🔢WEB · Numbers 16:48
What does Numbers 16:48 mean?
"He stood between the dead and the living; and the plague was stayed."
— Numbers 16:48 (World English Bible)
Surrounding context
“Get away from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment!” They fell on their faces.
Moses said to Aaron, “Take your censer, and put fire from off the altar in it, and lay incense on it, and carry it quickly to the congregation, and make atonement for them; for wrath has gone out from Yahweh! The plague has begun.”
Aaron did as Moses said, and ran into the middle of the assembly. The plague had already begun among the people. He put on the incense, and made atonement for the people.
He stood between the dead and the living; and the plague was stayed.
Now those who died by the plague were fourteen thousand and seven hundred, besides those who died about the matter of Korah.
Aaron returned to Moses to the door of the Tent of Meeting, and the plague was stopped.
Explanation
This verse describes a dramatic moment following the rebellion of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram against the leadership of Moses and Aaron. After God had judged the rebels themselves, the wider congregation of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron, blaming them for the deaths that had occurred. In response, God's wrath broke out against the people in the form of a deadly plague. The verse tells us that Aaron, at Moses' instruction, took a censer with burning incense and ran into the midst of the assembly. He literally positioned himself physically between those who had already died from the plague and those who were still alive, making atonement for the people. As a result of his action, the plague stopped spreading.
The book of Numbers records the wilderness wanderings of Israel after the exodus from Egypt, traditionally attributed to Moses. This particular episode, found in Numbers 16 (in some versifications, this verse appears as 16:48 or as part of chapter 17, depending on the translation tradition), comes at a low point in Israel's journey, when the community's grumbling and rebellion against divinely appointed leadership provoke severe consequences. The larger narrative shows a pattern: rebellion, judgment, intercession, and mercy. Aaron, as high priest, is the one authorized to
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