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Numbers 16:35

in Numbers 16

And fire came forth from the LORD and consumed the 250 men who were offering the incense.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV

ASV

And fire came forth from Jehovah, and devoured the two hundred and fifty men that offered the incense.

KJV

And there came out a fire from the Lord, and consumed the two hundred and fifty men that offered incense.

This verse in Numbers 16

Commentary

7 notes on this verse

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

It is most probable that Korah himself was consumed with those 250 that presumed to offer incense; for the priesthood was the thing he aimed at, and therefore we have reason to think that he would not quit his post at the door of the tabernacle. But, behold, those are made sacrifices to the justice of God who flattered themselves with the hopes of being priests.

This site's exposition

all Israel that were round about them fled

on Numbers 16:34-35

The camp runs from the sound of it, afraid the ground will take them too. Fire comes out from the Lord and consumes the two hundred and fifty, which is the wording of Leviticus 10:2 over Nadab and Abihu and of 11:1 at Taberah. Three judgments fall in this one chapter by three means, the earth at verse 32, the fire here, and the plague at verse 49.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers2 voices

Now this is the first lust which conquered the world, and because of it the first transgression of the law took place. And because the priests lusted and drank wine, and were confused in the place of propitiation, the fire consumed their bodies.
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 …

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

And there came out a fire from the Lord,....

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

proposed

there came out a fire from the Lord--that is, from the cloud. This seems to describe the destruction of Korah and those Levites who with him aspired to the functions of the priesthood.

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase

Compare the marginal references The fire came out from the sanctuary or the altar.

The words behind it

11 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.

  • וְאֵ֥שׁand fire

    veeshH784378 times

  • יָצְאָ֖הit came forth

    yatzeahH33181067 times

  • מֵאֵ֣תfrom with

    meetH854929 times

  • יְהוָ֑הYahweh

    yahwehH30686520 times

  • וַתֹּ֗אכַלand it consumed

    vatokhalH398810 times

  • אֵ֣ת<obj.>

    ʾetH85310935 times

  • הַחֲמִשִּׁ֤יםthe fifty

    hachamishimH2572163 times

  • וּמָאתַ֙יִם֙and two hundred

    umatayimH3967581 times

  • אִ֔ישׁman

    ʾishH3761663 times

  • מַקְרִיבֵ֖י[who] were bringing near

    makriveiH7126280 times

  • הַקְּטֹֽרֶת׃ פ<of> the incense

    haketoretH700460 times

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

    Leviticus 10:2

    So fire came out from the presence of the LORD and consumed them, and they died in the presence of the LORD.

    it leads to

    • Numbers 26:61

      but Nadab and Abihu died when they offered unauthorized fire before the LORD.

    • Leviticus 9:24

      Fire came out from the presence of the LORD and consumed the burnt offering and the fat portions on the altar. And when all the people saw it, they shouted for joy and fell…

    • Numbers 3:3–4

      These were Aaron’s sons, the anointed priests, who were ordained to serve as priests.

  • Through

    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.

    it leads to

    • Numbers 16:38

      As for the censers of those who sinned at the cost of their own lives, hammer them into sheets to overlay the altar, for these were presented before the LORD, and so have become…

    • Numbers 16:31–35

      As soon as Moses had finished saying all this, the ground beneath them split open,

    • 2 Peter 2:6

      if He condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction, reducing them to ashes as an example of what is coming on the ungodly;

  • Through

    Psalms 106:18

    Then fire blazed through their company; flames consumed the wicked.

    it leads to

    • Numbers 16:35–40

      And fire came forth from the LORD and consumed the 250 men who were offering the incense.

    • Hebrews 12:29

      “For our God is a consuming fire.”

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); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Philoxenus of Mabbug, 13 Ascetic Discourses, Discourse 11 -- On Abstinence and Philoxenus of Mabbug, 13 Ascetic Discourses, Discourse 7 -- Second Discourse on the Fear of God.