Korach's Rebellion/2

Korach's Rebellion

Exegetical Approaches

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Against Aharon

The whole rebellion revolved around one main issue, the choice of Aharon as priest.

Sources:Philo, JosephusAntiquities of the Jews 4:2Antiquities of the Jews 4:3:1-4Antiquities of the Jews 4:4:2About Josephus, perhaps RashiBemidbar 16Bemidbar 17About R. Shelomo Yitzchaki,¹ perhaps R. Yosef KaraBemidbar 16Bemidbar 17About R. Yosef Kara,² R. Yosef Bekhor ShorBemidbar 16Bemidbar 17:5-23About R. Yosef Bekhor Shor, RalbagBemidbar 16Bemidbar 17:17About R. Levi b. Gershom,

"...וַיִּקַּח קֹרַח" – R"Y Bekhor suggests that the verse means that Korach, Datan and Aviram, and On,  who were all upset at the choice of Aharon (albeit for different reasons),³ together gathered others⁴ to join in their rebellion.⁵ Korach, being a Levite, resented Aharon's higher position. The others, being of the tribe of Reuven, thought that their tribes' "firstborn status" should have merited them to be priests.⁶

Who were the 250 men? This position might suggest that the 250 men comprised any of the following:

• Levites – R. ChananelBemidbar 16About R. Moshe b. Nachman maintains that the 250 people were all from the tribe of Levi.  They, like Korach, were not satisfied with "serving the priests" and aspired to be priests themselves.
• Reubenites – According to Rashi, they were mainly from the tribe of Reuven. Though Rashi suggests that their joining the rebellion was a technical result of their living close to and being swayed by Korach, it is possible that the tribe as a whole felt that they deserved priestly status due to their ancestor's being the firstborn to Yaakov (see R"Y Bekhor Shor above).
• All of Israel – Alternatively, it is possible that this group was comprised of people from all the tribes.  This position might maintain that before the sin of the Calf and the building of the Tabernacle, every individual Israelite had been allowed to sacrifice on private altars, and the people were hoping to return to this status quo.⁷

"רַב לָכֶם בְּנֵי לֵוִי" – According to R. Chananel, Moshe's address is logical; he mentions the Levites in particular since most of the rebels were from that tribe. The other sources might suggest that Moshe singles out the Levites, not because they were the majority but because their complaint was the most troubling given their already exalted status.

Purpose of the incense test – Since the sole contested issue was who was deserving to serve as priest, and bringing incense was a rite reserved for priests, it was an appropriate test.

"וְיֹדַע י״י אֶת אֲשֶׁר לוֹ וְאֶת הַקָּדוֹשׁ וְהִקְרִיב אֵלָיו וְאֵת אֲשֶׁר יִבְחַר בּוֹ יַקְרִיב אֵלָיו " – This position would suggest that there is no significance to the doubling in this verse⁸ and that all three phrase ("אֶת אֲשֶׁר לוֹ", "אֶת הַקָּדוֹשׁ", "אֵת אֲשֶׁר יִבְחַר בּוֹ") speak of the selection of Aharon.⁹

Datan and Aviram's complaint –

According to this approach, Datan and Aviram are not really bothered by Moshe's leadership as a whole, only by (what they perceived as) his nepotism in choosing his brother.¹⁰

"לֹא נַעֲלֶה" - what are they refusing to do?

• These sources might suggest that Moshe had wanted to speak to Datan and Aviram alone, hoping to convince individual members of the coalition to change their mind, but they refused to come before him.
• According to R"Y Bekhor Shor, in contrast, Moshe had called Datan and Aviram not to influence them, but to invite them to join the larger assembly in the incense test (as they, too, were challenging Aharon's priesthood).¹¹  The brothers refused, claiming that they did not need a test to prove who was in the right.

"אַל תֵּפֶן אֶל מִנְחָתָם" – Rashi and R"Y Bekhor Shor maintains that the minchah of the verse refers to the incense test.  Since Datan and Aviram shared the grievances of the rest of the nation, it was originally assumed that they too would participate, leading to Moshe's prayer that their incense not be accepted.¹² Only because they refused did Moshe feel a need to devise a different test to probe them wrong, leading to the miracle of the earthquake.

" בְּזֹאת תֵּדְעוּן כִּי י״י שְׁלָחַנִי לַעֲשׂוֹת אֵת כׇּל הַמַּעֲשִׂים הָאֵלֶּה " – Rashi and R"Y Bekhor Shor assert that "כׇּל הַמַּעֲשִׂים הָאֵלֶּה" refers to the appointment of Aharon.¹³ The earth's swallowing of Datan and Aviram was meant to prove that, in contrast to their claims of nepotism, the selection of Aharon as priest came from Hashem, not Moshe.

Different punishments – If Datan and Aviram's complaints were no different than that of the other rebels, one might have expected them to share the same fate, rather than receiving a different punishment.  However, as mentioned above, it is likely that it was simply their refusal to partake in the incense test that necessitated the alternative punishment.¹⁴

"אַתֶּם הֲמִתֶּם אֶת עַם י"י" – R"Y Bekhor Shor asserts that the people blamed Moshe for using a test which involved incense, something which had already proven in the past (by Nadav and Avihu) to be fatal.  Moreover, as Nadav and Avihu, who were by all accounts chosen for the priesthood, nonetheless died when they brought incense, the test could not serve as proof of unworthiness.¹⁵ As such, a new test was necessary.

The plague – Aharon's saving of the nation via the incense was meant to teach the nation that, contrary to their beliefs, in the right hands, the incense brings life, not death. 

The test of the staffs – The blossoming of Aharon's staff finally proved to the nation, that he, and not members of other tribes, was selected for the priesthood.

When does the story take place? R"Y Bekhor Shor suggests that the story is chronological and follows the decree of death in the wilderness after the sin of the spies. It is possible that the depair felt by the nation fomented unrest and rebellion.

Against Aharon and Moshe

The rebellion had two focal points.  Korach and his 250 followers objected to Aharon's priesthood, while Datan and Aviram challenged Moshe's leadership.

Sources:RambanBemidbar 16Bemidbar 17:6, 20, 25About R. Moshe b. Nachman #2,¹⁶ R. S.R. HirschBemidbar 16Bemidbar 17:6:18Bemidbar 17:6-28About R. Samson Raphael Hirsch, ?NetzivBemidbar 16Bemidbar 17About R. Naftali Tzvi Yehuda Berlin, ?Hoil Moshe

Against the Tribe of Levi, Aharon and Moshe

The rebellion was multi-faceted, with groups complaining about both spiritual and political status.  Some protested the priestly class, others challenged the choice of the Levites, while yet others had issue with Moshe.

Sources:Ibn EzraBemidbar 16Bemidbar 17:6, 17-18About R. Avraham ibn Ezra, ChizkuniBemidbar 16Bemidbar 17About R. Chizkiyah b. Manoach, RambanBemidbar 16Bemidbar 17:6, 20, 25About R. Moshe b. Nachman #1, AbarbanelBemidbar 16Bemidbar 17About R. Yitzchak Abarbanel

¹ Rashi appears to read the entire narrative in light of a complaint about the priesthood alone. In his comments to verse 5, though, he writes "יודע י״י את אשר לו – לעבודת לוייה", implying that the incense test was meant to address a complaint against the Levites as well. Rashi does not elaborate and no where else in his commentary does he refer to such a complaint, suggesting that he thinks that even if some were bothered by the choice of Levites, by far the major focus of the rebellion was the choice of Aharon.

² As we do not have all of R"Y Kara's commentary on the rebellion, it is difficult to know for certain how he reads the story.  However, in his comments to 16:35, he appears to assume that the compaints of the 250 people and those of Datan and Aviram were identical (leading him to question why they then deserved different punishments).  As he later writes that Korach objected to aharon's priesthood, it is possible that he thinks that the entire rebellion revolved around this one issue.

³ Ralbag suggests that Moshe's words "וּבִקַּשְׁתֶּם גַּם כְּהֻנָּה" prove that this was the main point of contention.  That Moshe does not view Korach as attacking Aharon and not himself might further be proved from Moshe's statement "וְאַהֲרֹן מַה הוּא כִּי [תַלִּינוּ] (תלונו) עָלָיו".

⁴ According to R"Y Bekhor Shor the verse is a "מקרא קצר", whose meaning is made clear by the following verse. He points to Bemidbar 13:30 (ויהס כלב את העם) as a similar case, where the text is brief, relying on a later verse (Devarim 1:9) to provide the missing content.

⁵ Alternatively, this approach could have suggested that Korach took the others mentioned in the verse to join in his rebellion, recognizing that they, too, shared his grievances against Aharon. [If so, the vav of "וְדָתָן וַאֲבִירָם" is extraneous and the verse is missing the word "את".]

⁶ Cf. Josephus. It is not clear if R"Y Bekhor Shor is assuming that originally firstborns performed the tasks later given to the priests, and that the firstborn Reubenites therefore wanted this position back, or if he is simply saying that the tribe of Reuven viewed themselves as meritorious, being the firstborn to Yaakov.  Since R"Y Bekhor Shor does not mention other firstborns joining in the rebellion, he might be suggesting only the latter.
Rashi, instead, claims that members of the tribe of Reuven joined in Korach's rebellion only because, being camped near Korach, they were the first to be swayed by his arguments.

⁷ See Ramban Bemidbar 16:21Bemidbar 16About R. Moshe b. Nachman (in the later [[Commentators:../Commentators:Ramban's_Updates/Bemidbar|update to his commentary]]) and Hoil Moshe below who say this explicitly. See also Hoil Moshe's position in  Altars of Earth, Stone, and Wood.

⁸ It is simply a rhetorcal device, meant for emphasis. Alternatively, in Moshe's anger at the rebels, he repeats himself unconsciously.

⁹ See above note that Rashi, nonetheless, does differentiate between the clauses, suggesting that the test will prove who is to serve as both Levites (וְיֹדַע י״י אֶת אֲשֶׁר לוֹ) and priests (אֶת הַקָּדוֹשׁ).  As no where else in his comments does Rashi suggest that the people were complaining about the selectuon of the Levites, it is not clear why he includes them in this verse.

¹⁰ In other words, their main complaint is not about the stay in the wilderness ( הַמְעַט כִּי הֶעֱלִיתָנוּ מֵאֶרֶץ זָבַת חָלָב וּדְבַשׁ לַהֲמִיתֵנוּ בַּמִּדְבָּר), but about Moshe's abusing his power in choosing his brother (כִּי תִשְׂתָּרֵר עָלֵינוּ גַּם הִשְׂתָּרֵר).

¹¹ They might have left the earlier discussion when Moshe focused his attention on the Levites specifically.

¹² This reading is somewhat difficult for R"Y Bekhor Shor who asserts that already before Moshe's prayer the brothers expressed their refusal to participate in the incense test.  Perhaps he is assuming that Moshe believed that Datan and Aviram planned on bringing their own incense, not as part of the general test, but at some point in the future, as proof of their worthiness and ability to do so. Alternatively, Moshe thought that there was still a chance that Datan and Aviram would nonetheless join the others.

¹³ The phrasing "all these deeds" is slightly difficult for this position, as it claims that Moshe was proving only one thing, not "all these deeds".

¹⁴ R"Y Kara adds that their punishment was harsher specifically because they were the sole ones to refuse to abide by the judge's (Moshe) ruling: that the issue be resolved though the incense test.

¹⁵ The fact that Aharon alone was saved might prove that he was more worthy than others (and, thus, deserving of the high priesthood), but it still did not prove that others were not worth of being regular priests

¹⁶ This is how Ramban interprets the chapter "על דרך הפשט".  See ramban's comments at the end of Bemidbar 16:21. [Most of his commentary on the chapter, though, is "על דרך רבותנו", who assume that the firstborns were originally involved in sacrificial service.  See Ramban in the third position, below, who develops how according to this, the firstborns played a large role in the rebellion, protesting the selection of the Levites in their stead.  According to "the simple sense of the verses," though, this is not the impetus for rebellion.]