Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Numbers 16:28
And Moses said, Hereby ye shall know that the LORD hath sent me to do all these works; for [I have] not [done them] of mine own mind.
All these works, to wit, which I have done, and for which I am traduced by these and such like wicked men, as the bringing of the people out of Egypt; the conducting of them through, and the keeping of them so long in, the wilderness; the exercising of power and authority among and over them; giving of laws to them, as about other things, so concerning the priesthood, which is the ground of the present quarrel; and, that which vexeth them most, that when they were upon the borders of Canaan, and ready to enter in, I should cause them to go back into this vast howling wilderness, and fix them there for forty years.
Of mine own mind; by pretending or usurping an authority which God gave me not; by feigning words or messages from God to establish my own inventions, and to comply with my own will or lust or interest, as I am now accused to have done. For this phrase, see Num 24:13; Eze 13:2.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
28-34. Moses said, Hereby ye shallknow that the Lord hath sent me to do all these worksThe awfulcatastrophe of the earthquake which, as predicted by Moses, swallowedup those impious rebels in a living tomb, gave the divine attestationto the mission of Moses and struck the spectators with solemn awe.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And Moses said, hereby ye shall know that the Lord hath sent me to do all these works,…. To bring the people of Israel out of Egypt, to exchange the firstborn for the Levites, to make Aaron and his sons priests, to give the Levites to them, and to set Elizaphan over the Kohathites, things which these men found fault with, and questioned his authority for doing them:
for [I have] not [done them] of my own mind; or “not out of my heart” q; he had not devised them himself, and done them of his own head, and in any arbitrary way, without the will of God or any authority from him, as these men suggested.
q “quod non de corde meo”, Pagninus, Montanus.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
28. And Moses said, Hereby ye shall know. Moses now begins more clearly to show wherefore he has brought the rebels to this open contest, viz., that God may sanction before the whole people, by a terrible exertion of His power, the system established by Himself. For it was no ordinary effort of confidence to concede the victory to His enemies, unless the earth should swallow them up alive. But, inasmuch as this was to be a most conspicuous judgment of God, he arouses their attention by the striking words he uses. If they should be cut off by a sudden death, he would have justly boasted that his cause was approved by God; but not content with this, he desires to be accounted a mere impostor, if they should die the common death of men. In order to express the strangeness of the miracle, whereby men’s senses should be ravished, he employs the word create (99) emphatically; as much as to say, that the mode of their death would be no less unusual than as if God should add something to His creation, and change the face of the world. Thus David, when he prays that his enemies should go down alive into hell (infernos) or the grave, seems to allude to this history, (Psa 55:23😉 for although that descent be understood to mean sudden death overtaking the wicked in a moment in the midst of their happiness and security, still, he at the same time indicates by it this horrible retribution, which had occurred in times past, inasmuch as memorable punishments pass into proverbial instances of God’s wrath.
(99) A.V., “Make a new thing;” margin, “Create a creature.”
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(28) To do all these works.i.e., to bring the people out of the land of Egypt, to exchange the first-born for the Levites, to consecrate Aaron and his sons to the priesthood, and generally to declare the will of the Lord to the people.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
28. Of mine own mind It was not from self-seeking that I took upon me the government, nor was Aaron or his family appointed to the priesthood merely out of private affection.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
The Pit Swallows Up the Reubenite Followers of Korah, Dathan and Abiram ( Num 16:28-34 ).
Num 16:28-29
‘And Moses said, “By this you shall know that Yahweh has sent me to do all these works, for I have not done them of my own mind. If these men die the common death of all men, or if they be visited after the visitation of all men, then Yahweh has not sent me.”
Moses wasted no time on the rebels. He addressed the waiting crowds. By this they would know that what was about to happen was not of his choice or of his doing, but was the choice of Yahweh Who had sent him. If these men died an ordinary death, even though it be by plague or lightning, then Yahweh had not sent him. He was staking his whole reputation on Yahweh’s promises. It was like standing before Pharaoh again. The point he was stressing was that he himself intended to do nothing to them. He was leaving them in the hands of Yahweh. This would then demonstrate whose side Yahweh was on.
Num 16:30
“ But if Yahweh make a new thing, and the ground open its mouth, and swallow them up, with all who appertain to them, and they go down alive into Sheol, then you shall understand that these men have despised Yahweh.”
But if a new thing happened, and the ground opened its mouth and swallowed them up, with all who were following them in their rebellion, so that they went down alive into the underworld, the world of the dead, then all must recognise that these men had despised Yahweh.
He pictured the earth as being like a great monster whose mouth opened wide in order to devour (compare Isa 5:14). This was Yahweh’s earth, which He had created. If it opened its mouth on His behalf it could be due to no one but Him. And it would reveal that the judgment was His.
“If Yahweh make a new thing.” Or literally, ‘if Yahweh creates a creation’. Stress is put on the fact that this is Yahweh’s direct and novel action.
“Sheol.” The usual word for the world of the dead to which men descended when they were placed in their graves. It was the grave world of shadows from which none ever returned. Yahweh even controlled that grave world.
Num 16:31-32
‘And it came about that, as he made an end of speaking all these words, the ground divided asunder that was under them, and the earth opened its mouth, and swallowed them up, and their households, and all the men who appertained to Korah, and all their goods.’
No sooner had Moses spoken then the earth suddenly caved in around where the tents of Dathan and Abiram, and their families, were. It ‘opened its mouth and swallowed them up’, taking in all who ‘appertained to Korah’, that is all who were a part of the rebellion, together with all their goods.
Num 16:33
‘So they, and all who appertained to them, went down alive into Sheol, and the earth closed on them, and they perished from among the assembly.’
Thus all in the camp who were connected with them in the rebellion went down alive into Sheol (compare the vivid picture in Isa 14:9). ‘And the earth closed up.’ They had been buried alive and had just disappeared. Not a trace was to be seen. They perished from among the assembly. They were Israelites no more. God’s mouth had, as it were, swallowed them without trace.
As Yahweh regularly used magnified natural disasters in His judgments (as in Egypt) we may probably see that the tents of Dathan and Abiram and their followers had been pitched on a kewir, a hardened mud-flat which had developed over boggy ground. Such are often found in this area. As with the Reed Sea deliverance the main miracle was in it caving in at the right time. It has been suggested that a severe thunderstorm occurred, which soaked the ground causing the mud-flat to soften and give way, with lightning striking the 250 men with the censers.
Num 16:34
‘And all Israel who were round about them fled at their cry, for they said, “Lest the earth swallow us up.” ’
A great cry of fear and terror went up from the rebels as they realised in those brief moments exactly what was happening, and it was such a terrible cry that the people around fled. They were fearful less it also happen to them, and the earth swallow them up. The impact of what happened was huge, and the echo of the cry continued in their hearts (Num 16:41).
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Num 16:28. All these works Meaning more especially the institution of the priesthood, the appointment of the Levites, and other matters of government.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
We cannot but be struck with the astonishing degree of faith which Moses manifested upon this occasion. What holy confidence! What a firm assurance did he here display in the faithfulness of GOD? Reader! Oh, may you and I learn from it the sweet and invaluable privilege of the faithful. See similar instances: Gen 22:3-10 ; Jos 10:12 ; 1Sa 17:371Sa 17:37 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Num 16:28 And Moses said, Hereby ye shall know that the LORD hath sent me to do all these works; for [I have] not [done them] of mine own mind.
Ver. 28. Hereby ye shall know. ] Thus he engageth the truth and honour of his office upon a miracle. But now he that expects a miracle, is himself a miracle, saith Augustine. Let Papists brag of their lying wonders. 2Th 2:9 We dislike not altogether that observation of Gretser the Jesuit, Tam sterilis et deserta est Lutherana et Calviniana secta, ut diabolus ne dignetur quidem per eam aliquid fallacium et umbratilium prodigiorum aggredi, saltem frequenter et palam. So dull and dry is the Lutheran and Calvinian sect, that the devil deigns not to work any, or not many miracles, among them, as he doth among the Catholics.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
I have not done them. Figure of speech Ellipsis. App-6.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Hereby: Exo 3:12, Exo 4:1-9, Exo 7:9, Deu 18:22, Zec 2:9, Zec 4:9, Joh 5:36, Joh 11:42, Joh 14:11
for I have: Kee lo millibbee, “and that not out of my heart.” It was not of my own device or contrivance. It was not out of an ambitious desire to be great myself that I took upon me the government, nor out of private affection to my brother, that I appointed him and his family to the priesthood.
of mine: Num 24:13, 1Ki 18:36, Jer 23:16, Eze 13:17, Joh 5:30, Joh 6:38
Reciprocal: Exo 16:6 – the Lord 2Ki 1:10 – If I be a man Psa 109:27 – General Jer 28:16 – this year Joh 8:28 – and that Joh 9:29 – know Act 2:40 – Save 2Co 13:8 – General 2Pe 1:21 – spake Rev 11:5 – fire
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Num 16:28. All these works As the bringing of the people out of Egypt; the conducting of them through the wilderness; the exercising authority among them; and giving laws to them concerning the priesthood.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
16:28 And Moses said, Hereby ye shall know that the LORD hath sent me to do all these works; for [I have] not [done them] of mine own {l} mind.
(l) I have not invented them from my own brain.