Numbers 16:11
in Numbers 16Therefore, it is you and all your followers who have conspired against the LORD! As for Aaron, who is he that you should grumble against him?”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Therefore thou and all thy company are gathered together against Jehovah: and Aaron, what is he that ye murmur against him?
KJV
For which cause both thou and all thy company are gathered together against the Lord: and what is Aaron, that ye murmur against him?
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This verse in Numbers 16
Commentary
4 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
The words of Moses in his wrath are broken. The Aaronic priesthood was of divine appointment; and thus in rejecting it, the conspirators were really rebelling against God.
This site's exposition
what is Aaron, that ye murmur against him
Moses puts the quarrel where Exodus 16:8 had already put it, saying that murmuring against the men who were set over them is murmuring against the Lord who set them. Aaron is the man named and Aaron speaks nowhere in this chapter, spoken about, spoken against, and at verse 47 running with a censer. The word murmur runs from here to verse 41 and on into 17:5 and 17:10, where a rod that buds is given as the answer to it.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
); while they pretended to assert the holiness and liberty of the Israel of God, they really took up arms against the God of Israel: You are gathered together against the Lord. Note, Those that strive against God's ordinances and providences, whatever they pretend, and whether they are aware of it or no, do indeed strive with their Maker.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
For which cause, both thou and all thy company are gathered together against the Lord,....
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
ויקרב אתך AND HE HATH BROUGHT THEE NEAR to that service from which He has excluded the rest of the congregation of Israel.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
Now Dathan and Abiram were the instigators of this controversy as much as Korach was, as Scripture states, Now Korach took … and Dathan and Abiram … and they rose up in the face of Moses with certain of the children of Israel etc., 84 Above, Verses 1-2.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 4 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
13 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| לָכֵ֗ן | lakhen | <to> therefore | H3651 → | 771 times |
| אַתָּה֙ | ʾatah | you | H859 → | 1094 times |
| וְכָל־ | vekhol | and all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| עֲדָ֣תְךָ֔ | ʾadatekha | company your | H5712 → | 149 times |
| הַנֹּעָדִ֖ים | hanoadim | [are] the [ones who] have gathered | H3259 → | 29 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| יְהוָ֑ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| וְאַהֲרֹ֣ן | veaharon | and Aaron | H175 → | 347 times |
| מַה־ | mah- | what? | H4100 → | 752 times |
| ה֔וּא | hu' | [is] he | H1931 → | 1879 times |
| כִּ֥י | ki | that | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| תַלִּ֖ינוּ | tilonu | you will cause to grumble | H3885 → | 84 times |
| עָלָֽיו׃ | ʾalav | on him | H5921 → | 5755 times |
לָכֵ֗ן<to> therefore
lakhenH3651 →771 times
אַתָּה֙you
ʾatahH859 →1094 times
וְכָל־and all
vekholH3605 →5413 times
עֲדָ֣תְךָ֔company your
ʾadatekhaH5712 →149 times
הַנֹּעָדִ֖ים[are] the [ones who] have gathered
hanoadimH3259 →29 times
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
יְהוָ֑הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
וְאַהֲרֹ֣ןand Aaron
veaharonH175 →347 times
מַה־what?
mah-H4100 →752 times
ה֔וּא[is] he
hu'H1931 →1879 times
כִּ֥יthat
kiH3588 →4482 times
תַלִּ֖ינוּyou will cause to grumble
tilonuH3885 →84 times
עָלָֽיו׃on him
ʾalavH5921 →5755 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
1 Corinthians 3:5What then is Apollos? And what is Paul? They are servants through whom you believed, as the Lord has assigned to each his role.
it leads to
- 2 Corinthians 6:4
Rather, as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: in great endurance; in troubles, hardships, and calamities;
- 2 Corinthians 6:1
As God’s fellow workers, then, we urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain.
- 1 Peter 4:10
As good stewards of the manifold grace of God, each of you should use whatever gift he has received to serve one another.
- 2 Corinthians 3:6
And He has qualified us as ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.
- 2 Corinthians 6:4
Through
Acts 5:4Did it not belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? How could you conceive such a deed in your heart? You have not…
it leads to
- Acts 5:3
Then Peter said, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and withhold some of the proceeds from the land?
- Acts 5:3
Through
Exodus 17:2So the people contended with Moses, “Give us water to drink.” “Why do you contend with me?” Moses replied. “Why do you test the LORD?”
it leads to
- Psalms 78:18
They willfully tested God by demanding the food they craved.
- 1 Corinthians 10:9
We should not test Christ, as some of them did, and were killed by snakes.
- Psalms 78:18
Through
Numbers 16:3They came together against Moses and Aaron and told them, “You have taken too much upon yourselves! For everyone in the entire congregation is holy, and the LORD is in their midst. Why then…
it leads to
- Psalms 106:16
In the camp they envied Moses, as well as Aaron, the holy one of the LORD.
- Psalms 106:16
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies3
On this verse
On this chapter
About Numbers
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.