John Gill Bible Commentary

And they rose up before Moses,.... To his face, openly and publicly, in a bold and audacious manner; with impudence, as the Targum of Jonathan: with certain of the children of Israel; some out of the several tribes, but perhaps chiefly of the tribe of Reuben, as Jarchi: two hundred and fifty princes of the assembly; or "congregation" (i), who were princes in the several tribes to which they belonged, heads of houses and families of their fathers, rulers of thousands, hundreds, &c. famous in the congregation; or "called" (k) to the tabernacle of the congregation; who, when the great men among the people were gathered together to consult about any affair, were called, as Ben Melech observes: men of renown, or "of name" (l); in high esteem among the people for their birth and rank, their wealth and riches, wisdom and prudence; and were so before they came out of Egypt, as Aben Ezra remarks; so that the persons concerned in this rebellion were not the mob and dregs of the people, but men of the greatest figure and fame, and therefore was likely to be of bad consequence. (i) "congregationis", Pagninus. (k) "vocati", Montanus, Drusius. (l) "viri nominis", Montanus, Drusius.