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Numbers 16:32

in Numbers 16

and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them and their households—all Korah’s men and all their possessions.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV

ASV

and the earth opened its mouth, and swallowed them up, and their households, and all the men that appertained unto Korah, and all their goods.

KJV

And the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up, and their houses, and all the men that appertained unto Korah, and all their goods.

This verse in Numbers 16

Commentary

7 notes on this verse
All the men ... - Not his sons (see Num 26:11), but all belonging to him who had associated themselves with him in this rebellion.

This site's exposition

as he had made an end of speaking

on Numbers 16:31-33

The ground splits at the instant the sentence ends, and the text says so before it says anything else. Whether Korah himself went down with them or burned with the two hundred and fifty is read both ways, since verse 32 swallows the men that appertained unto Korah while 26:10 says the earth swallowed them up together with Korah, and the commentators divide over it. Psalm 106:17 recalls the day and names Dathan and the company of Abiram.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers4 voices

A commentator

Augustine of Hippo

City of God 10.8 · Written in the 5th century.

proposed

Then there were the miracles of the seditious among the people of God. They separated themselves from the divinely ordered community. They were swallowed alive by the earth, as a visible token of an invisible punishment.

A commentator

Augustine of Hippo

354–430

City of God 10.8 · Written before 430.

proposed

Then there were the miracles of the seditious among the people of God. They separated themselves from the divinely ordered community. They were swallowed alive by the earth, as a visible token of an invisible punishment.
And that He might increase in them this fear, immediately, by the mouth of offence, the rod of His chastisement was revealed, and after the offence the Chastiser gave them no respite, because their servitude was not worthy of His longsuffering. Above their head the …

A commentator

Basil of Caesarea

CONCERNING BAPTISM, QUESTION 8 · Written before 379.

proposed

In the Old Testament, as, for instance, in the case of Korah and the men who dared to enter the priesthood without being called to it and by the severity of the wrath which came upon them to their utter destruction, we see how grave a thing it is to do that which is unsuitable as regards the person.

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

And the earth opened her mouth and swallowed them up,....

The words behind it

16 Hebrew words

Every 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.

  • וַתִּפְתַּ֤חand it opened

    vatiftachH6605144 times

  • הָאָ֙רֶץ֙the earth

    haaretzH7762504 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H85310935 times

  • פִּ֔יהָmouth its

    pihaH6310498 times

  • וַתִּבְלַ֥עand it swallowed

    vativla'H110449 times

  • אֹתָ֖ם<obj.> them

    ʾotamH85310935 times

  • וְאֶת־and <obj.>

    veetH85310935 times

  • בָּתֵּיהֶ֑םhouseholds their

    bateihemH10042046 times

  • וְאֵ֤תand <obj.>

    veetH85310935 times

  • כָּל־every

    kol-H36055413 times

  • הָאָדָם֙<the> person

    haadamH120551 times

  • אֲשֶׁ֣רwho

    ʾasherH8345497 times

  • לְקֹ֔רַח[belonged] to Korah

    lekorachH714126 times

  • וְאֵ֖תand <obj.>

    veetH85310935 times

  • כָּל־all

    kol-H36055413 times

  • הָרֲכֽוּשׁ׃the property

    harakhushH7399

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

The walk

8 stops

Each 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 Chronicles 6:22

    The descendants of Kohath:

    it leads to

    • Exodus 6:24

      The sons of Korah were Assir, Elkanah, and Abiasaph. These were the clans of the Korahites.

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

  • Through

    Psalms 106:17

    The earth opened up and swallowed Dathan; it covered the assembly of Abiram.

    it leads to

    • Deuteronomy 11:6

      and what He did in the midst of all the Israelites to Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab the Reubenite, when the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them, their households, their tents,…

    • Numbers 26:10

      And the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them along with Korah, whose followers died when the fire consumed 250 men. They serve as a warning sign.

  • Through

    Isaiah 5:14

    Therefore Sheol enlarges its throat and opens wide its enormous jaws, and down go Zion’s nobles and masses, her revelers and carousers!

    it leads to

    • Habakkuk 2:5

      and wealth indeed betrays him. He is an arrogant man never at rest. He enlarges his appetite like Sheol, and like Death, he is never satisfied. He gathers all the nations to himself and…

    • Luke 21:34

      But watch yourselves, or your hearts will be weighed down by dissipation, drunkenness, and the worries of life—and that day will spring upon you suddenly like a snare.

    • Proverbs 30:16

      Sheol, the barren womb, land never satisfied with water, and fire that never says, ‘Enough!’

    • Psalms 55:15

      Let death seize them by surprise; let them go down to Sheol alive, for evil is with them in their homes.

    • Matthew 7:13

      Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many enter through it.

Where this verse is studied

On this page

Studies3

About Numbers

The Death of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
The Death of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain

This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Augustine of Hippo, City of God 10.8; Basil of Caesarea, CONCERNING BAPTISM, QUESTION 8; 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 Philoxenus of Mabbug, 13 Ascetic Discourses, Discourse 7 -- Second Discourse on the Fear of God.