John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.

John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.

John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.

Numbers 15:1



INTRODUCTION TO NUMBERS 15



In this chapter the children of Israel are instructed about the meat offerings and drink offerings, and the quantities of them, which were always to go along with their burnt offerings and peace offerings they should offer when they came into the land of Canaan, Nu 15:1; and they are told that the same laws and ordinances would be binding equally on them that were of the country, and on the strangers in it,

Nu 15:13; and an order is given them to offer a cake of the first dough for an heave offering, Nu 15:17; and they are directed what sacrifices to offer for sins of ignorance, both of the congregation and particular persons, Nu 14:22; but as for presumptuous sinners, they were to be cut off, Nu 14:30; and an instance is recorded of stoning a sabbath breaker, Nu 14:32; and the chapter is concluded with a law for wearing fringes on the borders of their garments, the use of which is expressed, Nu 14:35.



Ver. 1. The Lord spake unto Moses,.... After the murmurings of the Israelites by reason of the spies, Nu 14:2; and their being threatened with a consumption of them in the wilderness on that account,

Nu 14:12; and their defeat at Hormah, Nu 14:45: and lest their posterity should be discouraged, and despair of ever enjoying the good land:



saying; as follows.





Numbers 15:2



Ver. 2. Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them,.... The younger sort of them, such as were under twenty years of age; for those of that age and upwards, who had murmured against the Lord, had been assured by him with an oath that they should die in the wilderness, and not see the land of Canaan, Nu 14:29; whereas those Moses is here bid to speak to were such that should possess it:



when ye come into the land of your habitations, which I give unto,

you; the land of Canaan, the grant of which is here renewed to them, and an assurance given of their coming into it and settlement in it; and that they should have dwelling places there for their several tribes and families.





Numbers 15:3



Ver. 3. And will make an offering by fire unto the Lord, a burnt offering,.... The first of these respects such offerings by fire, which were not wholly burnt, but part of them were eaten by the priests, De 18:1; and the latter such as were wholly burnt, unless the latter can be thought to be only an explanation of the former:



or a sacrifice in performing a vow, or in a freewill offering; these were peace offerings, some of which were for thanksgiving, and others were either a vow or a freewill offering, as here: see Le 7:11;



or in your solemn feasts; as the passover, pentecost, &c. of which, and the offerings in them, see Le 23:4;



to make a sweet savour unto the Lord; for acceptance with him:



of the herd or of the flock; a bullock of the one, a lamb or kid of the goats of the other; fowls are not mentioned, because burnt offerings of them required no drink offerings {f}.



{f} Maimon. Maaseh Hakorbanot, c. 2. sect. 2.





Numbers 15:4



Ver. 4. Then shall he that offereth his offering unto the Lord,.... Be it of either kind before mentioned:



bring a meat offering of a tenth deal of flour, mingled with the fourth [part] of an hin of oil; this was made of the tenth part of an ephah, or of an omer of fine wheaten flour, which was the quantity of about three quarts; and which was mixed and macerated with the fourth part of an hin, or with a quart and more than half a pint of oil: see

Ex 29:40; rather this should be called a bread offering.





Numbers 15:5



Ver. 5. And the fourth [part] of an hin of wine,.... The same measure with the oil, and this was wine of the grapes, as the Targum of Jonathan; other sorts of wine might not be used for the purpose mentioned:



for a drink offering shalt thou prepare; with the meat offering, to go along with every burnt offering and peace offering; which, as they were the food of God and the provision of his house, it was proper there should be of every kind fit for an entertainment, as flesh, bread, and wine. These were to go



with the burnt offering or sacrifice, for one lamb; if there were more than one, then a greater quantity in proportion was required.





Numbers 15:6



Ver. 6. Or for a ram,.... Whether for a burnt offering or a peace offering; or rather and for a ram {g}, as many versions:



thou shalt prepare [for] a meat offering two tenth deals of flour mingled with the third [part] of an hin of oil: which was the quantity of six quarts of fine flour, and about three pints and a quarter of a pint of oil.



{g} Vid. Nold. Concord. Ebr. part. p. 4. No. 24. so R. Jonah in Ben Melech in loc.





Numbers 15:7



Ver. 7. And for a drink offering thou shalt offer a third [part] of an hin of wine,.... The same quantity of wine was to be used in the drink offering as of oil in the meat offering, Nu 15:4:



[for] a sweet savour unto the Lord, that it might be acceptable to him.





Numbers 15:8



Ver. 8. And when thou preparest a bullock [for] a burnt offering,.... Which was a larger offering, and required a larger meat offering and drink offering, as Nu 15:9 show:



or [for] a sacrifice in performing a vow or peace offerings unto the Lord; by which latter are meant freewill offerings; for though both sorts here mentioned were peace offerings, yet these were more particularly called so.





Numbers 15:9



Ver. 9. Then shall he bring with a bullock a meat offering,.... Much larger than either for a lamb or ram, even one consisting



of three tenth deals of flour; or nine quarts of it:



mingled with half an hin of oil; two quarts and a pint, and somewhat more.





Numbers 15:10



Ver. 10. And thou shalt bring for a drink offering half an hin of wine,.... The same quantity as of oil, and a little more:



[for] an offering made by fire of a sweet savour unto the Lord: this, according to Jarchi, refers only to the meat offering and the oil: for the wine was not a fire offering, not being put upon the fire.





Numbers 15:11



Ver. 11. Thus shall it be done for one bullock,.... Such a quantity of flour and oil for the meat offering, and such a quantity of wine for the drink offering as before expressed; making no difference between one young or old:



or for a ram: which, Jarchi says, was thirteen months and one day old:



or for a lamb, or a kid; for a young one of the flock, whether of the sheep or goat, whether a lamb or a kid of the goats; which, according to Jarchi, were within a year, not a year old.





Numbers 15:12



Ver. 12. According to the number that ye shall prepare, so shall ye do to everyone, according to their number. That is, in proportion to the number of the cattle, be they of which sort they would, should be the quantity of the meat and drink offerings.





Numbers 15:13



Ver. 13. All that are born of the country shall do these things after this manner,.... Meaning that all Israelites should with their sacrifices bring their meat and drink offerings of the quantity directed to as above:



in offering an offering made by fire of a sweet savour unto the Lord; when they offered any burnt offerings or peace offerings: the Jews say, that all sacrifices, whether of the congregation or of a private person, require drink offerings, excepting the firstborn, the tithes, the passover, the sin offering, and the trespass offering; but the sin offering of the leper, and his trespass offering, require them {h}: the Targum of Jonathan is,



"all that are born in Israel, and not among the people, shall make these drink offerings thus;''



for though an uncircumcised Gentile might bring burnt offerings and peace offerings, yet not meat offerings and drink offerings with them;

See Gill on "Le 22:18"; only such as were proselytes of righteousness, as in Nu 15:14.



{h} Misn. Menachot, c. 9. 6.





Numbers 15:14



Ver. 14. And if a stranger sojourn with you,.... A stranger, or proselyte, not of the gate, but of righteousness, as Ben Gersom and the Jewish, writers in general interpret it;



or whatsoever [be] among you in your generations; whether such a proselyte settled and continued among them, or only stayed with them awhile:



and will offer an offering made by fire of a sweet savour unto the Lord; is desirous of offering a burnt offering or a peace offering to the Lord in an acceptable manner:



as ye do, so shall he do; bring the same meat offering and drink offering, according to the nature and number of the cattle he brings for sacrifice.





Numbers 15:15



Ver. 15. One ordinance [shall be both] for you of the congregation,.... Or "O congregation" {i}, as Ben Melech, and so the Targum of Jonathan, "O whole congregation"; though Aben Ezra denies it to be vocative:



and also for the stranger that sojourneth [with you]; the same ordinance, statute, or appointment, respecting the above things, were equally binding on one side as on the other, an homeborn Israelite and a proselyte of righteousness:



an ordinance for ever in your generations; to be observed by them, one and the other, in all ages, until the Messiah came and abolished the law of commandments contained in ordinances:



as ye [are] so shall the stranger be before the Lord; not in things civil, but religious, and particularly with respect to the above sacrifices and offerings: Ben Gersom and Aben Ezra say this respects the burnt offering only, which was before the Lord.



{i} lhqh "O Congregatio", Noldius, p. 237. No. 1077.





Numbers 15:16



Ver. 16. One law, and one manner,.... One law respecting these sacrifices, and one manner of offering them; one and the same precept to be observed, and one and the same judgment or punishment inflicted in case of non-observance:



shall be for you, and the stranger that sojourneth with you; for Israelites and proselytes; which is said to invite and encourage the latter, and may have a distant view to the calling of the Gentiles in Gospel times, when there should be no difference between Jews and Gentiles called by grace in matters of religion, but would be one in Christ, Ga 3:28.





Numbers 15:17



Ver. 17. And the Lord spake unto Moses,.... Or continued to speak to him; for the following law was given at the same time as those before:



saying; as follows.





Numbers 15:18



Ver. 18. Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them,.... Who only were bound to observe the following law concerning the cake of the first dough, Nu 15:20, and not Gentiles; so the Jews say {k}, the dough of a Gentile is free from the cake, though an Israelite kneads it:



when ye come into the land whither I bring you; the land of Canaan: this is another assurance of their possession of the land of Canaan, notwithstanding what had been threatened; in Nu 15:2; it is only said, "which I give unto you", but here, "whither I bring you"; assuring them, that as he had given it unto them, he would certainly introduce them into it. The Jews from hence gather, that they are not bound to observe this precept concerning the cake by the law, but in the land of Israel only, and when all Israel are there; wherefore at this time, and even in the days of Ezra, it is separated only by the words of the Scribes; and the reason of it is, that this law might not be forgotten by the Israelites {l}: there were three countries that were bound to bring the cake, according to the Misnah {m}.



{k} Schulchan Aruch, par. 2. c. 330. sect. 1. {l} Schulchan Aruch, par. 2. c. 322. sect. 2, 3. {m} Misn. Challah, c. 4. sect. 8. 10.





Numbers 15:19



Ver. 19. Then it shall be, that when ye eat of the bread of the land,.... Of the land of Canaan; when they were about to eat of it, before they actually did; when they were preparing for it, had ground their corn into flour, and had mixed it with water and kneaded it into dough, in order to bake it and make it fit for food; by bread is meant bread corn, such as was the old corn of the land the Israelites first ate of when they entered into it, Jos 5:11; the Targum of Jonathan adds,



"not of rice, or millet, or pulse,''



but what was made of corn used for bread; and the Jews say {n}, there were five things only they were obliged to make the cake of, wheat, barley, "cusmin" or rye, fox ear (barley), and oats; and this is to be understood only of dough made for men's bread, and not for dogs or any other beast {o}:



ye shall offer up an heave offering unto the Lord; and what that is, is expressed in Nu 15:20.



{n} Misn. Challah, c. 1. sect. 1. {o} Schulchan Aruch, ut supra, (par. 2.) c. 330. sect. 8, 9.





Numbers 15:20



Ver. 20. Ye shall offer up a cake of the first of your dough [for] an heave offering,.... Of the first dough made of the first corn that was threshed, winnowed and ground, they were to make a cake, and offer it an heave offering unto the Lord; the quantity of it is not expressed, but was left to the people's generosity; no stinted measure was fixed by the law; but according to the Scribes, or the traditions of the elders, the quantity of the cake was the twenty fourth part of the first dough that was kneaded; not the forty fourth, as Buxtorf {p} through mistake says; so the Targum of Jonathan,



"of the first of your dough, one out of twenty four (i.e. the twenty fourth part of it), ye shall separate a separation for the priests,''



with which agrees the Misnah {q}, though according to that, if made to sell publicly it was the forty eighth part of it. Some, because

Nu 15:21 begins and ends with m, "mem", which numerically signifies "forty", think this is an instruction to a bountiful person to give the fortieth part {r}:



as [ye do] the heave offering of the threshing floor, so shall ye heave it; as the two wave loaves and firstfruits of their harvest,

Le 23:16.



{p} Synagog. Jud. c. 34. p. 602. {q} Challah, c. 2. sect. 7. so Schulchan Aruch, par. 2. c. 322. so Jarchi & Ben Gersom in loc. {r} Baal Hatturim in loc.





Numbers 15:21



Ver. 21. Of the first of your dough shall ye give unto the Lord,.... As an acknowledgment of his being the sovereign Lord and possessor of heaven and earth, and of his being the owner and proprietor of the land of Canaan; and by way of thankfulness to him for the plenty of bread corn he had given them; and wherefore this cake was to he heaved or lifted up towards him in heaven, as follows:



an heave offering in your generations: for this respected not only the first time of their entrance into the land of Canaan, but was to be observed every year when they made their first dough, and was to continue as long as the ceremonial law lasted: this cake was anciently given to the priest, which is meant by giving it to the Lord, but now the Jews take it and cast it into the fire and burn it {s} the apostle seems to allude to this cake of the first dough in Ro 11:16.



{s} Buxtorf. ut supra, (Synagog. Jud. c. 34. p. 602.) & Leo Modena, History of the present Jews, par. 2. c. 9.





Numbers 15:22



Ver. 22. And if ye have erred,.... Gone astray from the law of God, and any of its precepts; every sin is an error, a missing of the mark, a wandering from the way of God's commandments. Jarchi, and the Jews in general, interpret this of idolatry, but it rather respects any deviation from the law, moral or ceremonial, especially the latter:



and not observed all these commandments which the Lord hath spoken unto Moses; in this chapter, more particularly concerning the meat offerings and drink offerings, and the quantity of them, to be brought along with their burnt offerings and peace offerings, and concerning the cake of the first dough to be heaved before the Lord and given to the priest.





Numbers 15:23



Ver. 23. [Even] all that the Lord hath commanded you by the hand of Moses,.... Recorded in this book and the two preceding, whether of a moral, ceremonial, or judicial kind; the whole body of laws given to the people of Israel from the Lord by Moses:



from the day that the Lord commanded [Moses], and henceforward among your generations; all that he had commanded, or should hereafter command.





Numbers 15:24



Ver. 24. Then it shall be, if [ought] be committed by ignorance,.... Of the law of God, not clearly understanding the meaning of it, or not knowing of the several precepts of it, and the circumstances of each, and the manner of performing obedience thereunto:



without the knowledge of the congregation; or they being ignorant of the true intent of the law and form of obeying it; for this is to be understood not of the sin of a private person through ignorance, but of the body of the people; or of a congregation of them in some particular place, ignorantly and unawares falling into idolatry, or rather into a breach of any of the laws of God, moral or ceremonial:



that all the congregation shall offer one young bullock for a burnt offering, for a sweet savour unto the Lord; as an acceptable sacrifice to him; by which it appears that this law is different from that in Le 4:13; since the bullock there was for a sin offering, this for a burnt offering; and besides another creature was to be for a sin offering, as after expressed:



with his meat offering and his drink offering, according to the manner; a meat offering, consisting of such a quantity of flour and oil, and a drink offering of such a quantity of wine as directed to,

Nu 15:9;



and one kid of the goats for a sin offering; which though mentioned last was offered first, as an expiatory sacrifice for sin, typical of Christ, who was made an offering for sin, and then the burnt offering by way of thankfulness for the acceptance of the other.





Numbers 15:25



Ver. 25. And the priest shall make an atonement for all the congregation of the children of Israel;.... By offering a sin offering for them, a type of Christ, the propitiation not only for the sins of the people among the Jews, but throughout the whole world, 1Jo 2:2;



and it shall be forgiven them; as the sins of the Lord's people are forgiven them through the blood of Christ, and on account of his stoning sacrifice and satisfaction made for them:



for it [is] ignorance; a sin of ignorance, for which reason Christ pleads for pardon on the foot of his sacrifice, and his people receive it, Lu 23:34; for that this sin was forgiven on the score of a sacrifice appears by what follows:



and they shall bring their offering, a sacrifice made by fire unto the Lord; the bullock for the burnt offering:



and their sin offering before the Lord, for their ignorance; a kid of the goats.





Numbers 15:26



Ver. 26. And it shall be forgiven all the congregation of the children of Israel,.... Which is repeated for the certainty of it, and for the sake of what follows:



and the stranger that sojourneth among them; the proselyte of righteousness; so the blessing of pardon, through the propitiatory sacrifice of Christ, comes upon believing Gentiles as well as Jews, Ro 4:9;



seeing all the people [were] in ignorance; both the congregation of Israel and the stranger; See Gill on "Nu 15:25".





Numbers 15:27



Ver. 27. And if any soul sin through ignorance,.... Any private or particular person, by breaking any of the above commands, or any other, not rightly understanding them, or not adverting: to the circumstances required in the manner of performing them:



then he shall bring a she goat of the first year for a sin offering; which differed in this from the sin offering of a congregation that sinned through ignorance; that was a kid of the goats, whether male or female, but this was to be a female goat and of a year old.





Numbers 15:28



Ver. 28. And the priest shall make atonement for the soul that sinneth ignorantly,.... By offering his sin offering for him:



when he sinneth by ignorance before the Lord; to whom it is known to be such, before whom all things are naked, open, and well known:



to make an atonement for him, and it shall be forgiven him; upon that atonement made by sacrifice; so the forgiveness of the sins of all the Lord's people proceeds upon an atonement made by the blood and sacrifice of Christ: full atonement of sin and free forgiveness are not contrary to each other.





Numbers 15:29



Ver. 29. You shall have one law for him that sinneth through ignorance,.... Which enjoins a she goat for a sin offering for such:



[both] for him that is born amongst the children of Israel, and for the stranger that sojourneth among them; both sinning through ignorance, the same sacrifice was offered for them, by which atonement was made, and through which their sin was forgiven; by whom are meant homeborn Israelites and proselytes of righteousness, who were under the same laws, and enjoyed the same privileges, as do now believing Jews and Gentiles.





Numbers 15:30



Ver. 30. But the soul that doeth [ought] presumptuously,.... Or with "an high hand" {t}, or through pride, as the Targum of Jonathan; in an haughty, insolent, bold and daring manner; in an obstinate, stubborn, self-willed way, with purpose and design, openly and publicly, neither fearing God nor regarding man:



[whether he be] born in the land, or a stranger; here a stranger as well signifies a proselyte of the gate as a proselyte of righteousness; seeing this presumptuous sinning may respect idolatry and blasphemy, which sins were punishable in proselytes of the gate by the magistrates of Israel as well as by the immediate hand of God:



the same reproacheth the Lord; by denying him to be the true Jehovah, by worshipping other gods, and by speaking in a blaspheming manner of him the true God; and indeed every presumptuous sin, which is committed in a bold and audacious manner, in contempt of God and defiance of his law, is a reproaching him the lawgiver, and a trampling upon his legislative power and authority:



and that soul shall be cut off from among his people, either by the hand of the civil magistrate, upon conviction of him, or by the immediate hand of God; no sacrifice was to be offered for such, no atonement to be made or forgiveness to be had; see Mt 12:31.



{t} hmr dyb "in manu excelsa", Pagninus, Montanus, Vatablus.





Numbers 15:31



Ver. 31. Because he hath despised the word of the Lord, and hath broken his commandment,.... That is, has broken it through contempt of it, despising it as a command of God, paying no regard to it as a law of his; otherwise such who sin ignorantly break the commandment of God:



that soul shall be utterly cut off; or "in cutting off shall be cut off" {u}; most certainly cut off and entirely ruined and destroyed in this world and in that to come, as the Targum of Jonathan; and Maimonides {w} understands it of such a cutting off, that the soul itself perishes and is no more; but such annihilation the Scripture nowhere gives us any reason to believe:



his iniquity [shall be] upon him; the punishment of it, no atonement being made for it by sacrifice; it shall be upon him and him only, or be "in him" {x}, not repented of and not forgiven.



{u} trkt trkh "excidendo excidetur", Pagninus, Montanus, Drusius. {w} In Misn. Sanhedrin, c. 11. sect. 1. {x} hb "in ea", Montanus, Junins & Tremellius, Drusius; "in ipso", Piscator.





Numbers 15:32



Ver. 32. And while the children of Israel were in the wilderness,.... According to Aben Ezra, in the wilderness of Sinai; for it is a common notion of the Jews, that though this fact is recorded here, yet was committed the first year the Israelites came out of Egypt, quickly after the giving the law of the sabbath: hence Jarchi remarks, that the Scripture speaks of this to the reproach of the Israelites, that they kept only the first sabbath, and on the second this man came and profaned it; but it seems rather to be in the wilderness of Paran where this fact was committed, after the business of the spies and the discomfiture of Israel, and the above laws were given; and stands here in its proper place as an instance of a presumptuous sinner, cut off from his people, according to the above law, which it immediately follows:



they found a man that gathered sticks on the sabbath day; plucking them up by the roots, as the Targum of Jonathan, as stubble and the like; for the word signifies gathering straw or stubble, or such like light things, as Ben Melech observes, and binding them in bundles for fuel; and this was done on the sabbath day, by which it appears that that was to be kept in the wilderness, though the laws before mentioned concerning sacrifices, and the cake of the first dough, were not to be put in execution until Israel came into the land of Canaan; and according to the Targum of Jonathan this man was of the house of Joseph, and in the Talmud {y} it is expressly said that he was Zelophehad, who was a descendant of Joseph.



{y} T. Bab. Sabbat, fol. 96. 2.





Numbers 15:33



Ver. 33. And they that found him gathering sticks,.... Admonished him, as say the Targum of Jonathan and Jarchi, but he would not desist; wherefore they



brought him unto Moses and Aaron, and unto all the congregation; to Moses and Aaron, and to the seventy elders, who might be at this time met together, to hear, try, and judge causes; for it cannot be thought that the whole body of the people are meant; and it is most likely that it was not on the sabbath day, but the day following, that they brought the man to them, who were then sitting in the court; though Aben Ezra observes, that some say they brought him to them the first night.





Numbers 15:34



Ver. 34. And they put him in ward,.... In a certain prison in the camp; perhaps the same in which the blasphemer was put, Le 24:12; and for much the same reason:



because it was not declared what should be done to him: that is, what kind of death he should die, as Jarchi and Aben Ezra; it had been before declared that the sabbath breaker should die, but not what death he should die, Ex 31:15; though some think it was a matter of doubt whether gathering of sticks was a breach of the sabbath, or at least such a breach of it as required death; and the answer of the Lord seems to confirm this sense, as follows.





Numbers 15:35



Ver. 35. And the Lord said unto Moses,.... Who consulted the Lord upon this affair, in the tabernacle, even at the most holy place, from above the mercy seat, where he promised to meet him, and commune with him about whatsoever he should consult him, Ex 25:22;



the man shall surely be put to death; for as no fire was to be made throughout their habitations on a sabbath day, gathering sticks for such a purpose was a work that was a violation of the sabbath, punishable with death, Ex 35:2; and the kind of death follows:



all the congregation shall stone him with stones without the camp; as afterwards without the city: of the place and manner of stoning,

See Gill on "Ac 7:58".





Numbers 15:36



Ver. 36. And all the congregation brought him without the camp,.... What was done by the order of Moses and the seventy elders is said to be done by the whole congregation, though it was by a few persons only the man was actually brought out, who were the proper officers to do such business:



and stoned him with stones, and he died: stoned him to death:



as the Lord commanded Moses: at the time he consulted him in the sanctuary, which he acquainted the court with, and they immediately ordered the execution, which was accordingly done.





Numbers 15:37



Ver. 37. And the Lord spoke unto Moses,.... After the giving of the above laws, and the order for stoning the sabbath breaker; and the rather what follows is connected with them, because it was to put them in mind of these and all other commands; and of so much importance is the precept directed to, that the Jews say, and Jarchi particularly, that it is equivalent to all the commands, and which he makes to be the reason of its being placed here:



saying; as follows.





Numbers 15:38



Ver. 38. Speak unto the children of Israel,.... Whom it only concerned, and all of them, except women and children; for priests, Levites, Israelites, proselytes, and freed servants, were bound to wear the fringes, but not Gentiles; nor might the Gentiles make them, what were made by them were not to be used {z}, since it follows:



and bid them that they make them fringes in the borders of their garments, throughout their generations: the garments on which these fringes were put were such that were made either of linen or of woollen; no other were obliged to them by the law; but according to the Rabbins other garments were also, yet only square garments, which they call the Talith; and if that had not four skirts to it, it was free from them {a}: on this square garment, and the four corners or skirts of it, were the fringes put; which were a sort of pendants or tassels, which hung down from it, which consisted of eight white woollen threads, sometimes four, sometimes eight or twelve fingers broad {b}; there were four of them, one at each skirt or corner of the garment: they were, as another writer says {c}, made of eight threads broad, each of them being knit to the middle with five knots, and of wool spun on purpose for this use; and these were to be wore by them throughout their generations until the Messiah came, and they seem to have been worn by him, Mt 9:20 however, it is certain they were worn by the Pharisees in his time, Mt 23:5; at present this four cornered garment is not any where in common use among the Jews, instead of which they wear, under their other garments, a kind of square frock, with the fringes or tassels fastened to it, and this they call Arbah Canfot; and in their schools, and at certain times of prayer, they put on a certain square woollen vestment, with the said pendants fastened at each corner, and this they call Talith {d}:



and that they put upon the fringe of the borders a riband of blue; or a blue lace, a piece of blue tape, which bound and kept the fringe tight and close, and being of a different colour, the fringe being white, made it the more conspicuous: the reason why this colour was used, the Jews say {e}, was, because it was like the sea, and the like the sky, and the sky like the throne of glory: this blue, hyacinth, or purple colour, as the Jews generally take it to be, was of a peculiar dye; the manner of making which is now unknown to them, and therefore they use only the white {f}.



{z} Sepher Alphes, par. 1. fol. 439. 2. & 442. 1. Schulchan Aruch, par. 1. c. 14. sect. 1. {a} Schulchan ib. c. 9. sect. 1. & c. 10. sect. 1. & c. 24. 1. {b} Buxtorf. Synagog. Jud. c. 9. p. 160. {c} Leo Modena, History of the present Jews, par. 1. c. 5. sect. 7. {d} lb. sect. 9. {e} T. Bab. Sotah, fol. 17. 1. {f} Maimon. in Misn. Menachot, c. 4. sect. 1.





Numbers 15:39



Ver. 39. And it shall be unto you for a fringe,.... The blue ribbon or lace shall be in or upon the fringe to fasten it:



that ye may look upon it; the blue lace making the whole the more conspicuous: from hence the Jews gather, that the night is not the time for wearing fringe, which lessens the sight, and it is not so easily seen; and that night garments are not obliged to have the fringe on them; and yet, they say, a blind man is bound to wear it, because, though he cannot see it, others can {g}:



and remember all the commandments of the Lord, and do them: this is the general use, end, and design of the fringes, that upon sight of them they might be put in mind of the commandments and put upon the practice of them; these being at the four corners of their vestments, let them look which way they would downwards, before or behind, or on either side, they could not but see them: and the many threads in them might put them in mind of the many precepts they were to observe; and the white colour, the purity and holiness of them; and the blue or sky-coloured lace might lead them to observe the heavenly original of them; or being of a purple colour rather, might direct them to the blood of Christ, for the remission of the transgressions of them: the Jews have many fanciful things about the use and virtue of these fringes, not worthy of notice; and they say, that such who are careful to observe this law of the fringe, are worthy to see the face of the divine Majesty, and will be preserved from evil spirits {h}:



and that ye seek not after your own heart and your own eyes; to have and enjoy, and do those things, in matters of worship, which were of their own devising, and pleasing in their sight, as well as in moral things, what were agreeable to their carnal hearts, and make for the gratification of their senses:



after which ye use to go a whoring; which seems to restrain the sense pretty much to idolatry, to false and superstitious worship, which are often in Scripture expressed by fornication and whoredom; though other sins and lusts also are sometimes signified by the same words.



{g} Maimon. in Misn. Ediot, c. 4. sect. 10. & Hilchot Tzitzith, c. 3. sect. 7. Schulchan Aruch, p. 1. c. 17. 1. & 18. 1. {h} Baal Hatturim in loc. Schulchan Aruch, p. 1. c. 24. sect. 1, 6.





Numbers 15:40



Ver. 40. That ye may remember and do all my commandments,.... Which is repeated, that the end and use of these fringes might be particularly taken notice of, and attended to; that so they might not satisfy themselves with and rest in this ceremony of wearing the fringes, but be found in the observance of every moral precept, and of every religious ordinance and duty:



and be holy unto your God: as in his presence, according to his will, and for his honour and glory, by keeping his holy commands, and living an holy life and conversation, well pleasing in his sight.





Numbers 15:41



Ver. 41. I [am] the Lord your God,.... Their Creator, Preserver, and Benefactor, their Lord and Sovereign, their covenant God and Father:



which brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God; to make it appear that he was their God in a special relation, and that he took the special care and government of them; and which was manifest by the system of laws he gave them to observe, as well as by his provision for them on all accounts, and by his protection of them:



I [am] the Lord your God; who had a right to enact laws, and enjoin the observance of them, as he was the Lord Jehovah; and they were under obligation to regard them, as he was not only their Creator but their covenant God and Father, who had bestowed his favours liberally on them.

 

John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.

Numbers 16:1



INTRODUCTION TO NUMBERS 16



This chapter gives an account of a sedition of Korah and others against Moses and Aaron, Nu 16:1, with whom Moses expostulates, and shows the unreasonableness of their clamour against Aaron, Nu 16:5; sends for Dathan and Abiram, who were in the confederacy, but refused to come, which greatly angered Moses, Nu 16:12; orders Korah and his company to appear before the Lord the next day, with Aaron, to have the controversy decided, Nu 16:16; when all the congregation gathered together would have been, consumed had it not been for the intercession of Moses and Aaron, Nu 16:19; and who, being separated from the rebels by the command of the Lord, some of the rebels were swallowed up in the earth, and others destroyed by fire from heaven, Nu 16:23; and their censers were made a covering for the altar, as a memorial of their sin, Nu 16:36; on which there was a new insurrection of the people, which brought a plague upon them, and destroyed 14,700 persons, and which was stopped at the intercession of Aaron, Nu 16:41.



Ver. 1. Now Korah, the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi,.... A great grandson of Levi's, and own cousin to Moses and Aaron, being brothers children; for Amram the father of Moses and Aaron, and Izhar the father of Korah, were own brothers, both of them the sons of Kohath, and Amram the eldest, and Izhar the next, Ex 6:16; this man is mentioned first, being the contriver, and plotter, and ringleader of the following sedition, and which is called "the gainsaying of Core", Jude 1:11; when this was made is not certain; Aben Ezra thinks this affair happened in the wilderness of Sinai, when the firstborn were exchanged, and the Levites were separated for holy service, Nu 3:1; but, according to the Targum of Jonathan, it was after the law concerning the fringes was given, which it here follows, and was on that account; for it says, that Korah took his coat, which was all blue, and that the men with him rose up, and in the face of Moses taught the rite concerning the blue ribbon; when Moses declared he had it from God, that the fringe should be of white, and one thread of blue should be in it; but Korah and his company made their coats and fringes all of blue, which the Lord commanded not: but what Korah is said to take is either himself, or men, or both, and not clothes, as follows:



and Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On the son of Peleth,

sons of Reuben, took [men]; which men are described in Nu 16:2, even princes of the assembly, &c. or he, Korah, took himself, as Ben Melech, or divided himself, as Onkelos, separated himself from the congregation, and set himself at the head of a party he gathered together; and the "vau" or "and" before "Dathan" may be additional or superfluous, as Chaskuni observes, and so Abendana; and then the sense is, that Korah took Dathan, Abiram and On, apart by themselves, and entered into a consultation and confederacy with them against Moses and Aaron, with whom he was offended on account of the priesthood being bestowed on the latter by the former; and these men he associated to him, being the sons of Reuben, who would the rather listen to him, and join with him, because the right of the firstborn was taken from them, and the camp of Judah was placed before them; and with these men he could more easily commune, because the camp of Reuben and the Kohathites lay on the same side of the tabernacle, Nu 2:10; Eliab, the father of Dathan and Abiram, was the son of Pallu, the second son of Reuben,

Nu 26:5; but as for On, no mention is made of him elsewhere, nor any more in this place; it is thought he separated from his company after he had heard what Moses said to them; and the Rabbins say, his wife delivered him out of their hands, as Abendana observes.





Numbers 16:2



Ver. 2. And they rose up before Moses,.... To his face, openly and publicly, in a bold and audacious manner; with impudence, as the Targum of Jonathan:



with certain of the children of Israel; some out of the several tribes, but perhaps chiefly of the tribe of Reuben, as Jarchi:



two hundred and fifty princes of the assembly; or "congregation" {i}, who were princes in the several tribes to which they belonged, heads of houses and families of their fathers, rulers of thousands, hundreds, &c.



famous in the congregation; or "called" {k} to the tabernacle of the congregation; who, when the great men among the people were gathered together to consult about any affair, were called, as Ben Melech observes:



men of renown, or "of name" {l}; in high esteem among the people for their birth and rank, their wealth and riches, wisdom and prudence; and were so before they came out of Egypt, as Aben Ezra remarks; so that the persons concerned in this rebellion were not the mob and dregs of the people, but men of the greatest figure and fame, and therefore was likely to be of bad consequence.



{i} hde "congregationis", Pagninus. {k} yarq "vocati", Montanus, Drusius. {l} Mv yvna "viri nominis", Montanus, Drusius.





Numbers 16:3



Ver. 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, Heb 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 him, and on all the sons of Levi, as Aben Ezra observes; and the Levites they conspired against him, because they were given to Aaron and his sons; and Dathan and Abiram entered into a conspiracy, as the same writer thinks, because he had removed the birthright from Reuben their father, and had given it to Joseph; for it is probable they suspected him, because of Joshua his minister; and Jarchi conjectures that Korah was angry because Moses had conferred the government of the Kohathites on Elizaphan, the son of Uzziel, the youngest son of Kohath, when he himself, Korah, was the eldest son of an elder son of Kohath: or "it is", or "let it be enough for you" {m}; or more than enough, as Jarchi; it is sufficient that you have had the government, both in things civil and religious, so long as you have; it is time to give it up to others, who are as well qualified as yourselves. The time past may suffice for the exercise of your despotic and arbitrary power; though it seems to be chiefly levelled against Aaron, and his priesthood, which they thought Moses had conferred on his brother of himself, any instruction from God:



seeing all the congregation [are] holy, everyone of them; having all heard the words of the Lord on Sinai, as Jarchi notes; and were all fit to be priests, and to offer sacrifice in and for their families, as they had used to do, before the separation of Aaron and his sons to the priesthood:



and the Lord [is] among them; in the tabernacle, to whom they could approach and offer their offerings without a priest to do it for them:



wherefore then lift ye up yourselves above the congregation of the Lord? since they were all upon a level, everyone holy to the Lord, and might draw nigh unto him, and officiate as priests; wherefore they represent it as great pride and vanity in them; in Moses to take upon him to dispose of the priesthood at his pleasure, and make Aaron the high priest of the people; and in Aaron to take this office upon him, and to be an high priest, and not all the sons of Levi, but over all the children of Israel.



{m} br "sat est vel satis sit", Pagninus, Vatablus, Drusius, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator; so Aben Ezra.





Numbers 16:4



Ver. 4. And when Moses heard [it],.... What they said, their complaint against him, for setting up Aaron for an high priest, and against Aaron for taking this honour to himself:



he fell upon his face; through shame, as the Targum of Jonathan, blushing at their sin, in opposing the ordinance of God; and through fear of the divine displeasure, and of the wrath of God coming upon them for such wickedness; and in order to pray to God for them to make them sensible of their sin, and give them repentance for it, and pardon of it, and avert his judgments from them such a conduct called aloud for.





Numbers 16:5



Ver. 5. And he spake unto Korah, and unto all his company,.... The two hundred fifty princes that were with him; what follows was said to them apart from Dathan and Abiram, who seem not to be present at this time; and this was after Moses had finished his prayer to God, and had received instructions from him, by an impulse on his mind, what he should say unto them, and was now risen up from the earth he fell upon:



saying, even tomorrow the Lord will show who [are] his; his priests, whom he had chosen, and put into that office; this he would make known so clearly and plainly, that there would be no room left to doubt of it, and which was revealed to Moses while upon his face in prayer to God:



and [who is] holy; or whom he has separated to such an holy office and service:



and will cause [him] to come near unto him; and do his work as a priest, without fear of danger, and without any hurt, which is suggested would befall others; and they may expect it, who intrude themselves into such an office, and engage their hearts in a bold audacious manner, to draw nigh to God in it:



even [him] whom he hath chosen will he cause to come near unto him: meaning Aaron with his sons, whom the Lord would make to appear that he had chosen, and put into the office of priesthood, and that it was not what Moses did of himself.





Numbers 16:6



Ver. 6. This do, take you censers,.... Vessels to put incense in to offer, which was the business of the priests:



Korah, and all his company; the two hundred fifty princes that were with him, for so many we read took censers, and offered incense,

Nu 16:18.





Numbers 16:7



Ver. 7. And put fire therein,.... Into the censers:



and put incense in them; on the coals of fire in the censers:



before the Lord; not at the altar of incense in the holy place, into which none but Aaron and his sons might come, but at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, where the glory of the Lord appeared,

Nu 16:18; and this they were to do



tomorrow; the day following that on which the insurrection was made, and in the morning of that day, which was the usual time of judgment; this was delayed until the morrow, that they might have opportunity to reflect upon what they had done, and repent of their sin, and consider what they were to do, and the danger which might attend it; as in the case of Nadab and Abihu, who, though sons of the high priest, yet offering strange fire, were consumed by fire, Nu 10:1; and so might they for assuming the priesthood, and officiating in any part of it, which did not belong to them:



and it shall be, [that] the man whom the Lord doth choose, he [shall be] holy: meaning Aaron, with his sons; for though the Lord had already chosen him, and ordered him and his family to be separated from the rest of the Israelites, to exercise the priestly office, and he was actually invested with it, and had entered upon it; yet he would at this time, in a visible way and manner, make it manifest that he had done it, and therefore should be as it were afresh set apart for holy service, and be continued in it:



[ye take] too much upon you, ye sons of Levi: of which tribe Korah was; and it looks as if those with him were chiefly of that tribe; however, these here addressed certainly were, and Moses retorts their own language upon them; they had said, that he and Aaron had taken too much upon them, though no more than what God had called them to; and now he says that they had taken too much upon them, to resist the ordinance of God, and to endeavour to remove from their office whom God had put into it, in order to substitute themselves: or "it is enough for you", or "let it suffice you"; be content with the honour put upon you, the dignity you are raised to, to be next to the priests, and assistants to them; be not ambitious of more; let what you have satisfy you.





Numbers 16:8



Ver. 8. And Moses said unto Korah,.... Continued his discourse to him, as the head of the conspiracy, and the ringleader of it:



hear, I pray you, ye sons of Levi; to whom also he had been before speaking; though Aben Ezra thinks the first speech was made to Korah and his company, and what follows to the Levites.





Numbers 16:9



Ver. 9. [Seemeth it but] a small thing unto you,.... It should not; for it was a great thing which the Lord had done for them, and with which they should have been satisfied, and for it thankful:



that the God of Israel hath separated you from the congregation of Israel: this was a special favour, and ought to have been esteemed such, that God, who was the God of the whole people of Israel in common, should separate the tribe of Levi from all the rest of the tribes of Israel:



to bring you near to himself; next to the priests their brethren of the same tribe, to be joined to them, and assist them in their service, and officiate in the court of the tabernacle, where the divine Majesty dwelt:



to do the service of the tabernacle of the Lord; to watch it, and guard it, and keep out persons until to enter into it; to take it down and set it up, as occasion required, and bear and carry the holy things in it, and take care of them:



and to stand before the congregation to minister unto them? which Jarchi interprets of their singing in the desk songs of praise before them; but Aben Ezra, better, of the service they did for them, when they brought their offerings and sacrifices, which they took of them, and carried to the priests to offer for them.





Numbers 16:10



Ver. 10. And he hath brought thee near [to him],.... To be in his courts, to watch in his house, and wait on his priests, for which an ample provision was made by tithes. Korah is there personally addressed:



and all thy brethren, the sons of Levi, with thee; the whole tribe of them, excepting Aaron and his family, who were advanced to be priests:



and seek ye the priesthood also? the high priesthood, as the Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan; this opens the true cause of their discontent and rebellion; they could not be satisfied with being the ministers of the priests, but wanted to be priests themselves, and Korah perhaps to be high priest.





Numbers 16:11



Ver. 11. For which cause, both [thou] and all thy company [are] gathered together against the Lord,.... For gathering together against his ministers, whom he had put into office to act under him, and endeavouring to overturn a constitution of his erecting, and resisting and not submitting to an ordinance of his, is interpreted gathering against him, and acting in opposition to him; see

Ro 13:1;



and what [is] Aaron, that ye murmur against him? what is his transgression? what has he done? as Aben Ezra paraphrases it; he is not chargeable with any fault, he did not take upon him the office of high priest of himself, God called him to it, and put him in it; he is only his minister, and by no means to be blamed, and therefore it is unreasonable to envy him, or murmur against him; and, indeed, murmuring against him is murmuring against the Lord.





Numbers 16:12



Ver. 12. And Moses sent to call Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab,.... He sent messengers to call them to the house of judgment, as the Targum of Jonathan, to the court of judicature, where the Jews suppose Moses, with the seventy elders, were now sitting: it seems these two men departed either before. Moses rose up from prayer, or however before he had finished his speech to Korah and the Levites; which being particularly directed to them, these men might think they had no concern in it, and went away to their own tents:



which said, we will not come up; this answer they returned to the messengers, and by them to Moses, declaring that they denied his power, despised his authority, and would not obey his orders, and therefore refused to come up to the tabernacle, or to the tent of Moses, or to the court of judicature, wherever it was; perhaps the first is best. Aben Ezra thinks, that as the tabernacle was in the midst of the camp, it was on an eminence, wherefore those that came to it might be said to come up to it.





Numbers 16:13



Ver. 13. [Is it] a small thing that thou hast brought us up out of a land that floweth with milk and honey?.... Meaning Egypt, as the Targum of Jonathan expresses it; which, though a plentiful country, never had, nor deserved to have this epithet given it, which is peculiar to the land of Canaan, and is here given, in opposition to the description of that land, which the Lord himself had so described; and argues great impudence and want of reverence of the divine Being, as well as great ingratitude to Moses, the instrument of their being brought out of Egypt, where they laboured under bondage and servitude intolerable; and yet here represent it as an injury done to them, and as if the intent and design of it was purely to destroy them: for they add,



to kill us in the wilderness; with want of food, of which they had plenty in Egypt, they suggest; referring, it may be, to what the Lord by Moses had said to them, that their carcasses should fall in the wilderness; but that would not be for want of provisions, but because of their sins. It was bad enough, they intimate, to be brought out of such a plentiful country, into a barren wilderness; but what was still worse, the despotic and tyrannical government of Moses, as they represent it, they were brought under:



except thou make thyself altogether a prince over us? ruling in an arbitrary way, making laws, and setting up offices and officers at pleasure, so that it is more eligible to be in bondage in Egypt than under thy government. Aben Ezra takes their meaning to be, as if the end of bringing them out of Egypt was to assume and exercise such rule and authority over them. His words are,



"hast thou brought us up out of Egypt, that thou mayest exercise dominion over us as a prince, yea, many dominions, thou and thy brother?''



and who also observes, that Egypt lay to the south of the land of Israel, so that one that came from Egypt to the land of Canaan may be truly said to come up, that part of Canaan lying higher than Egypt.





Numbers 16:14



Ver. 14. Moreover, thou hast not brought us into a land that floweth with milk and honey,.... Meaning the land of Canaan; but this was no fault of Moses, he had brought them to the borders of it, he had bid them go up and possess it; but they refused, and chose to have spies first sent into it, who brought an ill report of it, which they listened to, and had so provoked the Lord thereby, that he ordered them to turn back, and threatened them with a consumption of them in the wilderness; or "certainly" {n}, verily thou hast not brought us, &c. though the Septuagint version renders it affirmatively, "thou hast brought us"; and the Vulgate Latin version, indeed thou hast brought, directly contrary to the text; unless it is to be understood ironically, as it is by some:



or given us inheritance of fields and vineyards; that is, in the land of Canaan, as were promised them; they suggest, had this been the case, they could have been content that he should have been their prince, and they would have submitted to his government; but having received no advantage from him, but a great deal of hurt and damage, they could not but consider him not only as a tyrant, but as an impostor and deceiver:



wilt thou put out the eyes of these men? or "dig" them out {o}; either in a literal sense, wilt thou be so cruel and merciless as to put out the eyes of these men, Korah and his company, and us for our opposition to thy government? or though thou shouldest do so,



we will not come up; we are determined not to obey thee, but to shake off the yoke, let our punishment be what it will; or figuratively, dost thou take us for blind persons, whose eyes thou hast put out, and think to lead us at thy pleasure? or dost thou cast a mist before the eyes of this whole congregation, that they are not able to see through thy designs? are the people so bewitched by them, as not to see thy deceits and impostures? pretending to bring them into a land flowing with milk and honey, which thou art not able to do, and now sayest that thou hast a message from God to return again towards the Red sea, and talkest of our posterity inheriting the land forty years hence; who is it that cannot see through all this? Aben Ezra thinks, by "these men" are meant the elders that were with Moses, whom he led as he pleased, and so blinded them with his delusions, as these pretended, that they could not see through them.



{n} la "certe", Noldius, p. 97. No. 468. so Onkelos. {o} rqnt "effodies", Pagninus, Piscator; "vis effodere", Fagius; "fodies", Junius & Tremellius, Drusius.





Numbers 16:15



Ver. 15. And Moses was very wroth,.... Or "it heated Moses exceedingly" {p}; made him very angry, caused him to burn with wrath against them; even the speech they made, the words they uttered, not so much on account of their ill usage of him, as for the dishonour cast upon the Lord:



and said unto the Lord, respect not thou their offering; their "Minchah", the word is commonly used for the meat or bread offering. Aben Ezra observes, that Dathan and Abiram were great men, and had offered such kind of offerings before this fact; and therefore Moses desires that the Lord would have no respect to any they had offered, but have respect to him, who had never injured any of them. Jarchi gives it as the sense of some, that whereas these men had a part in the daily sacrifices of the congregation (with which a meat offering always went), the request is, that it might not be received with acceptance by the Lord; but he himself thinks it is to be understood of the offering of incense they were to offer on the morrow; and Moses desires that God would show his disapprobation of it, and which is the common interpretation. The Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem render it, "their gift":



I have not taken one ass from them; either by force, or as a bribe, or by way of gratuity for any service done them; the sense is, that he had not taken from them the least thing in the world, anything of the meanest worth and value, on any consideration. Aben Ezra interprets the word "take", of taking and laying any burden upon an ass of theirs; so far was he from laying any burdens on them, and using them in a cruel and tyrannical manner, as they suggested, that he never laid the least burden on any ass of theirs, and much less on them:



neither have I hurt any of them; never did any injury to the person or property of anyone of them, but, on the contrary, had done them many good offices.



{p} dam hvml rxyw "et excanduit Mosi valde", Drusius.





Numbers 16:16



Ver. 16. And Moses said unto Korah,.... Who was still with him, when the messenger returned from Dathan and Abiram, and who heard what Moses said in his own defence;



be thou and all thy company before the Lord; at the tabernacle, at the door of it; the Targum of Jonathan is, at the house of judgment, the court of judicature, where this affair was to be tried, and that was at the tabernacle, as appears by what follows:



thou, and they, and Aaron, tomorrow; the day after Moses had sent to Dathan and Abiram, on the morning of the next day; which as it was the time of sitting in judgment, so of offering incense; meaning Korah and his company, the two hundred fifty men with him, and not Dathan and Abiram; and Aaron also, he was ordered to appear, whom they opposed, and with whom the trial was to be made.





Numbers 16:17



Ver. 17. And take every man his censer, and put incense therein,.... Which they were to bring with them the next day from their own tents; and these might be censers which they had in their several families, and which they had used in them before the order of priesthood was set up in Aaron's family, and limited to that; or they might be a sort of chafing dishes, or vessels like censers, and would serve the present purpose; they were ordered to put fire into them, that was to be taken from the altar of burnt offering; for strange fire might not be used;



and bring ye before the Lord every man his censer, two hundred and fifty censers: according to the number of the men that were gathered with Korah:



thou also, and Aaron, each [of you] his censer; Korah and Aaron were to bring each their censers, between whom lay the contest concerning the high priesthood; which was to be determined by their offering incense before the Lord, and by his approbation or disapprobation of it.





Numbers 16:18



Ver. 18. And they took every man his censer, and that fire in them,.... That is, they came the next morning, according to order, prepared with their censers and incense; and they took fire from off the altar of burnt offering, which stood in the court of the tabernacle:



and laid incense thereon: upon the fire in their censers, and so burned it:



and stood in the door of the tabernacle of the congregation; not in the holy place, where the altar of incense was, for that would not hold them; nor indeed in the court of the tabernacle, but at the door of it, or the outside of it, that so they might be seen by all the people who came to be spectators and witnesses of this affair: and they stood



with Moses and Aaron; in a bold and presumptuous manner, as if they were their equals, disputing their authority, and putting themselves upon their trial before the Lord about it: the Targum of Jonathan says, these men stood on one side (of the door of the tabernacle), and Moses and Aaron stood on the other side of it.





Numbers 16:19



Ver. 19. And Korah gathered all the congregation against them,.... Not his own company only, but as many of the whole congregation of Israel as he could get together, and especially the principal men; so that it seems there was a, general prevailing inclination in the people to take part with him against Moses and Aaron, who wished him success in his undertaking, and readily came together to animate and encourage him in it, and to see the issue of it. Jarchi suggests, that all night he was going to the several tribes, persuading them that it was not for his own private interest, but for the public good, that he acted against two men, who had taken to themselves, the one the kingdom, and the other the priesthood, and by this means got a great multitude together:



unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation; that is, before it, where Korah and his company stood, whose part they took, and had like to have suffered severely for it, had it not been for the interposition of Moses and Aaron:



and the glory of the Lord appeared unto all the congregation; the Shechinah, or divine Majesty, which dwelt between the cherubim in the most holy place, removed and came to the door of the tabernacle, where the people were assembled, in the sight of them, showing some visible token of his presence, though no similitude of himself was seen; or, however, he appeared in the cloud that was over the tabernacle, in which was seen a glory, a brightness and splendour, or such coruscations and flashes of lightning as were very unusual and amazing, and plainly showed the Lord was there; so Jarchi says, that he came in the pillar of cloud.





Numbers 16:20



Ver. 20. And the Lord spake unto Moses, and unto Aaron,.... Out of the cloud:



saying; as follows.





Numbers 16:21



Ver. 21. Separate yourselves, from among this congregation,.... Not only from Korah's company, but from the congregation of the children of Israel, whom Korah had got together, besides the two hundred fifty men that were at first with him; who by their words and behaviour, and particularly by their association and standing along with him, showed them to be on his side, which greatly provoked the Lord:



that I may consume them in a moment; by fire from him, as the two hundred fifty men were afterwards consumed, Nu 16:35.





Numbers 16:22



Ver. 22. And they fell upon their faces,.... That is, Moses and Aaron, in order to deprecate the wrath of God, and beseech him to avert the threatened judgment; and so the Targum of Jonathan has it,



"they bowed themselves in prayer upon their faces;''



and said, O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh; the Maker of all men, as of their bodies, which are flesh, so of their souls or spirits, which are immaterial and immortal; hence he is called "the Father of spirits", Heb 12:9, who, as the Targum, puts the spirit in the bodies of men; or, as others, who knows the spirits of men; their thoughts, as Jarchi, the inward frames and dispositions of their minds; who knows who have sinned, and who not; and whether their sins proceed from weakness, and being misled, or whether from a malevolent disposition, presumption, and self-will:



shall one man sin: meaning Korah, who was the ringleader:



and wilt thou be wroth with all the congregation? who, through ignorance and weakness, and by artifice and imposition, are drawn in to join with him; the plea is much the same with that of Abraham,

Ge 18:25.





Numbers 16:23



Ver. 23. And the Lord spake unto Moses,.... When on his face in prayer, and bid him rise up, and told him he had granted his request, and then spoke to him:



saying; as follows.





Numbers 16:24



Ver. 24. Speak unto the congregation,.... Not to Korah's company, but to the people of Israel, of the several tribes that were assembled together:



saying, get ye up from about the tabernacle of Korah, and Dathan, and Abiram; which was either the same with their tents, as in

Nu 16:26; though, as they were of different tribes, Korah of the tribe of Levi, and Dathan and Abiram of the tribe of Reuben, their tents must be in distinct and different places, though both encamped on the same side of the tabernacle, and pretty near to each other; the camp of Levi was nearest the tabernacle, and the camp of Reuben next to it. It may be, there was a single tabernacle erected on this occasion, for all these men to meet at when they judged it necessary. Aben Ezra is of opinion, Korah had a tent for his men and substance, at a distance from the camp of the Levites, and to his tent joined the tents of Dathan and Abiram.





Numbers 16:25



Ver. 25. And Moses rose up,.... Either from the ground, upon which he fell on his face, or from the seat on which he sat at the door of the tabernacle; though he seems to have stood there; it may be, it only signifies that he obeyed the divine order, and went about it directly, as often in Scripture persons are said to arise, when they go about any thing they are directed, or choose to do:



and went unto Dathan and Abiram; to endeavour to convince them of their evil, and bring them to repentance for it, and to reclaim them from their folly:



and the elders of Israel followed him; either some principal persons of the tribes, called elders, both from their age and prudence; or the seventy elders lately chosen to assist Moses in the affairs of government, as Aben Ezra thinks these followed him to show their respect unto him, and their approbation of his conduct, and for vindication of his character, which had been aspersed by those men, and to give the more weight to what should be said unto them, for their conviction and reformation.





Numbers 16:26



Ver. 26. And he spake unto the congregation,.... To the people of Israel assembled together on this occasion: some, out of ill will to Moses and Aaron, inclining to the side of Korah and his accomplices, and some out of curiosity to see the issue of this affair



saying, depart, I pray you, from the tents of these wicked men; these turbulent, seditious, and ill-designing men, disturbers of the commonwealth and church of Israel, enemies to the peace of its civil and ecclesiastic state: and when Moses desires the people to depart from their tents, he means not only that they would remove in person, and stand at a distance, but such who had their tents, and families, and substance near them, would take care to remove, lest they should be destroyed with them:



and touch nothing of theirs; not carry off anything belonging to them along with their own, being all devoted to destruction:



lest ye be consumed in all their sins; lest partaking of their sins they should of their plagues, and die in their sins, as they would, or for them.





Numbers 16:27



Ver. 27. So they gat up from the tabernacle of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, on every side,.... The place where they met together and made their general rendezvous; this it seems was encompassed on all sides by people out of the several tribes, who either wished them well in their undertaking, or were curious to know how it would issue;



and Dathan and Abiram came out; out of the tabernacle of Korah, and went to their own tents; and came out of them,



and stood in the door of their tents, and their wives, and their sons,

and their little children; in an audacious manner, as not fearing God nor man; they carried their heads high, and were not in the least daunted at what they were threatened with; and by their looks and gestures bid defiance to Moses and the elders with him.





Numbers 16:28



Ver. 28. And Moses said, hereby ye shall know that the Lord hath sent me to do all these works,.... To bring the people of Israel out of Egypt, to exchange the firstborn for the Levites, to make Aaron and his sons priests, to give the Levites to them, and to set Elizaphan over the Kohathites, things which these men found fault with, and questioned his authority for doing them:



for [I have] not [done them] of my own mind; or "not out of my heart" {q}; he had not devised them himself, and done them of his own head, and in any arbitrary way, without the will of God or any authority from him, as these men suggested.



{q} yblm al yk "quod non de corde meo", Pagninus, Montanus.





Numbers 16:29



Ver. 29. If these men die the common death of all men,.... Or "as every man dies" {r}, or the generality of men, who for the most part die of one disease or another, as a fever, and the like, or through old age:



or if they be visited after the visitation of all men; with such visitations as men in all ages for their sins are visited with, meaning public calamities, such as pestilence, famine, and sword:



[then] the Lord hath not sent me; it may be concluded that I had no mission nor commission from the Lord to do what I have done, but may be reckoned a deceiver and an impostor; and I am content to be accounted so, should either of the above things be the case of these men.



{r} Mdah lk twmk "ut moriuntur omnes homines", Pagninus; "reliqui homines", Junius & Tremellius; "alii homines", Piscator.





Numbers 16:30



Ver. 30. But if the Lord make a new thing,.... Or "create a creation", or "creature" {s}, what never was before, or put those persons to a death that none ever in the world died of yet; what that is he means is next expressed:



and the earth open her mouth and swallow them up, with all that [appertain] unto them; their persons, their wives, children and substance:



and they go down quick into the pit; alive into the grave the opening earth makes for them; this is the new thing created; though the Rabbins say {t}, the mouth of the earth, or the opening of the earth, was created from the days of the creation, that is, it was determined or decreed so early that it should be:



then ye shall understated that these men have provoked the Lord; by rising up against Moses and Aaron, and so against the Lord; by falsely accusing his servants, and endeavouring to set the people against them, and so alter the constitution of things in church and state.



{s} arby hayrb "creationem, creaverit", Pagninus, Montanus, Munster, Fagius; "creaturam", Vatablus, Drusius. {t} Pirke Abot, c. 5. sect. 6. Pirke Eliezer, c. 19.





Numbers 16:31



Ver. 31. And it came to pass, as he had made an end of speaking all these things,.... As soon as he had finished his discourse, which was addressed to the congregation, and, according to Josephus {u}, after a long prayer to God, which that writer gives at large; immediately so it was,



that the ground clave asunder that [was] under them; on which they stood, not from any natural cause, as by subterranean volcano, forcibly making their way and bursting the earth, and so getting vent, which has been thought to be the cause of earthquakes; but this was by the immediate hand and almighty power of God, and came to pass just as Moses suggested it would, and as soon as he had uttered his words, which made it the more observable.



{u} Antiqu. l. 4. c. 3. Sect. 2.





Numbers 16:32



Ver. 32. And the earth opened her mouth and swallowed them up,.... Dathan and Abiram, their wives, sons, and little ones, that stood at the door of their tents with them, and all their goods, as follows: the earth, as if it was a living creature or a beast of prey, opened its mouth and swallowed them up, as such a creature does its prey:



and their houses; which may be meant both of their families or households, and of the tents they dwelt in, which were their houses; see De 1:6;



and all the men that [appertained] unto Korah: not Korah himself, for he was with the two hundred fifty men that had censers, and with Aaron at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation offering incense, and thereby making trial to whom the priesthood belonged; and who, it is highly probable, perished by fire with the two hundred fifty men, as Josephus, Aben Ezra, and others are of opinion; but the family of Korah, and not all of them, for his sons died not at that time,

Nu 26:11; and there were of his posterity in the times of David, to whom several of the psalms are inscribed, Ps 42:1; these were either out of the way upon business, the providence of God so ordering it for their safety; or they disliked the proceedings of their father, and joined not with him; or if they did at first, repented of it and forsook him, as it is probable on of the tribe of Reuben also did, since no mention is made of him in the destruction:



and all [their] goods: their household goods, their substance and riches, their gold, silver, cattle, and whatever they were possessed of: a very extraordinary case this and which perhaps gave rise to some fabulous things among the Heathens; however, if they can be credited, this ought not to be thought incredible; as Amphiaraus, who with his chariot and its rider are said to be swallowed up in the earth, struck by a thunderbolt from Jupiter, and were never seen more {w}; and other stories are told of persons praying to their deities for secrecy and shelter, and the earth has opened and hid them; as Althemenes, when he had slain his father {x}; and the nymph Thalia pregnant by Jupiter, who, for fear of Juno, wished the earth might open and take her in, and it accordingly did, as is reported {y}.



{w} Apollodorus de Deorum Origine, l. 3. p. 157. {x} lb. p. 134. {y} Macrob. Saturnal. l. 5. c. 19.





Numbers 16:33



Ver. 33. They, and all that [appertained] unto them, went down alive into the pit,.... The grave which the opening earth made for them, they and their families:



and the earth closed upon them; and covered them over; this it did of itself, as Aben Ezra remarks: this was a wonderful instance of almighty power, that it should open in such large fissures as to swallow up such a number of men, with their tents, goods, and cattle, and then close again so firmly, as not to have the least appearance upon it of what had happened, as Josephus observes {z},



and they perished from among the congregation; and had a name and a place no more with them.



{z} Antiqu. ut supra, (l. 4. c. 3.) sect. 3.





Numbers 16:34



Ver. 34. And all Israel that were round about them fled at the cry of them,.... Or because of it, as Aben Ezra; their cry was so loud, their shrieks so dreadful and piercing, that the Israelites about them fled to get out of the sound of them, as well as for their own safety. The Targum of Jonathan not only represents their cry as terrible, but gives the words they expressed at it;



"and all Israel that were round about them fled, because of the terror of their voice, when they cried and said, the Lord is righteous and his judgments truth, and truth are the words of Moses his servant, but we are wicked who have rebelled against him:''



for they said, lest the earth swallow us up [also]; which they might fear, since they had provoked the Lord, by associating with these men, and countenancing them by their presence, as they had done; who would have consumed them in a moment at first, had it not been for the intercession of Moses and Aaron.





Numbers 16:35



Ver. 35. And there came out a fire from the Lord,.... Flashes of lightning from the cloud in which he was:



and consumed the two hundred and fifty men that offered incense; not that it reduced them to ashes, but took away their lives, struck them dead at once, in like manner as Nadab and Abihu were, who though said to be devoured by the fire, yet their bodies remained, Le 10:2; and is often the case of persons killed by lightning; though Josephus {a} thinks they were so consumed as that their bodies were no more seen, and who is express for it that Korah perished with them in this manner; which is not improbable, since he took his censer and offered incense with them, and was the ringleader of them, and the person that contended with Aaron for the priesthood, which was to be determined in this way; and though he is not mentioned it may be concluded, as Aben Ezra observes, by an argument from the lesser to the greater, that if the men he drew in perished, much more he himself; and the same writer observes, that in the song of the Red sea, no mention is made of the drowning of Pharaoh in it, only of his chariots and his host, and yet he himself was certainly drowned: now these men burning incense which belonged only to the priests of the Lord, were by just retaliation consumed by fire, and which made it plainly appear they were not the priests of the Lord; and the judgment on them was the more remarkable, that Moses and Aaron, who stood by them, remained unhurt. This was an emblem of the vengeance of eternal fire, of everlasting burnings, Jude 1:11.



{a} Antiq. l. 4. c. 3. sect. 4.





Numbers 16:36



Ver. 36. And the Lord spake unto Moses,.... Immediately after these men were consumed by fire from him; out of the same cloud from whence that proceeded, he spoke:



saying: as follows.





Numbers 16:37



Ver. 37. Speak unto Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest,.... His eldest son, that was to succeed him as high priest, and who perhaps was upon the spot to see the issue of things; and who, rather than Aaron, is bid to do what follows, partly because Aaron was now officiating, burning incense, and that he might not be defiled with the dead bodies; and partly because it was more proper and decent for the son to do it than the father; and it may be also because it was for the further confirmation of the priesthood in the posterity of Aaron:



that he take up the censers out of the burning; either out from among the dead bodies burnt with fire from the Lord, or out of the burning of the incense in them; these were the censers of Korah and the two hundred fifty men with him:



and scatter thou the fire yonder; the fire that was in the censers; the incense burning in them was to be cast out and scattered here and there, or carried to some unclean place at a distance, as a token of the rejection of the services of these men: and thus the Lord answered the prayer of Moses, that he would not have respect to their offering,

Nu 16:15; if incense is intended there; though that seems to refer only to Dathan and Abiram, and not to these two hundred fifty men:



for they are hallowed, incense being offered in them before the Lord, and therefore were not to be made use of in common service.





Numbers 16:38



Ver. 38. The censers of these sinners against their own souls,.... Who by burning incense in them sinned, and by sinning hurt and ruined their souls:



let them make them broad plates [for] a covering of the altar; the altar of burnt offering, which, though it had a covering of brass, another made of these were to be over it, for the further security of it, being of from the fire continually burning on it; these censers were to be beaten into broad plates, by the workmen who understood how to do it:



for they offered them before the Lord, therefore they are hallowed; they offered them in his presence, they burned incense in them, and to him, though it was not their business, but the business of the priests; yet these being done, and by his orders, for an open trial who were his priests and who not, they were not to be put to common use:



and they shall be a sign unto the children of Israel; a memorial sign, a sign bringing this affair to remembrance, as it is explained in

Nu 16:40; this was a sign to the priests, that they only were to offer every kind of offerings, and to the Levites, who attended the priests at the altar continually, and so had every day a sight of it and of those plates upon it, which would remind them of this fact, and teach them not to usurp the priest's office; and to all the children of Israel, to learn from hence that none were to burn incense but the priests of the Lord, for doing which Uzziah, though a king, was punished, 2Ch 26:18.





Numbers 16:39



Ver. 39. And Eleazar the priest took the brazen censers,.... The metal of which these censers were made is particularly observed, to show that they were fit for the use they were ordered to be put unto, namely, for a covering of the altar of burnt offering, which was covered with brass, that being very suitable, since fire was continually burning on it; and by this it appears that these censers were different from those of Aaron and his sons, for theirs were silver ones; the high priest on the day of atonement indeed made use of golden one, but at all other times he used a silver one {b}; and so did the common priests every day, morning and night, when they offered incense {c},



wherewith they that were burnt had offered; the two hundred fifty men burnt with fire from the Lord, having offered incense to him with the brazen censers:



and they were made broad [plates for] a covering of the altar; not by Eleazar, but by workmen skilled in the art of drawing or beating any kind of metal into thin plates, by the direction and order of Eleazar.



{b} Misn. Yoma, c. 4. sect. 4. {c} Misn. Tamid, c. 5. sect. 5.





Numbers 16:40



Ver. 40. [To be] a memorial unto the children of Israel,.... The whole body of them; this explains what is meant by sign, Nu 16:38; that it was to put or keep in mind what follows:



that no stranger which [is] not of the seed of Aaron come near to offer incense before the Lord; not only any Gentile but any Israelite, and not any Israelite only, but any Levite; none but those of the family of Aaron might offer incense before the Lord;



that he be not as Korah and as his company; this makes it clear that Korah perished at this time, though it is nowhere expressed; and it seems pretty plain from hence that he perished by fire, as his company, the two hundred fifty men with censers, did:



as the Lord said unto him by the hand of Moses; either to Korah, who is the immediate antecedent, and who perished as the Lord had told him by Moses he should; so some understand it, mentioned by Aben Ezra and Jarchi; or else to Aaron, as they interpret it; and then the sense is, that none but those of Aaron's seed should offer incense, as the Lord had declared to him by Moses; see Nu 3:10; or it may be rather to Eleazar, as Abendana, who did as the Lord spake to him by Moses, took up the censers of the men that were burnt, and got them beaten into broad plates, and covered the altar of burnt offering with them.





Numbers 16:41



Ver. 41. But on the morrow,.... The day following the dreadful catastrophe, the earth swallowing up Dathan and Abiram, and all that belonged to them, the burning of Korah and the two hundred fifty men of his company:



all the congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses,

and against Aaron; not the princes and heads of the people only, but the whole body of them; though the above persons that murmured against them had but the day before been made such dreadful examples of divine vengeance. This is a most surprising instance of the corruption and depravity of human nature, of the blindness, hardness, and stupidity of the hearts of men, which nothing but the grace of God can remove; the images of the awful sights many of them had seen must be strong in their minds; the shrieks of the wretched creatures perishing must be as yet as it were in their ears; the smell of the fire was scarce out of their nostrils; and yet, notwithstanding this shocking scene of things, they fell into the same evil, and murmur against the men, whose authority, being called in question, had been confirmed by the above awful instances:



saying, ye have killed the people of the Lord; so they called the rebels, and hereby justified them in all the wickedness they had been guilty of; and though their death was so manifestly by the immediate hand of God, yet they lay it to the charge of Moses and Aaron, because it was in vindication of them that it was done, and because they did not intercede by prayer for them; though it is certain they did all they could to reclaim them from their sin, and prevent their ruin; yet the people insist on it that they were the cause or occasion of their death, as the Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan express it.





Numbers 16:42



Ver. 42. And it came to pass, when the congregation was gathered against Moses and against Aaron,.... To kill them, as the Targum of Jonathan adds; who, perhaps, upon uttering their murmurs, made up to them, and by their gestures showed an intention to murder them:



that they looked toward the tabernacle of the congregation; either the people did, to see whether they could observe any appearance of the displeasure of God against them; or rather Moses and Aaron looked that way for help and deliverance in this extreme danger, knowing there was no salvation for them but of the Lord, Jer 3:23;



and, behold, the cloud covered it; as when it was first erected, and which was a token of the divine Presence, Nu 9:15; perhaps it had dispersed immediately upon the death of the rebels, and now returned again in favour of the servants of the Lord:



and the glory of the Lord appeared; in the cloud, as in Nu 16:19; to encourage Moses and Aaron, and to deliver them out of the hands of the people, and to the terror of them.





Numbers 16:43



Ver. 43. And Moses and Aaron came before the tabernacle of the congregation. Whose tent was not far from it, about which the people of Israel were gathered; and from whence they came to the tabernacle, both for shelter and safety, and for advice and instruction how to behave in this crisis; they did not go into it, but stood before it; the Lord being in the cloud over it, they stood in the door of it,

Nu 16:50; so the Targum of Jonathan,



"and Moses and Aaron came from the congregation to the door of the tabernacle.''





Numbers 16:44



Ver. 44. And the Lord spake unto Moses,.... Out of the cloud:



saying; as follows.





Numbers 16:45



Ver. 45. Get you up from among this congregation,.... That is, withdraw from them, and be separate, that they might not be involved in the same destruction with them, as well as that they might have no concern for them, or plead with the Lord in prayer on their account, but let him alone to destroy them, as follows:



that I may consume them in a moment; as he was able to do, and had proposed to do it before, but they entreated him that he would not,

Nu 16:21; as they again do:



and they fell upon their faces; in prayer, as the Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem; and so Aben Ezra observes, it was to pray to deprecate the wrath of God, and to implore his pardoning mercy for this sinful people; which shows what an excellent temper and disposition these men were of, to pray for them that had so despitefully used them as to charge them with murder, and were about to commit it on them; see Mt 5:44.





Numbers 16:46



Ver. 46. And Moses said unto Aaron, take a censer,.... Which lay in the tabernacle:



and put fire therein from off the altar; the altar of burnt offering, from whence fire only was to be taken for burning incense; and lest Aaron in his hurry should forget to take it from thence, but elsewhere, and offer strange fire as his sons had done, Moses expresses the place from whence he should take it:



and put on incense: upon the fire, in the censer, which he was to do when he came into the camp, and not as soon as he took the fire from the altar: the censer with fire in it he carried in one hand, and the incense in the other; and when he was in the midst of the congregation, he put the incense on the fire, and burnt it, as appears from

Nu 16:47: this was an emblem of prayer, and a figure of the intercession and mediation of Christ, Ps 141:2;



and go quickly unto the congregation; the case required haste:



and make an atonement for them; which was usually done by the sacrifice of a sin or trespass offering, but now there was no time for that, and therefore incense, which was of quicker dispatch, was used for that purpose instead of it:



for there is wrath gone out from the Lord; some token of it, some disease was inflicted, which Moses had information of from the Lord, and therefore expressly says,



the plague is begun; a pestilence was sent among the people.





Numbers 16:47



Ver. 47. And Aaron took as Moses commanded,.... A censer with fire in it from the altar, and also incense:



and ran into the midst of the congregation: though a man in years and in so high an office, and had been so ill used by the people; yet was not only so ready to obey the divine command, but so eager to serve this ungrateful people, and save them from utter destruction, that he ran from the tabernacle into the midst of them:



and, behold, the plague was begun among the people; he saw them fall down dead instantly in great numbers:



and he put on incense; upon the fire in the censer, which though it was not in common lawful to burn but in the holy place on the altar of incense, yet, upon this extraordinary occasion, it was dispensed with by the Lord, as it had been the day before when he offered it at the door of the tabernacle with the two hundred fifty men of Korah's company; and perhaps the reason of it now was, that the people might see Aaron perform this kind office for them, and give them a fresh convincing proof of his being invested with the office of priesthood from the Lord, or otherwise he could have done this in its proper place, the sanctuary:



and made an atonement for the people; by offering incense, which God smelt a sweet savour in, and accepted of, and his wrath was appeased and the plague stayed: in this Aaron was a type of our Lord Jesus Christ, and of his mediation, atonement, and intercession; wrath is gone forth from God for the sins of men, which is revealed in the law; and death, the effect of it, has taken place on many in every sense of it, corporeal, spiritual, and eternal: Christ, as Mediator, in pursuance of his suretyship engagements, has made atonement for the sins of his people by the sacrifice of himself; and now ever lives to make intercession for them, which is founded upon his sacrifice and satisfaction, his sufferings and death, signified by the fire in which the incense was put.





Numbers 16:48



Ver. 48. And he stood between the dead and the living,.... The plague beginning at one end of the camp, and so proceeded on, Aaron placed himself between that part of it wherein it had made havoc, and that wherein yet it was not come; the Targum of Jonathan is,



"he stood in prayer in the middle, and made a partition, with his censer, between the dead and living;''



in this he was a type of Christ, the Mediator between God and man, the living God and dead sinners; for though his atonement and intercession are not made for the dead in a corporeal sense, nor for those who have sinned, and sin unto death, the unpardonable sin, nor for men appointed unto death, but for the living in Jerusalem, or for those who are written in the Lamb's book of life; yet for those who are dead in sin, and as deserving of eternal death as others, whereby they are saved from everlasting ruin:



and the plague was stayed; it proceeded no further than where Aaron stood and offered his incense, and made atonement: so the consequence of the atonement and intercession of Christ is, that the wrath of God sin deserves comes not upon those that have a share therein, the second death shall not seize upon them, nor they be hurt with it; for, being justified by the blood of Christ, and atonement for their sins being made by his sacrifice, they are saved from wrath to come.





Numbers 16:49



Ver. 49. Now they that died in the plague were fourteen thousand and seven hundred,.... 14,700. Thus what they were threatened with, that their carcasses should fall in the wilderness, Nu 14:29, was more and more fulfilled:



beside them that died about the matter of Korah; these are not taken into the number here, even the two hundred fifty men of Korah's company, and the families of Dathan and Abiram, Nu 16:32; how many they were is not certain, but they were but few in comparison of these.





Numbers 16:50



Ver. 50. And Aaron returned unto Moses,.... After he had by his atonement and intercession put a stop to the wrath of God broken forth upon the people:



unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation; where Moses was waiting for his return, and to know the issue of this affair:



and the plague was stayed: even before Aaron left the camp, and is here repeated for the certainty of it, and to intimate that it continued to cease, and broke not out again.

 

John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.

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