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 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.
Bible Commentary
Numbers 16:35
Numbers 16:35
John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible · John Gill (1697–1771) · Public Domain
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Numbers 16 — OverviewNumbers 16 · Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole BibleThe date of the history contained in this chapter is altogether
uncertain. Probably these mutinies happened after their removal back
again from Kadesh-barnea, when they were fixed (if I may so speak) for
their…Numbers 16 — OverviewNumbers 16 · Treasury of Scripture KnowledgeNumbers 16:1, The rebellion of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram; Numbers 16:23, Moses separates the people from the rebels’ tents; Numbers 16:31, The earth swallows up Korah, and a fire consumes others; Numbers 16:36, The…Numbers 16 — OverviewNumbers 16 · John Gill's Exposition of the Entire BibleThis 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…Numbers 16:35-40Numbers 16:35-40 · Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole BibleWe must now look back to the door of the tabernacle, where we left the
pretenders to the priesthood with their censers in their hands ready to
offer incense; and here we find,
I. Vengeance taken on them, v. 35.…Numbers 16:35Numbers 16:35 · Treasury of Scripture KnowledgeAnd there: Numbers 11:1, Numbers 26:10; Leviticus 10:2; Psalms 106:18
two hundred: Numbers 16:2, Numbers 16:17