Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
Korah, Dathan, Abiram, and On rebel against Moses and seek the priesthood along with 250 others. Wherefore they themselves are swallowed alive by the earth; and their 250 associates who were offering incense are consumed by divine fire. Hence, in verse 41, the people murmur: wherefore God consumes 14,700 of them by fire; Aaron restrains the spreading fire by his prayer.
Vulgate Text: Numbers 16:1-50
1. Now Korah the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, and Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab, and On the son of Peleth, of the children of Reuben, 2. rose up against Moses, together with two hundred and fifty other men of the children of Israel, leaders of the congregation, who were called to the council by name. 3. And when they stood against Moses and Aaron, they said: It is enough for you, for all the multitude are holy, and the Lord is in their midst. Why do you exalt yourselves above the people of the Lord? 4. When Moses heard this, he fell prostrate on his face; 5. and he spoke to Korah and to the whole multitude: In the morning the Lord will make known who belong to Him, and He will join the holy ones to Himself; and those whom He has chosen shall draw near to Him. 6. Do this therefore: Let each one take his censer, you, Korah, and your whole company: 7. and having taken fire tomorrow, place incense upon it before the Lord; and whomever He shall choose, he shall be holy: you go too far, sons of Levi. 8. And he said again to Korah: Hear, sons of Levi: 9. Is it a small thing to you that the God of Israel has separated you from all the people, and joined you to Himself, that you should serve Him in the worship of the tabernacle, and should stand before the assembly of the people, and should minister to Him? 10. Therefore He made you and all your brothers, the sons of Levi, to come near to Him, that you should also claim the priesthood for yourselves, 11. and that your whole company should stand against the Lord? For what is Aaron, that you should murmur against him? 12. So Moses sent to call Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab. They answered: We will not come; 13. is it a small thing to you that you have brought us out of a land that flowed with milk and honey, to kill us in the wilderness, unless you also lord it over us? 14. Indeed you have brought us into a land that flows with rivers of milk and honey, and have given us possessions of fields and vineyards — will you also gouge out our eyes? We will not come. 15. And Moses, very angry, said to the Lord: Do not regard their sacrifices; You know that I have never taken so much as a donkey from any of them, nor have I afflicted any one of them. 16. And he said to Korah: You, and your whole congregation, stand apart before the Lord, and Aaron separately, on the morrow. 17. Take, each one, your censers; and place incense upon them, offering to the Lord two hundred and fifty censers: and let Aaron also hold his censer. 18. When they had done this, while Moses and Aaron stood by, 19. and they had gathered the whole multitude against them at the entrance of the tabernacle, the glory of the Lord appeared to all. 20. And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying: 21. Separate yourselves from the midst of this congregation, that I may destroy them in an instant. 22. And they fell prostrate on their faces and said: O most mighty God of the spirits of all flesh, when one has sinned, shall Your wrath rage against all? 23. And the Lord said to Moses: 24. Command the whole people to separate from the tents of Korah, and Dathan, and Abiram. 25. And Moses rose up and went to Dathan and Abiram; and the elders of Israel following him, 26. he said to the crowd: Depart from the tents of these wicked men, and do not touch anything that belongs to them, lest you be involved in their sins. 27. And when they had withdrawn from their tents all around, Dathan and Abiram came out and stood at the entrance of their pavilions, with their wives and children, and their whole company. 28. And Moses said: By this you shall know that the Lord has sent me to do all the things that you see, and that I have not brought them forth from my own heart. 29. If they die the common death of men, and be visited with a plague wherewith the rest are accustomed to be visited, the Lord did not send me: 30. but if the Lord does a new thing, so that the earth opening its mouth swallows them, and all things that belong to them, and they descend alive into hell, you shall know that they have blasphemed the Lord. 31. Immediately therefore as he ceased speaking, the earth was rent beneath their feet; 32. and opening its mouth, it devoured them with their tents and all their substance; 33. and they went down alive into hell, covered with the earth, and perished from the midst of the multitude. 34. But all Israel that stood round about fled at the cry of those who were perishing, saying: Lest perhaps the earth swallow us also. 35. And a fire going out from the Lord slew the two hundred and fifty men who were offering incense. 36. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 37. Command Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest to take up the censers that lie in the fire, and scatter the fire here and there; because they have been sanctified 38. in the deaths of the sinners: and let him beat them into plates, and fasten them to the altar, because incense was offered in them to the Lord, and they have been sanctified, that the children of Israel may see them for a sign and a memorial. 39. So Eleazar the priest took up the bronze censers, in which those whom the fire had devoured had offered, and he beat them into plates, fastening them to the altar: 40. that the children of Israel might afterwards have a memorial, lest any stranger who is not of the seed of Aaron should approach to offer incense to the Lord, lest he suffer as Korah suffered, and all his congregation, when the Lord spoke to Moses. 41. And the whole multitude of the children of Israel murmured the next day against Moses and Aaron, saying: You have killed the people of the Lord. 42. And when a sedition arose and the tumult increased, 43. Moses and Aaron fled to the tabernacle of the covenant. And when they had entered it, the cloud covered it, and the glory of the Lord appeared. 44. And the Lord said to Moses: 45. Get away from the midst of this multitude; even now I will destroy them. And when they lay on the ground, 46. Moses said to Aaron: Take the censer, and having taken fire from the altar, put incense upon it, going quickly to the people to pray for them: for already wrath has gone out from the Lord, and the plague is raging. 47. When Aaron had done this and had run to the midst of the multitude, which the fire was already laying waste, he offered the incense; 48. and standing between the dead and the living, he prayed for the people, and the plague ceased. 49. Now those who were struck were fourteen thousand and seven hundred men, besides those who had perished in the sedition of Korah. 50. And Aaron returned to Moses at the entrance of the tabernacle of the covenant, after the destruction had ceased.
Verse 1: Korah the Son of Izhar
1. NOW KORAH THE SON OF IZHAR, THE SON OF KOHATH, THE SON OF LEVI. — From this it is clear that Korah was a cousin of Moses and Aaron, and that Moses and Korah were sons of two brothers, namely Amram and Izhar. For Kohath begot Amram and Izhar; Amram begot Moses and Aaron; and Izhar begot Korah, as is clear partly from this passage, partly from Exodus 6:18.
As is clear from Exodus 6:21, and being a cousin of Aaron, he envied that Aaron was preferred over him, and that he had been chosen as priest, while he himself was only a Levite. This is clear from verse 10, where Moses accuses him of coveting the priesthood; hence he also ordered this dispute to be settled by censers, by burning incense, which was indeed a priestly function.
God permitted this murmuring and sedition of Korah, so that through it Aaron's priesthood might be confirmed and made illustrious. For the glory of the faithful and of God's priests cannot shine forth, unless the rejection and punishment of the unfaithful commends it. Therefore Korah was here an express type of heretics and false priests. So Origen, on Romans 9.
Hence it is probable that this sedition was stirred up by Korah shortly after Aaron's consecration, namely in the same second year of the departure of the Hebrews from Egypt; this will be more evident from chapter 20, verse 1.
Verse 2: They Rose Up Against Moses
2. THEY ROSE UP AGAINST MOSES — not so much seeking his leadership, as envying Aaron's priesthood, as though it had been unjustly taken from themselves, being firstborn (for under the law of nature the priesthood belonged to the firstborn) and transferred to Aaron alone by Moses his brother; especially Korah, who was the firstborn of Izhar, as is clear from Exodus 6:21, and was a cousin of Aaron.
Morally, let those who are raised to honors in the state or the Church learn here that they expose themselves to the envy and rivalry of many, and that they should bear and overcome it with modesty and courage. Thus Scipio Africanus, when Gracchus with his followers was crying out against him that the tyrant should be killed, said: "Rightly those who make war against the fatherland wish me first removed. For Rome cannot fall while Scipio lives, nor can Scipio live if Rome is overthrown." The same man, when accused by the two Petillii of grave crimes before the people, said: "On this very day I conquered Carthage and Hannibal, and so now, wearing a crown, I go up to the Capitol to perform a sacrifice there: let those who wish pass their votes on me." And having said this, he ascended, with the people following him, and those who were accusing him were left abandoned. So Plutarch in his Life. Indeed, the winds seek the heights, and thunderbolts strike the highest mountains. Hence Cato used to advise that the powerful should use their power sparingly: for in that way they would have it for a long time, and would either escape envy or extinguish it.
Clement of Alexandria, Book 7 of the Stromata, truly said: "Whatever is beautiful, Momus follows," that is, the fault-finder, especially the rival and the envious person. The beautiful priesthood of Aaron was followed by the Momus of Korah; the beautiful anointing of Magdalene was followed by the Momus of Judas, but Christ praised it. How many critics do zealous and religious men have today? How many malicious censors? Whoever you are who undertake something beautiful and great, know that Momus will follow you: but do not mind him, since Christ praises your work. The carpers will cease their gnawing; your virtue and your praise will be celebrated in the theater of the whole world, and that forever.
BY NAME. — In Hebrew, "men of name," that is, celebrated men, namely chiefs and senators, who were accustomed to be summoned to the council.
Verse 3: The Whole Multitude Are Holy
3. IT IS ENOUGH FOR YOU — to live as private persons, and each of you to be content with your own lot.
BECAUSE THE WHOLE MULTITUDE ARE HOLY — as if to say: This whole Hebrew people is holy, and bound to God through true faith, religion, worship, and the covenant entered into at Sinai, and as it were consecrated, just as much as you, O Moses and Aaron.
AND THE LORD IS AMONG THEM. — First, raining manna upon them from heaven; second, going before them on the way in the pillar of cloud; third, dwelling with them in the tabernacle, as if to say: This whole people belongs to God, and God is among them; therefore you, O Moses and Aaron, should not act as if you were holier than the rest and more closely united to God, and therefore wish to rule over them.
Morally, learn here how tumultuous ambition is both for oneself and for others. St. Paulinus says excellently in his letter to Romanianus: "Honor is a flattering name, but an evil servitude." And Philo, in his book On Joseph: "Let him who desires honor reflect that he desires a storm." And St. Gregory, Part 1 of the Pastoral, chapter 9: "What is the power of high position, but a storm of the mind?" and in Book 32 of the Morals, chapter 17 or 19: "Everything that is eminent here, is afflicted more by sorrows than it rejoices in honors." And St. Bernard, Book 3 of On Consideration: "Ambition, the cross of the ambitious, tortures nothing more bitterly, disturbs nothing more annoyingly." And letter 42: "To those meditating on them, honors are flattering; but to those weighing the burdens, they are a source of terror and dread." And Sermon 6 on the Psalm He Who Dwells: "It is the truth, which by constant suggestion brings to mind how trivial is the consolation in ambition, how heavy the judgment, how brief the use, how unknown the end." For Seneca rightly says: Ambition seeks a stage and a theater. Rightly therefore St. Augustine declares that he trembles amid honors and praises. For thus he says in Sermon 5 On the Words of the Lord: "Your praises burden us rather, and put us in danger. We endure them, and tremble among them." And Homily 50: "Honor should seek you, not you it." St. Jerome in the Life of St. Paula: "By fleeing glory, Paula deserved glory, which follows virtue like a shadow, and fleeing those who pursue it, follows those who despise it." St. Chrysostom, Homily 3 on Genesis: "Human glory — we enjoy it much more abundantly when we despise it."
Verse 4: Moses Fell Prostrate on His Face
4. WHEN MOSES HAD HEARD THIS, HE FELL PROSTRATE ON HIS FACE — humbly beseeching the Lord to break up this sedition of Korah, and in prayer he received the answer which follows:
Verse 5: The Lord Will Make Known Who Belong to Him
5. IN THE MORNING THE LORD WILL MAKE KNOWN WHO BELONG TO HIM. — To these words the Apostle alludes in 1 Timothy 2:19, saying: "The Lord knows who are His," as I explained there.
AND HE WILL JOIN THE HOLY ONES TO HIMSELF. — "Holy ones," that is, those separated and chosen by Him for Himself for the priesthood; so also below in verse 7 and elsewhere, "holy" means one set apart for the priesthood.
Verse 7: You Exalt Yourselves Too Much, Sons of Levi
7. PUT INCENSE BEFORE THE LORD — before the Holy of Holies, on the altar of incense.
HE SHALL BE THE HOLY ONE. — "Holy," that is, separated and chosen by God for the priesthood, as I said on verse 5.
YOU EXALT YOURSELVES TOO MUCH, SONS OF LEVI. — In Hebrew, "it is too much for you," that is, you take and claim too much for yourselves, as if to say: You, O Korah the Levite, with your followers, are very arrogant, because you rise up not only against me and against Aaron, but against God, who ordained and established these things.
Verse 9: Is It a Small Thing That God Has Separated You?
9. IS IT A SMALL THING TO YOU THAT GOD HAS SEPARATED YOU, etc., THAT YOU SHOULD SERVE HIM? — In Hebrew it is "them"; in Chaldean, "for them"; but all these come to the same thing: for Korah and the other Levites served Him, that is God, for them, namely the Israelites.
Note here how great is the dignity of being a cleric, being a Levite, being dedicated to the worship of God, serving the tabernacle. Blessed Thomas More rejoiced and gloried in this: for in public processions he himself carried the cross before the priest, and he performed the office of an ordinary cleric or sacristan; he served the priest at the sacrifice, and when the priest sang, More himself, vested in a surplice, sang the responses like a custodian; and when the Duke of Norfolk happened to come by and said that this was unbecoming to him and beneath his dignity (for More was at that time Chancellor of England) and would displease King Henry, More replied: "It cannot displease my lord the king that I render service to the Lord of the king himself — to the Lord, I say, of lords."
Verse 11: Your Whole Company Stands Against the Lord
11. AND YOUR WHOLE COMPANY (your congregation, your flock) STANDS AGAINST THE LORD.
FOR WHAT IS AARON? — that is to say: What has Aaron done? For he did not thrust himself into the priesthood, but was called to it by God.
Verse 12: Moses Sent for Dathan and Abiram
12. THEREFORE MOSES SENT — namely a messenger, to the absent Dathan and Abiram, and also to On; for Korah alone was present with Moses.
WE WILL NOT COME — we refuse to come.
Verse 14: Sarcasm of Dathan and Abiram
14. TRULY YOU HAVE BROUGHT US INTO A LAND THAT FLOWS WITH RIVERS OF MILK AND HONEY. — This is sarcasm, as if to say: Is this desert the land flowing with milk and honey, into which you, O Moses, promised to lead us from Egypt? Hence the Roman Bible reads this without an interrogation mark. For the Hebrew and Chaldean have it assertively: Certainly you have not brought us into a land of milk and honey.
OR DO YOU WISH TO GOUGE OUT OUR EYES? — In Hebrew, "or do you wish to gouge out the eyes of these men who are with us?" — that is, so they may not see your deceits and impostures, as if to say: Is this why you summon us to you — to dazzle or blind our eyes, lest we see your tricks, by which through favoritism you unjustly assigned the priesthood to Aaron, your own brother, excluding us from it? Just as until now you have dazzled our eyes with your sweet words and promises, and you drove us mad, so that we followed you from the wealthy land of Egypt into this barren and arid desert. Some interpret it thus: that the gouging out of eyes was a punishment for disobedience and rebellion, as if to say: Even if you wish to gouge out our eyes for this disobedience and rebellion, because we do not come to you, we will still not come to you.
Verse 15: Do Not Regard Their Sacrifices
15. AND MOSES, VERY ANGRY, SAID TO THE LORD: DO NOT REGARD THEIR SACRIFICES. — He calls the burning of incense "sacrifices": for these rebels did not offer victims, but only incense, as is clear from what follows.
YOU KNOW THAT I HAVE NEVER EVEN TAKEN A DONKEY FROM THEM — that is to say: See therefore, O Lord, how unjustly they accuse me of ambition, tyranny, and domination.
Verse 17: Two Hundred and Fifty Censers
17. TAKE YOUR CENSERS, EACH ONE OF YOU, AND PUT INCENSE UPON THEM, OFFERING TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTY CENSERS TO THE LORD. — The seditious chiefs, the allies of Korah, were 250, as is clear from verse 2; the same number of censers is counted here, because each one contended with Aaron about the priesthood and claimed it for himself. Hence God chose to have His judgment in this dispute explored and declared through the burning of incense rather than through the slaying of victims, because the slaughter of 250 victims would have been costly, lengthy, and laborious. But incense and censers were at hand. Add that God is worshipped with frankincense by the custom of all nations, and that the burning of incense is the easiest, as well as the worthiest, sacrifice to God.
Note: These 250 censers were not taken from the tabernacle and the altar of burnt offerings: for those censers belonged to God, to Moses, and to Aaron; not to these rebels fighting against God and Moses. Rather, each one made his own censer of bronze, as is clear from verse 39, with slight effort, either before, when they began to aspire to the priesthood and conspire among themselves, or else soon after Moses gave them this opportunity and decreed that each should bring his own censer with incense. So Abulensis.
Verse 18: When They Had Done This
18. WHEN THEY HAD DONE THIS — the 250 seditious chiefs, but not Korah, Dathan, Abiram, and On. For these four refused to come to Moses and to the tabernacle, but remained at home in their own tents out of pride and stubbornness: perhaps also because they feared the vengeance of God, which they had seen upon Nadab and Abihu, and which later befell their 250 associates who offered incense, verse 35.
Verse 19: The Glory of the Lord Appeared
19. AND THEY HAD GATHERED (these 250 chiefs) AGAINST THEM (against Moses) THE WHOLE MULTITUDE. — For these 250 seditious men summoned the multitude of the people against Moses, so that everyone could witness this trial of their priesthood and applaud them: for they had no doubt that they would burn incense easily and splendidly. And for this reason the Lord wished to destroy the whole multitude, as being in agreement with them and applauding them, but at the prayer of Moses He spared them, and only the 250 seditious chiefs perished.
See here how foolish those are who, not content with their own calling, invade another's, and how wisely it was said, and inscribed by the wise on the lintels of their houses: "You (cleric) humbly pray; you (soldier) defend; and you (farmer) labor."
For if Korah with his followers had been content with his own rank and office, he would not have incurred the death of body and soul. Theopompus wisely wrote to the Pylians, who were offering him greater honors: "Moderate honors increase with time; excessive ones are abolished." So Plutarch in the Sayings of the Spartans.
THE GLORY OF THE LORD APPEARED TO ALL — namely a wondrous light and most radiant splendor in the pillar of cloud, representing God, and the glory and majesty of God.
Verses 20-21: Separate Yourselves
20 AND 21. AND THE LORD SPOKE TO MOSES AND AARON, SAYING: SEPARATE YOURSELVES FROM THE MIDST OF THIS CONGREGATION, THAT I MAY SUDDENLY DESTROY THEM. — Here God commands Moses and Aaron to separate themselves from the whole people, in order to destroy it; from which it is clear that the people had applauded the rebellion of Korah. Hence Moses prays for them, saying:
Verse 22: God of the Spirits of All Flesh
22. O MOST MIGHTY GOD OF THE SPIRITS OF ALL FLESH, WHEN ONE SINS, SHALL YOUR WRATH RAGE AGAINST ALL? — that is to say: You, O Lord, are God the Creator, Preserver, and Governor of all spirits that are in all bodies, and You contain them and penetrate them to the marrow, so that You know their inmost thoughts (for in a similar phrase and sense Moses says in chapter 27, verse 16: "May the Lord, the God of the spirits of all flesh, provide a man to be over this multitude"). Since therefore You see that the people did not sin by rebellion, but only Korah with his followers; and that the people, led astray by him, sinned only indirectly, because, being eager for novelty, they ran up out of curiosity to this new spectacle of incense-burning and competition, and smiled upon it: therefore I beseech You not to destroy the whole non-rebellious people on account of one rebel, Korah.
Moses here teaches Prelates to uphold their dignity among others, even among parents and relatives. Plutarch relates of the Roman Fabricius, who conquered Pyrrhus, that when as an old man he was riding on horseback to his son who was now consul, his son ordered him to dismount from his horse and to show reverence to the consul; and his father, embracing him, said: "You are wise, my son, in perceiving over whom you preside and how great is the majesty of the authority you have attained." St. Paul admonishes Timothy, Bishop of Ephesus, not to allow himself to be despised: for thus he says in 1 Epistle, chapter 4, verse 12: "Let no one despise your youth"; and Titus, Bishop of Crete, chapter 2, verse 15: "Let no one despise you." Thus St. Paul defends his own dignity against detractors throughout the entire Second Epistle to the Corinthians.
So St. Charles Borromeo, a most humble man, endured and overlooked insults heaped upon his person; but when his dignity and ecclesiastical jurisdiction were touched, he fearlessly defended them against kings and princes, and excommunicated them, and for this cause he readily declared himself willing to undergo death and martyrdom with St. Thomas, Archbishop of Canterbury.
So St. Ambrose steadfastly defended episcopal authority against the Emperor Valentinian and his mother Justina, and more than once offered himself to death for it, and to a eunuch who threatened him with death unless he obeyed the Emperor in handing over the church to the Arians, he replied: "You will do what eunuchs do; I will suffer what bishops suffer." So St. Chrysostom defended his dignity against Eudoxia; St. Basil against Valens; St. Athanasius against Constantine, Constantius, and Julian the Apostate; Gregory I against the Emperor Maurice; Gregory VII against Henry IV.
In the year of our Lord 552, when the Empress Theodora was insisting that Pope Vigilius restore the Patriarch Anthemius, having expelled the Catholic Menna, as he had promised before his pontificate, he replied: "I would rather suffer any punishment and die a thousand times than recall a heretical man condemned by my predecessors and change the sentence." And when the woman with her attendants pressed with threats, he said that he had come to a Diocletian, not to a Justinian, as he had supposed. He was therefore so beaten that he nearly died then and there. Fleeing into the church of St. Euphemia, which was not far away, he was dragged from there by the attackers, and with a rope thrown around his neck, was hauled like a thief through the whole city until evening. Then imprisoned, he lived for some time so patiently on bread and water that he always said he deserved even greater things, if a punishment worthy of his sins were inflicted. Alfonsus Ciacconus, in the Life of Vigilius.
In the 25th year of his reign, the impure Anastasius, hearing that Bishop Oenandus was very eloquent and could silence everyone who asserted the doctrine of God's suffering, urged him to defect to his faction, promising that he would immediately receive whatever he asked. The Bishop replied: "Rather, you should cross over to the Orthodox, lest while you embrace the opinions of the impious men Severus, Eutyches, and Dioscorus, you be condemned to eternal fire." And at the same time seizing the Emperor's cloak, he said: "This garment will by no means follow you after death, O Emperor; only piety and the habit of virtue will accompany you. Let the Church alone, which Christ redeemed with His blood. You are uneducated and ignorant of reasoning, and you do not perfectly understand any decree of the Church; you only frighten fools with impostures and scurrilous calumnies. Let it be enough dignity for you that you are emperor: do not harass the bishops of the Church." At this the Emperor fell silent, covered with shame. And although that Bishop was very poor, he refused to accept even a penny from the Emperor, so free was he, and having regard only for faith in God and piety; so Zonaras reports, Book 3 of the Annals.
Leontius, Bishop of Tripolis in Lydia, a Mysian by birth, was of a noble spirit toward all and free in speech. On one occasion, when a Council had been convened and Eusebia, the wife of Constantius, puffed up with pride, was being adored by the bishops, he alone scorned this flattery and stayed at home. But she, provoked and inflamed, sent to him to remonstrate, also enticing the man with promises: that she would build him the greatest church and supply him abundantly with money, if he would come to her. To this he replied as follows: "If indeed you wish to carry out any of these things, O Empress, know that you will be doing a favor not so much to me as to your own soul; but if you wish me to come to you, let the reverence due to bishops be preserved: that I should enter, while you immediately descend from that lofty throne, reverently come to meet me, place your head under my hands to receive a blessing; and then I should sit, while you modestly stand, and at my signal sit when I bid you. If, I say, these conditions please you, I will come to you; but otherwise, you will not give enough nor be able to do enough to make us violate the divine institution of the priesthood by neglecting the honor due to bishops." When this reply was reported to her, the woman blazed with anger, considering Leontius's response intolerable, and greatly agitated, she complained much and threatened much with womanly bile and frivolous temper, and laid the matter before her husband, urging him to punish Leontius. But he rather praised Leontius's noble spirit: and pacifying his wife's anger, he sent her to the women's quarters. So Suidas reports in his History, under Leontius, page 526.
Verse 26: Withdraw from the Tents of These Wicked Men
26. WITHDRAW FROM THE TENTS OF THESE WICKED MEN, AND TOUCH NOTHING THAT BELONGS TO THEM, LEST YOU BE INVOLVED IN THEIR SINS (that is, in the punishments of their sins) — hence in Hebrew it reads: Lest you be consumed in their sins. See how much God wills that the company of sinners be avoided, and how harmful and contagious sin is.
Verse 27: Dathan and Abiram at Their Tent Entrances
27. DATHAN AND ABIRAM HAD COME OUT AND STOOD AT THE ENTRANCE OF THEIR TENTS, WITH THEIR WIVES AND CHILDREN AND ALL THEIR HOUSEHOLD — namely servants and maidservants, and their little ones. For these little ones are properly signified by the Hebrew word taph, which however the Septuagint, as is their custom, translates as "household goods."
Verse 28: By This You Shall Know
28. BY THIS YOU SHALL KNOW THAT THE LORD SENT ME TO DO ALL THESE THINGS — namely, all that I did in leading you out of Egypt, and in my entire leadership, and especially concerning the election of Aaron and his sons as priests.
Verse 29: A Plague With Which the Rest Are Visited
29. BY A PLAGUE WITH WHICH THE REST ARE ACCUSTOMED TO BE VISITED — which God is accustomed to inflict upon the Jews, such as pestilence, the sword, famine, etc.
Verse 30: If the Lord Does a New Thing
30. BUT IF THE LORD DOES A NEW THING (in Hebrew, "if He creates a creation," that is, a new plague), SO THAT THE EARTH OPENS ITS MOUTH — its gaping chasm: for this is metaphorically called a mouth. Ridiculously therefore and absurdly the Jews fable from this passage that the earth literally has a hidden mouth, and that it was created by God on the seventh day of the world, namely on Saturday at sunset: for on the Sabbath God rested from all work, as Scripture teaches, Genesis 2.
LET IT SWALLOW THEM AND ALL THAT BELONGS TO THEM, etc., YOU SHALL KNOW THAT THEY HAVE BLASPHEMED THE LORD. — For they slandered a work of God, namely Aaron's priesthood, and attributed it not to God, but to Moses and to his unjust and wicked favoritism; but this is to blaspheme: for this was a great injury and insult to God. For blasphemy is when a work of God is attributed to the devil or to man, as is clear from Matthew 12:31. So Abulensis.
Verses 31-32: The Earth Devoured Them
31 AND 32. IMMEDIATELY THEREFORE AS HE CEASED SPEAKING, THE EARTH WAS RENT BENEATH THEIR FEET, AND OPENING ITS MOUTH IT DEVOURED THEM, WITH THEIR TENTS AND ALL THEIR SUBSTANCE. — Note: At the time when the 250 chiefs who were allies of Korah in this sedition offered incense in the tabernacle, and there were struck by fire from God, at the same time Dathan, Abiram, On, and Korah, the leaders of the rebellion, who refused to go to Moses and the tabernacle, were swallowed by the earth at home with their tents and their entire families. For that Korah did not perish by fire with the 250 in the tabernacle, but remained at home and was swallowed by the earth there, is clear from this verse and verse 27, in the Hebrew, where it is expressly said that Korah with his substance was swallowed by the earth: the same is gathered from verse 24, where Moses orders the people to withdraw from the tent of Korah, because he was about to be swallowed by the earth; the same is expressly stated in chapter 26, verse 10.
Note here the punishment of ambition, rebellion, disobedience, and murmuring. For not only these four leaders, but also their wives, children, servants, maidservants, and their entire households with all their possessions were swallowed by the earth, both for the detestation of so great a crime and to strike terror into the people: just as in the crime of treason, the houses of the accused are utterly destroyed. For these rebels and blasphemers were guilty of divine treason. Hence it seems that these wives, children, and servants had consented with their rebellious masters, seeking the honor of the priesthood for their masters, and consequently for themselves and their family. If any did not consent, they perished because they did not withdraw from their tents, as the Lord had commanded in verse 24. Their little ones also, though innocent, were swallowed, because little children are the possession of their parents, says Aristotle, Ethics Book 5: therefore the parents were punished by the death of their little ones. For God is Lord of the life and death of all, and He rather did these little ones a kindness by this death. For it is probable that they were cleansed of original sin through the remedy of the natural law, and so were saved — children who, had they lived longer, would perhaps have followed their fathers' ways, or even have turned out worse than their parents.
Except here the sons of Korah, of whom it is said in chapter 26, verse 10: "And it was a great miracle, that when Korah perished, his sons did not perish," because these sons of Korah did not consent to their father's rebellion; and so by a miracle God brought it about that when Korah was swallowed with his tent, his sons were not swallowed, but hung suspended in the air until the earth, after swallowing Korah's tent, closed together again beneath their feet and shut its gaping chasm. Hence in chapter 26, verse 58, the family of Korah, as having survived, is numbered among the Levites; and these sons of Korah were afterwards held to be holy among the Levites, and they either composed or sang several psalms, which are still inscribed with their name, namely "of the sons of Korah," as is clear from Psalms 41, 43, 84, 86, and 1 Chronicles chapter 26, verse 1.
SUBSTANCE. — In Hebrew, rekhush, which signifies any kind of riches: hence Vatablus derives the French word richesses from the Hebrew rekhush.
Verse 33: They Went Down Alive into Hell
33. AND THEY WENT DOWN ALIVE INTO HELL — This is to be taken literally; for Abulensis wrongly takes "hell" to mean "the grave." Imagine what the cry and lamentation of those descending must have been, as they were being swallowed, by which the whole people, struck with terror, fled from them, as is said in verse 34.
From this it is sufficiently clear that they were eternally damned and thrust down to hell; for that seems to be clearly stated here. In addition, these men, caught in the act of their crime, were suddenly swallowed by the fury of God: and so they do not seem to have had the spirit or time for repentance. However, these arguments are not entirely conclusive: for by "hell" could be understood Purgatory and the Limbo of the Fathers. For they could in their very descent, by so great a calamity, have been moved to contrition, repentance, and conversion, says Abulensis: this was possible, but it is hardly probable that it happened so. Hence Epiphanius, Jerome, Bede, and from them Bellarmine, Book 4 of On the Soul of Christ, chapter 10, consider that they descended to the hell of the damned. See here how rebel murmurers are punished: for as St. Ambrose says, letter 82: "The groaning earth is split in the midst of the people, a deep chasm opens, the guilty are snatched away, and thus they are banished from all the elements of this world, so that they might contaminate neither the air by breathing, nor the sky by sight, nor the sea by touch, nor the earth by burial."
You may ask whether these men, descending alive, actually reached hell alive. Some assert this, and it is probable: for the words of Scripture here seem to say this. But the contrary is more probable, namely that they did not reach hell alive, but began to descend alive, so that "they descended alive" signifies an action begun, not completed. For as the earth devoured them and immediately closed upon them, they died on the way, and their bodies remained there, while their souls descended into hell. The reason is that the universal law of death has been decreed for all men: for as it says in Hebrews 9:27, "it is appointed for men to die once," from which law no one is to be exempted, unless something else compels it. Again, the law of resurrection has been established for all mortals: therefore these too will one day rise again; therefore they died, and are not alive: otherwise their bodies would now be immortal in hell, and would not rise again on the day of judgment.
Thirdly, Moses himself indicates the same thing when he says in verse 29: "If they die the common death of men," as if to say: These will not die a common death, but a new and unusual one; and shortly after: "But if the Lord does a new thing, so that the earth opens its mouth and swallows them and all that belongs to them, and they descend alive into hell, you shall know that they have blasphemed the Lord." For the people could not know that they descended alive, that is, arrived in hell: but for this it was sufficient to see the earth gaping open and swallowing them, so that they began to descend alive toward hell: for so it appeared to all, and all who saw thought and said that they had descended alive into hell. For Scripture speaks in the common manner of men. So Abulensis, Lyranus, Hugo, Dionysius.
By a similar death the Antichrist will be punished, of whom these rebels were precursors and a type. For of him and his false prophet it is said in Revelation 19:20: "These two were cast alive into the lake of fire." On which see Francis Ribera in his commentary there.
COVERED WITH THE EARTH. — For the soil or earth, after they were swallowed, immediately closed itself and its mouth or chasm again.
Verse 35: Fire Slew the Two Hundred and Fifty
35. AND A FIRE GOING OUT FROM THE LORD SLEW THE TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTY MEN WHO WERE OFFERING INCENSE. — These 250 men came with their censers to the Sanctuary, where Korah, Dathan, Abiram, and On refused to come, and as they were taking coals from the altar of burnt offerings on which to place incense, intending to enter the Holy Place and burn it on the altar of incense, immediately before they could enter the Holy Place, fire sent by God from the altar of burnt offerings leapt upon them and burned them. Hence what is said here, "who were offering incense," should be understood as "who wished and attempted to offer" (a similar phrase was used in verse 33): for they had not yet offered, indeed they had not yet entered the Holy Place, since God did not wish it, lest they contaminate it with the guilt and punishment of so infamous a crime. Now at the same time that these 250 were struck by fire in the tabernacle of the Lord, Korah, Dathan, Abiram, and On were swallowed by the earth with their tents at home, as I said on verse 31. See how those are punished here who handle sacred things and claim the priesthood for themselves, when they have not been called or chosen by God for it, as is stated in verse 40.
Verses 37-38: The Censers Sanctified
37. LET HIM TAKE UP THE CENSERS THAT LIE IN THE FIRE — in the place of the fire, where the 250 chiefs were burned.
37 AND 38. BECAUSE THEY HAVE BEEN SANCTIFIED IN THE DEATHS OF THE SINNERS — that is to say: Let these censers be preserved as a memorial of the crime and the vengeance, because they were offered to God through sacred fire and the incense which these 250 chiefs placed upon them, intending to burn it to God on the altar of incense, although they had not yet burned it, being prevented by death. They were offered, I say, to God "in the deaths of the sinners," that is, at the time when God punished these 250 sinful and rebellious men with death, blasting them with fire.
These censers were therefore as it were sanctified. First, by contact with the sacred fire and the incense which the 250 chiefs placed upon them: for this is what is added here: "Because incense was offered in them to the Lord." Second, they were sanctified by the holy justice and vengeance which God exercised upon the chiefs who abused them, and this is signified by the phrase "in the deaths of sinners." Third, they were sanctified, that is, they were ordered to be offered to the tabernacle and preserved there for the holy and perpetual memorial of this vengeance: hence from the Hebrew, Vatablus translates: "let these censers or incense boxes be for the sinners, for their souls," that is, let them be preserved as a memorial of the sinners who through them lost their soul, that is, their life.
Verse 41: The People Murmured the Next Day
41. AND THE WHOLE MULTITUDE OF THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL MURMURED ON THE FOLLOWING DAY AGAINST MOSES AND AARON, SAYING: YOU HAVE KILLED THE PEOPLE OF THE LORD — that is, a part of the people, namely the 250 men and Korah, Dathan, Abiram, and On, with their families.
Verses 42-43: Moses and Aaron Fled to the Tabernacle
42 AND 43. AND WHEN A SEDITION AROSE, etc., MOSES AND AARON FLED TO THE TABERNACLE. — For this is a safe refuge in every persecution: and this is the great fruit of persecution, that it compels us to go to God. Hence James the hermit, when the devil was threatening him and saying: "I will brand you with such infamy that no one will want to look at you," replied: "I will give you thanks, for unwillingly you will do a favor to your own enemy, in that you will cause me to be more engaged in the remembrance of God. For the more leisure I have, the more I am occupied in perpetual contemplation of the divine beauty." So Theodoret in the Philotheos, chapter 21.
Verse 45: Withdraw from the Midst of This Multitude
45. WITHDRAW FROM THE MIDST OF THIS MULTITUDE — that is to say: You, O Moses and Aaron, flee outside the camp, so that I may destroy all the camps of the murmurers on every side.
AND WHEN THEY LAY ON THE GROUND — Moses and Aaron, praying for the people; hence it follows: "Moses said to Aaron: Take the censer, etc., put incense upon it, etc., to pray for them." Moses said this as a Prophet, inspired by God, according to God's will: for otherwise it was only permitted to burn incense on the altar of incense, and not outside it, among the people and the corpses of the slain, as Aaron did here, by God's dispensation.
Verse 46: The Plague Is Raging
46. FOR ALREADY WRATH HAS GONE OUT FROM THE LORD, AND THE PLAGUE IS RAGING. — The "and" is explanatory, that is: for the wrath that had gone out from the Lord was nothing other than the raging plague; this plague was a fire, which burned and consumed 14,700 of the people, as is clear from verse 49. Whether the bodies of these men were completely consumed by fire and reduced to ashes, as Abulensis holds, or merely scorched, is not clear: for neither is expressed here. See how murmuring is once again punished by fire.
Verse 50: The Destruction Ceased
50. THE DESTRUCTION — the plague of fire and burning just mentioned.