Numbers 16:25

Hebrew (Westminster Leningrad Codex)

English Translation

Moses rose up and went to Dathan and Abiram; and the elders of Israel followed him.

World English Bible · Public Domain

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דָּתָ֣ן

Dâthân

H1885

“Dathan”

Noun, Proper

Appears 10× in the Hebrew Bible
First appears at Numbers 16:1

Full BDB Definition

Origin: of uncertain derivation

TWOT: None

Dathan = "belonging to a fountain" - a Reubenite chief, son of Eliab, who, with his brother, Abiram, joined Korah's conspiracy against Moses' authority

About this verse

These counts appear in no published source. They are computed here, from the morphology-tagged text and Lemma’s own curated glosses. What Lemma adds →

10: words
9: distinct lemmas
Pentateuch: section

Notable vocabulary

The rarest word here is דָּתָ֣ן Dathan H1885 — appearing just 10 times in the whole Hebrew Bible.

Shared distinctive vocabulary

דָּתָ֣ן Dathan H1885 occurs in 8 verses of the Hebrew Bible. Also found in:

Grammatical profile

3 verbs
4 nouns
1 adjective
2 prepositions

Verb forms

וַיָּ֣קָם Qal · Sequential Imperfect
וַיֵּ֖לֶךְ Qal · Sequential Imperfect
וַיֵּלְכ֥וּ Qal · Sequential Imperfect

Repetition

A word recurs within this verse — often emphatic in Hebrew:

וַיֵּ֖לֶךְ to walk H3212 ×2

Hebrew & Septuagint length

In English translation the verse runs 16 words from the Hebrew and 19 from the Septuagint (LXX English) — closely comparable.

A rough comparison of the two English renderings, which tokenize alike — not a word-level alignment.

Word counts can differ between the Hebrew and the Greek without any difference in meaning — e.g. the Hebrew direct-object marker אֵת has no separate Greek word, and Greek often adds the article ὁ.

In the original languages it is 10 Hebrew tokens and 17 Greek tokens — but the two are counted differently (Hebrew bundles its prefixes and suffixes into one token; the Greek is in lemma form), so that isn’t a like-for-like length.

Cross-references

Topical passages linked to Numbers 16:25 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — connected by theme and wording, ordered by reader-vote popularity; previews shown in the World English Bible.

Numbers 11:16–17 Yahweh said to Moses, Gather to me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom you know to be the elders of the people, and officers over them; and bring them to the tent of meeting, that they may stand there with you.
Numbers 11:25 Yahweh came down in the cloud, and spoke to him, and took of the Spirit that was on him, and put it on the seventy elders: and it happened that when the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied, but they did so no more.
Numbers 11:30 Moses got him into the camp, he and the elders of Israel.

Cross-references courtesy of OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0).

Hebrew and Greek witnesses Masoretic Hebrew ↔ Greek Septuagint

The same verse in the two great witnesses to the Old Testament, shown verse-for-verse.

These are two independent witnesses, not word-aligned to each other, and the Septuagint is shown in lemma (dictionary) form.

Hebrew Numbers 16:25 Masoretic · Westminster Leningrad Codex

וַיָּ֣קָם מֹשֶׁ֔ה וַיֵּ֖לֶךְ אֶל דָּתָ֣ן וַאֲבִירָ֑ם וַיֵּלְכ֥וּ אַחֲרָ֖יו זִקְנֵ֥י יִשְׂרָאֵֽל

Moses rose up and went to Dathan and Abiram; and the elders of Israel followed him.

World English Bible · Public Domain

Greek LXX Numbers 16:25 Septuagint · lemma form

καί ἀναἵστημι μωυσῆς καί πορεύομαι πρός δαθαν καί αβιρων καί συνπορεύομαι μετά αὐτός πᾶς ὁ πρεσβύτερος ἰσραήλ

And Moses rose up and went to Dathan and Abiron, and all the elders of Israel went with him.

LXX2012 (modern English Septuagint) · Public Domain

Hebrew: Westminster Leningrad Codex (CC BY 4.0). Greek: Septuagint (public domain); English from LXX2012 (modern English Septuagint) (Public Domain). How the Septuagint differs from the Hebrew →

Targum (Aramaic paraphrase)

The Targum is the ancient Jewish Aramaic paraphrase of the Hebrew Scriptures — an interpretive translation, not the Hebrew text itself. Onkelos (literal) and Pseudo-Jonathan (expansive) render the Torah, and Jonathan the Prophets. Coverage is partial: where no permissively-licensed English translation exists for a verse, only the Aramaic is shown. This is verse-level text, not a word-by-word alignment to the Hebrew.

Targum Onkelos Torah (Genesis–Deuteronomy)

וְקָם משֶׁה וַאֲזַל לְוַת דָתָן וַאֲבִירָם וַאֲזָלוּ בַּתְרוֹהִי סָבֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל

(no public-domain English translation for this verse)

Targum Onkelos — Aramaic: “Onkelos Genesis” (public domain); “Onkelos Exodus” (public domain); “Onkelos Leviticus” (public domain); “Onkelos Numbers” (public domain); “Onkelos Deuteronomy” (public domain). English: “Sefaria Community Translation” (CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)); “J.W. Etheridge. The Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan Ben Uzziel on the Pentateuch. London: Longmans, Green, 1862” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.
Targum Pseudo-Jonathan Torah (Genesis–Deuteronomy)

וְקָם משֶׁה וַאֲזַל לְאוֹכָחָא לְדָתָן וַאֲבִירָם וַאֲזָלוּ בַתְרוֹי סָבֵי יִשְרָאֵל

And Mosheh arose, and went to remonstrate with Dathan and Abiram; and the elders of Israel followed.

Targum Pseudo-Jonathan — Aramaic: “Targum Jonathan on Genesis” (public domain); “Targum Jonathan on Exodus” (public domain); “Targum Jonathan on Leviticus” (public domain); “Targum Jonathan on Numbers” (public domain); “Targum Jonathan on Deuteronomy” (public domain). English: “The Targum of Jonathan ben Uzziel, trans. J. W. Etheridge, London, 1862” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.

Commentary

Notes on Numbers 16:25 from classic Christian and Jewish commentators (each source and its license shown beneath its notes). The classic Christian expositions comment on the surrounding passage and are grouped to its opening verse, so a note may address several verses; the Jewish commentaries on the Tanakh (Rashi and others) are per-verse, so they appear only where the commentator wrote on this verse.

Lemma curates 59 commentaries, every one of them public domain or Creative Commons licensed, each selected and text-cleaned for this edition rather than reprinted as found. About our sources →

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne

25–34. The destruction of Dathan and Abiram.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

John Gill's Exposition

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.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations

Because they refused to come to him, he goes to them to their cost.

The elders of Israel; the seventy rulers, whom he carried with him for the greater solemnity of the action, and for his own better vindication, because he lay under such calumnies, and to encourage them in their work, not-withstanding the obstinate and intractable nature of the people they were to govern.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Whedon's Commentary on the Bible

Daniel D. Whedon

25. Unto Dathan and Abiram — These are supposed to have shrunk back from the tabernacle to their tents at the outflashing of the glory, while Korah, with brazen brow, proceeded to burn incense with the insurgent princes, and was consumed with them by “a fire from the Lord.” See Num_26:10, note.

The elders of Israel — See Num_11:16, note.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

John Wesley's Explanatory Notes

Unto Dathan - Because they refused to come to him. The elders - The seventy rulers, whom he carried with him for the greater solemnity of the action, and to encourage them in their work, notwithstanding the obstinate and untractable nature of the people they were to govern.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

unfoldingWord translationNotes

Door43 World Missions Community

you will be consumed

Being destroyed is spoken of as if they would be eaten. AT: "you will be destroyed" (See: Metaphor)

you will be consumed by all their sins

Being destroyed because of their sins is spoken of as if the sins would destroy them. AT: "you will be destroyed because of all their sins" (See: Metaphor)

you will be consumed by all their sins

This can be stated in active form. AT: "all their sins will destroy you" or "Yahweh will destroy you because of all their sins" (See: Active or Passive)

translationWords

Moses

elder

Israel

evil

Korah

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

Rashi

Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki (Rashi)

ויקם משה AND MOSES ROSE UP [AND WENT UNTO DATHAN AND ABIRAM] — He still believed that they would show respect to him (defer to him if he personally appealed to them), but they did not do so, (and therefore he then addressed himself to all the congregation — cf. next verse) (Midrash Tanchuma, Korach 8).

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

Lesson kit

Teaching starters — assembled from the data on this page, not authored interpretation. Every prompt links to the verse data it draws on. Edit before teaching.

Numbers, in the Pentateuch, opens this verse with 10 words (9 distinct Hebrew lemmas). Its most distinctive word is Dâthân (“Dathan”). A historical commentator’s framing appears above. Read the whole chapter for the surrounding context.

Discussion questions

The word Dâthân carries the sense “Dathan.” How does it shape the verse?
Numbers 16:1 shares the word «Dathan» with this verse. How do the two illuminate each other?
“to walk” occurs 2× in this one verse. What is the effect of the repetition?
These translations render this verse differently; the difference is in the English rendering, not the original. What questions does that raise?
The verb «וַיָּ֣קָם» is Qal Sequential Imperfect. How does its form color the action?
Reading how The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges and John Gill's Exposition read this verse, where do the two commentators agree and where do they part?

Things to notice

This verse counts 10 Hebrew ↔ 17 Greek words.
These translations choose different wording for 3 words in this verse.
“to walk” occurs 2× in this single verse.
9 distinct Hebrew lemmas span 10 words in this verse.