Numbers 16 Back to blog

Numbers 16

21 Oct 2026 - Theology

Rebellion(s)


Numbers 16:1-3 (NASB) - “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 men, and they stood before Moses, together with some of the sons of Israel, 250 leaders of the congregation chosen in the assembly, men of renown. They assembled together against Moses and Aaron, and said to them, ‘You have gone far enough! For all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the Lord is in their midst; so why do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the Lord?’”

According to the book of Exodus, Korah was a cousin of Moses and Aaron, the son of their uncle Izhar:

Exodus 6:18,20-21 (NASB) - “And the sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel… Now Amram married his father’s sister Jochebed, and she bore him Aaron and Moses… And the sons of Izhar: Korah, Nepheg, and Zichri.”

Korah and 250 others are complaining. Why mention Dathan, Abiram, and On? This story of rebellion is actually made up of two (or more) stories of rebellion against Moses and Aaron. One is about Korah and 250 chieftains. Another is about a rebellion led by Dathan and Abiram.

The events are confusing in the text. There seems to be pieces missing, as the two stories do not seem to fit together.

In the combined text, Moses bounces back and forth between locations in an unnatural way. In verse 4, Moses hears Korah’s complaint and speaks to him. But suddenly in verse 12, Moses has to “send for” Dathan and Abiram, who refuse to come to him. Later, in verse 25, Moses has to physically get up and walk to the tents of Dathan and Abiram. The text acts as though the rebels are standing together, yet treats them as geographically separated.

Because the editor (possibly Moses) combined these stories, they had to occasionally insert transitional phrasing to stitch them together. This is explicitly seen in commands like verse 24 and 27:

Numbers 16:27 (NASB) - “So they moved away from the areas around the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram; and Dathan and Abiram came out and stood at the entrances of their tents, along with their wives, their sons, and their little ones.”

Yet, Korah is a Levite (who camps near the Tabernacle), and Dathan and Abiram are Reubenites, who camp in a completely different part of the Israelite camp. They wouldn’t share a group of tents (according to the camp arrangements detailed in Numbers 2).

To study the stories we have to take them apart, remembering that in the end they are recorded as one story.

Dathan and Abiram

The story of Dathan and Abiram probably comes from the J source because:

Numbers 16:12-15 (NASB) - “Then Moses sent a summons to Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab; but they said, ‘We will not come up. Is it not enough that you have brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey to have us die in the wilderness, but you would also appoint yourself as master over us? Indeed, you have not brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey, nor have you given us an inheritance of fields and vineyards. Would you gouge out the eyes of these men? We will not come up!’ Then Moses became very angry and said to the Lord, ‘Pay no attention to their offering! I have not taken a single donkey from them, nor have I done harm to any of them.”

Dathan and Abiram doubted the Lord, calling Egypt a “land flowing with milk and honey”. They asked Moses, “Would you gouge out the eyes of these men” (14), meaning “Do you expect us to act like people who cannot see for themselves, like sheep who do whatever you say?”

Moses was very angry. He said to the Lord, “Pay no attention to their offering” (15)! This may be a clue as to why Moses sent for Dathan and Abiram in the first place. He may have heard that they were sacrificing to the Lord in their camp (of Reuben). This was forbidden - sacrifices were only to be made at the Tabernacle.

Before the Tabernacle was built, Levites burned incense offerings anywhere they pleased. In Exodus 30, the Lord commanded that this be done by Aaron (specifically the High Priest), and only in the Tabernacle:

Exodus 30:7-10 (NASB) - “Aaron shall burn fragrant incense on it; he shall burn it every morning when he trims the lamps. And when Aaron sets up the lamps at twilight, he shall burn incense. There shall be perpetual incense before the Lord throughout your generations. You shall not offer any strange incense on this altar, or burnt offering, or meal offering; and you shall not pour out a drink offering on it.”

Levites could no longer offer the incense sacrifice; nor could any Israelite, not even a chieftain.

Moses must also have heard that they accused him of doing wrong, so he added that he had not wronged or harmed them (15).

So Moses rose and went to Dathan and Abiram, with the elders of Israel following him. Dathan and Abiram stand outside of their tents, along with their families, waiting to see what Moses will do. Moses said, “By this you shall know that the Lord has sent me to do all these deeds; for it is not my doing. If these men die the death of all mankind, or if they suffer the fate of all mankind, then the Lord has not sent me. But if the Lord brings about an entirely new thing and the ground opens its mouth and swallows them with everything that is theirs, and they descend alive into Sheol, then you will know that these men have been disrespectful to the Lord” (28-30).

Moses tells the elders that the Lord will do something entirely new to Dathan and Abiram - they will be swallowed up alive by the earth.

Numbers 16:31-34 (NASB) - “And as he finished speaking all these words, the ground that was under them split open; and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them, their households, and all the people who belonged to Korah with all their possessions. So they and all that belonged to them went down alive to Sheol; and the earth closed over them, and they perished from the midst of the assembly. Then all Israel who were around them fled at their outcry, for they said, ‘The earth might swallow us!’”

The elders see Dathan and Abiram, their houses, and their families swallowed up in an earthquake. In an instant, they are gone, as if they never existed.

Korah’s Rebellion

The story of Korah’s rebellion against Aaron is probably the work of the P (Priestly) source because:

We can read the story of Korah by choosing only the verses that tell about his rebellion:

Numbers 16:1-3 (NASB) - “Now Korah… took men, and they stood before Moses, together with some of the sons of Israel, 250 leaders of the congregation chosen in the assembly, men of renown. They assembled together against Moses and Aaron, and said to them, ‘You have gone far enough! For all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the Lord is in their midst; so why do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the Lord?’”

Moses fell on his face, saying “Tomorrow morning the Lord will make known who is His, and who is holy, and will bring that one near to Himself; indeed, the one whom He will choose, He will bring near to Himself. Do this: take censers for yourselves, Korah and your whole group, and put fire in them, and place incense upon them in the presence of the Lord tomorrow; and the man whom the Lord chooses shall be the one who is holy. You have gone far enough, you sons of Levi!” (5-7)

To understand this test we need information about fire censers, incense, and the priests. The incense altar did not have fire on it all the time, but incense must be lit in order to burn. Fiery coals were used to light it. These coals and the incense were carried to the altar on fire pans (censers) that looked like small shovels. Offering incense was a task assigned by the Lord to Aaron and his sons. Even they had to be very careful - if it was not done correctly, the penalty might be instant death.

Korah claimed that any Levite - even any Israelite - should be equal to Aaron. So Moses put him to the test: let the Lord decide. Each of them (Korah plus 250 people) took his censer, put fire in it, laid incense on it, and took his place at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting, as did Moses and Aaron (253 people in total).

Then the glory of the Lord appeared to all the congregation. The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, “Separate yourselves from among this congregation, so that I may consume them instantly” (21). But they fell on their faces and said, “God, the God of the spirits of humanity, when one person sins, will You be angry with the entire congregation” (22)?

The Lord answered Moses and Aaron and told Moses to get away from the tent of Korah. Moses spoke to the community to move away from the tent of Korah and his possessions, and the people did as Moses said.

Numbers 16:35 (NASB) - “Fire also came out from the Lord and consumed the 250 men who were offering the incense.”

The test was over, Korah and the 250 rebels were dead. The Lord commanded Moses to give up their fire pans - “since they did present them before the Lord and they are holy” (38). Now the copper fire pans should be hammered to make a covering for the altar, to serve as a warning to all the Israelites. So Eleazar, Aaron’s son, hammered the fire pans to plate the altar.

The P-teller repeats the warning: “a reminder to the sons of Israel so that no layman, anyone who was not of the descendants of Aaron, would approach to burn incense before the Lord; then he would not become like Korah and his group” (40).

Another Rebellion

This next rebellion at the end of the chapter is attributed to the P source. The text functions as a continuation and definitive conclusion to the Korah narrative (also written by the P source).

The next day, the Israelites complained against Moses and Aaron again, saying, “You are the ones who have caused the death of the Lord’s people” (41)! Again the Lord tells Moses and Aaron, “Get away from among this congregation so that I may consume them instantly” (45). But Moses and Aaron “fell on their faces” (45).

When they rose, Moses told Aaron: Take a fire pan, take fire from the altar, and burn incense on it as an offering to atone for the people; “for wrath has gone out from the Lord, the plague has begun” (46)!

Numbers 16:47-50 - “Then Aaron took it just as Moses had spoken, and he ran into the midst of the assembly; and behold, the plague had begun among the people. So he put on the incense and made atonement for the people. And he took his stand between the dead and the living, so that the plague was brought to a halt. But those who died by the plague were 14,700 in number, besides those who died on account of Korah. Then Aaron returned to Moses at the entrance of the tent of meeting, for the plague had been brought to a halt.”

This story shows that the incense offering made by Aaron (and his sons) are the only ones the Lord will accept. Only Aaron the High Priest could stop the plague from spreading.

By weaving the stories of rebellion together, the final text presents a unified front: challenging God’s chosen political leader (Moses) or His chosen religious leader (Aaron, as the High Priest) results in absolute destruction.

References

  1. The Hebrew - Greek Key Study Bible (KJV Version)
  2. Rabbi Seymour Rossel, The Torah Portion-by-Portion (2007)
  3. Difficulties with the Text of the Korah Story - The Torah.com
  4. Fire Pans in the Bible and Archaeology - The Torah.com




Numbers 15