🔢WEB · Numbers 16:12
What does Numbers 16:12 mean?
"Moses sent to call Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab; and they said, “We won’t come up!"
— Numbers 16:12 (World English Bible)
Surrounding context
Is it a small thing to you, that the God of Israel has separated you from the congregation of Israel, to bring you near to himself, to do the service of Yahweh’s tabernacle, and to stand before the congregation to minister to them;
and that he has brought you near, and all your brothers the sons of Levi with you? Do you seek the priesthood also?
Therefore you and all your company have gathered together against Yahweh! What is Aaron that you murmur against him?”
Moses sent to call Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab; and they said, “We won’t come up!
Is it a small thing that you have brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey, to kill us in the wilderness, but you must also make yourself a prince over us?
Moreover you haven’t brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey, nor given us inheritance of fields and vineyards. Will you put out the eyes of these men? We won’t come up.”
Moses was very angry, and said to Yahweh, “Don’t respect their offering. I have not taken one donkey from them, neither have I hurt one of them.”
Explanation
Numbers 16:12 sits in the middle of a dramatic rebellion story. In plain language, the verse tells us that Moses sent messengers to summon Dathan and Abiram, two brothers who were sons of Eliab, so that he could speak with them directly. Their response was blunt defiance: "We won't come up!" This was not a polite decline but an open refusal to submit to Moses' authority, even to the point of not honoring a direct summons from him.
The context is the rebellion recorded in Numbers 16, which took place during Israel's wilderness wanderings after the exodus from Egypt. Moses had been established by God as the leader of Israel, with Aaron serving as high priest. Korah, a Levite, along with Dathan and Abiram from the tribe of Reuben, and 250 other leaders, rose up against Moses and Aaron. Their complaint centered on questioning why Moses and Aaron should have exclusive leadership and priestly privilege over the rest of the congregation, who they claimed were equally holy. Dathan and Abiram, in particular, seem to have carried personal grievances, since Reuben was Jacob's firstborn son and may have felt his descendants deserved greater status. Earlier in the chapter, these two men had already accused Moses of bringing the people out of Egypt only to let them die in the wilderness, and of acting like a tyrant. Their refusal to come when called was the culmination of that hostility—they had already made up their minds and had no interest in reconciliation or further discussion.
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