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, sons of Reuben, took men:#1: Korah (not that Korah) "took men" (not that there's anything wrong with that).
2 And they rose up before Moses, with certain of the children of Israel, two hundred and fifty princes of the assembly, famous in the congregation, men of renown:
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?
4 And when Moses heard it, he fell upon his face:
5 And he spake unto Korah and unto all his company, saying, Even to morrow the LORD will shew who are his, and who is holy; and will cause him to come near unto him: even him whom he hath chosen will he cause to come near unto him.
6 This do; Take you censers, Korah, and all his company;
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 holy: ye take too much upon you, ye sons of Levi.
8 And Moses said unto Korah, Hear, I pray you, ye sons of Levi:
9 Seemeth it but a small thing unto you, that the God of Israel hath separated you from the congregation of Israel, to bring you near to himself to do the service of the tabernacle of the LORD, and to stand before the congregation to minister unto them?
10 And he hath brought thee near to him, and all thy brethren the sons of Levi with thee: and seek ye the priesthood also?
11 For which cause both thou and all thy company are gathered together against the LORD: and what is Aaron, that ye murmur against him?
12 And Moses sent to call Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab: which said, We will not come up:
13 Is it a small thing that thou hast brought us up out of a land that floweth with milk and honey, to kill us in the wilderness, except thou make thyself altogether a prince over us?
14 Moreover thou hast not brought us into a land that floweth with milk and honey, or given us inheritance of fields and vineyards: wilt thou put out the eyes of these men? we will not come up.
15 And Moses was very wroth, and said unto the LORD, Respect not thou their offering: I have not taken one ass from them, neither have I hurt one of them.
16 And Moses said unto Korah, Be thou and all thy company before the LORD, thou, and they, and Aaron, to morrow:
17 And take every man his censer, and put incense in them, and bring ye before the LORD every man his censer, two hundred and fifty censers; thou also, and Aaron, each of you his censer.
18 And they took every man his censer, and put fire in them, and laid incense thereon, and stood in the door of the tabernacle of the congregation with Moses and Aaron.
19 And Korah gathered all the congregation against them unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation: and the glory of the LORD appeared unto all the congregation.
20 And the LORD spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying,
21 Separate yourselves from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment.
22 And they fell upon their faces, and said, O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and wilt thou be wroth with all the congregation?
23 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
24 Speak unto the congregation, saying, Get you up from about the tabernacle of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.
25 And Moses rose up and went unto Dathan and Abiram; and the elders of Israel followed him.
26 And he spake unto the congregation, saying, Depart, I pray you, from the tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing of their's, lest ye be consumed in all their sins.
27 So they gat up from the tabernacle of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, on every side: and Dathan and Abiram came out, and stood in the door of their tents, and their wives, and their sons, and their little children.
28 And Moses said, Hereby ye shall know that the LORD hath sent me to do all these works; for I have not done them of mine own mind.
29 If these men die the common death of all men, or if they be visited after the visitation of all men; then the LORD hath not sent me.
30 But if the LORD make a new thing, and the earth open her mouth, and swallow them up, with all that appertain unto them, and they go down quick into the pit; then ye shall understand that these men have provoked the LORD.
31 And it came to pass, as he had made an end of speaking all these words, that the ground clave asunder that was under them:
32 And the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up, and their houses, and all the men that appertained unto Korah, and all their goods.
33 They, and all that appertained to them, went down alive into the pit, and the earth closed upon them: and they perished from among the congregation.
34 And all Israel that were round about them fled at the cry of them: for they said, Lest the earth swallow us up also.
35 And there came out a fire from the LORD, and consumed the two hundred and fifty men that offered incense.
36 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
37 Speak unto Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest, that he take up the censers out of the burning, and scatter thou the fire yonder; for they are hallowed.
38 The censers of these sinners against their own souls, let them make them broad plates for a covering of the altar: for they offered them before the LORD, therefore they are hallowed: and they shall be a sign unto the children of Israel.
39 And Eleazar the priest took the brasen censers, wherewith they that were burnt had offered; and they were made broad plates for a covering of the altar:
40 To be a memorial unto the children of Israel, that no stranger, which is not of the seed of Aaron, come near to offer incense before the LORD; that he be not as Korah, and as his company: as the LORD said to him by the hand of Moses.
41 But on the morrow all the congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron, saying, Ye have killed the people of the LORD.
42 And it came to pass, when the congregation was gathered against Moses and against Aaron, that they looked toward the tabernacle of the congregation: and, behold, the cloud covered it, and the glory of the LORD appeared.
43 And Moses and Aaron came before the tabernacle of the congregation.
44 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
45 Get you up from among this congregation, that I may consume them as in a moment. And they fell upon their faces.
46 And Moses said unto Aaron, Take a censer, and put fire therein from off the altar, and put on incense, and go quickly unto the congregation, and make an atonement for them: for there is wrath gone out from the LORD; the plague is begun.
47 And Aaron took as Moses commanded, and ran into the midst of the congregation; and, behold, the plague was begun among the people: and he put on incense, and made an atonement for the people.
48 And he stood between the dead and the living; and the plague was stayed.
49 Now they that died in the plague were fourteen thousand and seven hundred, beside them that died about the matter of Korah.
50 And Aaron returned unto Moses unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation: and the plague was stayed.
#2: 250 big-deal Israelite princes in all "rose up before Moses..."
#3: And they antagonistically told Moe and Aaron that they'd become too high falutin', asking why they placed themselves above the others in the congregation.
#4: "And when Moses heard it, he fell upon his face..."
#5: And he told Korah and his princely gang that tomorrow the Lord will separate the Holy from the ordinary, by making the holy ones come near him. (Not sure how Moe knows this holy-off will happen. Does YHWH now communicate with him telepathically? Or is Moe wearing a headset, like a quarterback or a Gap clerk?)
#6: Gentlemen, bring your incense burners, Moe says... (What could possibly go wrong?)
#7: And fire 'em up in front of God tomorrow. You're the ones who are over-reaching (history's first citation of "I know you are, but what am I?"), he tells them, reminding them that the One True Superdelegate will pick the holiest.
#8: Moses tells Korah and the Levites to listen up.
#9: Maybe it's a small thing to you, he says, that God made you temple crew...
#10: But now you want to be priests, too?
#11: Why you wanna dis the Lord and my bro?
#12: Moses called Dathan and Abiram, but they refused to come on down.
#13: Is it a small thing, they replied, that you took us from Milk-and-Honeyland, "to kill us in the wilderness," and on top of that, you're bossing us around?
#14: Also, they add, you haven't delivered on that promised-land inheritance. Are you going to blind these guys (perhaps "are you pulling the wool over their eyes")? We're not coming over to you.
#15: Moses was pissed, and he tells the Lord "Respect not thou their offering: I have not taken one ass from them, neither have I hurt one of them."
#16: Be there tomorrow, Moe tells Korah, along with your gang, and Aaron, too.
#17: And bring those censers, all 250, and some incense.
#18: They brought 'em, lit 'em up, "and stood in the door of the tabernacle of the congregation with Moses and Aaron." (Can you imagine the smell of 250 pieces of burning incense? Gag me!)
#19: Korah ganged up his anti-Moses/anti-Aaron group by the door, and "the glory of the LORD appeared unto all the congregation."
#20: God told Moe and Double-A...
#21: Stand apart from "this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment." (This, I take it, is not good news for the congregation).
#22: The consumables fell on their faces, saying " O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh," will you punish the whole congregation for one man's sin? (which seems like an odd line of argument, given that the whole group is in on this insubordination).
#23: YHWH tells Moses...
#24: To tell the congregation, "Get you up from about the tabernacle of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram." (This is a little confusing, but I gather He's telling the Israelite bystanders to stay clear of Korah, Dathan's, and Abiram's tents, because some serious shit is about to happen).
#25: Moses approached Dathan and Abiram, "and the elders of Israel followed him." (Love the dramatic effect. Moses is stooping to conquer. He walks over to the scofflaws who wouldn't come over to him, but if they think they're winning this round of gamesmanship, they've got another thing coming, doncha think?)
#26: Moses tells the whole congregation, to stay away from the mutineers' tents and from all their stuff. These. Guys. Are. So. Fucked.
#27: Everyone came out of Korah's, Dathan's, and Abiram's tents. "Dathan and Abiram came out, and stood in the door of their tents, and their wives, and their sons, and their little children."
#28: Moses claims that this will show that he's not to be responsible for what's going to happen. (But doesn't it seem like he prodded Yahweh to get involved?)
#29: If these guys die like most people do, then I'm not on a mission from God.
#30: "But if the LORD make a new thing, and the earth open her mouth, and swallow them up, with all that appertain unto them, and they go down quick into the pit; then ye shall understand that these men have provoked the LORD." (OK, this is getting serious bad-ass).
#31: And just as he said it, the ground opened up under the whiners.
#32: "And the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up, and their houses, and all the men that appertained unto Korah, and all their goods." (Not sure which men "appertained unto Korah. At first, I thought it meant the 250 complainers, but apparently not. His slaves, I reckon... it's a blessed thing that they're punished for their master's unfaithfulness to the Good Lord).
#33: They and all their stuff "went down alive into the pit, and the earth closed upon them: and they perished from among the congregation." (Serves 'em right, doesn't it, for complaining about being dragged into the wilderness and being condemned to die there in frustration, after having been promised a plush birthright? Being buried alive is too good for these fuckers. Just shows you how merciful our Loving Creator is. Note that some translations have them descending into Sheol, apparently a more-or-less hellish pit)
#34: All the Israelites on the scene fled, crying, fearing they would be swallowed up , too.
#35: "And there came out a fire from the LORD, and consumed the two hundred and fifty men that offered incense." (OK, now all the complainers have met their just deserts. A lot of killing, but that's that. Let's move along folks, nothing to be troubled about.)
#36: And God told Moses...
#37: To talk to Aaron's son, Eleazar, and to tell him to collect the dead men's 250 censers from the fire, "for they are hallowed." (Is there a better way to sanctify something than to burn its previous owner — a prince, no less — to death, and then steal it?)
#38: Make plates, for covering the altar, out of these sinners' censers. "They shall be a sign unto the children of Israel." (Yes, I would think they should be.)
#39: "And Eleazar the priest took the brasen censers, wherewith they that were burnt had offered; and they were made broad plates for a covering of the altar." (Could this be the origin of the word "brazen"?)
#40: To commemorate that no strangers, no one who isn't an Aaronite, should "offer incense before the LORD." (Fat lot of good it did Aaron's charbroiled sons to be in his family line.)
#41: The next day, the Israelites "murmured against Moses and against Aaron, saying, Ye have killed the people of the LORD." (What part of "I'm a murderous, petty, all-powerful madman" don't they understand?)
#42: The congregation gathered against Moses, and the cloud appeared, along with "God's glory."
#43: Moses and Aaron stood in front of the tabernacle.
#44: And the Almighty told Moses...
#45: "Get you up from among this congregation, that I may consume them as in a moment. And they fell upon their faces." (At that point, I probably would fall on my face. Or exit, stage left!)
#46: And Moses told Aaron, "Take a censer, and put fire therein from off the altar, and put on incense, and go quickly unto the congregation, and make an atonement for them: for there is wrath gone out from the LORD; the plague is begun." (At this point, I might think twice about burning incense, especially if I were Aaron.)
#47: Aaron did as Moses told him, and he stood amidst the people, "and he put on incense, and made an atonement for the people."
#48: He "he stood between the dead and the living; and the plague was stayed." (Not sure how God felt about this intervention).
#49: "Now they that died in the plague were fourteen thousand and seven hundred, beside them that died about the matter of Korah." (So, about 15 times as many people died in this incident as in Jonestown, and nearly 400 times as many in the Heaven's Gate cult suicide. But this wasn't sick or freaky, mind you.)
#50: Aaron rejoined Moses at the front of the tabernacle, and the Good Lord's holy plague had been stopped.
2 comments:
This is spliced together from the Jahwist-Elohist text and the Priestly Source. Its really two different rebellion narratives, one involving Dathan & Abiram, and the other involving Korah (Jahwist/Elohist, and Priestly Source, respectively). The Dathan & Abiram narrative is much briefer, and so the bulk of this is the Priestly Source's Korah story.
Take 32-33, for example, where it says "...all the men that appertained unto Korah and their goods, they and all that appertained to them"; the repetition of 'x and their posessions' is because the Jahwist-Elohist text (33) is spliced into the Priestly Source (32b). This is also why Dathan and Abiram come out of their tents in verse 27, but Korah does not.
Its actually slightly more complicated; the Jahwist-Elohist story is itself spliced together from the Jahwist and Elohist versions, while the original Priestly Source version has been added to by a later priestly writer.
The Elohist text is a bit fragmentary, as is common when the Jahwist-Elohist text is spliced together. In it, Dathan & Abiram, sons of Eliab...they confront Moses about him not getting them fields or vineyards, and the risk of being blinded as a result of the long years in the desert. Moses goes over to Dathan & Abiram, and is followed by the Elders, and their wives, and their sons, and their little children....The earth "opens her mouth" and Dathan & Abiram, and everything appertaining to them, fall into the pit.
In the Jahwist text, On-son-of-Peleth gathers a group of people and confronts Moses, arguing that he took them from a fertile and plentiful land, just to drag them through the desert. So Moses becomes angry, and complains to Yahweh, and then tells everyone to get away from the tents of the rebels, and to avoid their property. When the people do this, Moses announces that a supernatural death for the rebels - the earth opening and swallowing them up - would be evidence of Moses' divine commission; unsurprisingly the ground clefts in two and swallows them and their houses.
The Jahwist, ever the better writer, uses "milk and honey", and more emotive speeches. While the Elohist uses "fields and vineyards", but has the ground swallow the rebels up without Moses asking Yahweh for this - ie. it just implies that Moses made it happen merely by approaching Dathan & Abiram. In the Elohist, as always, Moses is divine, but to the Jahwist he is just an interlocuter.
Sheol is just the Israelite underworld, like the greek Hades. NOT like hell. More of a gloomy waiting room, than a torture chamber.
The priestly source, on the other hand, has twisted this story for theological-political point scoring (as it usually does); as usual, the Priestly Source uses its favourite themes of plague and ridiculously large numbers. In particular it converts the story into a "the non-Aaronids aren't valid priests" claim; the priestly source's great prejudice that infuses it completely, as I've mentioned quite a bit before. It also brings Aaron into the story.
The priestly source refers to Korah, a non-Aaronid Levite, who gathers 250 elders, and argues that the rest of the people are just as holy as the Aaronids. Moses challenges them to an incense burning contest, against Aaron, criticising their claim. Moses asks Yahweh to disrespect the offering. Korah + company make their incense offering, so Yahweh instructs Moses AND AARON to leave so that he can burn the others; Aaron and Moses beg for the rest of the people (ie. the people who aren't among Korah's rebellious group) to be spared, so Moses is instructed by Yahweh to make the non-incence-burning people leave. Korah & company are then burnt.
The people still acknowledge Korah & company as proper priests, complaining that Moses & Aaron had killed legitimate priests. Yahweh becomes angry, and decides to kill everyone via the plague, but Aaron calms him down by burning incense (but not until thousands of people have already died).
Korah is really the same character as the Edomite enemy of Israel. The Priestly Source took it from that legend, because its readers would remember that Korah had been an enemy of Israel, and therefore automatically connect the character to villainy. Korah is made a son of Izhar-son-of-Kohath in order to emphasise that he is a Levite but not an Aaronid - ie. enabling the story to make the "non-Aaronid Levites don't count" argument.
Its basically been twisted into a "non-Aaronids are condemned, as are their supporters" story, which it had never been before. A later priestly writer has added verses into the Priestly Source to emphasise the Levite-but-not-Aaronid aspect, adding in things like the "all thy brethren the Levites with thee: seek ye the priesthood also?" criticism.
The later priestly writer has also added the bit about the brass altar cover. Its basically an excuse for a brass altar cover being added to the altar by someone in the priestly writer's time. To support this argument they also upped the number of Korah's supporters to 250. But, if you skip back to Exodus 27, which was written slighly later...; it claims there that the brass covering was ALWAYS part of the altar, contradicting this chapter.
And that's why it seems so confused between what happens to Korah and what happens to Dathan&Abiram.
Verse 32: Although if I look to the "refugee camps" of the Palestinians and see appartment blocks, I can thus understand refugees having "houses". But nevertheless... it makes the story (even) less believable.
Unless it's a mistranslation (but then the translater is a moron).
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