Numbers 16:31

Num 16:31 And it came to pass, as he had made an end of speaking all these words, that the ground clave asunder that [was] under them:

Ver. 31. As he had made an end of speaking.] Dictum factum; so it is still. {Joh 20:23} Vengeance is every whit as ready in God’s hands, as in his ministers’ mouths. {2Co 10:6}

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

16:31-33 Korah’s sons did not die at this time (26:10-11). In fact, his descendants eventually became gatekeepers and musicians in the Temple (1 Chr 9:19, 31; 26:19; 2 Chr 20:19; cp. the titles of Pss 42; 45–49; 84–85; 87–88).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

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.

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

31. The ground clave asunder — There may have been a natural cause for this event; but its occurrence according to prediction in vindication of God’s appointed priesthood and in vengeance upon his foes betokens the supernatural.

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

The ground clave asunder that was under them. As it sometimes does during an earthquake. In this case, however, the event was predicted, and wholly supernatural. The sequence of the narrative would lead us to suppose that the earth opened beneath the tents of Dathan and Abiram in the camp of Reuben. It is difficult to think of the gulf as extending so far as to involve the tent of Korah in the Kohathite lines in the same destruction, while there is nothing to suggest the idea that the earth opened in more than one place. It is true that the camps of the Reubenites and of the Kohathites were more or less contiguous; but when it is remembered that there were 46, 500 adult males in the former, and 8600 males in the latter, and that a broad space must have been left between the two lines of encampment, it is obviously improbable that Korah"s tent was in a practical sense "near" to those of Dathan and Abiram, unless indeed he had purposely removed it in order to be under the protection of his Reubenite partisans. It is very observable that not a word is said here as to the fate of Korah himself. It is implied in verse 40 that he had perished, and it is apparently asserted in Num_26:10 that he was swallowed up with Dathan and Abiram (see the note there). On the other hand, Deu_11:6 Psa_106:17 speak of the engulfing of the other two without any mention of Korah himself sharing their fate; and while "all the men that appertained unto Korah" perished, his own sons did not. (Num_26:11) On these grounds it is held by most commentators that Korah died by fire among those who offered incense (verse 35). This, however, is untenable, because "the two hundred and fifty men who offered incense" are distinctly mentioned as having been his partisans (verse 2), and are always counted exclusive of Korah himself. On the whole, while it is certain that the narrative is very obscure, and the question very doubtful, it seems most agreeable to all the testimonies of Holy Scripture to conclude

1. That Korah had left his own place, and had some sort of dwelling (mischan) either in common with Dathan and Abiram, or hard by their tents.

2. That the earth opened and swallowed up the mishcan, of Korah, and the tents of Dathan and Abiram.

3. That Korah"s men (see next verse) and their property were swallowed up with his mishcan, and (as far as we can tell) Korah himself also. If this be correct, then the much disputed heading of the chapter in the A.V will be right after all.

Vers. 31-33. The destructiveness of sin.

Some things are very much dreaded because so destructive. E.g., locusts, war, pestilence. But there is nothing so destructive as sin. As "no man liveth," so no man sinneth, "to himself." Of Korah, as of Achan or of other transgressors, it may be said, "That man perished not alone in his iniquity". (Jos_22:20) The destructive effects of sin are twofold

I PERSONAL,

II SOCIAL.

I PERSONAL: on the sinner himself, as in the case of Korah the Kohathite, honoured as one of the ministers of God"s ark. Illustration Infection, taken unawares, may not be suspected by friends, hardly by the victim; but its effects (fever, eruption, &c.) will be seen by and by. Sin cannot always be kept secret. ; (Isa_59:12 Jam_1:15) "Evil shall slay the wicked." If the consequences are not as fatal as in Korah"s case, moral destruction is going on. As Alpine granite may be reduced by frost and damp to a kind of mould, so sin some sins especially seems to break up the moral nature and reduce it to ruins. From the personal consequences of sin the destroyer we can only be delivered by Christ the Savior. (Tit_2:14)

II SOCIAL: on others. In the case of Korah and his conspirators, sin was fatal to their families. So perhaps in the case of Achan; (Jos_7:24-26 Jos_22:20) if not, how terrible for them to see the husband, the father, killed, and to know that he had caused the loss of thirty-six men at Ai! "Curses, like chickens, always come home to roost." We cannot sin with impunity to our family any more than Adam did. Sin propagates sin. It involves others, directly or indirectly, in its fatal consequences. Illustration King Saul, and the catastrophe to both family and nation at Gilboa. Unrighteous statesmen. Men of high social position who are immoral or infidel. Each sinner a center of contagion. (Ecc_9:18) The fate of the children of Korah"s company a warning to sinful parents. The children of the godless may be expected to become the parents of godless children, and thus the evil may be perpetuated from generation to generation. Mournful epitaph for a sinner"s grave: "That man perished not alone in his iniquity." "But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound. P. (Rom_5:20, 21 8:2, 3)

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And immediately the earth clave asunder, and swallowed them up, with their families and all their possessions, and closed above them, so that they perished without a trace from the congregation. אתם refers to the three ringleaders. "Their houses;" i.e., their families, not their tents, as in Num 18:31; Exo 12:3. "All the men belonging to Korah" were his servants; for, according to Num 26:11, his sons did not perish with him, but perpetuated his family (Num 26:58), to which the celebrated Korahite singers of David's time belonged (Ch1 6:18-22; Ch1 9:19).

Keil & Delitzsch — Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–1891) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API. (Old Testament only.)

The earth opened its mouth and swallowed them

Moses speaks of the earth as if it were alive, and the hole that the people fell into as if it were the earth's mouth. AT: "The earth opened up like a large mouth, and they fell into it and were buried in it" or "There was a giant hole in the ground, and they fell into it and were buried in it" (See: Metaphor)

translationWords

word

earth

possess

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