Torah Portion Korach

Torah Portion Korach

Bemidbar – Numbers 16:1-18:21

Num 16:1 Now Korach, the son of Yitzhar, the son of Kehat, the son of Levi, with Datan and Aviram, the sons of Eli’av, and On, the son of Pelet, sons of Re’uven, took [men]:

Num 16:2  and they rose up before Moshe, with certain of the children of Yisra’el, two hundred fifty princes of the congregation, called to the assembly, men of renown;

Num 16:3  and they assembled themselves together against Moshe and against Aharon, and said to them, You take too much on you, seeing all the congregation are holy, everyone of them, and YHWH is among them: why then lift yourselves up above the assembly of YHWH?

Under the Priesthood of the Firstborm, of course, the Tribe of Reuben would have been the priestly tribe, had not Reuben forfeited his place by dishonoring his father’s couch.

Numbers, continued:

Num 16:4  When Moshe heard it, he fell on his face:

Num 16:5  and he spoke to Korach and to all his company, saying, In the morning YHWH 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.

Num 16:6  This do: take you censers, Korach, and all his company;

Num 16:7  and put fire in them, and put incense on them before YHWH tomorrow: and it shall be that the man whom YHWH does choose, he [shall be] holy: you take too much on you, you sons of Levi.

Num 16:8  Moshe said to Korach, Hear now, you sons of Levi:

Num 16:9  [seems it but] a small thing to you, that the Elohim of Yisra’el has separated you from the congregation of Yisra’el, to bring you near to himself, to do the service of the tent of YHWH, and to stand before the congregation to minister to them;

Num 16:10  and that he has brought you near, and all your brothers the sons of Levi with you? and seek you the priesthood also?

Num 16:11  Therefore you and all your company are gathered together against YHWH: and Aharon, what is he who you murmur against him?

Num 16:12  Moshe sent to call Datan and Aviram, the sons of Eli’av; and they said, We won’t come up:

Num 16:13  is it a small thing that you have brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey, to kill us in the wilderness, but you must needs make yourself also a prince over us?

Num 16:14  Moreover you haven’t brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey, nor given us inheritance of fields and vineyards: will you put out the eyes of these men? we won’t come up.

Num 16:15  Moshe was very angry, and said to YHWH, “Don’t respect their offering: I have not taken one donkey from them, neither have I hurt one of them.”

Num 16:16  Moshe said to Korach, You and all your company go before YHWH, you, and they, and Aharon, tomorrow:

Num 16:17  and take every man his censer, and put incense on them, and bring you before YHWH every man his censer, two hundred fifty censers; you also, and Aharon, each his censer.

Num 16:18  They took every man his censer, and put fire in them, and laid incense thereon, and stood at the door of the tent of meeting with Moshe and Aharon.

Num 16:19  Korach assembled all the congregation against them to the door of the tent of meeting: and the glory of YHWH appeared to all the congregation.

Num 16:20  YHWH spoke to Moshe and to Aharon, saying,

Num 16:21  Separate yourselves from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment.

Num 16:22  They fell on their faces, and said, Elohim, the Elohim of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and will you be angry with all the congregation?

Num 16:23  YHWH spoke to Moshe, saying,

Num 16:24  Speak to the congregation, saying, Get away from around the tent of Korach, Datan, and Aviram.

Num 16:25  Moshe rose up and went to Datan and Aviram; and the elders of Yisra’el followed him.

Num 16:26  He spoke to the congregation, saying, Depart, I pray you, from the tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing of theirs, lest you be consumed in all their sins.

Num 16:27  So they got them up from the tent of Korach, Datan, and Aviram, on every side: and Datan and Aviram came out, and stood at the door of their tents, and their wives, and their sons, and their little ones.

Num 16:28  Moshe said, Hereby you shall know that YHWH has sent me to do all these works; for [I have] not [done them] of my own mind.

Num 16:29  If these men die the common death of all men, or if they be visited after the visitation of all men; then YHWH hasn’t sent me.

Num 16:30  But if YHWH make a new thing, and the ground open its mouth, and swallow them up, with all that appertain to them, and they go down alive into She’ol; then you shall understand that these men have despised YHWH.

Sheol is the grave, and nothing else.

Numbers, continued:

Num 16:31  It happened, as he made an end of speaking all these words, that the ground split apart that was under them;

Num 16:32  and the earth opened its mouth, and swallowed them up, and their households, and all the men who appertained to Korach, and all their goods.

Num 16:33  So they, and all that appertained to them, went down alive into She’ol: and the earth closed on them, and they perished from among the assembly.

Num 16:34  All Yisra’el that were round about them fled at the cry of them; for they said, Lest the earth swallow us up.

Num 16:35  Fire came forth from YHWH, and devoured the two hundred fifty men who offered the incense.

Just as the two oldest sons of Aharon died for offering “strange” or “unauthorized” fire before Elohim, these men committed the same crime and received the same punishment.

Numbers, continued:

Num 16:36  YHWH spoke to Moshe, saying,

Num 16:37  Speak to El`azar the son of Aharon the Kohen, that he take up the censers out of the burning, and scatter you the fire yonder; for they are holy,

Num 16:38  even the censers of these sinners against their own lives; and let them be made beaten plates for a covering of the altar: for they offered them before YHWH; therefore they are holy; and they shall be a sign to the children of Yisra’el.

Num 16:39  El`azar the Kohen took the bronze censers, which those who were burnt had offered; and they beat them out for a covering of the altar,

Num 16:40  to be a memorial to the children of Yisra’el, to the end that no stranger, who isn’t of the seed of Aharon, comes near to burn incense before YHWH; that he not be as Korach, and as his company: as YHWH spoke to him by Moshe.

Num 16:41  But on the next day all the congregation of the children of Yisra’el murmured against Moshe and against Aharon, saying, You have killed the people of YHWH.

Num 16:42  It happened, when the congregation was assembled against Moshe and against Aharon, that they looked toward the tent of meeting: and behold, the cloud covered it, and the glory of YHWH appeared.

Num 16:43  Moshe and Aharon came to the front of the tent of meeting.

Num 16:44  YHWH spoke to Moshe, saying,

Num 16:45  Get away from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment. They fell on their faces.

Num 16:46  Moshe said to Aharon, Take your censer, and put fire therein from off the altar, and lay incense thereon, and carry it quickly to the congregation, and make atonement for them: for there is wrath gone out from YHWH; the plague is begun.

Num 16:47  Aharon took as Moshe spoke, and ran into the midst of the assembly; and behold, the plague was begun among the people: and he put on the incense, and made atonement for the people.

Num 16:48  He stood between the dead and the living; and the plague was stayed.

Num 16:49  Now those who died by the plague were fourteen thousand and seven hundred, besides those who died about the matter of Korach.

Num 16:50  Aharon returned to Moshe to the door of the tent of meeting: and the plague was stayed.

Num 17:1 YHWH spoke to Moshe, saying,

Num 17:2  Speak to the children of Yisra’el, and take of them rods, one for each fathers’ house, of all their princes according to their fathers’ houses, twelve rods: write you every man’s name on his rod.

Num 17:3  You shall write Aharon’s name on the rod of Levi; for there shall be one rod for each head of their fathers’ houses.

Num 17:4  You shall lay them up in the tent of meeting before the testimony, where I meet with you.

Num 17:5  It shall happen, that the rod of the man whom I shall choose shall bud: and I will make to cease from me the murmurings of the children of Yisra’el, which they murmur against you.

Num 17:6  Moshe spoke to the children of Yisra’el; and all their princes gave him rods, for each prince one, according to their fathers’ houses, even twelve rods: and the rod of Aharon was among their rods.

Num 17:7  Moshe laid up the rods before YHWH in the tent of the testimony.

Num 17:8  It happened on the next day, that Moshe went into the tent of the testimony; and behold, the rod of Aharon for the house of Levi was budded, and put forth buds, and produced blossoms, and bore ripe almonds.

Num 17:9  Moshe brought out all the rods from before YHWH to all the children of Yisra’el: and they looked, and took every man his rod.

Num 17:10  YHWH said to Moshe, Put back the rod of Aharon before the testimony, to be kept for a token against the children of rebellion; that you may make an end of their murmurings against me, that they not die.

Num 17:11  Thus did Moshe: as YHWH commanded him, so did he.

Num 17:12  The children of Yisra’el spoke to Moshe, saying, Behold, we perish, we are undone, we are all undone.

Num 17:13  Everyone who comes near, who comes near to the tent of YHWH, dies: shall we perish all of us?

Num 18:1 YHWH said to Aharon, You and your sons and your fathers’ house with you shall bear the iniquity of the sanctuary; and you and your sons with you shall bear the iniquity of your priesthood.

The same is true to a lesser degree of any elder, teacher, or minister of a congregation.  Those who are supposed to be leaders and show the people they way they ought to go are responsible for the guilt incurred when the people are not taught properly or fail to heed what they have been taught.

Numbers, continued:

Num 18:2  Your brothers also, the tribe of Levi, the tribe of your father, bring you near with you, that they may be joined to you, and minister to you: but you and your sons with you shall be before the tent of the testimony.

Num 18:3  They shall keep your charge, and the charge of all the Tent: only they shall not come near to the vessels of the sanctuary and to the altar, that they not die, neither they, nor you.

Num 18:4  They shall be joined to you, and keep the charge of the tent of meeting, for all the service of the Tent: and a stranger shall not come near to you.

Num 18:5  You shall keep the charge of the sanctuary, and the charge of the altar; that there be wrath no more on the children of Yisra’el.

Num 18:6  I, behold, I have taken your brothers the Levites from among the children of Yisra’el: to you they are a gift, given to YHWH, to do the service of the tent of meeting.

Num 18:7  You and your sons with you shall keep your priesthood for everything of the altar, and for that within the veil; and you shall serve: I give you the priesthood as a service of gift: and the stranger who comes near shall be put to death.

“Stranger” in this context means anyone not of the Tribe of Levi.

Numbers, continued:

Num 18:8  YHWH spoke to Aharon, I, behold, I have given you the charge of my wave offerings, even all the holy things of the children of Yisra’el; to you have I given them by reason of the anointing, and to your sons, as a portion forever.

Num 18:9  This shall be yours of the most holy things, [reserved] from the fire: every offering of theirs, even every meal offering of theirs, and every sin offering of theirs, and every trespass offering of theirs, which they shall render to me, shall be most holy for you and for your sons.

Num 18:10  As the most holy things shall you eat of it; every male shall eat of it: it shall be holy to you.

Num 18:11  This is yours: the wave offering of their gift, even all the wave offerings of the children of Yisra’el; I have given them to you, and to your sons and to your daughters with you, as a portion forever; everyone who is clean in your house shall eat of it.

Num 18:12  All the best of the oil, and all the best of the vintage, and of the grain, the first fruits of them which they give to YHWH, to you have I given them.

Num 18:13  The first-ripe fruits of all that is in their land, which they bring to YHWH, shall be yours; everyone who is clean in your house shall eat of it.

Num 18:14  Everything devoted in Yisra’el shall be yours.

After the entry into Eretz Israel, the Levites would receive their portions of the offerings during the times they served their rotation at the Tabernacle/Temple, two weeks each year, plus the pilgrimage festivals when all Levites served together.  During the rest of the year, the Levites had shops, businesses and farms in the Levite towns from which they earned their living.  They did not subsist solely on the largess of the congregation.

Numbers, continued:

Num 18:15  Everything that opens the womb, of all flesh which they offer to YHWH, both of man and animal shall be yours: nevertheless the firstborn of man shall you surely redeem, and the firstborn of unclean animals shall you redeem.

Num 18:16  Those who are to be redeemed of them from a month old shall you redeem, according to your estimation, for the money of five shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary (the same is twenty gerahs).

The Firstborns are still sactified to Elohim, even though the Levites serve in their place.   The Priesthood of the Firstborns was not invalidated.  The Levites themselves would be demoted, so to speak, once the Ultimate Firstborn assumed the High Priesthood, Yeshua HaMashiach.

Numbers, continued:

Num 18:17  But the firstborn of a cow, or the firstborn of a sheep, or the firstborn of a goat, you shall not redeem; they are holy: you shall sprinkle their blood on the altar, and shall burn their fat for an offering made by fire, for a sweet savor to YHWH.

Num 18:18  The flesh of them shall be your, as the wave offering breast and as the right thigh, it shall be yours.

Num 18:19  All the wave offerings of the holy things, which the children of Yisra’el offer to YHWH, have I given you, and your sons and your daughters with you, as a portion forever: it is a covenant of salt forever before YHWH to you and to your seed with you.

Num 18:20  YHWH said to Aharon, You shall have no inheritance in their land, neither shall you have any portion among them: I am your portion and your inheritance among the children of Yisra’el.

The Levites received several cities in Eretz Israel, but these were in the territories of other tribes. They received no territorial alotment of their own.

Numbers, continued:

Num 18:21  To the children of Levi, behold, I have given all the tithe in Yisra’el for an inheritance, in return for their service which they serve, even the service of the tent of meeting.

Num 18:22  Henceforth the children of Yisra’el shall not come near the tent of meeting, lest they bear sin, and die.

Num 18:23  But the Levites shall do the service of the tent of meeting, and they shall bear their iniquity: it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations; and among the children of Yisra’el they shall have no inheritance.

Num 18:24  For the tithe of the children of Yisra’el, which they offer as a wave offering to YHWH, I have given to the Levites for an inheritance: therefore I have said to them, Among the children of Yisra’el they shall have no inheritance.

As was mentioned above, each Levite received what he offered on the altar during his time of service.  It was never a sufficient amount to support all the Levites all year round.  Those who look to this passage and ignore the later writings of Samuel and David and Paul to claim that Torah teachers should be supported 100% by their congregation are not just wrong, they are arrogant and greedy.  A true Torah teacher would not wish to burden a congregation with having to support an able-bodied adult who should have a shop or business or farm of his own as income.  Paul made this clear many times, both as a teaching and as his personal example.  A congregation should be very wary of someone who claims they are entitled to be supported and will not work for a living.  These people are acting outside of Elohim’s will.

Numbers, continued:

Num 18:25  YHWH spoke to Moshe, saying,

Num 18:26  Moreover you shall speak to the Levites, and tell them, When you take of the children of Yisra’el the tithe which I have given you from them for your inheritance, then you shall offer up a wave offering of it for YHWH, a tithe of the tithe.

Num 18:27  Your wave offering shall be reckoned to you, as though it were the grain of the threshing floor, and as the fullness of the winepress.

Num 18:28  Thus you also shall offer a wave offering to YHWH of all your tithes, which you receive of the children of Yisra’el; and of it you shall give YHWH’s wave offering to Aharon the Kohen.

Num 18:29  Out of all your gifts you shall offer every wave offering of YHWH, of all the best of it, even the holy part of it out of it.

Num 18:30  Therefore you shall tell them, When you heave the best of it from it, then it shall be reckoned to the Levites as the increase of the threshing floor, and as the increase of the winepress.

Num 18:31  You shall eat it in every place, you and your households: for it is your reward in return for your service in the tent of meeting.

Num 18:32  You shall bear no sin by reason of it, when you have heaved from it the best of it: and you shall not profane the holy things of the children of Yisra’el, that you not die.

Everything that a Torah teacher or minister receives from a congregation in the way of tithes and offerings must itself have 10% given over to some other charity or ministry (not to his own ministry).    Again, anyone who refuses to do this should be considered as outside Elohim’s will and unfit to teach or serve.

Next:  Haftarah Korach.