Chapter 26 of Numbers consisted of a very important census which determined the sizes of the inheritances each tribe of Israel would receive. Because Blogger limits the number of labels per post, I have had to divide the study of chapter 26 into eight short posts, as all the names mentioned are of importance. The previous posts are linked here:
Census of Israel in the Plains of Moab, Part 1
Census of Israel in the Plains of Moab, Part 2
Census of Israel in the Plains of Moab, Part 3
Census of Israel in the Plains of Moab, Part 4
Census of Israel in the Plains of Moab, Part 5
Census of Israel in the Plains of Moab, Part 6
Continuing with part 7:
(Numbers 26:57) And these are those who were numbered of the Levites after their families: of Gershon, the family of the Gershonites; of
Kohath, the family of the Kohathites; of Merari, the family of the
Merarites.
The tribe of Levi was not numbered with the other tribes as it did not consist of men of war, but was rather devoted to God for His service. The sons of Levi were Gershon, Kohath, and Merari, and their families were numbered in a census.
(58) These are the families of the Levites: the
family of the Libnites, the family of the Hebronites, the family of the
Mahlites, the family of the Mushites, the family of the Korathites. And
Kohath begat Amram.
From the three sons of Levi came the families of the Libnites from Gershon's son Libni; the Hebronites from Hebron the son of Kohath; the Mahlites and the Mushites from the sons of Merari--Mahli and Mushi; and the Korathites from Korah, the son of Izhar, who was the son of Kohath. In Numbers 3:18-21 we were told of more sons of Gershon and Kohath, but they are not mentioned here as having families. Gershon's son Shimei does not appear to have a family, perhaps because he either had no sons, or if he did, they died without sons, and therefore there was no family to be counted at this time. Kohath's son Uzziel was not mentioned here although we had been told previously in Numbers 6:22 that he had sons Mishael, Elzaphan, and Zithri, but they apparently had no families tracing their descent to him. Kohath's son Amram is mentioned.
(59) The name of Amram’s wife was Jochebed the daughter of Levi, who was born to Levi in Egypt; and to Amram she bore Aaron and Moses and Miriam their sister.
Kohath's son Amram married Jochebed the daughter of Levi, and they were the parents of Moses, Aaron, and Miriam.
Because Blogger limits the number of labels each post may have, I have to continue the numbering of the descendants of Levi in yet another short post:
Census of Israel in the Plains of Moab, Part 8
Showing posts with label Korah. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Korah. Show all posts
Sunday, July 28, 2019
Census of Israel in the Plains of Moab, Part 1
Continuing with a chronological Bible study designed by Skip Andrews:
(Numbers 26:1) And it came to pass, after the plague, that the LORD spoke to Moses and Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest, saying, (2) “Take the sum of all the congregation of the children of Israel, from twenty years old and upward, throughout their fathers' houses, all who are able to go to war in Israel.”
In the last chapter and post, Israel had suffered a plague because of their adultery and idolatry, and 24,000 of them died. At this time, after that plague, the Lord told Moses and Eleazar, Aaron's son, the priest, to take a census of the Israelites throughout all their families to count those who were twenty years and older and able to go to war. I imagine there were some who were much older than twenty who were not able-bodied enough to go to war.
(3) And Moses and Eleazar the priest spoke with them in the plains of Moab by the Jordan, across from Jericho, saying, (4) “Take the sum of the people, from twenty years old and upward, as the LORD commanded Moses and the children of Israel who came out of the land of Egypt.”
Moses and Eleazar the priest spoke with the Israelites, perhaps the heads of their families, telling them to take a census of the men, twenty years and older, just as the Lord had commanded they do when they came out of Egypt, back in Numbers 1:2-3. The congregation of Israel was still in the plains of Moab by the Jordan River across from Jericho.
(5) Reuben, the eldest son of Israel: the children of Reuben--Hanoch, of whom came the family of the Hanochites; of Pallu, the family of the Palluites; (6) Of Hezron, the family of the Hezronites; of Carmi, the family of the Carmites.
The census began with the oldest son of Jacob or Israel, that is Reuben, and his four sons, Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi, and their four resulting families.
(7) These are the families of the Reubenites, and they who were numbered of them were forty-three thousand seven hundred and thirty.
All of the Reubenites, twenty years and older, able-bodied for war, totaled 43,730. Albert Barnes, in his Notes on the Bible, made a chart of the number of each tribe at the earlier census at Mount Sinai and compared it to the present census. The Reubenites had decreased by 2770 men in 38 years. Although their numbers had surely increased over 38 years' time, they had been decreased by plagues.
(8) And the son of Pallu was Eliab. (9) And the sons of Eliab--Nemuel, and Dathan, and Abiram. These are the Dathan and Abiram who were famous in the congregation, who strove against Moses and against Aaron in the company of Korah, when they strove against the LORD. (10) And the earth opened its mouth, and swallowed them up together with Korah, when that company died, when the fire devoured two hundred and fifty men; and they became a sign.
The son of Reuben's son Pallu was Eliab. Eliab's sons were Nemuel, Dathan, and Abiram. Dathan and Abiram were the ones who teamed up with Korah to come against Moses and Aaron in chapter 16 of Numbers. At that time the earth opened up and swallowed Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, and the company of 250 men who had offered improper incense, and they had become a sign to Israel that no man outside the line of Aaron, the priests, was to offer incense before the Lord. Additionally, 14,700 people had died in a plague immediately following this incident because they complained about Moses and Aaron killing the people of the Lord. This incident was repeated here to explain why there were no descendants of Dathan and Abiram to be counted. There don't appear to be any descendants of Nemuel to be counted, unless they were counted as Palluites.
(11) Nevertheless the children of Korah did not die.
The children of Korah did not die in the events reported in chapter 16 of Numbers. Although we were told that "all that appertained" to Korah was destroyed, this appears to have been only those in his company that came against Moses and Aaron and offered the improper incense. We were told specifically in Numbers 16:27 that the wives and children of Dathan and Abiram joined them, but apparently the family of Korah did not.
Because Blogger limits the number of labels per post, and because all these names are of importance, I have separated chapter 26 into multiple posts. To continue the study on chapter 26:
Census of Israel in the Plains of Moab, Part 2
(Numbers 26:1) And it came to pass, after the plague, that the LORD spoke to Moses and Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest, saying, (2) “Take the sum of all the congregation of the children of Israel, from twenty years old and upward, throughout their fathers' houses, all who are able to go to war in Israel.”
In the last chapter and post, Israel had suffered a plague because of their adultery and idolatry, and 24,000 of them died. At this time, after that plague, the Lord told Moses and Eleazar, Aaron's son, the priest, to take a census of the Israelites throughout all their families to count those who were twenty years and older and able to go to war. I imagine there were some who were much older than twenty who were not able-bodied enough to go to war.
(3) And Moses and Eleazar the priest spoke with them in the plains of Moab by the Jordan, across from Jericho, saying, (4) “Take the sum of the people, from twenty years old and upward, as the LORD commanded Moses and the children of Israel who came out of the land of Egypt.”
Moses and Eleazar the priest spoke with the Israelites, perhaps the heads of their families, telling them to take a census of the men, twenty years and older, just as the Lord had commanded they do when they came out of Egypt, back in Numbers 1:2-3. The congregation of Israel was still in the plains of Moab by the Jordan River across from Jericho.
(5) Reuben, the eldest son of Israel: the children of Reuben--Hanoch, of whom came the family of the Hanochites; of Pallu, the family of the Palluites; (6) Of Hezron, the family of the Hezronites; of Carmi, the family of the Carmites.
The census began with the oldest son of Jacob or Israel, that is Reuben, and his four sons, Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi, and their four resulting families.
(7) These are the families of the Reubenites, and they who were numbered of them were forty-three thousand seven hundred and thirty.
All of the Reubenites, twenty years and older, able-bodied for war, totaled 43,730. Albert Barnes, in his Notes on the Bible, made a chart of the number of each tribe at the earlier census at Mount Sinai and compared it to the present census. The Reubenites had decreased by 2770 men in 38 years. Although their numbers had surely increased over 38 years' time, they had been decreased by plagues.
(8) And the son of Pallu was Eliab. (9) And the sons of Eliab--Nemuel, and Dathan, and Abiram. These are the Dathan and Abiram who were famous in the congregation, who strove against Moses and against Aaron in the company of Korah, when they strove against the LORD. (10) And the earth opened its mouth, and swallowed them up together with Korah, when that company died, when the fire devoured two hundred and fifty men; and they became a sign.
The son of Reuben's son Pallu was Eliab. Eliab's sons were Nemuel, Dathan, and Abiram. Dathan and Abiram were the ones who teamed up with Korah to come against Moses and Aaron in chapter 16 of Numbers. At that time the earth opened up and swallowed Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, and the company of 250 men who had offered improper incense, and they had become a sign to Israel that no man outside the line of Aaron, the priests, was to offer incense before the Lord. Additionally, 14,700 people had died in a plague immediately following this incident because they complained about Moses and Aaron killing the people of the Lord. This incident was repeated here to explain why there were no descendants of Dathan and Abiram to be counted. There don't appear to be any descendants of Nemuel to be counted, unless they were counted as Palluites.
(11) Nevertheless the children of Korah did not die.
The children of Korah did not die in the events reported in chapter 16 of Numbers. Although we were told that "all that appertained" to Korah was destroyed, this appears to have been only those in his company that came against Moses and Aaron and offered the improper incense. We were told specifically in Numbers 16:27 that the wives and children of Dathan and Abiram joined them, but apparently the family of Korah did not.
Because Blogger limits the number of labels per post, and because all these names are of importance, I have separated chapter 26 into multiple posts. To continue the study on chapter 26:
Census of Israel in the Plains of Moab, Part 2
Saturday, January 5, 2019
The Rebellion of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram
Continuing a chronological Bible study:
(Numbers 16:1) 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.
In the last chapter of Numbers, God had reiterated His laws of sacrifice and offerings, demonstrating He had been reconciled to His people since the time He sentenced them to die in the wilderness. He also told the people what was to be done to a person who willfully sinned against God. Here in Numbers 16, we have the record of a historical incident.
In the sixth chapter of Exodus we learned that Korah was the son of Izhar, who was the son of Kohath, the son of Levi. Izhar's brother was Amram, the father of Aaron and Moses; therefore Korah was a first cousin to Moses and Aaron. Dathan and Abiram were the sons of Eliab. In the first chapter of Numbers we learned that Eliab was the son of Helon, of the tribe of Zebulun. On was the son of Peleth, and they were descendants of Reuben. On this occasion, Korah, Dathan, Abiram, and On, gathered men with them.
(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.
Korah, Dathan, Abiram, and On gathered 250 prominent leaders of the congregation, and they rose up against Moses. It is really incredible that so soon after God had demonstrated what was to be done with those who presumptuously sinned with a "high hand", that these men would do this, but here we are.
(3) And they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron, and said to them, “You take too much upon yourselves, for all the congregation is holy, every one of them, and the LORD is among them; therefore, why do you lift up yourselves above the congregation of the LORD?"
Korah, Dathan, Abiram, and On, together with the 250 leaders of the congregation they had gathered, came against Moses and Aaron. They declared to them that they took too much upon themselves, elevated themselves too much above the rest of the congregation. I imagine they saw Moses elevating himself to be ruler over all of them and taking it upon himself to designate Aaron as high priest. Referring to what the Lord had told them in Exodus 19:6, they declared that they were all holy, because they were to the Lord "a kingdom of priests and a holy nation". Why was it then that Moses and Aaron elevated themselves above the rest of the congregation?
(4) And when Moses heard it, he fell on his face.
When Moses heard what the men said, he fell on his face, surely in prayer to the Lord. He certainly understood they sinned in opposing the instructions of God, and feared and revered the Lord's sovereignty in this matter. Moses, being a very humble man, may have also prayed that his heart be searched and that he not be found to be puffed up and elevating himself.
(5) And he spoke to Korah and all his company, saying, “Tomorrow morning the LORD will show who is His and who is holy, and will cause him to come near to Him; that one whom He chooses He will cause to come near to Him."
Surely received in answer to his prayer, Moses told Korah he would let the Lord publicly show the next morning whom He considered His and whom were holy. He would bring His holy ones to Himself, demonstrating to all the ones He personally chose.
(6) “Do this: take censers, Korah and all your company."
Moses instructed Korah and all the men with him to take censers that were to put incense in to offer.
(7) "And put fire in them and put incense in them before the LORD tomorrow, and it shall be that the man whom the LORD chooses shall be holy; you take too much on yourselves, you sons of Levi.”
Moses instructed them to put fire and incense in their censers before the Lord the next day. He pronounced that it would be that the man the Lord chose would be the holy one. Moses then threw their own words back at them, declaring they had elevated themselves too much. By adding "you sons of Levi" indicates most of the men must have been from the tribe of Levi, although we were told specifically in verse 1 above that On was a descendant of Reuben. I assumed that Dathan and Abiram were the sons of the same Eliab who was in the first chapter of Numbers said to be the son of Helon, of the tribe of Zebulun. I suppose it's possible it was another Eliab, since verse 1 didn't specifically say this Eliab was from the tribe of Zebulun. Regardless, it does seem reasonable to assume the majority of the men were Levites, or at least in agreement it should be other Levites who should be considered holy and able to do what they perceived Aaron was chosen by Moses to do.
(8) And Moses said to Korah, “Hear, I pray you, you sons of Levi."
Moses spoke directly to Korah, who seems to be the ringleader of this group, and besought him to hear his words.
(9) "Is it a small thing to you that the God of Israel has 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 to them?"
Moses pointed out to Korah the privilege he had as a Levite, that he had been chosen by the God of Israel to do the service of His own tabernacle and to minister to His people. He asked Korah if that was an insignificant thing; did Korah find that honor beneath his dignity?
(10) "And He has brought you near to Himself, and all your brethren, the sons of Levi, with you? Do you seek the priesthood also?"
Moses continued his question to Korah. Was it an insignificant thing that the God of Israel had brought him near to Him, he and all his brothers, the sons of Levi, to do His service and minister to His people? Was that not enough; did he seek the priesthood also?
(11) "For which cause you and all your company are gathered together against the LORD; and what is Aaron, that you murmur against him?"
Moses continued questioning Korah. Was it because he felt the role that God had given him was too insignificant and that he wanted the priesthood, also, that he and his company had gathered together against the Lord? Furthermore, what was his problem with Aaron? What had Aaron done to warrant their complaints and murmuring against him? After all, it was God who had called him to the priesthood; he had not taken it upon himself to raise himself up to such a high office.
(12) And Moses sent to call Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab, but they said, “We will not come up!"
Moses called Dathan and Abiram to come up before him, but they refused. I don't quite understand why Dathan and Abiram, from the tribe of Zebulun, were in this rebellious company of Levites, unless as discussed before they were a different Dathan and Abiram. As has also been discussed before, when one starts sowing discord, others often join in. It has been suggested by some Biblical scholars that perhaps the Reubenites were angry that the tribe of Judah had the first post of honor in the camp; both the Reubenites and Kohathite Levites were to march on the south side of the tabernacle, and maybe their proximity to each other led to their murmuring with each other. That might explain On's concerns, but he is not mentioned here.
(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, except that you make yourself altogether a prince over us?"
Dathan and Abiram refused to go before Moses, but did convey their contempt for him in a manner that he heard. They threw his words for them back at him; was it a small thing that he had brought them out of a land flowing with milk and honey, a blasphemous contempt for God's promise, using God's words for His promised land to describe Egypt, where they had lived in captivity. Was it a small thing Moses had brought them out of that great Egypt to kill them in the wilderness, only to make himself ruler over them?
(14) “Moreover you have not 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 will not come up!”
Dathan and Abiram continued with their rant against Moses. They accused him of not bringing them into a land flowing with milk and honey, as promised, and he had not given them an inherited land of fields and vineyards. Would Moses put out the eyes of those men with them? I believe the meaning is would he so blind them and persuade them that they did not actually see what was before them. Again they declared they would not go before Moses.
(15) And Moses was very angry, and said to the LORD, “Do not respect their offering; I have not taken one donkey from them, nor have I hurt one of them.”
Moses was very angry and prayed to the Lord that He not accept their offering of incense the next day (v. 7 above). Moses further declared his innocence from their accusations, saying he had never taken so much as a donkey from them, nor had he ever done any injury to any one of them.
(16) And Moses said to Korah, "You and all your company be before the LORD, you, and they, and Aaron, tomorrow."
Moses told Korah to be before the Lord the next day, with all his company of 250 rebels. Aaron would be there, as well.
(17) "And let every man take his censer and put incense in it, and each of you bring his censer before the LORD, two hundred and fifty censers; both you and Aaron, each with his censer.”
Moses continued instructing Korah; when they came before the Lord the next day, each man was to bring his censer, meaning 250 censers before the Lord. Aaron was also to bring his censer.
(18) And every man took his censer, put fire in it, laid incense on it, and stood in the door of the tabernacle of the congregation with Moses and Aaron.
I assume this was the next morning. Every man of the 250 rebels took his censer, put fire and incense in it, and stood at the door of the tabernacle with Moses and Aaron.
(19) And Korah gathered all the congregation against them at the door of the tabernacle of meeting; and the glory of the LORD appeared to all the congregation.
Korah gathered all the congregation against Moses and Aaron at the door of the tabernacle. Perhaps this was a reiteration of the fact that Korah had gathered all his company of 250 rebels, but perhaps it meant that he continued sowing discord and inciting as many of the congregation as he could against Moses and Aaron. Then the glory of the Lord appeared to the congregation.
(20) And the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, (21) “Separate yourselves from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment.”
The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron and told them to separate themselves from the congregation at the door of the tabernacle, so that He might consume them in an instant.
(22) And they fell on their faces, and said, “O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and will You be angry with all the congregation?”
Moses and Aaron fell on their faces in prayer before the Lord. It does indeed seem as if Korah had gathered more of the congregation with him than just the 250 initial rebels. Moses and Aaron pleaded with the Lord that He not be angry with all of the congregation because of what one man started.
(23) And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, (24) “Speak to the congregation, saying, ‘Get up from around the tabernacle of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.’”
In an apparent answer to their prayers, the Lord told Moses to tell the congregation to get away from the tabernacle of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. It seems that these rebels had raised their own tabernacle. Either that, or they had returned to their tents. Perhaps it was the section of the tabernacle where they had congregated. Whatever tabernacle was meant, the main point is that the other congregation was to get away from those three. On was never again mentioned after verse 1. Perhaps he had repented and left the others, or maybe he just never made himself as remarkable as did Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, and just fell in among the group of 250 rebels.
(25) And Moses rose up and went to Dathan and Abiram; and the elders of Israel followed him.
Moses rose up, probably from the ground where he had fallen on his face in prayer before the Lord, and went to Dathan and Abiram, presumably because they still refused to come to him. The elders of Israel followed Moses. These were probably the seventy elders who had been chosen to assist Moses in chapter 11 of Numbers.
(26) And 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.”
Moses spoke to the congregation who were around Dathan and Abiram and pleaded with them to get away from the tents of the wicked men, Dathan and Abiram, and to touch nothing of theirs so they would not be consumed with them in their sins. Departing from them represented their deserting the cause of Dathan and Abiram, a turning away of their sins.
(27) So they got 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.
The congregation got away from the tabernacle of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, from all around them. Once again there is reference to a tabernacle of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. It seems they must have had their own tabernacle of sorts where they all gathered in opposition to Moses and Aaron. Dathan and Abiram came out and stood in the door of their tents, with all members of their families, probably in a defiant manner, not at all daunted by Moses's threats that they would be consumed in their sins.
(28) And Moses said, “By this you shall know that the LORD has sent me to do all these works, for I have not done them of my own mind."
Moses spoke to the people, surely to Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, but probably to all the people within hearing (because they had moved away). By what was to come next they would know with certainty that it was the Lord who had sent Moses to do all the works, "these" probably referencing the ones they objected to, like appointing Aaron high priest, and even the bringing of the people out of Egypt out of that "land flowing with milk and honey" (v. 13). Moses said he had not devised them himself and done them in an arbitrary way, without the will of God or any authority from Him, as these men had insinuated.
(29) “If these men die naturally like all men, or if they are visited by the common fate of all men, then the LORD has not sent me."
Moses declared that if these men died of natural causes, or by some common cause such as famine or pestilence or if killed by man or beast, then it meant the Lord had not sent him to do the things he had done.
(30) “But if the LORD makes a new thing, and the earth opens its mouth and swallows them up with all that pertains to them, and they go down quick into the pit; then you shall understand that these men have provoked the LORD."
However, if the Lord did something that had never been done before, as opposed to the common or natural causes mentioned in verse 29, and Moses went on to name the specific new thing: if the earth opened up and swallowed up the men and they went alive into the pit the earth's opening made for them, then the people would understand that these men had provoked the Lord. The word "quick" used here doesn't mean "quickly" but rather "living" as in "the quick and the dead". This verse indicates that Moses certainly spoke to others of the congregation as well as these rebels; otherwise how would there be anyone left to understand if the earth swallowed up all the ones to whom Moses spoke.
(31) And it came to pass, as he had finished speaking all these words, that the ground split apart under them.
As soon as Moses had finished saying the words, the ground indeed split apart under them.
(32) And the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, and their houses, and all the men with Korah, with all their goods.
The earth opened up and literally swallowed them up, Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, with their houses and all their goods.
(33) Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, they, and all that pertained to them, went down alive into the pit, and the earth closed upon them, and they perished from among the congregation.
Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, and all the people and things pertaining to them, went down into the pit, and the earth closed in over them; thus they perished from among the congregation.
(34) And all Israel that were around them fled at their cry, for they said, “Lest the earth swallow us up also.”
The congregation that were still around them, probably at some distance, since verse 27 suggests they all moved away from Dathan and Abiram, fled at this point, upon hearing the cries of the men swallowed up by the earth, for fear that the earth would swallow them, as well.
(35) And there came a fire out from the LORD, and consumed the two hundred and fifty men who offered incense.
At that point a fire came out from the Lord and consumed the two hundred and fifty men Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, had gathered, the ones who had offered incense in their censers (v. 17).
(36) And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, (37) "Speak to Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest, that he take up the censers out of the burning, and scatter the fire yonder; for they are hallowed."
The Lord spoke to Moses and told him to tell Eleazar, the son of Aaron, to take up the censers out of the fire that burned and consumed the 250 rebels because the censers were holy. He was to tell him to scatter the fire, either from the incense burners, or ashes from the burned out area, away from the altar and sanctuary, in an unclean place where the ashes were to be cast.
(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 to the children of Israel."
The censers of the sinful rebels who by offering the incense caused their deaths, were holy because they had been offered before the Lord. Therefore the Lord wanted them to be beaten into broad plates for a covering for the altar. In that way they would be an everlasting ever visible sign to remind the people of this incident.
(39) And Eleazar the priest took the bronze censers, which those who were burned had offered; and they were made broad plates for a covering of the altar.
Eleazar did as he was instructed and took the censers that had been gathered out of the fire that had consumed the 250 rebels, and they were indeed made into broad plates for a covering for the altar.
(40) To be a memorial to the children of Israel that no outsider, who is not of the seed of Aaron, should come near to offer incense before the LORD, that he might not become like Korah and his companions, as the LORD said to him by the hand of Moses.
Eleazar did this to be an ever visible reminder to the children of Israel that no one who was not a descendant of Aaron was to come near to offer incense before the Lord, lest he become like Korah and his rebels. Just as the Lord had commanded through Moses he do, so he did.
(41) But on the next day all the congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron, saying, “You have killed the people of the LORD.”
Incredibly, after witnessing what could only have been the action of the Almighty, sovereign, and all-knowing Lord, the next day the people began complaining against Moses and Aaron, saying that they had killed the people of the Lord. It would seem they meant they caused their killing by bringing the Lord into the matter. How absurd to think the Lord would not see, or that He would punish only on the word of Moses and Aaron without knowing the facts! Adam Clarke, in his Commentary on the Bible, gave the people the benefit of the doubt, and suggested that the people must have persuaded themselves that Moses and Aaron had used some cunning tricks to make the earthquake and fire, "else, had they discerned the hand of God in this punishment, could they have dared the anger of the Lord in the very face of justice?" Mr. Clarke found it completely unbelievable that the people could have done this had they realized it was the action of their Lord. Personally, I don't see how they couldn't know it was the work of the Lord, but here they are accusing Moses and Aaron.
(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.
While the people were gathered against Moses and Aaron and accusing them of killing the people of the Lord, they looked toward the tabernacle and saw in the cloud that covered it some visible and obvious manifestation of the Lord. While we have been told in other places that no one could actually see God and live, we know that this must have been a clear sign to the people that this was indeed God in the cloud.
(43) And Moses and Aaron came before the tabernacle of the congregation.
Moses and Aaron went before the tabernacle to the presence of the Lord.
(44) And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, (45) “Get away from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment.” And they fell on their faces.
The Lord told Moses to get away from the people so that He could instantly destroy them. Once again, Moses and Aaron fell on their faces in prayer and intercession for the people. It occurs to me that they were a type of Christ in this, a constant intercessor for the people. The continual sinning of the people, even after they had seen such awesome and unmistakable works of their Lord, is an illustration of our constant need for our Savior.
(46) And Moses said to Aaron, “Take a censer and put fire in it from the altar, put on incense, and go quickly to the congregation, and make an atonement for them, for there is wrath gone out from the LORD; the plague is begun."
Moses told Aaron to take his censer, put fire in it from the altar of burnt offering, from which fire only was to be taken for burning incense, put on the incense, and go quickly to the congregation to make atonement for them. He told Aaron to move quickly to atone for the people for a plague had already gone out from the Lord that was destroying them.
(47) And Aaron took it as Moses commanded, and ran into the midst of the congregation, and, behold, the plague had begun among the people; and he put on incense, and made an atonement for the people.
Aaron took his censer as Moses had commanded he do, and he ran into the midst of the congregation. Indeed the plague had begun. Aaron put incense in his censer and made an atonement for the people. The incense offering that had brought the death of those who offered it unlawfully with unauthorized hands, was now being offered by the true priest, the only one who could atone for the sins of the people. Once again, this is a picture of the coming Christ, who alone could save the people. By no other means can a person be saved but by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
(48) And he stood between the dead and the living; and the plague was stayed.
We are not told what kind of plague this was, but it apparently started at one end and was moving across the congregation, as Aaron was able stand between the dead and the living. When Aaron offered the incense to atone for the people, the plague was stopped. It is noteworthy that Aaron ran into the midst of the plague that was moving rapidly to kill the people, especially considering the Lord had told Moses to move away from the people so that He could instantly consume them. It would seem Aaron risked his own life to save the lives of others, others who did not deserve it, others who could have been seen as his enemies in that they had come against him. Once again, this is a beautiful illustration of the Christ to come, the One who gave His life to save sinners deserving death, the One killed by His enemies, but He interceded and asked that they be forgiven, because they didn't know what they were doing (Luke 23:34). Aaron was a type of Christ, the Christ who came into the world to make an atonement for sin and to turn away the wrath of God, the One who stands between the living and the dead, to save His people from eternal death in hell.
(49) Now those who died in the plague were fourteen thousand seven hundred, besides those who died in the matter of Korah.
14,700 died in that rapidly moving plague! That did not include the 250 who died with Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. It occurs to me that this is part of prophecy being fulfilled when the Lord said in Numbers 14:29 that their carcasses would fall in the wilderness.
(50) And Aaron returned to Moses to the door of the tabernacle of the congregation; and the plague was stayed.
Aaron returned to the door of the tabernacle to Moses, and the plague was stopped. Perhaps the meaning is that it continued to be stopped even after Aaron was removed from the midst of the congregation. I can't help but think of Jesus Christ who offered His life for atonement of sins and returned to the right hand of the Father (Hebrews 10:12). By His sacrifice, we are completely and permanently saved from the sins we will undoubtedly commit, if we only accept His sacrifice.
(Numbers 16:1) 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.
In the last chapter of Numbers, God had reiterated His laws of sacrifice and offerings, demonstrating He had been reconciled to His people since the time He sentenced them to die in the wilderness. He also told the people what was to be done to a person who willfully sinned against God. Here in Numbers 16, we have the record of a historical incident.
In the sixth chapter of Exodus we learned that Korah was the son of Izhar, who was the son of Kohath, the son of Levi. Izhar's brother was Amram, the father of Aaron and Moses; therefore Korah was a first cousin to Moses and Aaron. Dathan and Abiram were the sons of Eliab. In the first chapter of Numbers we learned that Eliab was the son of Helon, of the tribe of Zebulun. On was the son of Peleth, and they were descendants of Reuben. On this occasion, Korah, Dathan, Abiram, and On, gathered men with them.
(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.
Korah, Dathan, Abiram, and On gathered 250 prominent leaders of the congregation, and they rose up against Moses. It is really incredible that so soon after God had demonstrated what was to be done with those who presumptuously sinned with a "high hand", that these men would do this, but here we are.
(3) And they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron, and said to them, “You take too much upon yourselves, for all the congregation is holy, every one of them, and the LORD is among them; therefore, why do you lift up yourselves above the congregation of the LORD?"
Korah, Dathan, Abiram, and On, together with the 250 leaders of the congregation they had gathered, came against Moses and Aaron. They declared to them that they took too much upon themselves, elevated themselves too much above the rest of the congregation. I imagine they saw Moses elevating himself to be ruler over all of them and taking it upon himself to designate Aaron as high priest. Referring to what the Lord had told them in Exodus 19:6, they declared that they were all holy, because they were to the Lord "a kingdom of priests and a holy nation". Why was it then that Moses and Aaron elevated themselves above the rest of the congregation?
(4) And when Moses heard it, he fell on his face.
When Moses heard what the men said, he fell on his face, surely in prayer to the Lord. He certainly understood they sinned in opposing the instructions of God, and feared and revered the Lord's sovereignty in this matter. Moses, being a very humble man, may have also prayed that his heart be searched and that he not be found to be puffed up and elevating himself.
(5) And he spoke to Korah and all his company, saying, “Tomorrow morning the LORD will show who is His and who is holy, and will cause him to come near to Him; that one whom He chooses He will cause to come near to Him."
Surely received in answer to his prayer, Moses told Korah he would let the Lord publicly show the next morning whom He considered His and whom were holy. He would bring His holy ones to Himself, demonstrating to all the ones He personally chose.
(6) “Do this: take censers, Korah and all your company."
Moses instructed Korah and all the men with him to take censers that were to put incense in to offer.
(7) "And put fire in them and put incense in them before the LORD tomorrow, and it shall be that the man whom the LORD chooses shall be holy; you take too much on yourselves, you sons of Levi.”
Moses instructed them to put fire and incense in their censers before the Lord the next day. He pronounced that it would be that the man the Lord chose would be the holy one. Moses then threw their own words back at them, declaring they had elevated themselves too much. By adding "you sons of Levi" indicates most of the men must have been from the tribe of Levi, although we were told specifically in verse 1 above that On was a descendant of Reuben. I assumed that Dathan and Abiram were the sons of the same Eliab who was in the first chapter of Numbers said to be the son of Helon, of the tribe of Zebulun. I suppose it's possible it was another Eliab, since verse 1 didn't specifically say this Eliab was from the tribe of Zebulun. Regardless, it does seem reasonable to assume the majority of the men were Levites, or at least in agreement it should be other Levites who should be considered holy and able to do what they perceived Aaron was chosen by Moses to do.
(8) And Moses said to Korah, “Hear, I pray you, you sons of Levi."
Moses spoke directly to Korah, who seems to be the ringleader of this group, and besought him to hear his words.
(9) "Is it a small thing to you that the God of Israel has 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 to them?"
Moses pointed out to Korah the privilege he had as a Levite, that he had been chosen by the God of Israel to do the service of His own tabernacle and to minister to His people. He asked Korah if that was an insignificant thing; did Korah find that honor beneath his dignity?
(10) "And He has brought you near to Himself, and all your brethren, the sons of Levi, with you? Do you seek the priesthood also?"
Moses continued his question to Korah. Was it an insignificant thing that the God of Israel had brought him near to Him, he and all his brothers, the sons of Levi, to do His service and minister to His people? Was that not enough; did he seek the priesthood also?
(11) "For which cause you and all your company are gathered together against the LORD; and what is Aaron, that you murmur against him?"
Moses continued questioning Korah. Was it because he felt the role that God had given him was too insignificant and that he wanted the priesthood, also, that he and his company had gathered together against the Lord? Furthermore, what was his problem with Aaron? What had Aaron done to warrant their complaints and murmuring against him? After all, it was God who had called him to the priesthood; he had not taken it upon himself to raise himself up to such a high office.
(12) And Moses sent to call Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab, but they said, “We will not come up!"
Moses called Dathan and Abiram to come up before him, but they refused. I don't quite understand why Dathan and Abiram, from the tribe of Zebulun, were in this rebellious company of Levites, unless as discussed before they were a different Dathan and Abiram. As has also been discussed before, when one starts sowing discord, others often join in. It has been suggested by some Biblical scholars that perhaps the Reubenites were angry that the tribe of Judah had the first post of honor in the camp; both the Reubenites and Kohathite Levites were to march on the south side of the tabernacle, and maybe their proximity to each other led to their murmuring with each other. That might explain On's concerns, but he is not mentioned here.
(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, except that you make yourself altogether a prince over us?"
Dathan and Abiram refused to go before Moses, but did convey their contempt for him in a manner that he heard. They threw his words for them back at him; was it a small thing that he had brought them out of a land flowing with milk and honey, a blasphemous contempt for God's promise, using God's words for His promised land to describe Egypt, where they had lived in captivity. Was it a small thing Moses had brought them out of that great Egypt to kill them in the wilderness, only to make himself ruler over them?
(14) “Moreover you have not 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 will not come up!”
Dathan and Abiram continued with their rant against Moses. They accused him of not bringing them into a land flowing with milk and honey, as promised, and he had not given them an inherited land of fields and vineyards. Would Moses put out the eyes of those men with them? I believe the meaning is would he so blind them and persuade them that they did not actually see what was before them. Again they declared they would not go before Moses.
(15) And Moses was very angry, and said to the LORD, “Do not respect their offering; I have not taken one donkey from them, nor have I hurt one of them.”
Moses was very angry and prayed to the Lord that He not accept their offering of incense the next day (v. 7 above). Moses further declared his innocence from their accusations, saying he had never taken so much as a donkey from them, nor had he ever done any injury to any one of them.
(16) And Moses said to Korah, "You and all your company be before the LORD, you, and they, and Aaron, tomorrow."
Moses told Korah to be before the Lord the next day, with all his company of 250 rebels. Aaron would be there, as well.
(17) "And let every man take his censer and put incense in it, and each of you bring his censer before the LORD, two hundred and fifty censers; both you and Aaron, each with his censer.”
Moses continued instructing Korah; when they came before the Lord the next day, each man was to bring his censer, meaning 250 censers before the Lord. Aaron was also to bring his censer.
(18) And every man took his censer, put fire in it, laid incense on it, and stood in the door of the tabernacle of the congregation with Moses and Aaron.
I assume this was the next morning. Every man of the 250 rebels took his censer, put fire and incense in it, and stood at the door of the tabernacle with Moses and Aaron.
(19) And Korah gathered all the congregation against them at the door of the tabernacle of meeting; and the glory of the LORD appeared to all the congregation.
Korah gathered all the congregation against Moses and Aaron at the door of the tabernacle. Perhaps this was a reiteration of the fact that Korah had gathered all his company of 250 rebels, but perhaps it meant that he continued sowing discord and inciting as many of the congregation as he could against Moses and Aaron. Then the glory of the Lord appeared to the congregation.
(20) And the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, (21) “Separate yourselves from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment.”
The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron and told them to separate themselves from the congregation at the door of the tabernacle, so that He might consume them in an instant.
(22) And they fell on their faces, and said, “O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and will You be angry with all the congregation?”
Moses and Aaron fell on their faces in prayer before the Lord. It does indeed seem as if Korah had gathered more of the congregation with him than just the 250 initial rebels. Moses and Aaron pleaded with the Lord that He not be angry with all of the congregation because of what one man started.
(23) And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, (24) “Speak to the congregation, saying, ‘Get up from around the tabernacle of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.’”
In an apparent answer to their prayers, the Lord told Moses to tell the congregation to get away from the tabernacle of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. It seems that these rebels had raised their own tabernacle. Either that, or they had returned to their tents. Perhaps it was the section of the tabernacle where they had congregated. Whatever tabernacle was meant, the main point is that the other congregation was to get away from those three. On was never again mentioned after verse 1. Perhaps he had repented and left the others, or maybe he just never made himself as remarkable as did Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, and just fell in among the group of 250 rebels.
(25) And Moses rose up and went to Dathan and Abiram; and the elders of Israel followed him.
Moses rose up, probably from the ground where he had fallen on his face in prayer before the Lord, and went to Dathan and Abiram, presumably because they still refused to come to him. The elders of Israel followed Moses. These were probably the seventy elders who had been chosen to assist Moses in chapter 11 of Numbers.
(26) And 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.”
Moses spoke to the congregation who were around Dathan and Abiram and pleaded with them to get away from the tents of the wicked men, Dathan and Abiram, and to touch nothing of theirs so they would not be consumed with them in their sins. Departing from them represented their deserting the cause of Dathan and Abiram, a turning away of their sins.
(27) So they got 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.
The congregation got away from the tabernacle of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, from all around them. Once again there is reference to a tabernacle of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. It seems they must have had their own tabernacle of sorts where they all gathered in opposition to Moses and Aaron. Dathan and Abiram came out and stood in the door of their tents, with all members of their families, probably in a defiant manner, not at all daunted by Moses's threats that they would be consumed in their sins.
(28) And Moses said, “By this you shall know that the LORD has sent me to do all these works, for I have not done them of my own mind."
Moses spoke to the people, surely to Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, but probably to all the people within hearing (because they had moved away). By what was to come next they would know with certainty that it was the Lord who had sent Moses to do all the works, "these" probably referencing the ones they objected to, like appointing Aaron high priest, and even the bringing of the people out of Egypt out of that "land flowing with milk and honey" (v. 13). Moses said he had not devised them himself and done them in an arbitrary way, without the will of God or any authority from Him, as these men had insinuated.
(29) “If these men die naturally like all men, or if they are visited by the common fate of all men, then the LORD has not sent me."
Moses declared that if these men died of natural causes, or by some common cause such as famine or pestilence or if killed by man or beast, then it meant the Lord had not sent him to do the things he had done.
(30) “But if the LORD makes a new thing, and the earth opens its mouth and swallows them up with all that pertains to them, and they go down quick into the pit; then you shall understand that these men have provoked the LORD."
However, if the Lord did something that had never been done before, as opposed to the common or natural causes mentioned in verse 29, and Moses went on to name the specific new thing: if the earth opened up and swallowed up the men and they went alive into the pit the earth's opening made for them, then the people would understand that these men had provoked the Lord. The word "quick" used here doesn't mean "quickly" but rather "living" as in "the quick and the dead". This verse indicates that Moses certainly spoke to others of the congregation as well as these rebels; otherwise how would there be anyone left to understand if the earth swallowed up all the ones to whom Moses spoke.
(31) And it came to pass, as he had finished speaking all these words, that the ground split apart under them.
As soon as Moses had finished saying the words, the ground indeed split apart under them.
(32) And the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, and their houses, and all the men with Korah, with all their goods.
The earth opened up and literally swallowed them up, Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, with their houses and all their goods.
(33) Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, they, and all that pertained to them, went down alive into the pit, and the earth closed upon them, and they perished from among the congregation.
Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, and all the people and things pertaining to them, went down into the pit, and the earth closed in over them; thus they perished from among the congregation.
(34) And all Israel that were around them fled at their cry, for they said, “Lest the earth swallow us up also.”
The congregation that were still around them, probably at some distance, since verse 27 suggests they all moved away from Dathan and Abiram, fled at this point, upon hearing the cries of the men swallowed up by the earth, for fear that the earth would swallow them, as well.
(35) And there came a fire out from the LORD, and consumed the two hundred and fifty men who offered incense.
At that point a fire came out from the Lord and consumed the two hundred and fifty men Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, had gathered, the ones who had offered incense in their censers (v. 17).
(36) And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, (37) "Speak to Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest, that he take up the censers out of the burning, and scatter the fire yonder; for they are hallowed."
The Lord spoke to Moses and told him to tell Eleazar, the son of Aaron, to take up the censers out of the fire that burned and consumed the 250 rebels because the censers were holy. He was to tell him to scatter the fire, either from the incense burners, or ashes from the burned out area, away from the altar and sanctuary, in an unclean place where the ashes were to be cast.
(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 to the children of Israel."
The censers of the sinful rebels who by offering the incense caused their deaths, were holy because they had been offered before the Lord. Therefore the Lord wanted them to be beaten into broad plates for a covering for the altar. In that way they would be an everlasting ever visible sign to remind the people of this incident.
(39) And Eleazar the priest took the bronze censers, which those who were burned had offered; and they were made broad plates for a covering of the altar.
Eleazar did as he was instructed and took the censers that had been gathered out of the fire that had consumed the 250 rebels, and they were indeed made into broad plates for a covering for the altar.
(40) To be a memorial to the children of Israel that no outsider, who is not of the seed of Aaron, should come near to offer incense before the LORD, that he might not become like Korah and his companions, as the LORD said to him by the hand of Moses.
Eleazar did this to be an ever visible reminder to the children of Israel that no one who was not a descendant of Aaron was to come near to offer incense before the Lord, lest he become like Korah and his rebels. Just as the Lord had commanded through Moses he do, so he did.
(41) But on the next day all the congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron, saying, “You have killed the people of the LORD.”
Incredibly, after witnessing what could only have been the action of the Almighty, sovereign, and all-knowing Lord, the next day the people began complaining against Moses and Aaron, saying that they had killed the people of the Lord. It would seem they meant they caused their killing by bringing the Lord into the matter. How absurd to think the Lord would not see, or that He would punish only on the word of Moses and Aaron without knowing the facts! Adam Clarke, in his Commentary on the Bible, gave the people the benefit of the doubt, and suggested that the people must have persuaded themselves that Moses and Aaron had used some cunning tricks to make the earthquake and fire, "else, had they discerned the hand of God in this punishment, could they have dared the anger of the Lord in the very face of justice?" Mr. Clarke found it completely unbelievable that the people could have done this had they realized it was the action of their Lord. Personally, I don't see how they couldn't know it was the work of the Lord, but here they are accusing Moses and Aaron.
(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.
While the people were gathered against Moses and Aaron and accusing them of killing the people of the Lord, they looked toward the tabernacle and saw in the cloud that covered it some visible and obvious manifestation of the Lord. While we have been told in other places that no one could actually see God and live, we know that this must have been a clear sign to the people that this was indeed God in the cloud.
(43) And Moses and Aaron came before the tabernacle of the congregation.
Moses and Aaron went before the tabernacle to the presence of the Lord.
(44) And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, (45) “Get away from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment.” And they fell on their faces.
The Lord told Moses to get away from the people so that He could instantly destroy them. Once again, Moses and Aaron fell on their faces in prayer and intercession for the people. It occurs to me that they were a type of Christ in this, a constant intercessor for the people. The continual sinning of the people, even after they had seen such awesome and unmistakable works of their Lord, is an illustration of our constant need for our Savior.
(46) And Moses said to Aaron, “Take a censer and put fire in it from the altar, put on incense, and go quickly to the congregation, and make an atonement for them, for there is wrath gone out from the LORD; the plague is begun."
Moses told Aaron to take his censer, put fire in it from the altar of burnt offering, from which fire only was to be taken for burning incense, put on the incense, and go quickly to the congregation to make atonement for them. He told Aaron to move quickly to atone for the people for a plague had already gone out from the Lord that was destroying them.
(47) And Aaron took it as Moses commanded, and ran into the midst of the congregation, and, behold, the plague had begun among the people; and he put on incense, and made an atonement for the people.
Aaron took his censer as Moses had commanded he do, and he ran into the midst of the congregation. Indeed the plague had begun. Aaron put incense in his censer and made an atonement for the people. The incense offering that had brought the death of those who offered it unlawfully with unauthorized hands, was now being offered by the true priest, the only one who could atone for the sins of the people. Once again, this is a picture of the coming Christ, who alone could save the people. By no other means can a person be saved but by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
(48) And he stood between the dead and the living; and the plague was stayed.
We are not told what kind of plague this was, but it apparently started at one end and was moving across the congregation, as Aaron was able stand between the dead and the living. When Aaron offered the incense to atone for the people, the plague was stopped. It is noteworthy that Aaron ran into the midst of the plague that was moving rapidly to kill the people, especially considering the Lord had told Moses to move away from the people so that He could instantly consume them. It would seem Aaron risked his own life to save the lives of others, others who did not deserve it, others who could have been seen as his enemies in that they had come against him. Once again, this is a beautiful illustration of the Christ to come, the One who gave His life to save sinners deserving death, the One killed by His enemies, but He interceded and asked that they be forgiven, because they didn't know what they were doing (Luke 23:34). Aaron was a type of Christ, the Christ who came into the world to make an atonement for sin and to turn away the wrath of God, the One who stands between the living and the dead, to save His people from eternal death in hell.
(49) Now those who died in the plague were fourteen thousand seven hundred, besides those who died in the matter of Korah.
14,700 died in that rapidly moving plague! That did not include the 250 who died with Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. It occurs to me that this is part of prophecy being fulfilled when the Lord said in Numbers 14:29 that their carcasses would fall in the wilderness.
(50) And Aaron returned to Moses to the door of the tabernacle of the congregation; and the plague was stayed.
Aaron returned to the door of the tabernacle to Moses, and the plague was stopped. Perhaps the meaning is that it continued to be stopped even after Aaron was removed from the midst of the congregation. I can't help but think of Jesus Christ who offered His life for atonement of sins and returned to the right hand of the Father (Hebrews 10:12). By His sacrifice, we are completely and permanently saved from the sins we will undoubtedly commit, if we only accept His sacrifice.
Sunday, May 5, 2013
The Posterity of Esau
As I am following a chronological reading schedule of the Bible by Skip Andrews, I am skipping ahead a few chapters to begin this study in Genesis chapter 36. Since Jacob and Esau were twins, their lives were parallel, so it's time to see what Esau has been up to:
(Genesis 36:1) Now these are the generations of Esau, who is Edom.
We were told in Genesis 25:30 that Esau was called Edom, which means "red", because of the red stew for which he traded his birthright. However, if we back up to verse 25 in that same chapter, we were told that Esau was born red and hairy. He was named Esau, which Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Definitions tells us means "hairy"; he is also called Edom, for the red part.
(2) Esau took his wives from the daughters of Canaan: Adah the daughter of Elon the Hittite, and Aholibamah the daughter of Anah, the daughter of Zibeon the Hivite;
We were previously told that Esau had taken Canaanite wives which greatly grieved his parents (Gen. 26:34-35). It is unclear if these wives are the same as the ones mentioned in that passage, or these are in addition to those wives. It is very possible that Adah and Bashemath (from Gen. 26:34) are names for the same person as each is called the daughter of Elon the Hittite. As for Aholibamah, she is said here to be the daughter of Anah and also the daughter of Zibeon the Hivite; that is the way that should read, I believe. Later in verse 24, we are told that Anah is the son of Zibeon, and we know "the child of" often means "descendant of" in the Bible, so Aholibamah is a descendant of both Anah and Zibeon. I see no way of connecting Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite (from Gen. 26:34) to Aholibamah here, so they must be different wives.
(3) And Bashemath Ishmael's daughter, sister of Nebajoth.
This is a continuation of verse 2, naming another of Esau's wives. This definitely appears to be the same woman as Mahalath from Genesis 28:9 as both are called daughters of Ishmael and sisters of Nebajoth.
(4) And Adah bore Eliphaz to Esau, and Bashemath bore Reuel. (5) And Aholibamah bore Jeush, Jaalam, and Korah; these were the sons of Esau who were born to him in the land of Canaan.
Now Esau's children are mentioned. Perhaps the wives listed above are the ones mentioned because they are the ones who gave Esau children, perhaps explaining why Judith from Genesis 26:34 is not mentioned. Although I didn't personally read the ancient writings myself, Dr. John Gill wrote that Jerome and Jonathan in the early centuries after Christ (A.D. 200-400) said that this Eliphaz is the same friend of Job that came to visit him. That Eliphaz was called a Temanite, and Tema was a son of Ishmael. I suppose it could be true, but what stands out to me in my personal study is that I am supposed to be studying a chronological reading of the Bible and I was instructed to read Job before Abraham, and this is the second time Temanites have been mentioned, meaning at least the life of Abraham and perhaps those of his children, should have been read chronologically before Job, but it's too late for that now. I certainly digress. The sons of Esau born to him in the land of Canaan were Eliphaz, Reuel, Jeush, Jaalam, and Korah.
(6) And Esau took his wives, and his sons, and his daughters, and all the persons of his house, and his cattle and all his animals, and all his substance which he had gotten in the land of Canaan, and went to a country away from the face of his brother Jacob.
Esau apparently had daughters, too, although those were not named. He took his entire family and household and left the land of Canaan away from his brother Jacob.
(7) For their riches were too great for them to dwell together, and the land where they were strangers could not support them because of their cattle. (8) So Esau dwelt in Mount Seir; Esau is Edom.
They were still sojourners and not possessors in the land of Canaan, so they still had the land's inhabitants to dwell among, and there was not room for both Jacob and Esau there, so Esau moved to Mt. Seir. Again we are reminded that Esau is also called Edom, probably to explain why his descendants are called Edomites in the next verse.
(9) And these are the generations of Esau the father of the Edomites in Mount Seir: (10) These are the names of Esau's sons: Eliphaz the son of Adah the wife of Esau, and Reuel the son of Bashemath the wife of Esau.
Here begins a genealogy of Esau. His sons are listed again, one might assume in a chronological order, with Eliphaz being his oldest son by his wife Adah, and Reuel his second son by his wife Bashemath.
(11) And the sons of Eliphaz were Teman, Omar, Zepho, Gatam, and Kenaz.
The firstborn son of Eliphaz was Teman, which may be more likely the namesake of the Temanites, which identifies the Eliphaz in Job. It seems there is discrepancy among scholars as to whether the city of Teman was named for Tema, the son of Ishmael, or more likely for Teman, the grandson of Esau.
(12) And Timna was the concubine of Eliphaz, Esau's son, and she bore Amalek to Eliphaz; these were the sons of Adah, Esau's wife.
Amalek was the father of the Amalekites who were bitter enemies of the Jews. As a son of Eliphaz's concubine, he is added to the list of "sons", or actually grandsons that were borne by Adah.
(13) And these are the sons of Reuel: Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah; these were the sons of Bashemath, Esau's wife.
The "sons", or more precisely grandsons that came from Esau's wife Bashemath, were Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah, none of whom are mentioned elsewhere in the Bible, other than perhaps if they occur in a genealogy.
(14) And these were the sons of Aholibamah, Esau's wife, the daughter of Anah, the daughter of Zibeon; and she bore to Esau Jeush, Jaalam, and Korah.
Esau's sons by Aholibamah are listed again with no sons of theirs mentioned.
(15) These were dukes of the sons of Esau: the sons of Eliphaz the firstborn son of Esau, duke Teman, duke Omar, duke Zepho, duke Kenaz,
A duke was a captain or a governor, but could also be a head of family. Sons and grandsons of Esau are listed as dukes or leaders of some sort.
(16) Duke Korah, duke Gatam, and duke Amalek; these were the dukes of Eliphaz in the land of Edom; these were the sons of Adah.
Korah is inserted here as a son of Adah. There is a Korah who is a son of Aholibamah, but as he is mentioned later among her sons, I don't believe this is the same Korah, unless he was mistakenly mentioned twice. 1 Chronicles 1:36 lists these sons of Eliphaz and adds Timna. Timna was also the name of Eliphaz's concubine, so perhaps Korah is another son of Timna who was also identified by his mother's name.
(17) And these are the sons of Reuel, Esau's son: duke Nahath, duke Zerah, duke Shammah, duke Mizzah; these are the dukes of Reuel in the land of Edom; these are the sons of Bashemath Esau's wife. (18) And these are the sons of Aholibamah Esau's wife: duke Jeush, duke Jaalam, duke Korah; these were the dukes of Aholibamah the daughter of Anah, Esau's wife. (19) These are the sons of Esau, who is Edom, and these are their dukes.
The list of dukes from Esau's sons and grandsons continues.
(20) These are the sons of Seir the Horite, who inhabited the land: Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, and Anah, (21) And Dishon, and Ezer, and Dishan; these are the dukes of the Horites, the children of Seir in the land of Edom.
Now we have a description of the original inhabitants of the land, the sons of Seir the Horite, first mentioned in Genesis 14:6. Anah is listed as a son, but I believe he is the son of Zibeon as discovered above, but just as grandsons of Esau were called sons, all these are descendant sons of Seir, and also called dukes.
(22) And the children of Lotan were Hori and Hemam; and Lotan's sister was Timna.
Seir's son Lotan's children are mentioned, probably to show the relationship of Timna, who became Eliphaz's concubine, and mother of his son Amalek, and possibly another son known by Timna or Korah.
(23) And the children of Shobal were these: Alvan, Manahath, Ebal, Shepho, and Onam.
The sons of Shobal, the second son of Seir, are listed.
(24) And these are the children of Zibeon: both Ajah and Anah; this was the Anah who found the mules in the wilderness, as he fed the donkeys of Zibeon his father.
The third son of Seir is Zibeon and his sons are listed, including Anah, who was listed as the fourth "son" of Seir. Anah is described to the reader who would know the story, although we have not been privy to it. There is no consensus among historians as to what this story might be. Some believe that Anah may have discovered breeding horses with donkeys produced mules, but I tend to believe the second story. The word translated as "mules" is "yem" and also thought to mean "warm or hot springs", so he probably discovered hot springs. In fact, the meaning is uncertain, as it is used only one time in all of scripture. Readers of the day may have known what this Anah was famous for, but we just have to take their word for it. It could be this Anah was being described to distinguish him from another Anah, and therein lies the problem of trying to decipher who all these people are who are only mentioned once or twice.
(25) And the children of Anah were these: Dishon, and Aholibamah the daughter of Anah.
It appears this Dishon was named after his uncle who was mentioned in verse 21 as a son of Seir. I suppose it's possible we also have an Anah named after his uncle Anah, and maybe Zibeon is a brother to one and a father to another. Whew! It's easy to get bogged down in the "weeds". I believe the true intent of mentioning this genealogy of Seir and the original inhabitants of the land is to show how the Edomites married into this group of people. Timna, Esau's son Eliphaz's concubine and the mother of Eliphaz's son Amalek, was a descendant of Seir, as was Aholibamah, who became Esau's wife.
(26) And these are the children of Dishon: Hemdan, Eshban, Ithran, and Cheran.
This appears to go back to the uncle Dishon, the son of Seir, and names his children.
(27) The children of Ezer are these: Bilhan, Zaavan, and Akan. (28) The children of Dishan are these: Uz and Aran.
The children of the last two sons of Seir are listed, none particularly noteworthy except perhaps Uz, for whom the land of Uz may have been named.
(29) These are the dukes of the Horites: duke Lotan, duke Shobal, duke Zibeon, duke Anah, (30) Duke Dishon, duke Ezer, and duke Dishan; these are the dukes of Hori, among their dukes in the land of Seir.
All the sons of Seir are listed as dukes. Hori was Lotan's son and Seir's grandson. It would seem the Horites were called so after him, in the land of Seir, the original inhabitant of the land.
(31) And these are the kings who reigned in the land of Edom, before there reigned any king over the children of Israel.
Next we begin a list of kings who reigned in the land that would become known as the land of Edom, called so after Esau. It is unclear whether these are kings who reigned before, during, or after the time it became known as Edom. There are scholars who believe the dukes of Esau rose up to take over from the kings. There are others, as I found when I read these accounts in 1 Chronicles 1 below, who believe these kings came from Esau. I honestly do not know, nor can I tell from scripture, but obviously the Edomites came to power and had some dominion, as was prophesied by Isaac to his Esau in Genesis 27. There has been much discussion among Biblical scholars as to how Moses, who supposedly wrote the first five books of the Bible, could have mentioned any possibility that there would ever be a king over Israel when they had no king in his lifetime. I see no problem with this as Moses evidently wrote under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. There are many prophetic pictures of the coming Christ found in these books written by him.
(32) And Bela the son of Beor reigned in Edom, and the name of his city was Dinhabah. (33) And Bela died, and Jobab the son of Zerah of Bozrah reigned in his place. (34) And Jobab died, and Husham of the land of Temani reigned in his place.
A succession of kings is begun, but I don't see any noteworthy names, except perhaps that the land of Temani may be so-called after Teman, the son of Eliphaz (Esau's son) above. If that is so, then it does seem there is an influence of the family of Esau during the reign of kings in the land.
(35) And Husham died, and Hadad the son of Bedad, who attacked Midian in the field of Moab, reigned in his place; and the name of his city was Avith.
Again we have an aside, a description of this Bedad that the original reader would have known, but one of someone of whom we have not been made aware. It is possible that the Midian he attacked was Abraham's son by Keturah, and that would have been noteworthy to the early reader.
(36) And Hadad died, and Samlah of Masrekah reigned in his place. (37) And Samlah died, and Saul of Rehoboth by the river reigned in his place. (38) And Saul died, and Baal-Hanan the son of Achbor reigned in his place.
The succession of kings who reigned in the land of Edom continues with no especially noteworthy names.
(39) And Baal-Hanan the son of Achbor died, and Hadar reigned in his place; and the name of his city was Pau; and his wife's name was Mehetabel, the daughter of Matred, the daughter of Mezahab.
Hadar appears to be the last of the kings in this land. His wife seems to be a person of note because of the particular mention of her and her ancestors, but once again, we present-day readers don't really know who she is. Dr. John Gill supposes that this monarchy was put to an end "by the united familes of Seir and Esau, and changed into dukedoms; of which there were seven of the race of Seir, and fourteen of the race of Esau, of whom an account is given in the preceding part of this chapter..." I say "supposes" because I haven't found any other historical evidence for his assertion. The other early commentaries I study are silent on this.
(40) And these are the names of the dukes that came of Esau, according to their families, after their places, by their names: duke Timnah, duke Alvah, duke Jetheth,
Dr. Gill continues his thought that after the monarchy ceased, the government in Edom was by dukes partly by the race of Seir and partly by the race of Esau. He points out that neither Esau nor the sons of his first two wives are called dukes, only his sons by his last wife and his grandsons, which seems to show that the dukedoms were not immediate in the land, but may have occurred later when an end was put to the monarchy by "the joint influence of Seir and Esau".
I now turn to Keil and Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament which points out that "the names which follow are not a second list of Edomitish tribe-princes (viz., of those who continued the ancient constitution, with its hereditary aristocracy, after Hadar's death), but merely relate to the capital cities of the old phylarchs, is evident from the expression in the heading, 'After their places, by their names,' as compared with Gen 36:43, 'According to their habitations in the land of their possession.'" In this statement, I don't know if this commentary is refuting the idea set forth by Dr. Gill or not. K & D continues that since that is the intention of the list, it should come to no surprise that only two names in this list correspond to those given in Genesis 36:15-19. "This proves nothing more than that only two of the capitals received their names from the princes who captured or founded them, viz., Timnah and Kenaz." (Actually, I personally thought Teman was one, too, mentioned in verse 42 with Kenaz.) I am relieved to know I don't have to research where all the these new dukes came from! If I am interpreting this correctly, we formerly already read a list of some of the dukes that came initially from Esau's sons and grandsons, and now we have more who have names of cities corresponding to their names that have perhaps sprung up since the beginning of the dukedoms of Esau. Perhaps we are being shown how the Edomites grew in the region. I have to say I feel like I have spent a long time trapped in the weeds in this study by names that really don't have any more significance in the Bible. It was important to the early reader and it is significant in that out of Esau grew a mighty people. The lists of dukes from Esau continues:
(41) Duke Aholibamah, duke Elah, duke Pinon,
As there appeared to be a son of Eliphaz, Esau's son, known by his mother's name, Timna, there appears to be a son known as Aholibamah, and evidently a place also known by that name.
(42) Duke Kenaz, duke Teman, duke Mibzar, (43) Duke Magdiel, duke Iram; these are the dukes of Edom, according to their dwelling places in the land of their possession; Esau is the father of the Edomites.
It is important to note that as the posterity of Esau grew, his descendants came to take possession of the land of Seir. In verses 6-8 above, Esau first went to Mount Seir, and by the time this chapter ended, many dukes have come from the line of Esau and they possess the land formerly held by Seir and a line of kings.
As this is a chronological Bible study, my reading now turns to 1 Chronicles 1:35 where the genealogy of Esau is recapped:
(1 Chronicles 1:35) The sons of Esau were Eliphaz, Reuel, Jeush, Jaalam, and Korah. (36) The sons of Eliphaz were Teman, Omar, Zephi, Gatam, and Kenaz; and Timna and Amalek. (37) The sons of Reuel were Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah. (38) And the sons of Seir were Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah, Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan.
I find it interesting that in this genealogy in 1 Chronicles 1, which is a genealogy starting with Adam, that Seir is introduced in it along with Esau. Seir was not of the race of Esau, but as Esau's family married into his, and Esau's descendants eventually overtook his land, I suppose he has an important role in the line of Esau.
(39) And the sons of Lotan were Hori and Homam; and Timna was Lotan's sister. (40) The sons of Shobal were Alian, Manahath, Ebal, Shephi, and Onam. And the sons of Zibeon were Ajah and Anah.
Alian was written as Alvan before. The original name appears to be the same: Alvan or Alyan, originally meaning "tall".
(41) The son of Anah was Dishon. And the sons of Dishon were Amram, Eshban, Ithran, and Cheran.
Amram appears to be the same as Hemdan in Genesis 36:26. The original name was either "Chemdan" or "Chamran", probably depending on the handwriting on the particular early manuscript first read.
(42) The sons of Ezer were Bilhan, Zaavan, and Jaakan. The sons of Dishan were Uz and Aran. (43) Now these are the kings who reigned in the land of Edom before any king reigned over the children of Israel: Bela the son of Beor, and the name of his city was Dinhabah;
Again I find it peculiar that a list of kings who reigned before and/or during the time the Edomites were growing and taking possession of the land, would be included in a genealogy that started with Adam and concluded with the families of the sons of Isaac. The 1599 Geneva Bible Translation Notes supposes that these are kings who came from Esau, and although I was not sure about that when I was studying Esau's descendants in Genesis 36, it certainly does seem to fit now that they are included in a genealogy along with a description of Esau's descendants. As I have supposed all along, at the very least, these genealogies of Esau show how his power and dominion grew, and show how he intermarried with the original inhabitants of the land.
(44) And when Bela was dead, Jobab the son of Zerah of Bozrah reigned in his place; (45) And when Jobab was dead, Husham of the land of the Temanites reigned in his place; (46) And when Husham was dead, Hadad the son of Bedad, who attacked Midian in the field of Moab, reigned in his place, and the name of his city was Avith. (47) And when Hadad was dead, Samlah of Masrekah reigned in his place. (48) And when Samlah was dead, Shaul of Rehoboth by the river reigned in his place. (49) And when Shaul was dead, Baal-Hanan the son of Achbor reigned in his place. (50) And when Baal-Hanan was dead, Hadad reigned in his place; and the name of his city was Pai; and his wife's name was Mehetabel, the daughter of Matred, the daughter of Mezahab.
The list of kings continues pretty much as it did in Genesis 36, with a few variations in spellings.
(51) Hadad died also. And the dukes of Edom were duke Timnah, duke Aliah, duke Jetheth,
"Hadad died also." Then begins a list of the dukes of Edom. This makes it sound as if the monarchy ended and then the dukedoms of Edom began. As I've said before, whether they are part of Esau's descendants or not, they played a part in making Edom what it was, and that is about as much as I am going to get out of this study!
(52) Duke Aholibamah, duke Elah, duke Pinon, (53) Duke Kenaz, duke Teman, duke Mibzar, (54) Duke Magdiel, duke Iram. These are the dukes of Edom.
As I am happy to be finished with this cumbersome genealogy, I will reflect on the fact that genealogies were important in Biblical times. All these descendants of Esau could trace their lineage back to Abraham, and that was of utmost importance to the people back then, as that made them a part of the blessings and promises that God made to Abraham and his descendants.
(Genesis 36:1) Now these are the generations of Esau, who is Edom.
We were told in Genesis 25:30 that Esau was called Edom, which means "red", because of the red stew for which he traded his birthright. However, if we back up to verse 25 in that same chapter, we were told that Esau was born red and hairy. He was named Esau, which Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Definitions tells us means "hairy"; he is also called Edom, for the red part.
(2) Esau took his wives from the daughters of Canaan: Adah the daughter of Elon the Hittite, and Aholibamah the daughter of Anah, the daughter of Zibeon the Hivite;
We were previously told that Esau had taken Canaanite wives which greatly grieved his parents (Gen. 26:34-35). It is unclear if these wives are the same as the ones mentioned in that passage, or these are in addition to those wives. It is very possible that Adah and Bashemath (from Gen. 26:34) are names for the same person as each is called the daughter of Elon the Hittite. As for Aholibamah, she is said here to be the daughter of Anah and also the daughter of Zibeon the Hivite; that is the way that should read, I believe. Later in verse 24, we are told that Anah is the son of Zibeon, and we know "the child of" often means "descendant of" in the Bible, so Aholibamah is a descendant of both Anah and Zibeon. I see no way of connecting Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite (from Gen. 26:34) to Aholibamah here, so they must be different wives.
(3) And Bashemath Ishmael's daughter, sister of Nebajoth.
This is a continuation of verse 2, naming another of Esau's wives. This definitely appears to be the same woman as Mahalath from Genesis 28:9 as both are called daughters of Ishmael and sisters of Nebajoth.
(4) And Adah bore Eliphaz to Esau, and Bashemath bore Reuel. (5) And Aholibamah bore Jeush, Jaalam, and Korah; these were the sons of Esau who were born to him in the land of Canaan.
Now Esau's children are mentioned. Perhaps the wives listed above are the ones mentioned because they are the ones who gave Esau children, perhaps explaining why Judith from Genesis 26:34 is not mentioned. Although I didn't personally read the ancient writings myself, Dr. John Gill wrote that Jerome and Jonathan in the early centuries after Christ (A.D. 200-400) said that this Eliphaz is the same friend of Job that came to visit him. That Eliphaz was called a Temanite, and Tema was a son of Ishmael. I suppose it could be true, but what stands out to me in my personal study is that I am supposed to be studying a chronological reading of the Bible and I was instructed to read Job before Abraham, and this is the second time Temanites have been mentioned, meaning at least the life of Abraham and perhaps those of his children, should have been read chronologically before Job, but it's too late for that now. I certainly digress. The sons of Esau born to him in the land of Canaan were Eliphaz, Reuel, Jeush, Jaalam, and Korah.
(6) And Esau took his wives, and his sons, and his daughters, and all the persons of his house, and his cattle and all his animals, and all his substance which he had gotten in the land of Canaan, and went to a country away from the face of his brother Jacob.
Esau apparently had daughters, too, although those were not named. He took his entire family and household and left the land of Canaan away from his brother Jacob.
(7) For their riches were too great for them to dwell together, and the land where they were strangers could not support them because of their cattle. (8) So Esau dwelt in Mount Seir; Esau is Edom.
They were still sojourners and not possessors in the land of Canaan, so they still had the land's inhabitants to dwell among, and there was not room for both Jacob and Esau there, so Esau moved to Mt. Seir. Again we are reminded that Esau is also called Edom, probably to explain why his descendants are called Edomites in the next verse.
(9) And these are the generations of Esau the father of the Edomites in Mount Seir: (10) These are the names of Esau's sons: Eliphaz the son of Adah the wife of Esau, and Reuel the son of Bashemath the wife of Esau.
Here begins a genealogy of Esau. His sons are listed again, one might assume in a chronological order, with Eliphaz being his oldest son by his wife Adah, and Reuel his second son by his wife Bashemath.
(11) And the sons of Eliphaz were Teman, Omar, Zepho, Gatam, and Kenaz.
The firstborn son of Eliphaz was Teman, which may be more likely the namesake of the Temanites, which identifies the Eliphaz in Job. It seems there is discrepancy among scholars as to whether the city of Teman was named for Tema, the son of Ishmael, or more likely for Teman, the grandson of Esau.
(12) And Timna was the concubine of Eliphaz, Esau's son, and she bore Amalek to Eliphaz; these were the sons of Adah, Esau's wife.
Amalek was the father of the Amalekites who were bitter enemies of the Jews. As a son of Eliphaz's concubine, he is added to the list of "sons", or actually grandsons that were borne by Adah.
(13) And these are the sons of Reuel: Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah; these were the sons of Bashemath, Esau's wife.
The "sons", or more precisely grandsons that came from Esau's wife Bashemath, were Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah, none of whom are mentioned elsewhere in the Bible, other than perhaps if they occur in a genealogy.
(14) And these were the sons of Aholibamah, Esau's wife, the daughter of Anah, the daughter of Zibeon; and she bore to Esau Jeush, Jaalam, and Korah.
Esau's sons by Aholibamah are listed again with no sons of theirs mentioned.
(15) These were dukes of the sons of Esau: the sons of Eliphaz the firstborn son of Esau, duke Teman, duke Omar, duke Zepho, duke Kenaz,
A duke was a captain or a governor, but could also be a head of family. Sons and grandsons of Esau are listed as dukes or leaders of some sort.
(16) Duke Korah, duke Gatam, and duke Amalek; these were the dukes of Eliphaz in the land of Edom; these were the sons of Adah.
Korah is inserted here as a son of Adah. There is a Korah who is a son of Aholibamah, but as he is mentioned later among her sons, I don't believe this is the same Korah, unless he was mistakenly mentioned twice. 1 Chronicles 1:36 lists these sons of Eliphaz and adds Timna. Timna was also the name of Eliphaz's concubine, so perhaps Korah is another son of Timna who was also identified by his mother's name.
(17) And these are the sons of Reuel, Esau's son: duke Nahath, duke Zerah, duke Shammah, duke Mizzah; these are the dukes of Reuel in the land of Edom; these are the sons of Bashemath Esau's wife. (18) And these are the sons of Aholibamah Esau's wife: duke Jeush, duke Jaalam, duke Korah; these were the dukes of Aholibamah the daughter of Anah, Esau's wife. (19) These are the sons of Esau, who is Edom, and these are their dukes.
The list of dukes from Esau's sons and grandsons continues.
(20) These are the sons of Seir the Horite, who inhabited the land: Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, and Anah, (21) And Dishon, and Ezer, and Dishan; these are the dukes of the Horites, the children of Seir in the land of Edom.
Now we have a description of the original inhabitants of the land, the sons of Seir the Horite, first mentioned in Genesis 14:6. Anah is listed as a son, but I believe he is the son of Zibeon as discovered above, but just as grandsons of Esau were called sons, all these are descendant sons of Seir, and also called dukes.
(22) And the children of Lotan were Hori and Hemam; and Lotan's sister was Timna.
Seir's son Lotan's children are mentioned, probably to show the relationship of Timna, who became Eliphaz's concubine, and mother of his son Amalek, and possibly another son known by Timna or Korah.
(23) And the children of Shobal were these: Alvan, Manahath, Ebal, Shepho, and Onam.
The sons of Shobal, the second son of Seir, are listed.
(24) And these are the children of Zibeon: both Ajah and Anah; this was the Anah who found the mules in the wilderness, as he fed the donkeys of Zibeon his father.
The third son of Seir is Zibeon and his sons are listed, including Anah, who was listed as the fourth "son" of Seir. Anah is described to the reader who would know the story, although we have not been privy to it. There is no consensus among historians as to what this story might be. Some believe that Anah may have discovered breeding horses with donkeys produced mules, but I tend to believe the second story. The word translated as "mules" is "yem" and also thought to mean "warm or hot springs", so he probably discovered hot springs. In fact, the meaning is uncertain, as it is used only one time in all of scripture. Readers of the day may have known what this Anah was famous for, but we just have to take their word for it. It could be this Anah was being described to distinguish him from another Anah, and therein lies the problem of trying to decipher who all these people are who are only mentioned once or twice.
(25) And the children of Anah were these: Dishon, and Aholibamah the daughter of Anah.
It appears this Dishon was named after his uncle who was mentioned in verse 21 as a son of Seir. I suppose it's possible we also have an Anah named after his uncle Anah, and maybe Zibeon is a brother to one and a father to another. Whew! It's easy to get bogged down in the "weeds". I believe the true intent of mentioning this genealogy of Seir and the original inhabitants of the land is to show how the Edomites married into this group of people. Timna, Esau's son Eliphaz's concubine and the mother of Eliphaz's son Amalek, was a descendant of Seir, as was Aholibamah, who became Esau's wife.
(26) And these are the children of Dishon: Hemdan, Eshban, Ithran, and Cheran.
This appears to go back to the uncle Dishon, the son of Seir, and names his children.
(27) The children of Ezer are these: Bilhan, Zaavan, and Akan. (28) The children of Dishan are these: Uz and Aran.
The children of the last two sons of Seir are listed, none particularly noteworthy except perhaps Uz, for whom the land of Uz may have been named.
(29) These are the dukes of the Horites: duke Lotan, duke Shobal, duke Zibeon, duke Anah, (30) Duke Dishon, duke Ezer, and duke Dishan; these are the dukes of Hori, among their dukes in the land of Seir.
All the sons of Seir are listed as dukes. Hori was Lotan's son and Seir's grandson. It would seem the Horites were called so after him, in the land of Seir, the original inhabitant of the land.
(31) And these are the kings who reigned in the land of Edom, before there reigned any king over the children of Israel.
Next we begin a list of kings who reigned in the land that would become known as the land of Edom, called so after Esau. It is unclear whether these are kings who reigned before, during, or after the time it became known as Edom. There are scholars who believe the dukes of Esau rose up to take over from the kings. There are others, as I found when I read these accounts in 1 Chronicles 1 below, who believe these kings came from Esau. I honestly do not know, nor can I tell from scripture, but obviously the Edomites came to power and had some dominion, as was prophesied by Isaac to his Esau in Genesis 27. There has been much discussion among Biblical scholars as to how Moses, who supposedly wrote the first five books of the Bible, could have mentioned any possibility that there would ever be a king over Israel when they had no king in his lifetime. I see no problem with this as Moses evidently wrote under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. There are many prophetic pictures of the coming Christ found in these books written by him.
(32) And Bela the son of Beor reigned in Edom, and the name of his city was Dinhabah. (33) And Bela died, and Jobab the son of Zerah of Bozrah reigned in his place. (34) And Jobab died, and Husham of the land of Temani reigned in his place.
A succession of kings is begun, but I don't see any noteworthy names, except perhaps that the land of Temani may be so-called after Teman, the son of Eliphaz (Esau's son) above. If that is so, then it does seem there is an influence of the family of Esau during the reign of kings in the land.
(35) And Husham died, and Hadad the son of Bedad, who attacked Midian in the field of Moab, reigned in his place; and the name of his city was Avith.
Again we have an aside, a description of this Bedad that the original reader would have known, but one of someone of whom we have not been made aware. It is possible that the Midian he attacked was Abraham's son by Keturah, and that would have been noteworthy to the early reader.
(36) And Hadad died, and Samlah of Masrekah reigned in his place. (37) And Samlah died, and Saul of Rehoboth by the river reigned in his place. (38) And Saul died, and Baal-Hanan the son of Achbor reigned in his place.
The succession of kings who reigned in the land of Edom continues with no especially noteworthy names.
(39) And Baal-Hanan the son of Achbor died, and Hadar reigned in his place; and the name of his city was Pau; and his wife's name was Mehetabel, the daughter of Matred, the daughter of Mezahab.
Hadar appears to be the last of the kings in this land. His wife seems to be a person of note because of the particular mention of her and her ancestors, but once again, we present-day readers don't really know who she is. Dr. John Gill supposes that this monarchy was put to an end "by the united familes of Seir and Esau, and changed into dukedoms; of which there were seven of the race of Seir, and fourteen of the race of Esau, of whom an account is given in the preceding part of this chapter..." I say "supposes" because I haven't found any other historical evidence for his assertion. The other early commentaries I study are silent on this.
(40) And these are the names of the dukes that came of Esau, according to their families, after their places, by their names: duke Timnah, duke Alvah, duke Jetheth,
Dr. Gill continues his thought that after the monarchy ceased, the government in Edom was by dukes partly by the race of Seir and partly by the race of Esau. He points out that neither Esau nor the sons of his first two wives are called dukes, only his sons by his last wife and his grandsons, which seems to show that the dukedoms were not immediate in the land, but may have occurred later when an end was put to the monarchy by "the joint influence of Seir and Esau".
I now turn to Keil and Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament which points out that "the names which follow are not a second list of Edomitish tribe-princes (viz., of those who continued the ancient constitution, with its hereditary aristocracy, after Hadar's death), but merely relate to the capital cities of the old phylarchs, is evident from the expression in the heading, 'After their places, by their names,' as compared with Gen 36:43, 'According to their habitations in the land of their possession.'" In this statement, I don't know if this commentary is refuting the idea set forth by Dr. Gill or not. K & D continues that since that is the intention of the list, it should come to no surprise that only two names in this list correspond to those given in Genesis 36:15-19. "This proves nothing more than that only two of the capitals received their names from the princes who captured or founded them, viz., Timnah and Kenaz." (Actually, I personally thought Teman was one, too, mentioned in verse 42 with Kenaz.) I am relieved to know I don't have to research where all the these new dukes came from! If I am interpreting this correctly, we formerly already read a list of some of the dukes that came initially from Esau's sons and grandsons, and now we have more who have names of cities corresponding to their names that have perhaps sprung up since the beginning of the dukedoms of Esau. Perhaps we are being shown how the Edomites grew in the region. I have to say I feel like I have spent a long time trapped in the weeds in this study by names that really don't have any more significance in the Bible. It was important to the early reader and it is significant in that out of Esau grew a mighty people. The lists of dukes from Esau continues:
(41) Duke Aholibamah, duke Elah, duke Pinon,
As there appeared to be a son of Eliphaz, Esau's son, known by his mother's name, Timna, there appears to be a son known as Aholibamah, and evidently a place also known by that name.
(42) Duke Kenaz, duke Teman, duke Mibzar, (43) Duke Magdiel, duke Iram; these are the dukes of Edom, according to their dwelling places in the land of their possession; Esau is the father of the Edomites.
It is important to note that as the posterity of Esau grew, his descendants came to take possession of the land of Seir. In verses 6-8 above, Esau first went to Mount Seir, and by the time this chapter ended, many dukes have come from the line of Esau and they possess the land formerly held by Seir and a line of kings.
As this is a chronological Bible study, my reading now turns to 1 Chronicles 1:35 where the genealogy of Esau is recapped:
(1 Chronicles 1:35) The sons of Esau were Eliphaz, Reuel, Jeush, Jaalam, and Korah. (36) The sons of Eliphaz were Teman, Omar, Zephi, Gatam, and Kenaz; and Timna and Amalek. (37) The sons of Reuel were Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah. (38) And the sons of Seir were Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah, Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan.
I find it interesting that in this genealogy in 1 Chronicles 1, which is a genealogy starting with Adam, that Seir is introduced in it along with Esau. Seir was not of the race of Esau, but as Esau's family married into his, and Esau's descendants eventually overtook his land, I suppose he has an important role in the line of Esau.
(39) And the sons of Lotan were Hori and Homam; and Timna was Lotan's sister. (40) The sons of Shobal were Alian, Manahath, Ebal, Shephi, and Onam. And the sons of Zibeon were Ajah and Anah.
Alian was written as Alvan before. The original name appears to be the same: Alvan or Alyan, originally meaning "tall".
(41) The son of Anah was Dishon. And the sons of Dishon were Amram, Eshban, Ithran, and Cheran.
Amram appears to be the same as Hemdan in Genesis 36:26. The original name was either "Chemdan" or "Chamran", probably depending on the handwriting on the particular early manuscript first read.
(42) The sons of Ezer were Bilhan, Zaavan, and Jaakan. The sons of Dishan were Uz and Aran. (43) Now these are the kings who reigned in the land of Edom before any king reigned over the children of Israel: Bela the son of Beor, and the name of his city was Dinhabah;
Again I find it peculiar that a list of kings who reigned before and/or during the time the Edomites were growing and taking possession of the land, would be included in a genealogy that started with Adam and concluded with the families of the sons of Isaac. The 1599 Geneva Bible Translation Notes supposes that these are kings who came from Esau, and although I was not sure about that when I was studying Esau's descendants in Genesis 36, it certainly does seem to fit now that they are included in a genealogy along with a description of Esau's descendants. As I have supposed all along, at the very least, these genealogies of Esau show how his power and dominion grew, and show how he intermarried with the original inhabitants of the land.
(44) And when Bela was dead, Jobab the son of Zerah of Bozrah reigned in his place; (45) And when Jobab was dead, Husham of the land of the Temanites reigned in his place; (46) And when Husham was dead, Hadad the son of Bedad, who attacked Midian in the field of Moab, reigned in his place, and the name of his city was Avith. (47) And when Hadad was dead, Samlah of Masrekah reigned in his place. (48) And when Samlah was dead, Shaul of Rehoboth by the river reigned in his place. (49) And when Shaul was dead, Baal-Hanan the son of Achbor reigned in his place. (50) And when Baal-Hanan was dead, Hadad reigned in his place; and the name of his city was Pai; and his wife's name was Mehetabel, the daughter of Matred, the daughter of Mezahab.
The list of kings continues pretty much as it did in Genesis 36, with a few variations in spellings.
(51) Hadad died also. And the dukes of Edom were duke Timnah, duke Aliah, duke Jetheth,
"Hadad died also." Then begins a list of the dukes of Edom. This makes it sound as if the monarchy ended and then the dukedoms of Edom began. As I've said before, whether they are part of Esau's descendants or not, they played a part in making Edom what it was, and that is about as much as I am going to get out of this study!
(52) Duke Aholibamah, duke Elah, duke Pinon, (53) Duke Kenaz, duke Teman, duke Mibzar, (54) Duke Magdiel, duke Iram. These are the dukes of Edom.
As I am happy to be finished with this cumbersome genealogy, I will reflect on the fact that genealogies were important in Biblical times. All these descendants of Esau could trace their lineage back to Abraham, and that was of utmost importance to the people back then, as that made them a part of the blessings and promises that God made to Abraham and his descendants.
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