🔢WEB · Numbers 16:1
What does Numbers 16:1 mean?
"Now Korah, the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, with Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On, the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took some men."
— Numbers 16:1 (World English Bible)
Surrounding context
Now Korah, the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, with Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On, the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took some men.
They rose up before Moses, with some of the children of Israel, two hundred fifty princes of the congregation, called to the assembly, men of renown.
They assembled themselves together against Moses and against Aaron, and said to them, “You take too much on yourself, since all the congregation are holy, everyone of them, and Yahweh is among them! Why do you lift yourselves up above Yahweh’s assembly?”
When Moses heard it, he fell on his face.
Explanation
Numbers 16:1 opens one of the most serious rebellions in Israel's wilderness history by identifying who instigated it. Korah is named first, and his lineage is traced carefully: he was a Levite, descended from Kohath, one of Levi's sons. Alongside him stand Dathan, Abiram, and On—men from the tribe of Reuben. The verse simply states that Korah "took some men," meaning
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