Numbers 26:10 - Exposition

Swallowed them up together with Korah. יַתִּבְלַע אֹתָם וְאֶת־קֹרַח . Septuagint, κατέπειν αὐτοὺς καὶ κορέ . This distinct statement, which is not modified in the Targums, seems decisive as to the fate of Korah. If indeed it were quite certain from the detailed narrative in Numbers 16:1-50 that Korah perished with his own company, and not with the Reubenites, then it might be deemed necessary to force this statement into accordance with that certainty; but it is nowhere stated, or even clearly implied, that he perished by fire, and therefore there is no excuse for doing violence to the obvious meaning of this verse. Korah, Dathan, and Abiram were swallowed up, we are told, at the same time that Korah's company were consumed by fire; that is a clear statement, and cannot be set aside by any supposed necessity for avenging the sacri1egious ambition of Korah by the element of fire. And they became a sign. The Hebrew נֵם properly means a banner or ensign, and is unusual in this sense. It exactly corresponds, however, to the Greek σήμειον , and has no doubt the same secondary signification—a something made conspicuous in order to attract attention and enforce a warning (cf. Numbers 16:30 , Numbers 16:38 ).