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Numbers 16 ends with Dathan and Abiram swallowed alive into the earth after joining Korah's revolt against Moses. 1 Clement includes their death among a list of jealousy's victims, naming Dathan and Abiram but not Korah.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Numbers 16:33
Hebrew Bible
25 Then Moses got up and went to Dathan and Abiram; and the elders of Israel went after him. 26 And he said to the community, “Move away from the tents of these wicked men, and do not touch anything they have, lest you be destroyed because of all their sins.” 27 So they got away from the homes of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram on every side, and Dathan and Abiram came out and stationed themselves in the entrances of their tents with their wives, their children, and their toddlers. 28 Then Moses said, “This is how you will know that the Lord has sent me to do all these works, for I have not done them of my own will. 29 If these men die a natural death, or if they share the fate of all men, then the Lord has not sent me. 30 But if the Lord does something entirely new, and the earth opens its mouth and swallows them up along with all that they have, and they go down alive to the grave, then you will know that these men have despised the Lord!” 31 When he had finished speaking all these words, the ground that was under them split open, 32 and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them, along with their households, and all Korah’s men, and all their goods. 33 They and all that they had went down alive into the pit, and the earth closed over them. So they perished from among the community.
1 Clement 4:12
First Epistle of Clement to the Corinthians
Early Christian
10 Jealousy forced Moses to flee from Pharaoh, king of Egypt, when his fellow Israelite said to him, ‘Who made you a judge or ruler over us? Will you kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?’ 11 Because of jealousy, Aaron and Miriam were cast out of the camp. 12 Jealousy brought Dathan and Abiram down alive to Hades because they rebelled against Moses, the servant of God. 13 Because of jealousy, David was not only envied by the Philistines but was also persecuted by Saul, king of Israel.
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Notes and References
“... The rebellion itself associated Korah, who is from a different branch of the same Kohathite clan as Moses and Aaron, with the leaders of the tribe of Reuben. Their attack on Moses and Aaron is based on the charge that since the whole people of God is holy and had God in their midst, Moses and Aaron have usurped authority in setting themselves up as political and priestly leaders (Num 16:3). The text later makes clear that the issue for Korah was the exclusive reservation of the priesthood to Aaron's family (Num 16:10-11), while the issue for the Reubenite leaders was Moses' leadership (Num 16:13-14). The result of the challenge was that the leaders and their households were swallowed in an earthquake, while their followers were destroyed by divine fire (Num 16:31-35). Korah therefore became proverbial for a rebellious or schismatic person, not just in the Jewish tradition (Josephus, Ant. 4.14-21; Pseudo-Philo, Biblical Antiquities 16) but also in Christian tradition (1 Clem. 4:12; 51:1-4, although Clement mentions only Korah's associates Dathan and Abiram by name, not Korah himself). ...”
Davids, Peter H.
The Letters of 2 Peter and Jude
(p. 106) William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2006
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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