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Clement of Rome

1 Clement

First Epistle of Clement to the Corinthians

About this book

Those Who Caused the Division Should Confess

Chapter 51

1 For all our transgressions that we have committed through any of the tricks of the adversary, let us beg that we may obtain forgiveness. And those who set themselves up as leaders of faction and division ought to look to the common ground of hope. 2 For those who live in fear and love would rather suffer themselves than have their neighbors suffer; and they pronounce condemnation on themselves rather than on the harmony that has been handed down to us nobly and righteously. 3 For it is good for a man to confess his trespasses rather than to harden his heart, as the hearts of those who rebelled against Moses the servant of God were hardened; their condemnation was made plain.⁠ 4 for they went down to Hades alive, and Death shall be their shepherd. 5 Pharaoh and his army and all the rulers of Egypt, their chariots and their horsemen, were overwhelmed in the depths of the Red Sea and perished for no other reason than that their foolish hearts were hardened after the signs and the wonders had been performed in the land of Egypt by the hand of Moses the servant of God.

Texts in conversation

Compare Numbers 16:33 and Clement of Rome, 1 Clement 51:3

Hebrew Bible · Early Christian

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Summary

Numbers 16 ends with the earth swallowing Dathan and Abiram alive for their sedition against Moses. 1 Clement echoes this in a warning to Corinth's schismatics, interpreting their falling into the earth as falling into Hades.

Passages

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.
750–400 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Numbers

Clement of Rome, 1 Clement 51:3

Early Christian · First Epistle of Clement to the Corinthians
1 For all our transgressions that we have committed through any of the tricks of the adversary, let us beg that we may obtain forgiveness. And those who set themselves up as leaders of faction and division ought to look to the common ground of hope. 2 For those who live in fear and love would rather suffer themselves than have their neighbors suffer; and they pronounce condemnation on themselves rather than on the harmony that has been handed down to us nobly and righteously. 3 For it is good for a man to confess his trespasses rather than to harden his heart, as the hearts of those who rebelled against Moses the servant of God were hardened; their condemnation was made plain. 4 for they went down to Hades alive, and Death shall be their shepherd. 5 Pharaoh and his army and all the rulers of Egypt, their chariots and their horsemen, were overwhelmed in the depths of the Red Sea and perished for no other reason than that their foolish hearts were hardened after the signs and the wonders had been performed in the land of Egypt by the hand of Moses the servant of God.
90–100 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Clement of Rome, 1 Clement

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). ...”
Peter H. Davids, The Letters of 2 Peter and Jude (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2006), 106.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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Numbers 16:33 and Clement of Rome, 1 Clement 51:3

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