🔢WEB · Numbers 16:2
What does Numbers 16:2 mean?
"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."
— Numbers 16:2 (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.
He said to Korah and to all his company, “In the morning, Yahweh will show who are his, and who is holy, and will cause him to come near to him. Even him whom he shall choose, he will cause to come near to him.
Explanation
Numbers 16:2 describes the moment when a group of two hundred fifty prominent men within Israel's community stood up in open defiance against Moses. These were not obscure troublemakers but recognized leaders—"princes of the congregation," men who had been formally chosen to serve in the assembly and who carried real standing and reputation among the people. The verse sets the stage for what follows: a coordinated challenge to Moses' God-given authority, led primarily by Korah, a Levite, along with Dathan, Abiram, and On from the tribe of Reuben.
The book of Numbers was written by Moses, recording Israel's forty years of wilderness wandering between the exodus from Egypt and their entry into the Promised Land. This particular rebellion occurs after the incident of the twelve spies, when Israel's
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