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Rabbinic tradition in tractate Pesachim describes the rebellious Korah as extremely wealthy, a detail not found in the Hebrew bible. Jude lists Korah along with Cain and Balaam in a warning about destructive people, and this criticism may reflect a similar connection to Korah's perceived wealth.
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Jude 1:11
New Testament
10 But these men do not understand the things they slander, and they are being destroyed by the very things that, like irrational animals, they instinctively comprehend. 11 Woe to them! For they have traveled down Cain’s path, and because of greed have abandoned themselves to Balaam’s error; hence, they will certainly perish in Korah’s rebellion. 12 These men are dangerous reefs at your love feasts, feasting without reverence, feeding only themselves. They are waterless clouds, carried along by the winds; autumn trees without fruit—twice dead, uprooted;
Date: 90-100 C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
Source
Pesachim 119a
Babylonian Talmud
Rabbinic
With regard to this matter, Rabbi Ḥama bar Ḥanina said: Joseph hid three treasures in Egypt. One of them was revealed to Korah, one was revealed to Antoninos ben Asveiros, king of Rome, and one is hidden for the righteous in the future. With regard to Korah’s wealth, the Gemara cites the verse: “Riches kept by his owner to his hurt” (Ecclesiastes 5:12). Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish said: This is the wealth of Korah, which caused him to grow arrogant and lead to his destruction. As it is stated: “And what He did to Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, son of Reuben; how the earth opened her mouth and swallowed them up, and their households, and their tents, and all the sustenance that was at their feet” (Deuteronomy 11:6). Rabbi Elazar said: This is referring to a person’s money that stands him upon his own two feet. Rabbi Levi said: The keys to Korah’s treasuries were a load of three hundred strong white mules, and they were all keys [aklidei] and locks made of leather.
Date: 450-550 C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
Source
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Notes and References
"... The Torah gives no indication that Korah was wealthy, but the rabbis here imagine a charismatic person who has amassed wealth and now wishes to amass power. These various homiletical understandings build upon the unstated assumption that Korah is the villain and build on that. Medieval ancient and modern peshat approaches offer more mundane explanations for the grammatical problem in this verse, without reflecting on Korah’s character ..."
* 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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