Numbers 16:1

Now Korah, the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi,.... A great grandson of Levi's, and own cousin to Moses and Aaron, being brothers children; for Amram the father of Moses and Aaron,

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: Now Korah, the son of Izhar.

NUMBERS CHAPTER 16 Korah, Dathan, and Abiram raise sedition against Moses and Aaron, . Moses reproving them, , sends for Dathan and Abiram; their refusal and answer, . The manneer of their punishment, . Their perfuming censers are kept for a memorial and warning, . The people murmur against Moses and Aaron, for which they are consumed by the plague, which Aaron by Moses’ s order stays, . Korah, the first and chief author of this rebellion, . Izhar was Amram’ s brother, , therefore Moses and he were cousin-germans. Moreover Izhar was the second son of Kohath, whereas Elizaphan, whom Moses had preferred before him, and made prince or ruler of the Kohathites, , was the son of Uzziel, the fourth son of Kohath. This, the Jewish writers say, made him malcontent, which at last broke forth into sedition. Sons of-Reuben: these are drawn into confederacy with Korah, partly because they were his next neighbours, both being encamped on the south side, and therefore could easily communicate counsels; partly in hopes to recover their rights of primogeniture, in which the priesthood was comprehended, which was given away from their father. Took men, to wit, those two hundred and fifty mentioned . In the Hebrew there is nothing but took, and the Hebrew words are placed and may well be rendered thus, Now Korah— took both Dathan and Abiram, &c., or took Dathan, &c., the particle vau being here superfluous, as it is , and elsewhere.

Numbers 16:1 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. Sons of Reuben.] Who, being next neighbours to Korah in the camp, were the sooner corrupted by him. “ Uvaque corrupta livorem ducit ab uva. ” - Juven.

XVI.(1) Now Korah, the son of Izhar . . . —Some suppose that the copula before “Dathan and Abiram” should be omitted, and that the verse should be rendered thus: Now Korah, the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, took Dathan and Abiram, &c. The rebellion of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram is the only important event which is recorded in connection with the protracted wandering in the desert. The time and place of its occurrence cannot be positively determined. The circumstances out of which it appears to have arisen render it probable that it took place during one of the early years of the wanderings in the wilderness, either during the abode at Kadesh or subsequently to the departure from it. In favour of the supposition that the occurrence took place during the sojourn at Kadesh, it may be urged—(1) that the history of the Israelites between the first and the second encampments at Kadesh appears to be designedly regarded and treated as a blank; and (2) that during that interval they appear to have been dispersed over the face of the wilderness, whilst the narrative of the rebellion of Korah seems to assume the concentration of the people in one place. The whole of the narrative bears the clear impress of historical truth. The leaders of the rebellion, amongst whom Korah holds the most conspicuous place (comp. Numbers 16:1; Numbers 26:9; Jude 1:11), belonged to the tribes of Levi and Reuben. Korah, as the descendant of Izhar, the brother of Amram, who was the father (or. as some maintain, the more distant ancestor) of Moses and Aaron, may well be supposed to have been jealous of the peculiar prerogatives of the priestly family, and also of the leadership of Elizaphan, the son of Uzziel (Numbers 3:30), who appears to have been the youngest son of Kohath, whilst the name of Izhar stands next to that of Amram (Numbers 3:19). Dathan and Abiram, moreover, as the sons of Eliab, the son of Pallu, the son of Reuben (Numbers 26:5-9), who was the eldest son of Jacob, may, on like grounds, be supposed to have been discontented on account of the transference of the birthright, and the consequent loss of the leadership which had been possessed by their tribe, and which was now held by the tribe of Judah. It is possible that they may have regarded the priesthood also as amongst the prerogatives of the firstborn which should have descended to them. The proximity of the Kohathites to the Reubenites—for both were encamped on the south side of the Tabernacle—afforded opportunity for their common deliberations; and it has been inferred by some, from Numbers 16:24-27, that they had erected a tabernacle in rivalry with the Tabernacle of the Congregation. No further mention is made of the name of On, nor is he expressly included in the account of the final punishment.

CHAPTER XVI The rebellion of Korah and his company against Moses, 1-3. He directs them how to try, in the course of the next day, whom God had called to the priesthood, 4-11. Dathan and Abiram use the most seditious speeches, 12-14. Moses is wroth, 15; and orders Korah and his company to be ready on the morrow with their censers and incense, 16-18. Korah gathers his company together, 19. The glory of the Lord appears, and he threatens to consume them, 20, 21. Moses and Aaron intercede for them, 22. The people are commanded to leave the tents of the rebels, 23-26. They obey, and Korah and his company come out and stand before the door of their tents, 27. Moses in a solemn address puts the contention to issue, 28-30. As soon as he had done speaking, the earth clave and swallowed them, and all that appertained to them, 31-34; and the 250 men who offered incense are consumed by fire, 35. The Lord commands Eleazar to preserve the censers, because they were hallowed, 36-38. Eleazar makes of them a covering for the altar, 39, 40. The next day the people murmur anew, the glory of the Lord appears, and Moses and Aaron go to the tabernacle, 41-43. They are commanded to separate themselves from the congregation, 44, 45. Moses, perceiving that God had sent a plague among them, directs Aaron to hasten and make an atonement, 46. Aaron does so, and the plague is stayed, 47, 48. The number of those who died by the plague, 14,700 men, 49, 50. NOTES ON CHAP. XVI Verse 1. Now Korah - took men] Had not these been the most brutish of men, could they have possibly so soon forgotten the signal displeasure of God manifested against them so lately for their rebellion. The word men is not in the original; and the verb ויקח vaiyikkach, and he took, is not in the plural but the singular, hence it cannot be applied to the act of all these chiefs. In every part of the Scripture where this rebellion is referred to it is attributed to Korah, (see Numbers 26:3, and Jude 1:11), therefore the verb here belongs to him, and the whole verse should be translated thus: - Now Korah, son of Yitsar son of Kohath, son of Levi, HE TOOK even Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On, son of Peleth, SON OF REUBEN; and they rose up, c. This makes a very regular and consistent sense, and spares all the learned labour of Father Houbigant, who translates יקח yikkach, by rebellionem fecerunt, they rebelled, which scarcely any rule of criticism can ever justify. Instead of בני ראובן beney Reuben, SONS of Reuben, some MSS. have בן ben, SON, in the singular this reading, supported by the Septuagint and the Samaritan text, I have followed in the above translation. But as Eliab and Peleth were both Reubenites, the common reading, SONS, may be safely followed.

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 Abiram are called sons of Eliab the son of Pallu. If Peleth is a corruption of Pallu, ‘and On’ (εΰεο)1 [Note: Before the final ο came into use the letter π would be easily written for α, and the letters ι and ε are frequently interchanged.] may have arisen from an accidental repetition of ιΰα, the last three consonants of Eliab; in which case the words should run the sons of Eliab the son of Pallu, sons of Reuben. took men] In the Heb. the object of the verb is absent, and it is unlikely that ‘men’ is the right word to be supplied. Perhaps read ειχν for ειχη, ‘and Korah rose up,’ in which case the beginning of the Korah narrative corresponds to the beginning of the other narrative.

Amram and Izhar were brothers (compare Exodus 6:18), and thus Korah, the “son,” i. e. descendant of Izhar, was connected by distant cousinship with Moses and Aaron.

1. Korah was a Levite of the family of the Kohathites, whose service was the transportation of the sacred furniture of the tabernacle. He was probably a first cousin of Moses and Aaron. See Exodus 6:18, and Numbers 4:18, note.