Korah in Easton's Bible Dictionary
ice, hail. (1.) The third son of Esau, by Aholibamah (Gen.
36:14; 1 Chr. 1:35).
(2.) A Levite, the son of Izhar, the brother of
Amram, the
father of Moses and Aaron (Ex. 6:21). The
institution of the
Aaronic priesthood and the Levitical service at
Sinai was a
great religious revolution. The old priesthood of
the heads of
families passed away. This gave rise to murmurings
and
discontent, while the Israelites were encamped at
Kadesh for the
first time, which came to a head in a rebellion
against Moses
and Aaron, headed by Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. Two
hundred and
fifty princes, "men of renown" i.e., well-known men
from among
the other tribes, joined this conspiracy. The whole
company
demanded of Moses and Aaron that the old state of
things should
be restored, alleging that "they took too much upon
them" (Num.
16:1-3). On the morning after the outbreak, Korah
and his
associates presented themselves at the door of the
tabernacle,
and "took every man his censer, and put fire in
them, and laid
incense thereon." But immediately "fire from the
Lord" burst
forth and destroyed them all (Num. 16:35). Dathan
and Abiram
"came out and stood in the door of their tents, and
their wives,
and their sons, and their little children," and it
came to pass
"that the ground clave asunder that was under them;
and the
earth opened her mouth and swallowed them up." A
plague
thereafter began among the people who sympathized in
the
rebellion, and was only stayed by Aaron's appearing
between the
living and the dead, and making "an atonement for
the people"
(16:47).
The descendants of the sons of Korah who did not
participate
in the rebellion afterwards rose to eminence in the
Levitical
service.
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