Parashat Korach — Korah (bald / ice)
קֹרַח
Korach (קֹרַח) means "korah (bald / ice)" — taken, as every parashah name is, from the portion's opening words in the Hebrew.
The Readings
Torah Numbers 16:1-18:32 Read →
Haftarah I Samuel 11:14-12:22 Read →
B'rit Chadashah Jude 1:5-19 Read →
B'rit Chadashah 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12 Read →
What Happens in Korach
Korach son of Yitzhar — a Kehatite Levite, cousin of Moshe — takes men: Datan and Aviram of Reuven, and two hundred fifty princes of the congregation, men of renown, and they assemble against Moshe and Aharon: you take too much upon yourselves, for all the congregation is holy, every one of them, and YHVH is among them; why then do you lift yourselves up above the assembly of YHVH? It is rebellion dressed in the language of holiness — a Levite already given nearness grasping at the priesthood, wrapped in a slogan about equality. Moshe falls on his face, then sets the test for morning: take censers, put fire and incense in them before YHVH, and the man whom YHVH chooses, he shall be holy. To Korach: you seek the priesthood also? To Datan and Aviram, who refuse even to come up, and sneer that Moshe has brought them out of 'a land flowing with milk and honey' — Egypt! — to kill them in the wilderness.
In the morning, two hundred fifty censers smoke at the tent door, and the glory of YHVH appears to all the congregation. Moshe stakes everything on a sign no one has ever seen: if these men die the common death of all men... then YHVH has not sent me. But if YHVH creates a new thing, and the ground opens its mouth and swallows them up... then you shall understand that these men have despised YHVH. As he finishes speaking, the ground splits apart; Korach's company, households, and goods go down alive into Sheol, and the earth closes over them — while fire comes out from YHVH and consumes the two hundred fifty offering incense. Elazar hammers their censers into a covering for the altar: holy, because they were offered before YHVH, and a permanent warning.
Astonishingly, the next day the whole congregation murmurs against Moshe and Aharon: you have killed the people of YHVH. Wrath goes out; the plague begins. And Moshe sends Aharon running into the middle of it with a censer of altar fire and incense — and he stood between the dead and the living, and the plague was stopped: priestly intercession compressed into a single image, with 14,700 fallen. To end the dispute forever, twelve staffs are laid overnight before the Testimony — and in the morning, the staff of Aharon for the house of Levi had budded, produced blossoms, and bore ripe almonds. Dead wood made alive is heaven's signature on its chosen priest, and the staff is kept before the Testimony as a sign. The portion closes with the terms of the confirmed priesthood: the Levites receive the tithe as wages and offer a tithe of the tithe; and to Aharon YHVH says the words every servant of God has lived on since: I am your portion and your inheritance among the children of Yisrael.
Main Themes
Rebellion dressed in holiness language God chooses who draws near Standing between the dead and the living The budding staff — life vindicating God's choice YHVH Himself the priest's inheritance
Key Events
· The rebellion of Korach, Datan, and Aviram
· The censer test proposed
· The earth swallows the rebels; fire consumes the 250
· The plague and Aharon's atoning censer
· Aharon's staff buds with almonds
· The gifts and duties of priests and Levites
Key People
Korach Datan and Aviram Moshe Aharon The 250 princes Elazar
Key Verses
Numbers 16:5 Read →
“He said to Korah and to all his company, “In the morning, the LORD will show who are his, and who is holy, and will cause him to come near to him. Even him whom he shall choose, he will cause to come near to him.”
Numbers 16:48 Read →
“And he stood between the dead and the living; and the plague was stayed.”
Numbers 17:8 Read →
“On the next day, Moses went into the Tent of the Testimony; and behold, Aaron’s rod for the house of Levi had sprouted, budded, produced blossoms, and bore ripe almonds.”
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