Korah

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

(baldness).

KO'RAH. (baldness). Third son of Esau and Aholibamah, Gen 36:5, Gen 36:14, Gen 36:18; 1 Chr 1:35; named as son of Eliphaz. Gen 36:16. Son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, Ex 6:18, Ex 6:21, Ex 6:24, the proud and ambitious ringleader in the rebellion with Dathan, Abiram, and On, of the tribe of Reuben, against his cousins, Moses and Aaron. It was a widespread political rebellion against Moses, who held the leadership, to which the tribe of Reuben, the first-born, aspired, and from which they had been excluded, and an ecclesiastical rebellion against Aaron by Korah, a Levite, who, with his immediate relations, had been shut out of the higher priestly service to the inferior service of the tabernacle. With 250 men prominent in the congregation, they went to Moses and Aaron and impudently and impiously charged them with usurpation. Moses, astonished at the revolt — the most serious that had taken place — appealed to Jehovah by a test to be made the next day with censers. Then, after God had expressed his intention to destroy the people, and Moses and Aaron had interceded successfully for them, Moses warned them as to that which should follow; the earth opened and swallowed Dathan and Abiram and their followers and families, and fire from the Lord devoured Korah and the Levites who offered incense. Num 16; Num 26:9; 1 Sam 27:3. The children of Korah survived, and became prominent in the temple service. 1 Chr 6:22, 1 Chr 6:37; 1 Chr 9:19. Jude couples Korah (Core) with Cain and Balaam in his warning against false and self-seeking teachers, Jude 11. A son of Hebron, and descendant of Judah. 1 Chr 2:43.

baldness; ice; frost

KO'RAH. (baldness). Third son of Esau and Aholibamah, Gen 36:5, Gen 36:14, Gen 36:18; 1 Chr 1:35; named as son of Eliphaz. Gen 36:16. Son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, Ex 6:18, Ex 6:21, Ex 6:24, the proud and ambitious ringleader in the rebellion with Dathan, Abiram, and On, of the tribe of Reuben, against his cousins, Moses and Aaron. It was a widespread political rebellion against Moses, who held the leadership, to which the tribe of Reuben, the first-born, aspired, and from which they had been excluded, and an ecclesiastical rebellion against Aaron by Korah, a Levite, who, with his immediate relations, had been shut out of the higher priestly service to the inferior service of the tabernacle. With 250 men prominent in the congregation, they went to Moses and Aaron and impudently and impiously charged them with usurpation. Moses, astonished at the revolt — the most serious that had taken place — appealed to Jehovah by a test to be made the next day with censers. Then, after God had expressed his intention to destroy the people, and Moses and Aaron had interceded successfully for them, Moses warned them as to that which should follow; the earth opened and swallowed Dathan and Abiram and their followers and families, and fire from the Lord devoured Korah and the Levites who offered incense. Num 16; Num 26:9; 1 Sam 27:3. The children of Korah survived, and became prominent in the temple service. 1 Chr 6:22, 1 Chr 6:37; 1 Chr 9:19. Jude couples Korah (Core) with Cain and Balaam in his warning against false and self-seeking teachers, Jude 11. A son of Hebron, and descendant of Judah. 1 Chr 2:43.