Numbers 16:7 - Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown

Numbers 16:7

5 and he spoke to Korah and all his company, saying, “Tomorrow morning the Lord will show who is ^aHis and who is ^bholy, 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. You take too much upon yourselves, you sons of Levi!”

8 Then Moses said to Korah, “Hear now, you sons of Levi:

9 Is it ^aa 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 to Himself, 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!

Commentaries:

Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown

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Numbers 16:6-7

Take your censers, Korah, and all his company, etc.—that is, since you aspire to the priesthood, then go, perform the highest function of the office—that of offering incense; and if you are accepted well. How magnanimous the conduct of Moses, who was now as willing that God's people should be priests, as formerly that they should be prophets (Numbers 11:29). But he warned them that they were making a perilous experiment.

Numbers 16:5-11

he spake unto Korah and unto all his company—They were first addressed, not only because they were a party headed by his own cousin and Moses might hope to have more influence in that quarter, but because they were stationed near the tabernacle; and especially because an expostulation was the more weighty coming from him who was a Levite himself, and who was excluded along with his family from the priesthood. But to bring the matter to an issue, he proposed a test which would afford a decisive evidence of the divine appointment.

Even to-morrow—literally, "in the morning," the usual time of meeting in the East for the settlement of public affairs.

the Lord will show who are his, . . . even him whom he hath chosen will he cause to come near unto him—that is, will bear attestation to his ministry by some visible or miraculous token of His approval.

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