Numbers 16 General Notes

Structure and Formatting

2. In the wilderness (10:11–19:22) * Korah, Dathan, and Abiram rebel, the people rebel, and Aaron’s staff blossoms (16:1–17:13)In this chapter, three men (Korah, Dathan, and Abiram) lead others in rebelling against Moses and Aaron. They want to be the leaders of the Israelites. However, Yahweh kills them and the people who agreed with them. After that, all the Israelites grumble against Moses and Aaron, and Yahweh begins to kill them too. However, Moses offers incense for them, and Yahweh spares everyone who is still alive.

Religious and Cultural Concepts in This Chapter

Korah, Dathan, and Abiram rebel

Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, along with many men who agreed with them, rebelled against Moses and Aaron. They argued that all the Israelites were holy, and that Aaron was improperly preventing them from approaching Yahweh. They argued that Moses was a bad leader who had not brought them to a fertile land as he had promised. They think that they should be leaders and priests instead of Moses and Aaron. Moses responds by telling them that they are not really rebelling against Moses and Aaron but against Yahweh, who appointed them. Yahweh then punishes Korah, Dathan, Abiram, and the people who agreed with them. (See: korah)

The Israelites rebel

After Yahweh punished Korah, Dathan, Abiram, and the people who agreed with them, the rest of the Israelites blame Moses and Aaron for killing them. Yahweh is angry and begins to kill them. Again, when the Israelites rebel against Moses and Aaron, they are rebelling against Yahweh, who appointed them.

Offering incense

In this chapter, people offer incense in several situations. To offer incense, they put hot coals or embers in a special pan and sprinkled incense on top of them. The incense would burn, creating a smoke that had a pungent smell. Moses had the 250 leaders who agreed with Korah, as well as Korah and Aaron, offer incense in Yahweh’s presence as a test. The person whom Yahweh chose would be the one he wanted to be priest. Later in the chapter, Aaron fulfilled the function of priest by burning incense among the people to make atonement for their sin of speaking against Moses and Aaron. Both times that people burn incense, it proves that Aaron is the real priest. (See: incense)

The plague

When Yahweh punishes the Israelites for rebelling against Moses and Aaron, he sends a “plague.” The word can refer to many different kinds of disasters. Some translations suggest that the “plague” is a kind of disease. The UST illustrates that option. Other translations use a more general word or phrase that refers to any kind of disaster that kills people. (See: plague)

Translation Issues in This Chapter

Did Korah and Dathan and Abiram rebel in the same way?

Korah is a Levite, while Dathan and Abiram are Reubenites. When Moses responds to Korah, he speaks about Levites and priests, and the test for him and the people who agree with him includes offering incense to Yahweh. On the other hand, Dathan and Abiram critique Moses for how he has led them out of Egypt and into the wilderness. Therefore, it is likely that Korah wanted to remove Aaron from being priest, and Dathan and Abiram wanted to remove Moses from being leader. However, these three men and the people who agreed with them did work together. So, this is one rebellion that targets both Moses and Aaron.

When is each group of people punished?

Dathan, Abiram, and their families are punished when the ground opens and swallows them up. Some of the people who agreed with Korah are also punished at this time. While this chapter does not directly state when Korah himself was punished, [26:10–11](../../26/10.md) indicates that Korah too was swallowed up when the ground opened, although his sons did not die at this time. The 250 leaders of Israel were punished when they offered incense and fire burned them up.