Numbers 16:3 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Numbers 16:3
And they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron, and said unto them, Ye take too much upon you, seeing all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the LORD is among them: wherefore then lift ye up yourselves above the congregation of the LORD?
to convoke · conjunction + verb, niphal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
Moses
מֹשֶׁ֣הmo.Sheh
H4872
Mosheh · proper noun, a man's name
Aaron
אַהֲרֹ֗ן'a.ha.Ron
H175
Aharon · proper noun, a man's name
said
וַיֹּאמְר֣וּvai.yo.me.Ru
H559
to say (used with great latitude) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
much
רַבrav-
H7227
abundant (in quantity · adjective, masculine singular absolute
congregation
הָֽעֵדָה֙ha.'e.Dah
H5712
a stated assemblage (specifically · definite article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
holy
קְדֹשִׁ֔יםke.do.Shim
H6918
sacred (ceremonially or morally) · adjective, masculine plural absolute
LORD
יְהוָ֑הYah.weh
H3068
Jehovah · proper noun, a title
among
וּבְתוֹכָ֖םu.ve.to.Kham
H8432
a bisection · conjunction + preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
up
תִּֽתְנַשְּׂא֖וּtit.na.se.'U
H5375
to lift · verb, hithpael imperfect, 2nd person masculine plural
congregation
קְהַ֥לke.Hal
H6951
assemblage (usually concretely) · noun, common masculine singular construct
LORD
יְהוָֽהYah.weh
H3068
Jehovah · proper noun, a title
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Psalms 106:16 They envied Moses also in the camp, and Aaron the saint of the LORD.
Exodus 19:6 And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.
Numbers 14:14 And they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land: for they have heard that thou LORD art among this people, that thou LORD art seen fac…
Numbers 16:7 And put fire therein, and put incense in them before the LORD to morrow: and it shall be that the man whom the LORD doth choose, he shall be…
Acts 7:51 Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye.
Exodus 29:45-46 And I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will be their God.
Numbers 12:1-2 And Miriam and Aaron spake against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married: for he had married an Ethiopian woman.
Numbers 14:1-4 And all the congregation lifted up their voice, and cried; and the people wept that night.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Numbers 16:1-11
Here is, I. An account of the rebels, who and what they were, not, as formerly, the mixed multitude and the dregs of the people, who are therefore never named, but men of distinction and quality, that made a figure. Korah was the ring-leader: he formed and headed the faction; therefore it is called the gainsaying of Korah, Jde 1:11. He was cousin-german to Moses, they were brothers' children, yet the nearness of the relation could not restrain him from being insolent and rude to Moses. Think it not strange if a man's foes be those of his own house. With him joined Dathan and Abiram, chief men of the tribe of Reuben, the eldest son of Jacob. Probably Korah was disgusted both at the preferment…
they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron--The assemblage seems to have been composed of the whole band of conspirators; and they grounded their complaint on the fact that the whole people, being separated to the divine service (Exo 19:6), were equally qualified to present offerings on the altar, and that God, being graciously, present among them by the tabernacle and the cloud, evinced His readiness to receive sacrifices from the hand of any others as well as from theirs.
John Gill on Numbers 16:3
And they gathered themselves together against Moses, and against Aaron,.... They met together by appointment, and went up in a body to Moses and Aaron:
and said unto them, ye take too much upon you; the one to be king, and the other to be priest; for they imagined that Moses took the civil government into his hands, and Aaron the priesthood, of themselves, without any call of God to either; but the contrary is most certain, Hebrews 3:2; the Israelites, those of the other tribes besides Levi and Reuben, thought that Moses took too much upon him of his own head, to take the Levites instead of the firstborn, and confer a dignity on his own brethren, the sons of Kohath, who were near akin to hi…
Thus Korah, Dathan and Abiram, who tried to assume for themselves in opposition to Moses and Aaron the freedom to sacrifice, immediately paid the penalty for their efforts. The earth, breaking its bonds, opened up into a deep chasm, and the opening of the receding ground swallowed up the standing and the living. And not only did the anger of the indignant God strike those who had been the authors [of the revolt], but also fire that went out from the Lord in speedy revenge consumed 250 others, participants and sharers in the same madness, who had been joined together with them in the daring plan. Clearly [this] warned and showed that whatever the wicked attempt by human will to destroy God's plan is done against God.
But that they are said to have the same God the Father as we, to know the same Christ the Son, the same Holy Spirit, can be of no avail to such as these. For even Korah, Dathan, and Abiram knew the same God as did the priest Aaron and Moses. Living under the same law and religion, they invoke the one and true God, who was to be invoked and worshipped; yet, because they transgressed the ministry of their office in opposition to Aaron the priest, who bad received the legitimate priesthood by the condescension of God and the ordination of the Lord, and claimed to themselves the power of sacrificing, divinely stricken, they immediately suffered punishment for their unlawful endeavours; and sacrifices offered irreligiously and lawlessly, contrary to the right of divine appointment, could not be accepted, nor profit them.
Let those then who dissent learn to fear to rouse up the Lord, and to appease His priests. What! did not the earthquake swallow up Dathan, Abiron, and Korah because of their dissension? For when Korah, Dathan, and Abiron had stirred up two hundred and fifty men against Moses and Aaron to separate themselves from them, they rose up against them and said: "Let it suffice you that all the congregation are holy, every one, and the Lord is amongst them." Whereupon the Lord was angry and spoke to the whole congregation. The Lord considered and knew those that were His, and drew His saints to Himself; and those whom He chose not, He did not draw to Himself. And the Lord commanded that Korah and all those who had risen up with him against Moses and Aaron the priests of the Lord should take to themselves censers, and put on incense, that he who was chosen of the Lord might be established as holy among the Levites of the Lord. And Moses said to Korah: "Hear me, ye sons of Levi: Is this a small thing unto you, that God hath separated you from the congregation of Israel, and brought you near to Himself, to minister the service of the Tabernacle of the Lord." And farther on, "Seek ye the priesthood also, so that thou and all thy congregation are gathered against the Lord. And what is Aaron that ye murmur about him?" Considering, then, what causes of offence existed, that unworthy persons desired to discharge the offices of the priesthood, and therefore were causing dissensions; and were murmuring in censure of the judgment of God in the choice of His priest, the whole people were seized with a great fear, and dread of punishment came upon them all. But when all implore that all perish not for the insolence of few, those guilty of the wickedness are marked out; and two hundred and fifty men with their leaders are separated from the whole body of the people; and then the earth with a groan cleaves asunder in the midst of the people, a deep gulf opens, the offenders are swallowed up, and are so removed from all the elements of this world, as neither to pollute the air by breathing it, nor the heavens by beholding them, nor the sea by their touch, nor the earth by their sepulchres.
Dictionary and topics
Aaron — The eldest son of Amram and Jochebed, a daughter of Levi (Ex. 6:20). Some explain the name as meaning mountaineer, others mountain of strength, illuminator. He was born in Egypt three years before…
Abiram — Father of height; i.e., “proud.” (1.) One of the sons of Eliab, who joined Korah in the conspiracy against Moses and Aaron. He and all the conspirators, with their families and possessions (except…
Korah — Ice, hail. (1.) The third son of Esau, by Aholibamah (Gen. 36:14; 1 Chr. 1:35). (2.) A Levite, the son of Izhar, the brother of Amram, the father of Moses and Aaron (Ex. 6:21). The institution of the…
Passover — The name given to the chief of the three great historical annual festivals of the Jews. It was kept in remembrance of the Lord’s passing over the houses of the Israelites (Ex. 12:13) when the first…
Aaron · Murmured against, by the people — Murmured against, by the people
Accusation, False · .Against Moses by Korah — .Against Moses by Korah
Ambition · .Korah and his co-conspirators — .Korah and his co-conspirators
Church Of Israel · Was relatively holy — Was relatively holy
Dathan · A conspirator against Moses — A conspirator against Moses
Desert, Journey Of Israel Through The · Rebellion of Korah — Rebellion of Korah
Envy · .Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, of Moses — .Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, of Moses
Levites, The
John Calvin on Numbers 16:3
Ye take too much upon you. [89] Some explain, "Let it suffice," as if they desired to put an end to the tyranny of Moses; but I am rather of opinion that they would thus make a charge of presumptuous and sacrilegious supremacy, as if Moses and Aaron had not only usurped more than their right, but had also robbed God of His supreme authority. They, therefore, reproach the holy men with having impiously subjected to themselves the inheritance of God. Thus we see that God's faithful servants, whatever may be their moderation, are still not exempted from false accusations. Moses was an extraordinary example, not only of integrity, but also of humility and gentleness; yet he is called proud and v…
Num 16:1-2
The authors of the rebellion were Korah the Levite, a descendant of the Kohathite Izhar, who was a brother of Amram, an ancestor (not the father) of Aaron and Moses (see at Exo 6:18), and three Reubenites, viz., Dathan and Abiram, sons of Eliab, of the Reubenitish family of Pallu (Num 26:8-9), and On, the son of Peleth, a Reubenite, not mentioned again. The last of these (On) is not referred to again in the further course of this event, either because he played altogether a subordinate part in the affair, or because he had drawn back before the conspiracy came to a head. The persons named took (יקּח), i.e., gained over to their plan, or persuaded to join them, 250 distinguished me…
The rebels were “jealous of Moses and envious of Aaron” (Ps 106:16). They insisted that Moses and Aaron had gone too far because all Israelites were God’s chosen people (Exod 19:6). Their egalitarian protest against Moses and Aaron’s authority was probably intended to replace that authority with their own.
Rashi on Numbers 16:3
רב לכם You TAKE TOO MUCH UPON YOU — i.e. much more than is proper have you taken for yourselves in the way of high Office.
כלם קדשים [FOR] ALL [THE CONGREGATION] ARE HOLY — they all heard the utterances on Sinai from the mouth of the Almighty (Midrash Tanchuma, Korach 4).
ומדוע תתנשאו WHY THEN LIFT YE UP YOURSELVES [ABOVE THE ASSEMBLY OF THE LORD] — “If you have taken royal rank for yourself, you should at least not have chosen the priesthood for your brother — it is not you alone who have heard at Sinai: ‘I am the Lord thy God', all the congregation heard it!” (Midrash Tanchuma, Korach 4).
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
· Punishment of Korah and others of, for offering incense
— Punishment of Korah and others of, for offering incense
Murmuring · (Complaining, grumbling) -Of Israelites against Moses — (Complaining, grumbling) -Of Israelites against Moses
Presumption · .Korah, Dathan, and Abiram — .Korah, Dathan, and Abiram
Priests · Punishment for invading the office of — Punishment for invading the office of
Self-Exaltation · .Korah, Dathan, and Abiram — .Korah, Dathan, and Abiram
Self-Righteousness · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Treason · .Of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram against Moses and Aaron — .Of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram against Moses and Aaron
Usurpation · .Moses accused of — .Moses accused of
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).