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Numbers 16:30

Old Testament Law (Torah) ASV (1901)

What does Numbers 16:30 say?

The American Standard Version records this verse as: “But if Jehovah make a new thing, and the ground open its mouth, and swallow them up, with all that appertain unto them, and they go down alive into Sheol; then ye shall understand that these men have despised Jehovah.” Read the surrounding verses and the named sources below before drawing broader conclusions.

The verse

But if Jehovah make a new thing, and the ground open its mouth, and swallow them up, with all that appertain unto them, and they go down alive into Sheol; then ye shall understand that these men have despised Jehovah.
Numbers 16:30 — American Standard Version

Context — Numbers 16

American Standard Version (1901) — public domain. Click any verse for its study page.
27So they gat them up from the tabernacle of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, on every side: and Dathan and Abiram came out, and stood at the door of their tents, and their wives, and their sons, and their little ones.
28And Moses said, Hereby ye shall know that Jehovah hath sent me to do all these works; for [I have] not [done them] of mine own mind.
29If these men die the common death of all men, or if they be visited after the visitation of all men; then Jehovah hath not sent me.
30But if Jehovah make a new thing, and the ground open its mouth, and swallow them up, with all that appertain unto them, and they go down alive into Sheol; then ye shall understand that these men have despised Jehovah.
31And it came to pass, as he made an end of speaking all these words, that the ground clave asunder that was under them;
32and the earth opened its mouth, and swallowed them up, and their households, and all the men that appertained unto Korah, and all their goods.
33So they, and all that appertained to them, went down alive into Sheol: and the earth closed upon them, and they perished from among the assembly.
← Numbers 16:29Numbers 16:31 →
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What do historical commentaries say?

John Gill's Exposition
John Gill (1697–1771) · Exposition of the Old and New Testament · 18th-century historical commentary
“But if the Lord make a new thing, etc.] Or “create a creation”, or “creature” f229, what never was before, or put those persons to a death that none ever in the world died of yet; what that is he means is next expressed: and the earth open her mouth and swallow them up, with all that [appertain] unto them; their persons, their wives, children and substance: and they go down quick into the pit; alive into the grave the opening earth makes for them; this is the new thing created; though the Rabbins say f230, the mouth of the earth, or the opening of the earth, was created from the days of the creation, that is, it was determined or decreed so early that it should be: then ye shall understated…”
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Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge
R. A. Torrey and contributors · The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge · Cross-reference reference work
“make a new thing: Heb. create a creature; weim beriah yivra Yehowah, "And if Jehovah should create a creation," i.e., do such a thing as was never done before. Job 31:3; Isa 28:21, Isa 43:19, Isa 45:7, Isa 45:12; Jer 31:22 and they: Num 16:33; Psa 55:15 Numbers 16:31”
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Related study paths

Read Numbers 16 in contextBrowse Hebrew word studiesOpen this verse in the study reader

Sources and verification