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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:

2 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:

3 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?

4 And when Moses heard it, he fell upon his face:

5 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.

6 This do; Take you censers, Korah, and all his company;

7 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.

8 And Moses said unto Korah, Hear, I pray you, ye sons of Levi:

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?

10 And he hath brought thee near to him, and all thy brethren the sons of Levi with thee: and seek ye the priesthood also?

11 For which cause both thou and all thy company are gathered together against the Lord: and what is Aaron, that ye murmur against him?

12 And Moses sent to call Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab: which said, We will not come up:

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?

14 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.

15 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.

16 And Moses said unto Korah, Be thou and all thy company before the Lord, thou, and they, and Aaron, to morrow:

17 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.

18 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.

19 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.

20 And the Lord spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying,

21 Separate yourselves from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment.

22 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?

23 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

24 Speak unto the congregation, saying, Get you up from about the tabernacle of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.

25 And Moses rose up and went unto Dathan and Abiram; and the elders of Israel followed him.

26 And he spake unto the congregation, saying, Depart, I pray you, from the tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing of their's, lest ye be consumed in all their sins.

27 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.

28 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.

29 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.

30 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.

31 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:

32 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.

33 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.

34 And all Israel that were round about them fled at the cry of them: for they said, Lest the earth swallow us up also.

35 And there came out a fire from the Lord, and consumed the two hundred and fifty men that offered incense.

36 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

37 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.

38 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.

39 And Eleazar the priest took the brasen censers, wherewith they that were burnt had offered; and they were made broad plates for a covering of the altar:

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.

41 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.

42 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.

43 And Moses and Aaron came before the tabernacle of the congregation.

44 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

45 Get you up from among this congregation, that I may consume them as in a moment. And they fell upon their faces.

46 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.

47 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.

48 And he stood between the dead and the living; and the plague was stayed.

49 Now they that died in the plague were fourteen thousand and seven hundred, beside them that died about the matter of Korah.

50 And Aaron returned unto Moses unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation: and the plague was stayed.

h.ויקח קרח — This section is beautifully expounded in the Midrash of Rabbi Tanchuma.

h.ויקח קרח lit., AND KORAH TOOK — He betook himself on one side with the view of separating himself from out of the community so that he might raise a protest regarding the priesthood to which Moses had appointed his brother. This is what Onkelos means when he renders it by ואתפלג — “he separated himself” from the rest of the community in order to maintain dissension. Similar is, (Job 15:12) “Why doth thy heart take thee aside (יקחך)”, meaning, it takes you aside to separate you from other people (Midrash Tanchuma, Korach 2). — Another explanation of ויקח קרח is: he attracted (won over) the chiefs of the Sanhedrin amongst them (the people) by fine words. The word is used here in a figurative sense just as in. (Leviticus 8:2) “Take (קח) Aaron”; (Hosea 14:3) “Take (קחו) words with you” (Midrash Tanchuma, Korach 1).

h.בן יצהר בן קהת בן לוי [KORAH] THE SON OF IZHAR, THE SON OF KOHATH, THE SON OF LEVI — It does not, however, make mention of Levi being “the son of Jacob”, because he (Jacob) offered prayer for himself that his name should not be mentioned in connection with their (the Korahites') quarrels, as it is said, (Genesis 49:6) “with their assembly, my glory. be thou not united”. And where is his name mentioned in connection with Korah? In the passage in Chronicles where their (the Korahites’) genealogy is traced in connection with the “Duchan” (properly the platform — the place on which the Levites were stationed for the service of song in the Temple), as it is said, (I Chronicles 6:22—23) “the son of Ebiasaph, the son of Korah, the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, the son of Israel” (Midrash Tanchuma, Korach 4).

h.ודתן ואבירם AND DATHAN AND ABIRAM — Because the tribe of Reuben had their place, when they encamped, in the South, thus being neighbours of Kohath and his sons, who, too, encamped in the South (cf. Numbers 3:29), they (the Reubenites) joined Korah in his quarrel. “Woe to the wicked, woe to his neighbour!” — And what induced Korah to quarrel with Moses? He was envious of the princely dignity held by Elzaphan the son of Uziel (Midrash Tanchuma, Korach 1) whom Moses had appointed prince over the sons of Kohath although this was by the express command of God (Numbers 3:30). Korah argued thus: “My father and his brothers were four in number — as it is said, (Exodus 6:18) “and the sons of Kohath were [Amram and Izhar and Hebron and Uziel]”. — “As to Amram, the eldest, his two sons have themselves assumed high dignity, one as king and the other as High Priest; who is entitled to receive the second (the rank next to it)? Is it not “I” who am the son of Izhar, who was the second to Amram amongst the brothers? And yet he has appointed as prince the son of his (Amram’s) brother who was the youngest of all of them! I hereby protest against him and will undo his decision”. — What did he do? He arose and assembled 250 men, fitted to be heads of the Sanhedrin, most of them of the tribe of Reuben who were his neighbours, viz., Elizur the son of Shedeur, (the prince of the tribe of Reuben; cf. Numbers 1:5), and his colleagues, and others of a similar standing, — for here it states (v. 2) that they were “princes of the congregation, those who were called to the assembly (קראי מועד)”, and there (in another passage) it states, (Numbers 1:16) “these were they who were called to the congregation (קרואי העדה)” (amongst whom was also Elizur the son of Shedeur; cf. Numbers 1:5 and Rashi on Numbers 1:16), — and he attired them in robes of pure purple wool. They then came and stood before Moses and said to him, “Is a garment that is entirely of purple subject to the law of Zizith or is it exempt”? He replied to them: “It is subject to that law”. Whereupon they began to jeer at him: “Is this possible? A robe of any different coloured material, one thread of purple attached to it exempts it, and this that is entirely of purple should it not exempt itself (i.e. ipso facto be exempt) from the law of “Zizith”? (Midrash Tanchuma, Korach 2).

h.בני ראובן THE SONS OF REUBEN — this describes Dathan and Abiram and On the son of Peleth.

h.רב לכם You TAKE TOO MUCH UPON YOU — i.e. much more than is proper have you taken for yourselves in the way of high Office.

h.כלם קדשים [FOR] ALL [THE CONGREGATION] ARE HOLY — they all heard the utterances on Sinai from the mouth of the Almighty (Midrash Tanchuma, Korach 4).

h.ומדוע תתנשאו WHY THEN LIFT YE UP YOURSELVES [ABOVE THE ASSEMBLY OF THE LORD] — “If you have taken royal rank for yourself, you should at least not have chosen the priesthood for your brother — it is not you alone who have heard at Sinai: ‘I am the Lord thy God', all the congregation heard it!” (Midrash Tanchuma, Korach 4).

h.ויפל על פניו [AND WHEN MOSES HEARD IT,] HE FELL UPON HIS FACE because of the rebellion, for this was already the fourth offence on their part: when they sinned by worshipping the Golden Calf, it states, (Exodus 32:11) “And Moses besought [the Lord]”; in the case of the “people who complained”, (Numbers 11:1) it states: “and Moses prayed”; at the incident of the “spies”, (Numbers 14:13) “And Moses said unto the Lord, ‘When the Egyptians shall hear it… [and now I beseech Thee etc.]”; but now at the rebellion of Korah, his hands sank down (he felt himself powerless) A parable! This may be compared to the case of a prince who sinned against his father and for whom his (the father’s) friend gained forgiveness once, twice, three times. When he offended for the fourth time the friend felt himself powerless, for he said, “ How long can I trouble the king? Perhaps he will not again accept advocacy from me!” (Midrash Tanchuma, Korach 4).

h.בקר וידע וגו׳ TOMORROW THE LORD WILL MAKE KNOWN [WHO ARE HIS] — “Now (this hour of the day)” — he meant — “is a time of excessive drinking, and it is therefore not proper to appear before Him”. But his real intention in postponing the matter was that perhaps they might repent (abandon their opposition) (Midrash Tanchuma, Korach 5).

h.'בקר וידע ה את אשר לו TOMORROW THE LORD WILL MAKE KNOWN WHO ARE TO BE HIS for the Levitical service,

h.ואת הקדוש AND HIM WHO IS HOLY enough for the priesthood,

h.והקריב AND HE WILL BRING them אליו UNTO HIM. The Targum proves that this is so (i.e. that Scripture alludes to two different matters), for it renders the first phrase by “He will bring near to Him”, and the second by “He will bring near to His service”. — A Midrashic explanation of the word בקר (instead of the more usual מחר) is the following: Moses said to him (Korah): “The Holy One, blessed be He, has assigned bounds in His world; can you, perhaps, change the morning into evening? Just as little, will you be able to make this (Aaron’s appointment as High Priest) of none effect, — as indeed it states, (Genesis 1:5) “and it was evening and it was morning… (Genesis 1:4) “and God separated (ויבדל) [light from darkness]”; and in the same sense (that the separation should be of a permanent character) it states, (I Chronicles 23:13) “and Aaron was separated (ויבדל) that he should be sanctified [as most holy … to minister unto him]” (Midrash Tanchuma, Korach 5).

h.זאת עשו קחו לכם מחתות THIS DO: TAKE YOU CENSERS — What reason had he to speak to them thus? He said to them: according to the custom of the heathens there are numerous forms of divine worship, and consequently numerous priests, for they cannot assemble for worship in one temple; we, however, have One God, one Ark, one Law, one Altar, all constituting one form of worship and therefore we need but one High Priest; — and you, 250 men, all demand the High Priesthood?! I would like this myself, but events will prove that this is impossible. Here you have a rite which is dear to God more than any other — it is the offering of incense, which is even dearer to Him than all the sacrifices, but a deadly poison is contained in it, for through it Nadab and Abihu were burnt!” (cf. Leviticus 10:2). It was on this account that he warned them by saying, And it shall come to pass that the man whom the Lord will choose is the holy one — he is already in his state of holiness (not “he will become holy”; he thus warned them that there was not the slightest likelihood that they would be chosen). This must be the meaning of הוא הקדוש, not “he will become holy”, for do we not know that he whom He would choose would become holy? But this, in effect, is what Moses said to them: “I am telling you this in order that you may not imperil your lives, for only he whom He will choose will come out of this alive, but all of you will perish” (Midrash Tanchuma, Korach 5).

h.מחתות CENSERS — vessels into which coals are raked and which have a handle (cf. Rashi on Exodus 27:3).

h.רב לכם בני לוי means, “It is a great (an important) thing that I have told you, ye sons of Levi”). But were they not fools in that although he so sternly warned them they nevertheless undertook to offer! They, however, sinned against their own souls (i.e., they were regardless of their lives) as it is said, (17:3) “the censers of these sinners against their souls”. — But Korah who certainly was a clever (lit., open-eyed) man, what reason had he to commit this folly? His mind’s eye misled him. He saw by prophetic vision a line of great men (more lit., a great chain) descending from him, amongst them the prophet Samuel who was equal in importance to Moses and Aaron together (cf. Psalms 99:6: משה ואהרן בכהניו ושמואל בקראי שמו), and he said to himself, “On his account I shall escape the punishment”. And he further saw twenty-four Mishmars (shifts of Levites who formed the Temple Choir) arising among his grand-children, all of them prophesying by the Holy Spirit, — as it is said, (I Chronicles 25:5) “All these (prominent musicians) were sons of Heiman” (Heiman was a descendant of Korah; cf. I Chronicles 6:18—23). — He said, “Is it possible that all this dignity is to arise from me and I shall remain silent (be myself of no importance)?” On this account he joined the others in order to attain to that prerogative, because he had indeed heard from the mouth of Moses that all else of them would perish and one would escape: “He whom the Lord will choose will be holy”. He mistakenly applied this to himself. But he had not seen correctly, for his sons repented of their rebellious attitude and therefore did not die at that time (cf. Numbers 26:11), and it was from them that Samuel and the Levitical singers were descended. Moses, however, foresaw this. (Midrash Tanchuma, Korach 5).

h.רב לכם means, a great responsibility have you taken upon yourselves in rebelling against the Holy One, blessed be He.

h.ויאמר משה אל קרח שמעו נא בני לוי AND MOSES SAID UNTO KORAH, HEAR, I PRAY YOU, YE SONS OF LEVI — He began to speak to him with gentle words; when, however, he saw that he was stubborn, he said to himself: Before the other tribes join him and perish together with him, I will speak to them all!” He thereupon began to admonish them: “Hear ye, ye sons of Levi!” (Midrash Tanchuma, Korach 6).

h.ולעמד לפני העדה AND TO STAND BEFORE THE CONGREGATION to sing on the Duchan (the Platform).

h.ויקרב אתך AND HE HATH BROUGHT THEE NEAR to that service from which He has excluded the rest of the congregation of Israel.

h.לכן means because of this — because of all this that I have mentioned, אתה וכל עדתך הנועדים BOTH YOU AND ALL YOUR CONGREGATION WHO ARE GATHERED with you, על ה׳ are AGAINST THE LORD, for it is by His commission that I am acting in giving the Priesthood to Aaron; and this rebellion is therefore not against “us” (Midrash Tanchuma, Korach 6).

h.וישלח משה וגו׳ AND MOSES SENT [TO CALL DATHAN AND ABIRAM] — From here we may learn that one should not persist in strife (Midrash Tanchuma, Korach 10), for, you see, Moses sought them out in order to conciliate them by peaceful words (Sanhedrin 110a).

h.לא נעלה WE WILL NOT GO UP — Their mouth tripped them up (i.e. unwittingly they made mention of their fate) — that they would have only a “descent” (their words are taken to mean: we shall not be going up; we shall go down into the depths of the earth) (Midrash Tanchuma, Korach 6).

h.ותתן לנו (lit., thou hast given us) — The statement must he referred to the word לא, “not”, mentioned before, the meaning being: Thou hast not brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey, and thou hast not given us inheritance of fields and vineyards. — You told us, (Exodus 3:7) “I will bring you up from the affliction of Egypt” into a good land: from there (from such a land; cf. v. 13), indeed, you have brought us forth, but you have not brought us instead into a land flowing with milk and honey; on the contrary — you have passed a decree upon us to kill us in the wilderness, for you have said, (Numbers 14:29) “Your carcasses shall fall in this desert.”

h.העיני האנשים ההם תנקר WILT THOU PUT OUT THE EYES OF THESE MEN etc. — This means: even if you were to send to put out our eyes if we would not come up to you we would not come up!

h.האנשים ההם THESE MEN — [They meant themselves, but spoke of other people’s eyes being put out], like a man who attaches to his fellow the curse which should come upon himself (cf. Rashi on Exodus 1:10).

h.ויחר למשה מאד AND MOSES WAS VERY DISTRESSED — i.e. he was very much grieved.

h.אל תפן אל מנחתם TURN NOT THOU TO THEIR OBLATION — According to its plain sense the meaning is: “In respect to the frankincense which they will offer before Thee tomorrow, I beg of Thee do not turn (pay regard) to them”. The Midrashic explanation is: He said, “I know that they have a portion in the continual offerings of the community; let not even this their portion be accepted favourably before Thee — let the fire leave it alone and not consume it” (Midrash Tanchuma, Korach 7).

h.לא חמור אחד מהם נשאתי means, I have not taken the ass of any one of them; — even when I went from Midian to Egypt and placed my wife and my sons on the ass (Exodus 4:20), and I surely ought afterwards to have taken the price of that ass from their money, yet I took it only from my own (Midrash Tanchuma, Korach 7). The translation given by Onkelos of the word נשאתי is שחרית: in the Aramaic language a forced levy made by the king is so called, viz., שחרור (cf. Rashi on Bava Batra 47a. The translation of Onkelos therefore is: I did not press into my service the ass of any one of them).

h.והם [THOU] AND THEY [AND AARON] — they means thy congregation.

h.והקרבתם איש מחתתו AND OFFER YE [BEFORE THE LORD] EVERY MAN HIS CENSER — “every man” means, the 250 men amongst you.

h.ויקהל עליהם קרח AND KORAH CONVENED [ALL THE CONGREGATION] AGAINST THEM, by means of scoffing language: that whole night he went round to all the tribes and tried to win them over: “Do you really think that I care for myself alone? It is only for all of you that I have a care! These men come and occupy every high office: royal rank for himself, for his brother the priesthood!” — until in the end all of them submitted to his persuasion (Midrash Tanchuma, Korach 7).

h.וירא כבוד ה׳ AND THE GLORY OF THE LORD APPEARED [UNTO ALL THE CONGREGATION] — He came in a pillar of cloud.

h.אל אלהי הרוחות O GOD, THE GOD OF THE SPIRITS [OF ALL FLESH] — i.e., “[O God] who knowest the thoughts of every man”. Thy nature is not like that of human beings: an earthly king against whom part of his country commits an offence, does not know who the sinner is, and therefore when he becomes angry he exacts punishment from all of them. But Thou — before Thee all human thoughts lie open and Thou knowest who is the sinner (Midrash Tanchuma, Korach 7).

h.האיש אחד means, THE ONE MAN IS THE SINNER, and על כל העדה תקצוף YOU ARE ANGRY WITH ALL THE CONGREGATION?! Whereupon the Holy One, blessed be He, replied, “You have spoken well; I know and shall make known who has sinned and who has not sinned” (Midrash Tanchuma, Korach 7).

h.העלו GET YOU UP [FROM ABOUT THE DWELLING OF KORAH] — Understand this as the Targum does: withdraw from the vicinity of Korah’s dwelling.

h.ויקם משה AND MOSES ROSE UP [AND WENT UNTO DATHAN AND ABIRAM] — He still believed that they would show respect to him (defer to him if he personally appealed to them), but they did not do so, (and therefore he then addressed himself to all the congregation — cf. next verse) (Midrash Tanchuma, Korach 8).

h.יצאו נצבים [AND DATHAN AND ABIRAM] CAME OUT, STATIONING THEMSELVES [AT THE ENTRANCE OF THEIR TENT] — The word נצבים suggests that they stood with erect stature in a challenging attitude, ready to revile and to curse. The phrase is similar in meaning to (I Samuel 17:16) “And he stationed himself (ויתיצב) there for forty days”, which occurs in the story of Goliath (Midrash Tanchuma, Korach 3).

h.ונשיהם ובניהם וטפם AND THEIR WIVES, AND THEIR SONS, AND THEIR LITTLE ONES — Come and see how grievous a sin dissension is: for an earthly tribunal (more lit., a tribunal of here below) does not punish a person before he shows signs of puberty, the heavenly tribunal (more lit., the tribunal of above) not even before he is twenty years old, while here even the sucklings perished (Midrash Tanchuma, Korach 3).

h.לעשות את כל המעשים האלה [HEREBY YE SHALL KNOW THAT THE LORD HATH SENT ME] TO DO ALL THESE THINGS — i.e. that I have acted by the Divine Command in giving Aaron the High Priesthood, and in making his sons second in rank in the priesthood and Elzaphan prince of the Kohathites.

h.לא ה' שלחני [IF THESE MEN DIE THE COMMON DEATH OF ALL MEN] … THEN THE LORD HATH NOT SENT ME. but I have done everything of my own accord and he (Korah) is therefore right in rebelling against me.

h.ואם בריאה BUT IF A CREATION — i.e. an entirely new one.

h.יברא ה׳ THE LORD WILL CREATE, to slay them by a kind of death by which no man has hitherto died — and what is this new creation?

h.ופצתה האדמה את פיה THAT THE EARTH OPEN WIDE HER MOUTH AND SWALLOW THEM, then וידעתם כי נאצו YE SHALL KNOW THAT THEY HAVE PROVOKED the Holy One, blessed be He, and that I have spoken only by authority of the Almighty. Our Rabbis, however, gave the following explanation: ואם בריאה, if there has been a creation, i.e., if there was already a mouth to the earth from the six days of Creation, well and good! but if not, יברא ה׳ the Lord will create one now (Sanhedrin 110a; Nedarim 39b).

h.נסו לקולם [AND ALL ISRAEL …] FLED AWAY AT THEIR VOICE — i.e. on account of the sound that broke out because of their being swallowed up.