1 Now aKorah the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, with bDathan 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 some of the children of Israel, two hundred and fifty leaders of the congregation, arepresentatives of the congregation, men of renown.
3aThey gathered together against Moses and Aaron, and said to them, “You1 take too much upon yourselves, for ball the congregation is holy, every one of them, cand the Lordis among them. Why then do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the Lord?”
5 and he spoke to Korah and all his company, saying, “Tomorrow morning the Lord will show who isaHis and whoisbholy, and will cause him to ccome near to Him. That one whom He chooses He will cause to come near to Him.
6 Do this: Take censers, Korah and all your company;
7 put fire in them and put incense in them before the Lord tomorrow, and it shall be that the man whom the Lord chooses is the holy one. Youtake too much upon yourselves, you sons of Levi!”
8 Then Moses said to Korah, “Hear now, you sons of Levi:
9Isitaa small thing to you that the God of Israel has bseparated you from the congregation of Israel, to bring you near to Himself, to do the work of the tabernacle of the Lord, and to stand before the congregation to serve them;
10 and that He has brought you near toHimself, you and all your brethren, the sons of Levi, with you? And are you seeking the priesthood also?
11 Therefore you and all your company are gathered together against the Lord. aAnd what is Aaron that you complain against him?”
12 And Moses sent to call Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab, but they said, “We will not come up!
13Isit a small thing that you have brought us up out of aa land flowing with milk and honey, to kill us in the wilderness, that you should bkeep acting like a prince over us?
14 Moreover ayou have not brought us into ba land flowing with milk and honey, nor given us inheritance of fields and vineyards. Will you put out the eyes of these men? We will not come up!”
15 Then Moses was very angry, and said to the Lord, a“Do not respect their offering. bI have not taken one donkey from them, nor have I hurt one of them.”
16 And Moses said to Korah, “Tomorrow, you and all your company be present abefore the Lord—you and they, as well as Aaron.
17 Let each take his censer and put incense in it, and each of you bring his censer before the Lord, two hundred and fifty censers; both you and Aaron, each with his censer.”
18 So every man took his censer, put fire in it, laid incense on it, and stood at the door of the tabernacle of meeting with Moses and Aaron.
19 And Korah gathered all the congregation against them at the door of the tabernacle of meeting. Then athe glory of the Lord appeared to all the congregation.
21a“Separate yourselves from among this congregation, that I may bconsume them in a moment.”
22 Then they afell on their faces, and said, “O God, bthe God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and You be angry with all the ccongregation?”
24 “Speak to the congregation, saying, ‘Get away from the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.’ ”
25 Then Moses rose and went to Dathan and Abiram, and the elders of Israel followed him.
26 And he spoke to the congregation, saying, a“Depart now from the tents of these wicked men! Touch nothing of theirs, lest you be consumed in all their sins.”
27 So they got away from around the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram; and Dathan and Abiram came out and stood at the door of their tents, with their wives, their sons, and their little achildren.
28 And Moses said: a“By this you shall know that the Lord has sent me to do all these works, for Ihave not donethembof my own will.
29 If these men die naturally like all men, or if they are avisited by the common fate of all men, then the Lord has not sent me.
30 But if the Lord creates aa new thing, and the earth opens its mouth and swallows them up with all that belongs to them, and they bgo down alive into the pit, then you will understand that these men have rejected the Lord.”
31aNow it came to pass, as he finished speaking all these words, that the ground split apart under them,
32 and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, with their households and aall the men with Korah, with all their goods.
33 So they and all those with them went down alive into the pit; the earth closed over them, and they perished from among the assembly.
34 Then all Israel who were around them fled at their cry, for they said, “Lest the earth swallow us up also!”
35 And aa fire came out from the Lord and consumed the two hundred and fifty men who were offering incense.
The title commonly given to this book is evidently suggested by the two numberings of the people recorded in Num. 1 and Num. 26.
The book narrates the history of the Israelites during their sojourn in the wilderness from the completion of the law-giving at Sinai, Leviticus 27:34, to their mustering in the plains of Moab for actual entry into the land of promise.
The incidents are generally given in their chronological order, except in the third part. The five chapters comprised in this part appear to deal with a long period, from which only isolated episodes are given; and of these the dates can only be conjectured.
Between the two dates "the first day of the second month of the second year after they were come out of Egypt" Numbers 1:1, and the death of Aaron Numbers 33:38, intervene no less than 38 years and 3 months (compare Deuteronomy 2:14), the long and dreary period of tarrying in the wilderness until the disobedient generation had wasted away.
From the death of Aaron to the date given in the opening verses of Deuteronomy Deuteronomy 1:1-3, occurred a space of exactly six months, in which all the events narrated in the fourth part of the Book of Numbers, from Numbers 20:1 to the end, would seem to have occurred, with the probable exception of the defeat of the king of Arad Numbers 21:1-3.
As regards the authorship and date of composition, the notes of time, the tenor of the contents, no less than the direct assertions of the text itself, lead to the conclusion that Moses is properly spoken of as the writer of the Book of Numbers. It is in substance his work; though many portions of it were probably committed to writing many years before the whole was completed; and the concluding chapters were not written until toward the close of the 40th year after the exodus.
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