LXX. σύνκλητοι βουλῆς explains that they met to give counsel.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Ye take too much upon you_ lit. Enough for you! -Your overweening claims have gone far enough!... [ Continue Reading ]
_the Lord will shew who are his_ LXX. ἔγνω ὁ Θεὸς τοὺς ὄντας αὐτοῦ (-God knoweth those who are his") is quoted in 2 Timothy 2:19, with the substitution of Κύριος for Θεός. _and will cause him_&c. R.V. marg. is less probable.... [ Continue Reading ]
_censers_ FIRE-PANS. So R.V. in Exodus 27:3. An instrument for carrying burning coals. These fire-pans were not the sacred utensils of the Tabernacle, which would never be taken out of the Tabernacle precincts, but the private property of the 250 men; see on Numbers 16:37.... [ Continue Reading ]
Korah and his followers are challenged to test their claim to equality with the Levites (represented by Moses and Aaron) by undergoing a species of ordeal, viz. to perform a sacred priestly function and see what will happen.... [ Continue Reading ]
ENOUGH! _ye sons of Levi_ These words cannot be addressed to Korah's company, since they are laymen who are objecting to the claims of the Levites. They must be addressed by Korah's company to Moses and Aaron, and have fallen out of their right place, which was probably at the end of Numbers 16:3.... [ Continue Reading ]
In these verses Korah's company, represented as Levites, claim the privileges of the priesthood (see prelim. note to the chapter).... [ Continue Reading ]
seemeth it but _a small thing unto you_ IS IT TOO SMALL A THING FOR YOU. Korah's company already possessed the great privilege of being separated from the other tribes for divine service; and with that they ought to be satisfied.... [ Continue Reading ]
_and Aaron, what is he_&c. i.e. What has he done to cause your murmuring? God, and not Aaron, is responsible for the superiority in which the priests stand to the Levites; cf. Exodus 16:8 b.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Moses sent to call_ Some tribal dispute or difficulty had probably occurred which required the leader's intervention; and when Moses sent for the persons concerned, they took the opportunity to start a rebellion against him, by refusing to answer the summons. _We will not come up_ For -come up" us... [ Continue Reading ]
The civil rebellion of Dathan and Abiram against Moses" leadership.... [ Continue Reading ]
_out of a land flowing with milk and honey_ The expression which Moses had applied to Canaan in persuading the people to escape from slavery (Exodus 3:17) is applied by the rebels ironically to Egypt.... [ Continue Reading ]
_wilt thou_ BORE _out the eyes of these men?_ A strong figure which means, metaphorically, to blind them by false promises. Gray (_Numb._p. 200) compares the English expression -to throw dust in the eyes.... [ Continue Reading ]
_their offering_ This refers, apparently, -to the sacrifice which every Israelite might offer for his household and may be compared with Genesis 4:4 f.… The writer is not thinking of any special priesthood, but simply takes it for granted that Yahwè, whose favour was always sought by sacrifice, will... [ Continue Reading ]
Korah and his company accept Moses" challenge. 16, 17 are a repetition of Numbers 16:6, and were probably inserted together with Numbers 16:8_; Numbers 16:36_.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Korah assembled all the congregation_ He was upholding the claims of the whole of Israel against the Levites, so he brought them to witness the test. _against them_ This perhaps implies that all Israel as a whole favoured Korah; and this would explain God's words in Numbers 16:21.... [ Continue Reading ]
Jehovah threatens to destroy the whole congregation; but at Moses" intercession He relents, and commands them to depart from the Tabernacle, leaving Korah and his company to be destroyed.... [ Continue Reading ]
_the God of the spirits of all flesh_ The God who made and sustains the life of every human being. In early days Jehovah was thought of as the particular deity of Israel alone. But by the time of the priestly writer the nation had long advanced to the deeper and truer conception of monotheism. _sha... [ Continue Reading ]
_the tabernacle of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram_ This strange expression, which recurs in Numbers 16:27, has resulted from the combination of the narratives. The test is arranged at the door of the sacred Tent of Jehovah (Numbers 16:18), and all the congregation are assembled there. The word -tabernacl... [ Continue Reading ]
25 34. The destruction of Dathan and Abiram.... [ Continue Reading ]
_lest ye be_ SWEPT AWAY _in all their sins_ Perhaps an allusion to the form of death which awaited them. In Numbers 16:21 -consume" represents a different Heb. word.... [ Continue Reading ]
_the tabernacle of Korah_&c. Read _the tabernacle of_ JEHOVAH. See on Numbers 16:24.... [ Continue Reading ]
_into the pit into_ SHEOL, the place of departed human beings. It was thought of as lying beneath the earth, or deep within it. We are probably to think of the catastrophe as taking place in the form of an earthquake; or possibly the tradition may have grown up as a popular explanation of some deep... [ Continue Reading ]
The sin of Korah's company was the same as that of Nadab and Abihu (Leviticus 10:1-2), and their punishment was the same. -The gainsaying of Korah" is referred to as a typical sin in Judges 11. 36 40 [Heb. 17:1 15]. The fire-pans were made into a covering of the altar, as a memorial of the incident.... [ Continue Reading ]
_out of the burning_ From the heap of burnt corpses. _for they are holy_ These words probably belong to the next verse (see n. there). The fire-pans had previously been the private property of the 250 princes (see on Numbers 16:6); but when they had once been employed for a sacred purpose, and had b... [ Continue Reading ]
(om. _even) the_ FIRE-PANS _of these sinners_ AT THE COST OF _their lives_ R.V. marg. is an explanation of the R.V. But the latter is grammatically doubtful. LXX. has ὅτι ἡγίασαν τὰ πυρεῖα κ. τ. λ. (-because they made holy the fire-pans" &c.). Perhaps we should read -for the fire-pans of these sinne... [ Continue Reading ]
_which is not of the seed of Aaron_ i.e. a priest, and not a Levite as Korah was (see note before Numbers 16:37).... [ Continue Reading ]
The people murmured at the death of Korah's company, and were punished by a plague, which ceased when Aaron made atonement with incense. In contrast to the action of the princes, the offering of incense by a duly qualified person is accepted by Jehovah.... [ Continue Reading ]
_make atonement for them_ The offering of incense was an unusual way of making atonement; the shedding of blood was generally required. But since the sin had been the burning of incense, the means for its atonement was similar. Cf. the bronze serpent (Numbers 21:6-9). A converse application of the s... [ Continue Reading ]
_them that died about the matter of Korah_ i.e. the 250 princes. It should be noticed that the death of Korah himself is nowhere related in the chapter, Numbers 16:24_; Numbers 16:27_a might seem to imply that Korah was about to be swallowed up in the earth with Dathan and Abiram; and this suppositi... [ Continue Reading ]