KORAH (ko'rah), (Heb. ko'rakh, ice).
/. A Levite, son of lzhar, the brother of Am ram, the father of Moses and Aaron, who were therefore cousins to Korah (Exod. vi :21).
(1) Jealousy. From this near relationship we may conjecture that the source of the discontent which led to the steps afterwards taken by this unhappy man lay in his jealousy that the high honors and privileges of the priesthood, to which he, who remained a simple Levite, might, apart from the Divine appointment, seem to have had as good a claim, should have been exclusively ap propriated to the family of Aaron. When to this was added the civil authority of Moses, the whole power over the nation would seem to him to have been engrossed by his cousins, the sons of Amram.
(2) Conspiracy. Under the influence of these feelings he organized a conspiracy for the purpose of redressicg what appeared to him the evil and injustice of this arrangement. Dathan, Abiram, and On, the chief persons who joined him, were of the tribe of Reuben; but he was also sup ported by many more from other tribes, making up the number of two hundred and fifty, men of name, rank, and influence, all who may be re garded as representing the families of which they were the heads.
(3) Ostensible Object. The private object of Korah was apparently his own aggrandizement, hut his ostensible object was the general good of the people; and it is perhaps from want of atten tion to this distinction that the transaction has not been well understood. The design seems to have been made acceptable to a large body of the na tion, on the ground that the firstborn of Israel had been deprived of their sacerdotal birthright in favor of the Levites, while the Levites them selves announced that the priesthood had been conferred by Moses (as they considered) on his own brother s family, in preference to those who had equal claims; and it is easy to conceive that the Reubenites may have considered the oppor tunity a favorable one for the recovery of their birthright—the double portion and civil pre-emi nence—which had been forfeited by them and given to Joseph.
(4) Complaint. The leading conspirators, having organized their plans, repaired in a body to Moses and Aaron, boldly charged them with their usurpations, and required them to lay down their ill-gotten power. Moses no sooner heard this than he fell on his face, confounded at the enormity of so outrageous a revolt against a sys tem framed so carefully _for the benefit of the nation. He left the matter in the Lord's hands, and desired them to come on the morrow, pro vided with censers for incense, that the Lord him self, by some manifest token, might make known his will in this great matter. As this order was particularly addressed to the rebellious Levites, the Reubenites left the place, and when after wards called back by Moses, returned a very in solent refusal, charging him with having brought them out of the land of Egypt under false pre tences, `to kill them in the wilderness.' (5) Destruction. The next day Korah and his company appeared before the tabernacle, attended by a multitude of people out of the general body of the tribes. Then the Shekinah, or symbol of
the Divine presence, which abode between the cherubim, advanced to the entrance of the sacred fabric, and a voice therefrom commanded Moses and Aaron to stand apart, lest they should share in the destruction which awaited the whole con gregation. On hearing these awful words the brothers fell on their faces, and by strong inter cession, moved the Lord to confine his wrath to the leaders in the rebellion, and spare their un happy dupes. The latter were then ordered to separate themselves from their leaders and from the tents in which they dwelt. The terrible men ace involved in this direction had its weight, and the command was obeyed: and after Moses had appealed to what was to happen as a proof of the authority by which he acted, the earth opened and received and closed over the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram (B. C. about 119o). The Reubcnite conspirators were in their tents, and perished in them; and at the same instant Korah and his two hundred and fifty, who were offer ing incense at the door of the tabernacle, were destroyed by a fire which 'came out from the Lord;' that is, most probably, in this case, from out of the cloud in which his presence dwelt.
(6) Sons of Borah. The censers which they had used were afterwards made into plates, to form an outer covering to the altar, and thus became a standing monument of this awful trans action (Num. xvi.). On, although named in the first instance along with Dathan ond Abiram, does not further appear either in the rebellion or its punishment. It is hence supposed that he re pented in time: and Abendana and other Rabbin ical writers allege that his wife prevailed upon him to abandon the cause.
It might be supposed from the Scripture narra tive that the entire families of the conspirators perished in the destruction of their tents. Doubt less all who were in the tents perished; but as the descendants of Korah afterwards became eminent in the Levitical service, it is clear that his sons were spared. They were probably living in sepa rate tents, or were among those who sundered themselves from the conspirators at the command of Moses. There is no reason to suppose that the sons of Korah were children when their father perished. The Korahites were appointed by Da vid to the office of guarding the doors of the tem ple,. and of singing praises. They, in fact, oc cupied a distinguished place in the choral service of the temple, and several of the Psalms (xlii, xliv, .xlix, lxxxiv, lxxxv, lxxxvii, lxxxviii) are inscribed to them. Heman, the master of song under David, was of this family, and his geneal ogy is traced through Korah up to Levi (1 Chron. vi :31-38).
2. Third son of Esau by Aholibamah (Gen. xxxvi :5, r4, 18; Chron. i :35), born before Esan went to Mount Seir (Gen. xxxvi:5-9). (B. C. about zmo.) 3. A "Duke" of Edom, grandson of Esau (Gen. xxxvi :t6).
4. A 'son of Hebron' (1 Chron. ii :43), but whether a man or city is meant by 'Hebron' is un certain. (B. C. long after t nal.)