The authors of the rebellion were Korah the Levite, a descendant of the Kohathite Izhar, who was a brother of Amram, an ancestor (not the father) of Aaron and Moses (see at Exodus 6:18), and three Reubenites, viz., Dathan and Abiram, sons of Eliab, of the Reubenitish family of Pallu (Numbers 26:8-9), and On, the son of Peleth, a Reubenite, not mentioned again. The last of these (On) is not referred to again in the further course of this event, either because he played altogether a subordinate part in the affair, or because he had drawn back before the conspiracy came to a head. The persons named took (יקּח), i.e., gained over to their plan, or persuaded to join them, 250 distinguished men of the other tribes, and rose up with them against Moses and Aaron. On the construction ויּקוּמוּ...ויּקּה (Numbers 16:1 and Numbers 16:2), Gesenius correctly observes in his Thesaurus (p. 760), "There is an anakolouthon rather than an ellipsis, and not merely a copyist's error, in these words, 'and Korah,...and Dathan and Abiram, took and rose up against Moses with 250 men,' for they took 250 men, and rose up with them against Moses," etc. He also points to the analogous construction in 2 Samuel 18:18. Consequently there is no necessity either to force a meaning upon לקח, which is altogether foreign to it, or to attempt an emendation of the text. "They rose up before Moses:" this does not mean, "they stood up in front of his tent," as Knobel explains it, for the purpose of bringing Numbers 16:2 into contradiction with Numbers 16:3, but they created an uproar before his eyes; and with this the expression in Numbers 16:3, "and they gathered themselves together against Moses and Aaron," may be very simply and easily combined. The 250 men of the children of Israel who joined the rebels no doubt belonged to the other tribes, as is indirectly implied in the statement in Numbers 27:3, that Zelophehad the Manassite was not in the company of Korah. These men were "princes of the congregation," i.e., heads of the tribes, or of large divisions of the tribes, "called men of the congregation," i.e., members of the council of the nation which administered the affairs of the congregation (cf. Numbers 1:16), "men of name" (שׁם אנשׁי, see Genesis 6:4). The leader was Korah; and the rebels are called in consequence "Korah's company" (Numbers 16:5, Numbers 16:6; Numbers 26:9; Numbers 27:3). He laid claim to the high-priesthood, or at least to an equality with Aaron (Numbers 16:17). Among his associates were the Reubenites, Dathan and Abiram, who, no doubt, were unable to get over the fact that the birthright had been taken away from their ancestor, and with it the headship of the house of Israel (i.e., of the whole nation). Apparently their present intention was to seize upon the government of the nation under a self-elected high priest, and to force Moses and Aaron out of the post assigned to them by God, - that is to say, to overthrow the constitution which God had given to His people.

Numbers 16:7 Parallel Commentaries

that the man

Numbers 16:3,5 And they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron, and said to them, You take too much on you...

Ephesians 1:4 According as he has chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:

2 Thessalonians 2:13 But we are bound to give thanks always to God for you, brothers beloved of the Lord...

1 Peter 2:9 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people...

too much

Numbers 16:3 And they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron, and said to them, You take too much on you...

1 Kings 18:17,18 And it came to pass, when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said to him, Are you he that troubles Israel...

Matthew 21:23-27 And when he was come into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him as he was teaching, and said...