Son of Izhar, (Exod. vi. 21.) meaning cold, from Karak. There were two others of this name in Scripture, (Gen. 36. 15.) and the famous, or rather infamous Korah, son of Izhar. (Num. 16. 1.)
was the son of Izhar, of the race of Levi, and father of Asher, Elkanah, and Aliasaph, and head of the Korites, a celebrated family among the Levites. Korah, being dissatisfied with the rank he held among the sons of Levi, and envying the authority of Moses and Aaron, formed a party against them, in which he engaged Dathan, Abiram, and On, with two hundred and fifty of the principal Levites, Num 16:1-3, &c. Korah, at the head of the rebels, went to Moses and Aaron, and complained that they alone arrogated to themselves all the authority over the people of the Lord. Moses falling with his face on the earth, answered them as follows: “Tomorrow, in the morning, the Lord will discover who are his. Let every one of you take, therefore, his censer, and tomorrow he shall put incense into it, and offer it before the Lord; and he shall be acknowledged priest whom the Lord shall choose and approve.” The next day, Korah, with two hundred and fifty of his faction, presenting themselves with their censers before the Lord, the glory of the Lord appeared visibly over the tabernacle, and a voice was heard to say, “Separate yourselves from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment.” Upon this, Moses and Aaron, falling with their faces to the ground, said, “O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and wilt thou be wroth with all the congregation?” And the Lord said unto Moses, “Command all the people to depart from about the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.” When, therefore, the people were retired, Moses said, “If these men die the common death of all men, then the Lord hath not sent me; but if the earth open and swallow them up quick, ye shall know that they have blasphemed the Lord.” As soon as he had spoken, the earth opened from under their feet, and swallowed them up with what belonged to them. There was one thing which added to this surprising wonder, and which was, that when Korah was thus swallowed up in the earth, his sons were preserved from his misfortunes. We know not the exact year in which the death of Korah and his companions happened. The sons of Korah continued as before to serve in the tabernacle of the Lord. David appointed them their office in the temple, to guard the doors, and sing the praises of God. To them are ascribed several psalms, which are designated by the name of Korah; as the forty-second, forty-fourth to the forty-ninth, eighty-fourth to the eighty- seventh; in all, eleven psalms.
Ko´rah (ice), a Levite, son of Izhar, the brother of Amram, the father of Moses and Aaron, who were therefore cousins to Korah (Exo 6:21). From this near relationship we may, with tolerable certainty, conjecture, that the source of the discontent which led to the steps afterwards taken by this unhappy man, lay in his jealousy that the high honors and privileges of the priesthood, to which he, who remained a simple Levite, might, apart from the divine appointment, seem to have had as good a claim, should have been exclusively appropriated to the family of Aaron. When to this was added the civil authority of Moses, the whole power over the nation would seem to him to have been engrossed by his cousins, the sons of Amram. Under the influence of these feelings he organized a conspiracy, for the purpose of redressing what appeared to him the evil and injustice of this arrangement. Dathan, Abiram, and On, the chief persons who joined him, were of the tribe of Reuben; but he was also supported by many more from other tribes, making up the number of 250, men of name, rank, and influence, all who may be regarded as representing the families of which they were the heads. The private object of Korah was apparently his own aggrandizement, but his ostensible object was the general good of the people; and it is perhaps from want of attention to this distinction that the transaction has not been well understood. The design seems to have been made acceptable to a large body of the nation, on the ground that the first-born of Israel had been deprived of their sacerdotal birthright in favor of the Levites, while the Levites themselves announced that the priesthood had been conferred by Moses (as they considered) on his own brother’s family, in preference to those who had equal claims; and it is easy to conceive that the Reubenites may have considered the opportunity a favorable one for the recovery of their birthright—the double portion and civil pre-eminence—which had been forfeited by them and given to Joseph.
The leading conspirators having organized their plans, repaired in a body to Moses and Aaron, boldly charged them with their usurpations, and required them to lay down their ill-gotten power. Moses no sooner heard this than he fell on his face, confounded at the enormity of so outrageous a revolt against a system framed so carefully for the benefit of the nation. He left the matter in the Lord’s hands, and desired them to come on the morrow, provided with censers for incense, that the Lord himself, by some manifest token, might make known his will in this great matter. As this order was particularly addressed to the rebellious Levites, the Reubenites left the place, and when afterwards called back by Moses, returned a very insolent refusal, charging him with having brought them out of the land of Egypt under false pretences, ’to kill them in the wilderness.’
The next day Korah and his company appeared before the tabernacle, attended by a multitude of people out of the general body of the tribes. Then the Shekinah, or symbol of the Divine presence, which abode between the cherubim, advanced to the entrance of the sacred fabric, and a voice therefrom commanded Moses and Aaron to stand apart, lest they should share in the destruction which awaited the whole congregation. On hearing these awful words the brothers fell on their faces, and, by strong intercession, moved the Lord to confine his wrath to the leaders in the rebellion, and spare their unhappy dupes. The latter were then ordered to separate themselves from their leaders and from the tents in which they dwelt. The terrible menace involved in this direction had its weight, and the command was obeyed; and after Moses had appealed to what was to happen as a proof of the authority by which he acted, the earth opened, and received and closed over the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. The Reubenite conspirators were in their tents, and perished in them; and at the same instant Korah and his 250, who were offering incense at the door of the tabernacle, were destroyed by a fire which ’came out from the Lord;’ that is, most probably, in this case, from out of the cloud in which his presence dwelt. The censers which they had used were afterwards made into plates, to form an outer covering to the altar, and thus became a standing monument of this awful transaction (Numbers 16). On, although named in the first instance along with Dathan and Abiram, does not further appear either in the rebellion or its punishment. It is hence supposed that he repented in time: and Abendana and other Rabbinical writers allege that his wife prevailed upon him to abandon the cause.
It might be supposed from the Scripture narrative that the entire families of the conspirators perished in the destruction of their tents. Doubtless all who were in the tents perished: but as the descendants of Korah afterwards became eminent in the Levitical service, it is clear that his sons were spared. They were probably living in separate tents, or were among those who sundered themselves from the conspirators at the command of Moses. There is no reason to suppose that the sons of Korah were children when their father perished. The Korahites were appointed by David to the office of guarding the doors of the temple, and of singing praises. They, in fact, occupied a distinguished place in the choral service of the temple, and several of the Psalms (Psalms 42, 44-49, 84-85, 87-88) are inscribed to them. Heman, the master of song under David, was of this family, and his genealogy is traced through Korah up to Levi (1Ch 6:31-38).
A Levite, who rebelled against Moses and Aaron, and so against Jehovah. He was a cousin of Moses; for their fathers Izhar and Amram were brothers, Exo 6:16-21 . He was jealous of the civil authority and priestly dignity conferred by God upon Moses and Aaron, his own cousins, while he was simply a Levite; and to obtain a part at least of their power for himself, he stirred up a factious spirit in the people. Too much, alas, of what may seem to be zeal for the honor of God, has its true character displayed in the pride and ambition of this rebellious Levite. The two hundred and fifty Levites whom he had enticed to join him were destroyed by fire from the Lord; while Korah, Dathan, and Abiram were swallowed up by the miraculous opening of the earth, Num 26:11 ; and the Korahites or "sons of Korah," were a celebrated family of singers and poets in the time of David, 1Ch 9:19 26:1. To them are inscribed several Psalms, Psa 42:1-11 44:1-26 49:1-20 84:1-85:13 87:1-88:18.\par
Ko’rah. (baldness).
1. Third son of Esau by Aholibamah. Gen 36:5; Gen 36:14; Gen 36:18; 1Ch 1:35. He was born in Canaan before Esau migrated to Mount Seir, Gen 36:5-9, and was one of the "dukes" of Edom. (B.C. 1790).
2. Another Edomitish "duke" of this name, sprung from Eliphaz, Esau’s son of Adah. Gen 36:16.
3. One of the "sons of Hebron," in 1Ch 2:43.
4. Son of Izhar, the son of Kohath. The son of Levi. He was leader of the famous rebellion against his cousins, Moses and Aaron, in the wilderness, for which he paid the penalty of perishing with his followers by an earthquake and flames of fire. Numbers 16; Num 26:9-11.
The particular grievance which rankled in the mind of Korah and his company was their exclusion from the office of the priesthood, and their being confined -- those among them who were Levites -- to the inferior service of the Tabernacle. Korah’s position as leader in this rebellion was evidently the result of his personal character, which was that of a bold, haughty and ambitious man. (B.C. 1490). In the New Testament, Jud 1:11, Korah is coupled with Cain and Balaam.
("bald".)
1. Esau’s son, by Aholibamah (Gen 36:5; Gen 36:14; Gen 36:18). A duke of Edom, born in Canaan before Esau migrated to Mount Seir.
2. Sprung from Eliphaz (Gen 36:16), but probably it is a copyist’s error from Gen 36:18. One manuscript of the Samaritan Pentateuch omits it.
3. A son of Hebron, descended from Judah (1Ch 2:43).
4. Son (or, descendant) of Izhar, son of Kohath, son of Levi. Ringleader of the rebellion against Moses and Aaron (Numbers 16; Num 26:9-11); the one solitary anecdote recorded of the 38 years’ wandering, uncircumcision, and shame, Not content with his honourable post as a Levite "minister" to the sanctuary, Korah "sought the priesthood also." Associated with him in the rebellion Dathan, Abiram, and On (the last is not mentioned subsequently), sprung from Reuben, who sought to regain the forfeited primogeniture and the primacy of their own tribe among Israel’s tribes (1Ch 5:1). The punishment answered to the Reubenites’ sin, their pride was punished by "Reuben’s men being made few," so that Moses prayed "let Reuben live and not die," i.e. be saved from extinction (Deu 33:6).
Elizaphan of the youngest branch, descended from Uzziel (Num 3:27; Num 3:30), was preferred before Korah of the elder Izharite branch and made "chief of the house of the father of the families of the Kohathites"; hence probably arose his pique against Moses. With the undesigned coincidence which characterizes truth we find the Reubenites encamped next the Kohathites, so the two were conveniently situated for plotting together (Numbers 2). Korah with "250 princes of the assembly, famous in the congregation, men of renown" (not restricted to the tribe of Reuben: Num 27:3), said to Moses and Aaron, "ye take too much upon you, seeing all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the Lord is among them" (compare Exo 19:6). The Reubenites’ sin was in desiring to set aside all special ministries, in which Korah to gain their support joined them ostensibly; he did not really wish to raise the people to a level with the Levites, but the Levites alone to the level of the priests.
Korah’s sin answers to that of sacerdotalist ministers who, not content with the honour of the ministry (nowhere in the New Testament are Christian ministers called "sacrificing" or "sacerdotal priests," hiereis, a term belonging in the strict and highest sense to Jesus alone; restricted to Him and the Aaronic and pagan priests, and spiritually applied to all Christians: Mat 8:4; Act 14:13; Heb 5:6; Rev 1:6; Rev 5:10; Rev 20:6; 1Pe 2:5; 1Pe 2:9), usurp Christ’s sacrificing and mediatorial priesthood; also to that of all men who think to be saved by their own doings instead of by His mediatorial work for us (Act 4:12). The Reubenites’ sin answers to that of those who would set aside all ministers on the ground that all Christians are priests unto God. The fact that all Christians are "kings unto God" does not supersede the present need of kings and rulers, to whom the people delegate some of their rights and liberties.
Moses gave them a respite for repentance until the morrow: "take you censers, fire, and incense before the Lord tomorrow ... the man whom the Lord doth choose ... shall be holy; ye take too much upon you, ye sons of Levi," retorting their own words. People often charge others with the very sin which they themselves are committing. Upon Moses’ sending for Dathan and Abiram they would not come, they retorted his own words: "is it a small thing (Num 16:9; Num 16:13) that thou hast brought us up out of a land that floweth with milk and honey ... then hast not brought us into a land that floweth with milk and honey," etc. With studied profanity they describe Egypt as that which God had described Canaan to be. "Wilt thou put out the eyes of these men?" i.e. throw dust in their eyes, blind them to your non-fulfillment of your fine promises.
Dathan and Abiram, their wives and children, stood at the door of their tents as though defying Moses to do his worst, when Moses by Jehovah’s command told the people to get up from about the tabernacle of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, i.e. from the tabernacle which these had set up in common opposition to the great tabernacle of the congregation. The three are mentioned here together as joined in a common cause though not now together locally. So the earth "clave asunder and swallowed up their houses and all the men (but not the sons, who probably shrank from their father’s sin and escaped, Num 26:11) belonging unto Korah," namely, all who joined him in rebellion, namely, Durban, Abiram, and their children. Korah’s tent stood with the Kohathites forming part of the inner line immediately S. of the tabernacle.
Dathan’s and Abiram’s, as in the outer line on the same side, were contiguous to Korah’s tent, yet sufficiently separate to admit of his tent not being swallowed up as was theirs. Fire from Jehovah (probably from the altar, Lev 10:1-7) consumed Korah and the 250 incense offerers who were apart "at the door of the tabernacle" (Num 16:18-19; Num 16:33-35). In verse 27 Korah is not mentioned with Dathan and Abiram, which shows that Korah himself was elsewhere, namely, at the tabernacle door, when they were swallowed up. Thus, the impression on a superficial reading of Numbers 16, that Korah, Dathan and Abiram, and the men and goods of all three alike, were swallowed up, on a closer inspection is done away, and Numbers 16 appears in minute and undesigned harmony with Num 26:10-11. Similarly Psa 106:17-18, distinguishes the end of Dathan and Abiram from Korah: "the earth ... swallowed up Dathan and ... the company of Abiram.
And a fire was kindled in their company," namely, Korah and the 250; these, having sinned by fire in offering incense, were retributively punished by fire. Korah had no opportunity of collecting his children about him, being away from his tent; he only had all the men of his family who abetted his rebellion along with him at the door of the tabernacle. "Despising dominion and speaking evil of dignities" is the sin of Korah and he "perished by gainsaying," i.e. speaking against Moses, a warning to all self sufficient despisers of authority. The effect of this terrible warning on the survivors of Korah was that the family attained high distinction subsequently. Samuel was a Korhite (1Ch 6:22-28).
Korhites under David had the chief place in keeping the tabernacle doors (1Ch 6:32-37), and in the psalmody (1Ch 9:19; 1Ch 9:33). Eleven psalms are inscribed with their name as the authors (Psalm 42; Psalm 44; Psalm 45; Psalm 46; Psalm 47; Psalm 48; Psalm 49; Psalm 84; Psalm 85; Psalm 87; Psalm 88; compare 2Ch 20:19).
Korah (kô’rah), ice or baldness. 1. Second son of Esau and Aholibamah, a prince of Edom. Gen 36:5; Gen 36:14; Gen 18:2. A son of Hebron, tribe of Judah. 1Ch 2:43. 3. A Levite who rebelled against Moses and Aaron. He was a cousin of Moses, for their fathers Izhar and Amram were brothers. Exo 6:16-21. Korah and the 250 Levites whom he had enticed to join him were destroyed by fire from the Lord; while Dathan and Abiram were swallowed by the miraculous opening of the earth. Num 16:1-50; Psa 106:17-18; Jud 1:11. But Korah’s children escaped, Num 26:11; and the Korahites, or "sons of Korah," were a celebrated family of doorkeepers, singers, and poets in the time of David. 1Ch 9:17-19; 1Ch 26:1; 2Ch 20:19. To them are inscribed several psalms. Psa 42:1-11; Psa 44:1-26; Psa 45:1-17; Psa 46:1-11; Psa 47:1-9; Psa 48:1-14; Psa 49:1-20; Psa 84:1-12; Psa 85:1-13; Psa 87:1-7; Psa 88:1-18.
1. Son of Izhar, a son of Kohath. He with Dathan and Abiram headed the rebellion against Moses and Aaron, saying that they took too much upon themselves, whereas all the people were holy. There were gathered to them two hundred and fifty princes of the congregation who were Levites. Dathan and Abiram were of the tribe of Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn, and were perhaps jealous of the ascendancy of the sons of Levi. Their complaint against Moses is different from that of the Levites, and insinuated that Moses aimed at being a prince over them. They were swallowed up with their families by an opening of the earth; whereas Korah and his company were devoured by the fire of the Lord. With these it was an ecclesiastical rebellion: "they strove against Jehovah" in His appointed priesthood. The whole rebellion was a type of opposition against the royalty and priesthood of Christ. Exo 6:21; Exo 6:24; Num 16:1-49; Num 26:9-11; Num 27:3; 1Ch 6:22; 1Ch 6:37; 1Ch 9:19.
Num 26:10 seems to say that Korah was swallowed up by the earth; but Num 16:32 speaks only of the "men that appertained unto Korah;" and in Deu 11:6 and Psa 106:17-18 only Dathan and Abiram are named as being swallowed up. There was an exception in the case of Korah, in that his children were not included in the punishment. Num 26:11. In Jud 1:11 he is called CORE. To his sons or descendants, who took part in ’the service of song,’ the following Psalms are inscribed: Psa 42, Psa 44 - Psa 49, Psa 84, Psa 85, Psa 87, Psa 88.
2. Son of Esau and Aholibamah. Gen 36:5; Gen 36:14; Gen 36:18; 1Ch 1:35.
3. Son of Eliphaz, a son of Esau. Gen 36:16.
4. Son of Hebron. 1Ch 2:13.
(
):
By: Morris Jastrow, Jr., Charles J. Mendelsohn, Solomon Schechter, M. Seligsohn, George A. Barton
1. Son of Esau by Aholibamah; mentioned as a "duke" (
) of the land of Edom (Gen. xxxvi. 5, 14, 18; I Chron. i. 35). 2. Son of Eliphaz, Esau's son by Adah; also mentioned as a "duke" of Edom (Gen. xxxvi. 16). 3. Son of Hebron of the tribe of Judah (I Chron. ii. 43).
4. Biblical Data:
Son of Izhar, of the family of Kohath, and great-grandson of Levi (Ex. vi. 22; in I Chron. vi. 7 he is mentioned as a son of Kohath, but verse 22, following, also mentions him as the son of Izhar the son of Kohath). During the journey of the Israelites in the wilderness, Korah, with Dathan and Abiram, sons of Eliab, On, son of Peleth, and two hundred and fifty other "men of renown," rebelled against the leadership of Moses and Aaron (Num. xvi. 1-3). Moses ordered Korah and his company to appear in the Tabernacle on the following day, each bearing a censer filled with lighted incense, and the Lord would decide who were the rightful leaders of the people (xvi. 4-17). Korah and his company obeyed, and went to the Tabernacle with their lighted censers, followed by the whole congregation. The congregation was commanded to separate itself from Korah and his band, and when this order was carried out "the earth opened her mouth," and the arch conspirators "and all that appertained to them went down alive into the pit, and the earth closed upon them," while a fire from the Lord consumed their two hundred and fifty attendants (xvi. 18-35). Korah's children, however, did not die with their father (xxvi. 11). The censers of the conspirators were made into broad plates to cover the altar, as a warning to future conspirators (xvii. 1-5, Hebr.). After Korah's destruction the people murmured against Moses for having caused it, and a plague was sent by the Lord to destroy them. This plague killed 14,700 men before its ravages were stopped by an atonement offered for the people by Aaron (xvii. 6-15, Hebr.).
From Korah were descended the Korahites, or Korhites, first mentioned in Ex. vi. 24, and reappearing as Levites in Num. xxvi. 58 and I Chron. ix. 31. Several Psalms (xlii., xliv.-xlix., lxxxiv., lxxxv., lxxxvii., lxxviii.) are headed "for the sons of Korah," and the Korahites appear again as singers before Jehoshaphat fought the Moabites and Ammonites (II Chron. xx. 19). Several Korahite warriors joined David while he was at Ziklag (I Chron. xii. 6). Korahites are mentioned also as porters at, and gate-keepers of, the Tabernacle (I Chron. ix. 19, xxvi. 1, 19).
—In Rabbinical Literature:
The name "Korah" (
) is explained by the Rabbis as meaning "baldness." It was given to Korah on account of the gap or blank which he made in Israel by his revolt (Sanh. 109b). Korah is represented as the possessor of extraordinary wealth, he having discovered one of the treasures which Joseph had hidden in Egypt. The keys of Korah's treasuries alone formed a load for three hundred mules (Pes. 119a; Sanh. 110a). He and Haman were the two richest men in the world, and both perished on account of their rapacity, and because their riches were not the gift of Heaven (Num. R. xxii. 7; comp. Ex. R. li. 1). On the other hand, Korah is represented as a wise man, chief of his family and as one of the Kohathites who carried the Ark of the Covenant on their shoulders (Tan., ed. Buber, Ḳoraḥ, Supplement, 5; Num. R. xviii. 2).
Cause of Revolt.
The chief cause of Korah's revolt was, according to the Rabbis, the nomination of Elizaphan, son of Uzziel, as prince over the Kohathites (Num. iii. 30), Korah arguing thus: "Kohath had four sons [Ex. vi. 18]. The two sons of Amram, Kohath's eldest son, took for themselves the kingdom and the priesthood. Now, as I am the son of Kohath's second son, I ought to be made prince over the Kohathites, whereas Moses gave that office to Elizaphan, the son of Kohath's youngest son" (Num. R. xviii. 1; Tan., Ḳoraḥ, 3). Korah plied Moses with the following questions: "Does a ṭallit made entirely of blue wool need fringes?" To Moses' affirmative answer Korah objected: "The blue color of the ṭallit does not make it ritually correct, yet according to thy statement four blue threads do so" (Num. xv. 38). "Does a house filled with the books of the Law need a mezuzah?" Moses replied that it did; whereupon Korah said: "The presence of the whole Torah, which contains 175 chapters, does not make a house fit for habitation, yet thou sayest that one chapter thereof does so. It is not from God that thou hast received these commandments; thou hast inventedthem thyself." He then assembled 250 men, chiefs of the Sanhedrin, and, having clad them in ṭallitot of blue wool, but without fringes, prepared for them a banquet. Aaron's sons came for the priestly share, but Korah and his people refused to give the prescribed portions to them, saying that it was not God but Moses who commanded those things. Moses, having been informed of these proceedings, went to the house of Korah to effect a reconciliation, but the latter and his 250 followers rose up against him (Num. R. xviii. 2; Tan. l.c.; comp. Targ. pseudo-Jonathan to Num. xvi. 2).
Korah consulted his wife also, who encouraged him in the revolt, saying: "See what Moses has done. He has proclaimed himself king; he has made his brother high priest, and his brother's sons priests; still more, he has made thee shave all thy hair [comp. Num. viii. 7] in order to disfigure thee." Korah answered: "But he has done the same to his own sons." His wife replied: "Moses hated thee so much that he was ready to do evil to his own children provided the same evil would overtake thee" (Midr. Agadah to Num. xvi. 8; Yalḳ., Num. 750; comp. Num. R. l.c.; Tan. l.c.; Sanh. 110a).
Korah's Parable.
Korah incited all the people against Moses, arguing that it was impossible to endure the laws instituted by the latter. He told them the following parable: "A widow, the mother of two young daughters, had a field. When she came to plow it, Moses told her not to plow it with an ox and an ass together (Deut. xxii. 10); when she came to sow it, Moses told her not to sow it with mingled seeds (Lev. xix. 19). At the time of harvest she had to leave unreaped the parts of the field prescribed by the Law, while from the harvested grain she had to give the priest the share due to him. The woman sold the field and with the proceeds bought two sheep. But the first-born of these she was obliged to give to Aaron the priest; and at the time of shearing he required the first of the fleece also (Deut. xviii. 4). The widow said: 'I can not bear this man's demands any longer. It will be better for me to slaughter the sheep and eat them.' But Aaron came for the shoulder, the two cheeks, and the maw (ib. verse 3). The widow then vehemently cried out: 'If thou persistest in thy demand, I declare them devoted to the Lord.' Aaron replied: 'In that case the whole belongs to me' (Num. xviii. 14), whereupon he took away the meat, leaving the widow and her two daughters wholly unprovided for" (Num. R. xviii. 2-3; Tan., Ḳoraḥ, 4-6).
The question how it was possible for a wise man like Korah to be so imprudent as to rebel is explained by the fact that he was deceived through his own prophetical capacity. He had foreseen that the prophet Samuel would be his descendant, and therefore concluded that he himself would escape punishment. But he was mistaken; for, while his sons escaped, he perished (Num. R. xviii. 7; Tan., Ḳoraḥ, 12).
Destruction of Korah.
At the time of Korah's engulfment, the earth became like a funnel, and everything that belonged to him, even linen that was at the launderer's and needles that had been borrowed by persons living at a distance from Korah, rolled till it fell into the chasm (Yer. Sanh. x. 1; Num. R. l.c.). According to the Rabbis, Korah himself underwent the double punishment of being burned and buried alive (Num. R. l.c. 14; Tan., Ḳoraḥ, 23). He and his followers continued to sink till Hannah prayed for them (Gen. R. xcviii. 3); and through her prayer, the Rabbis declare, Korah will ascend to paradise (Ab. R. N. xxxvi.; Num. R. xviii. 11; comp. Sanh. 109b). Rabbah bar bar Ḥana narrates that while he was traveling in the desert, an Arab showed him the place of Korah's engulfment. There was at the spot a slit in the ground into which he introduced some wool soaked in water. The wool became parched. On placing his ear to the slit, he heard voices cry: "Moses and his Torah are true; and we are liars" (B. B. 74a; comp. Tan., ed. Buber, Ḳoraḥ, Supplement).
—Critical View:
Korah in the chief narrative concerning him (Num. xvi.) is associated with Dathan and Abiram in leading a revolt against Moses and Aaron. A close examination of the chapter shows that two independent narratives—one in which Dathan and Abiram figure and one in which Korah alone appears—have been woven together. In verses 12-15, 27b-32 Moses speaks with Dathan and Abiram, while in the rest of the passage he speaks with Korah alone. Then, as the narrative now stands, Korah and his followers are killed twice, once in xvi. 32b-33 and again in verse 35. The Deuteronomist (Deut. xi. 6) knew only the story as related of Dathan and Abiram. This form of the tale comes from JE.
The story of Korah thus separated originally related a contest between a band of Israelites and Moses and Aaron over the right of the Levites to exercise the priestly office. This narrative belongs to P. A still later writer, by inserting "the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi" in verse 1, and by adding verses 8-11, made the contest appear as one between a band of Levites and the house of Aaron over the priesthood.
Wellhausen ("Composition des Hexateuchs," p. 108) points out that Korah in I Chron. ii. 43 is a Judahite clan, and Bacon ("Triple Tradition of the Exodus," pp. 194 et seq.) has argued strongly for the view that the original P narrative is based on a Judahite story of J.
Bibliography:
Kuenen, Hexateuch, pp. 95 et seq., 334;
Bacon, Triple Tradition of the Exodus, pp. 191 et seq.;
J. Estlin Carpenter and G. Harford Battersby, Hexateuch, ii. 212 et seq.
(1) One of the 3 sons of Oholibamah, Esau’s Hivite wife. The account says that the 3 were born in Canaan before Esau withdrew to the Seir mountain country. They are mentioned 3 times in the brief account from 3 points of view (Gen 36:5, Gen 36:14, Gen 36:18; 1Ch 1:35), the 3rd mention being in the list of “chiefs.”
(2) One of the sons of Eliphaz, the son of Adah, Esau’s Hittite wife (Gen 36:16). He is mentioned as one of the Edomite “chiefs.”
If one has the habit, finding a statement anywhere, of thinking that the statement ought to be changed into something else, he will be interested in the attempts to identify these Edomite Korahs with Korah (3).
(3) A son of Hebron (1Ch 2:43), the son of Mareshah, mentioned in the Caleb group of families in Judah.
(4) The son of Izhar the son of Kohath the son of Levi (Exo 6:16 ff; Num 16:1; 1Ch 6:18, 1Ch 6:31-38), a younger contemporary of Moses. There may have been generations, omitted in the record, between Izhar and Korah; that is a natural way of accounting for Amminadab (1Ch 6:22-30).
1. The Catastrophe in the Wilderness:
This Korah is best known as the man whom the opening earth is said to have swallowed up along with his associates when they were challenging the authority of Moses and Aaron in the wilderness (Nu 16; Num 17:1-13). Korah is presented as the principal in the affair. The company is spoken of as his company, and those who were swallowed up as being “all the men that appertained unto Korah.” (Num 16:11, Num 16:32). It is under his name that the affair is referred to (Num 26:9; Num 27:3). But Dathan and Abiram of the tribe of Reuben are not much less prominent than Korah. In Nu 16 and 26 they are mentioned with Korah, and are mentioned without him in Deu 11:6 and Psa 106:17. Another Reubenite, On, the son of Peleth, was in the conspiracy. It has been inferred that he withdrew, but there is no reason either for or against the inference. Equally baseless is the inference that Zelophehad of Manassel joined it, but withdrew (Num 27:3). The account implies that there were other Levites in it besides Korah (Num 16:7-10), and it particularly mentions 250 “men of renown,” princes, such men as would be summoned if there were a public assembly (Num 16:2, Num 16:17, Num 16:35). These men, apparently, were of different tribes.
The position taken by the malcontents was that “all the congregation are holy, every one of them,” and that it was therefore a usurpation for Moses and Aaron to confine the functions of an incense-burning priest to Aaron alone. Logically, their objection lay equally against the separation of Aaron and his sons from the rest of the Levites, and against the separation of the Levites from the rest of the people. On the basis of this, Moses made expostulation with the Levites. He arranged that Korah and the 250, along with Aaron, should take their places at the doorway of the tent of meeting, with their censers and fire and incense, so that Yahweh might indicate His will in the matter. Dathan and Abiram insolently refused his proposals.
The record says that Korah’s “whole congregation,” including himself and the 250 with their censers, met Moses and Aaron and “all the congregation” of Israel at the doorway of the tent of meeting. For the purposes of the transaction in hand the tent was now “the
2. Critical Treatments of This Story:
Any appreciative reader sees at once that we have here either a history of certain miraculous facts, or a wonder-story devised for teaching religious lessons. As a story it is artistically admirable - sufficiently complicated to be interesting, but clear and graphic and to the point. In the Hebrew there are 2 or 3 instances of incomplete grammatical construction, such as abound in the early literary products of any language, when these have been fortunate enough to escape editorial polishing. In such a case it is possibly not unwise just to take a story as it stands. Nothing will be added to either its religious or its literary value by subjecting it to doubtful alleged critical processes.
If, however, one has committed himself to certain critical traditions concerning the Hexateuch, that brings him under obligation to lead this story into conformity with the rest of his theory. Attempts of this kind have been numerous. Some hold that the Korah of this narrative is the Edomite Korah, and that Peleth means Philistine, and that our story originally grew out of some claim made by Edomites and Philistines. It is held that the story of Korah was originally one story, and that of Dathan and Abiram another, and that someone manipulated the two and put them together. See the treatments of the Book of Numbers in Driver, Introduction; Addis, Documents of the Hexateuch; Carpenter and Battersby, Hexateuch; Bacon, Exodus; Paterson on Numbers, in the Polychrome Bible. These and other like works give source-analyses of our story. Some of the points they make are plausible. In such a case no one claims any adequate basis of fact for his work; each theory is simply a congeries of ingenious guesses, and no two of the guessers guess alike.
As in many other Biblical instances, one of the results of the alleged critical study is the resolving of a particularly fine story into two or more supposed earlier stories each of which is absolutely bald and crude and uninteresting, the earlier stories and the combining of these into their present form being alike regarded as processes of legendary accretion. The necessary inference is that the fine story we now have was not the product of some gifted mind, guided by facts and by literary and religious inspiration, but is an accidental result of mere patchwork. Such a theory does not commend itself to persons of literary appreciation.
(ÊïñÝ, hence called Core in the Authorized Version )
His rebellion and punishment (Numbers 16) are alluded to by Jude (v. 11).
During Israel’s journey through the wilderness, two groups combined to rebel against the leadership of Moses and Aaron. One was a group of 250 prominent Levites under the leadership of Korah who were envious that only Aaron and his family were allowed to be priests. The other group was headed by two from the tribe of Reuben who were envious of Moses’ position as national leader (Num 16:1-3).
In a public demonstration of whom he had chosen to be his priests, God put Korah to the test. He challenged Korah and his fellow Levite rebels to burn incense, something that normally only Aaron and his sons were allowed to do (Num 16:5-19). Korah and the two Reubenites were separated from the 250 Levites for the test. The outcome was that the three leaders were swallowed up by the earth, and the 250 Levites were burnt to death by fire from God (Num 16:32; Num 16:35; Jud 1:11).
Centuries later, descendants of Korah restored some respectability to the family name when they became gatekeepers, singers and musicians in the temple (1Ch 6:31-38; 1Ch 15:17; 1Ch 15:19; 1Ch 16:41-42; 1Ch 26:19). They collected or wrote a number of psalms that have been preserved in the Bible (Psalms 42; Psalms 44; Psalms 45; Psalms 46; Psalms 47; Psalms 48; Psalms 49; Psalms 84; Psalms 85; Psalms 87; Psalms 88).