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1 Now Korah, the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, and Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On, the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took men: 2 And they rose up before Moses, with certain of the children of Israel, two hundred and fifty princes of the assembly, famous in the congregation, men of renown: 3 And they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron, and said unto them, Ye take too much upon you, seeing all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the LORD is among them: wherefore then lift ye up yourselves above the congregation of the LORD? 4 And when Moses heard it, he fell upon his face: 5 And he spake unto Korah and unto all his company, saying, Even to morrow the LORD will shew who are his, and who is holy; and will cause him to come near unto him: even him whom he hath chosen will he cause to come near unto him. 6 This do; Take you censers, Korah, and all his company; 7 And put fire therein, and put incense in them before the LORD to morrow: and it shall be that the man whom the LORD doth choose, he shall be holy: ye take too much upon you, ye sons of Levi. 8 And Moses said unto Korah, Hear, I pray you, ye sons of Levi: 9 Seemeth it but a small thing unto you, that the God of Israel hath separated you from the congregation of Israel, to bring you near to himself to do the service of the tabernacle of the LORD, and to stand before the congregation to minister unto them? 10 And he hath brought thee near to him, and all thy brethren the sons of Levi with thee: and seek ye the priesthood also? 11 For which cause both thou and all thy company are gathered together against the LORD: and what is Aaron, that ye murmur against him? 12 And Moses sent to call Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab: which said, We will not come up: 13 Is it a small thing that thou hast brought us up out of a land that floweth with milk and honey, to kill us in the wilderness, except thou make thyself altogether a prince over us? 14 Moreover thou hast not brought us into a land that floweth with milk and honey, or given us inheritance of fields and vineyards: wilt thou put out the eyes of these men? we will not come up. 15 And Moses was very wroth, and said unto the LORD, Respect not thou their offering: I have not taken one ass from them, neither have I hurt one of them. 16 And Moses said unto Korah, Be thou and all thy company before the LORD, thou, and they, and Aaron, to morrow: 17 And take every man his censer, and put incense in them, and bring ye before the LORD every man his censer, two hundred and fifty censers; thou also, and Aaron, each of you his censer. 18 And they took every man his censer, and put fire in them, and laid incense thereon, and stood in the door of the tabernacle of the congregation with Moses and Aaron. 19 And Korah gathered all the congregation against them unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation: and the glory of the LORD appeared unto all the congregation. 20 And the LORD spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying, 21 Separate yourselves from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment. 22 And they fell upon their faces, and said, O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and wilt thou be wroth with all the congregation? 23 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 24 Speak unto the congregation, saying, Get you up from about the tabernacle of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. 25 And Moses rose up and went unto Dathan and Abiram; and the elders of Israel followed him. 26 And he spake unto the congregation, saying, Depart, I pray you, from the tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing of theirs, lest ye be consumed in all their sins. 27 So they gat up from the tabernacle of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, on every side: and Dathan and Abiram came out, and stood in the door of their tents, and their wives, and their sons, and their little children. 28 And Moses said, Hereby ye shall know that the LORD hath sent me to do all these works; for I have not done them of mine own mind. 29 If these men die the common death of all men, or if they be visited after the visitation of all men; then the LORD hath not sent me. 30 But if the LORD make a new thing, and the earth open her mouth, and swallow them up, with all that appertain unto them, and they go down quick into the pit; then ye shall understand that these men have provoked the LORD. 31 And it came to pass, as he had made an end of speaking all these words, that the ground clave asunder that was under them: 32 And the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up, and their houses, and all the men that appertained unto Korah, and all their goods. 33 They, and all that appertained to them, went down alive into the pit, and the earth closed upon them: and they perished from among the congregation. 34 And all Israel that were round about them fled at the cry of them: for they said, Lest the earth swallow us up also. 35 And there came out a fire from the LORD, and consumed the two hundred and fifty men that offered incense. 36 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 37 Speak unto Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest, that he take up the censers out of the burning, and scatter thou the fire yonder; for they are hallowed. 38 The censers of these sinners against their own souls, let them make them broad plates for a covering of the altar: for they offered them before the LORD, therefore they are hallowed: and they shall be a sign unto the children of Israel. 39 And Eleazar the priest took the brasen censers, wherewith they that were burnt had offered; and they were made broad plates for a covering of the altar: 40 To be a memorial unto the children of Israel, that no stranger, which is not of the seed of Aaron, come near to offer incense before the LORD; that he be not as Korah, and as his company: as the LORD said to him by the hand of Moses. 41 But on the morrow all the congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron, saying, Ye have killed the people of the LORD. 42 And it came to pass, when the congregation was gathered against Moses and against Aaron, that they looked toward the tabernacle of the congregation: and, behold, the cloud covered it, and the glory of the LORD appeared. 43 And Moses and Aaron came before the tabernacle of the congregation. 44 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 45 Get you up from among this congregation, that I may consume them as in a moment. And they fell upon their faces. 46 And Moses said unto Aaron, Take a censer, and put fire therein from off the altar, and put on incense, and go quickly unto the congregation, and make an atonement for them: for there is wrath gone out from the LORD; the plague is begun. 47 And Aaron took as Moses commanded, and ran into the midst of the congregation; and, behold, the plague was begun among the people: and he put on incense, and made an atonement for the people. 48 And he stood between the dead and the living; and the plague was stayed. 49 Now they that died in the plague were fourteen thousand and seven hundred, beside them that died about the matter of Korah. 50 And Aaron returned unto Moses unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation: and the plague was stayed.
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[AD 585] Cassiodorus on Numbers 16:2
Their bellies’ fullness was followed by rebellion, which often rouses occasions of destructive danger. We say that a person is provoked when roused to anger by wicked deeds or very harsh words of others. The verse points to the incident when Dathan and Abiram roused strife and sought distinction for themselves. So their punishment ensued; for they provoked the holy men, which led to their own destruction, for they spoke through jealousy, and this is acknowledged to have displeased the Lord. This is aptly mentioned among the Lord’s praises because he is seen to have avenged his servants.As Numbers attests, it is clear that this befell the men who with the poisonous teeth of envy sought the heavenly favor bestowed on Aaron and Moses. Thus Dathan and Abiram wantonly seized for themselves the distinction which had been bestowed by the Lord’s kindness on Aaron and Moses. A similar end came on both of them because their motive in causing division was the same. They were swallowed up by the earth because they were steeped in earthly things, so that the nature of their punishment itself witnesses to their criminal deeds.

Source: EXPOSITION OF THE PSALMS 105:16-17
[AD 1781] Richard Challoner on Numbers 16:2
Rose up: The crime of these men, which was punished in so remarkable a manner, was that of schism, and of rebellion against the authority established by God in the church; and their pretending to the priesthood without being lawfully called and sent: the same is the case of all modern sectaries.
[AD 258] Cyprian on Numbers 16:3
Thus Korah, Dathan and Abiram, who tried to assume for themselves in opposition to Moses and Aaron the freedom to sacrifice, immediately paid the penalty for their efforts. The earth, breaking its bonds, opened up into a deep chasm, and the opening of the receding ground swallowed up the standing and the living. And not only did the anger of the indignant God strike those who had been the authors [of the revolt], but also fire that went out from the Lord in speedy revenge consumed 250 others, participants and sharers in the same madness, who had been joined together with them in the daring plan. Clearly [this] warned and showed that whatever the wicked attempt by human will to destroy God’s plan is done against God.

Source: Treatise I. On the Unity of the Church 18
[AD 258] Cyprian on Numbers 16:3
But that they are said to have the same God the Father as we, to know the same Christ the Son, the same Holy Spirit, can be of no avail to such as these. For even Korah, Dathan, and Abiram knew the same God as did the priest Aaron and Moses. Living under the same law and religion, they invoke the one and true God, who was to be invoked and worshipped; yet, because they transgressed the ministry of their office in opposition to Aaron the priest, who bad received the legitimate priesthood by the condescension of God and the ordination of the Lord, and claimed to themselves the power of sacrificing, divinely stricken, they immediately suffered punishment for their unlawful endeavours; and sacrifices offered irreligiously and lawlessly, contrary to the right of divine appointment, could not be accepted, nor profit them.

Source: Epistle LXXV.8
[AD 397] Ambrose of Milan on Numbers 16:3
Let the dissidents learn to fear the agitation of the Lord and to obey the priests. What does this mean? Did the cleft in the earth not swallow Dathan and Abiram and Korah because of their dissention? For when Korah and Dathan and Abiram incited 250 men to rebel against Moses and Aaron and separate themselves from them, they rose up and said, “Let it be sufficient for you that the whole assembly is holy, every one of them, and that the Lord is in them.” Whence the Lord was angered and spoke to the entire assembly. He examined them. Since “the Lord knows who are his,” he led the holy ones to himself. Those whom he did not choose he did not lead to himself. And the Lord commanded that Korah and all those who had risen up with him against Moses and Aaron, the priests of the Lord, select for themselves altars and put incense upon them, in order that the one elected by the Lord might himself be confirmed as holy among the Levites of the Lord.
And Moses said to Korah, “Listen to me, sons of Levi: is this insignificant to you that God has separated you from the assembly of Israel?” And further down: “Do you thus seek to exercise the priesthood, you and your entire assembly who have congregated against the Lord? What is Aaron that you murmur against him?”
You are considering then what the causes of their offense were. They were willing to exercise the priesthood unworthily, and for that reason they dissented. Moreover, they murmured and disapproved of the judgment of God in their election of their priests. Therefore a great dread seized all the people. The terror of punishment enveloped them all. Nevertheless, because all the people prayed that not all of them perish because of the insolence of a few, those guilty of the crime were singled out, and 250 men with their leaders were set apart from the body of the people. The earth bellows and is rent apart in the midst of the people. A gulf is opened into the depths. The guilty are snatched up and removed from every element of this world, so that they will not contaminate the air by their breath, or the sky by their sight, or the sea by their touch or the earth by their tombs.

Source: LETTER 14 EXTRA COLL. (63).52-55
[AD 253] Origen of Alexandria on Numbers 16:5
We say therefore with confidence that according to the Scriptures God does not know [in the sense of acknowledge] all people. God does not know sin, and God does not know sinners. He is ignorant, so to speak, of those alienated from himself. Hear the Scripture saying “The Lord knows those who are his” and “Let everyone depart from iniquity who calls on the name of the Lord.” The Lord knows his own, but he does not know the wicked and the impious.…We say these things, however, not thinking anything blasphemous about God or ascribing ignorance to him, but thus we understand that these whose activity is considered unworthy of God are also considered to be unworthy of God’s knowing them. For God does not deign to know one who has turned away from him and does not know that one.

Source: HOMILIES ON GENESIS 4:6
[AD 1781] Richard Challoner on Numbers 16:15
Very angry: This anger was a zeal against sin; and an indignation at the affront offered to God; like that which the same holy prophet conceived upon the sight of the golden calf, Ex. 32. 19.
[AD 258] Cyprian on Numbers 16:26
We find that also made clear in Numbers when Korah and Dathan and Abiram claimed for themselves the liberty of sacrificing in opposition to Aaron the priest. There also the Lord teaches through Moses that the people should be separated from them lest they be bound by the same guilt with the criminals and contaminate themselves by the same crime. “Keep away,” he says, “from the tents of most shameless wicked men, and do not touch anything that is theirs, lest you perish at the same time in their sin.” Because of this, a people who obey the precepts of the Lord and fear God ought to separate themselves from a sinful leader and should not take part in the sacrifices of a sacrilegious bishop, especially since they themselves have the power either of electing worthy bishops or of refusing the unworthy.

Source: Epistle LXVII.3
[AD 379] Basil of Caesarea on Numbers 16:32
In the Old Testament, as, for instance, in the case of Korah and the men who dared to enter the priesthood without being called to it and by the severity of the wrath which came upon them to their utter destruction, we see how grave a thing it is to do that which is unsuitable as regards the person.

Source: CONCERNING BAPTISM, QUESTION 8
[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on Numbers 16:32
Then there were the miracles of the seditious among the people of God. They separated themselves from the divinely ordered community. They were swallowed alive by the earth, as a visible token of an invisible punishment.

Source: City of God 10.8
[AD 99] Clement of Rome on Numbers 16:33
Every kind of honour and happiness was bestowed upon you, and then was fulfilled that which is written, "My beloved ate and drank, and was enlarged and became fat, and kicked." [Deuteronomy 32:15] Hence flowed emulation and envy, strife and sedition, persecution and disorder, war and captivity. So the worthless rose up against the honoured, those of no reputation against such as were renowned, the foolish against the wise, the young against those advanced in years. For this reason righteousness and peace are now far departed from you, inasmuch as every one abandons the fear of God, and has become blind in His faith, neither walks in the ordinances of His appointment, nor acts a part becoming a Christian, but walks after his own wicked lusts, resuming the practice of an unrighteous and ungodly envy, by which death itself entered into the world. [Wisdom 2:24]

For thus it is written: "And it came to pass after certain days, that Cain brought of the fruits of the earth a sacrifice unto God; and Abel also brought of the firstlings of his sheep, and of the fat thereof. And God had respect to Abel and to his offerings, but Cain and his sacrifices He did not regard. And Cain was deeply grieved, and his countenance fell. And God said to Cain, Why are you grieved, and why is your countenance fallen? If you offer rightly, but do not divide rightly, have you not sinned? Be at peace: your offering returns to yourself, and you shall again possess it. And Cain said to Abel his brother, Let us go into the field. And it came to pass, while they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him." [Genesis 4:3-8] You see, brethren, how envy and jealousy led to the murder of a brother. Through envy, also, our father Jacob fled from the face of Esau his brother [Genesis 27:41-45]. Envy made Joseph be persecuted unto death, and to come into bondage. [Genesis 37:18-28] Envy compelled Moses to flee from the face of Pharaoh king of Egypt, when he heard these words from his fellow-countryman, "Who made you a judge or a ruler over us? Will you kill me, as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?" [Exodus 2:14] On account of envy, Aaron and Miriam had to make their abode without the camp. [Numbers 12:14-15] Envy brought down Dathan and Abiram alive to Hades, through the sedition which they excited against God's servant Moses. [Numbers 16:33] Through envy, David not only underwent the hatred of foreigners, but was also persecuted by Saul king of Israel. [1 Samuel 21:10-15]

Source: Clement's First Letter to the Corinthians, Chapters 3-4
[AD 604] Gregory the Dialogist on Numbers 16:33
It is evident that those who are alive know and feel what is done to them, but the dead feel nothing. People would be dead in going down to hell if they did evil out of ignorance; but if they have knowledge of evil and yet commit it, they go down alive—wretched and conscious—to the hell of iniquity.

Source: PASTORAL CARE 3.31
[AD 542] Caesarius of Arles on Numbers 16:39
When the divine lesson was read just now, dearly beloved, we heard that our Lord told Moses to forge the censers in which those haughty, rebellious men had offered incense, beat them flat and fasten them to the altar as a sign of the rebellious and proud. “Because the sinners have consecrated the censers at the cost of their lives,” said the Lord, “have them hammered into plates to cover the altar, because in being presented before the Lord they have become sacred.” By this figure it seems to have been shown that those censers which Scripture calls brazen represent the sacred writings. Heretics put strange fire in these writings, that is, they introduce a perverse meaning and a sense that is foreign to God and contrary to the truth, thus offering to the Lord an incense that is not sweet but abominable. If we bring these brazen censers, that is, words of the heretics, to the altar of God where there is divine fire, the true preaching of the faith, the same truth will shine all the better in comparison with what is false.

Source: SERMON 110.1
[AD 500] Salvian the Presbyter on Numbers 16:41
When their crimes were so great, heavenly solicitude was of no avail. As often as they were corrected, so often amendment did not follow. As we are not corrected, even though soundly scourged, so they, though constantly struck down, did not mend their ways. What is written? “The following day all the multitude of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron, saying ‘You have killed the people of the Lord.’ ” What followed? Fourteen thousand and seven hundred men were struck down and consumed by divine fire.Since the multitude all had sinned, why were not all punished, especially since, as I have said, none escaped from Korah’s mutiny? Why did God wish the whole assembly of sinners to be killed on the former occasion but only a portion at the latter time? It is because the Lord is filled with both justice and mercy and in his indulgence he gives way to his love, and in his will to teach a lesson he gives way to his severity.

Source: THE GOVERNANCE OF GOD 1.12.57-58
[AD 397] Ambrose of Milan on Numbers 16:47
Clearly the man [Aaron], who is proposed as a leader to all, is worthy. For when fateful death crept into the midst of the people because of the insolent, he threw himself between the “living and the dead” to restrain death, lest many should perish. Truly the man is priestly in mind and heart who throws himself with pious love before the flock of the Lord like a good shepherd. In this way he broke the sting of death. He held off the attack; he put an end to the dying. Piety assisted merit, since he offered himself for those who resisted.

Source: LETTER 14 EXTRA COLL. (63).51
[AD 542] Caesarius of Arles on Numbers 16:47
Then Moses encouraged the high priest to offer incense in the camp and to pray for the people: “For the people have already begun to be destroyed.” Moses saw in spirit what was happening, and therefore Aaron departed to offer incense for the people. He stood between the living and the dead, and the Lord’s fury was alleviated. If you know the course of history and have been able to perceive with your eyes, so to speak, the priest standing in the middle between the living and the dead, rise now to the loftier heights of these words. See how the true priest, Jesus Christ, took the censer of human flesh, put fire on the altar which doubtless is that splendid soul with which he was born in the flesh, further added incense which is his pure spirit, stood between the living and the dead and did not allow death to proceed any farther.

Source: SERMON 110.2