Numbers 16:29

If these men die a natural death, or if they suffer the fate of all men, then the LORD has not sent me.

Berean Standard Bible

Study note

Setting — Moses addresses Korah and his rebel followers during the wilderness uprising, placing this verse as the conditional premise directly between his announcement of the sign and his description of the supernatural judgment.

The words — The verse relies on אִם ('im, "if") and כְּמוֹת הָאָדָם (keMot ha'adam, "like the death of man") to frame ordinary mortality as the expected baseline for evaluating a prophetic claim.

The thread — The formula for testing divine authority through observable outcomes runs through 1 Kings 22:28, Lamentations 4:22, and Exodus 32:34.

Why it lands — The text requires readers to verify prophetic authority by measuring claims against concrete events, distinguishing routine human death from divinely orchestrated judgment.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

אִם־'im-if כְּמ֤וֹתke./Motlike/ [the] death of כָּל־kol-every הָֽאָדָם֙ha./'a.Dam<the>/ human יְמֻת֣וּןye.mu.Tu/nthey will die/ !אֵ֔לֶּה'E.lehthese [men]וּפְקֻדַּת֙u./fe.ku.Datand/ [the] visitation of כָּל־kol-every הָ֣אָדָ֔םha./'a.Dam<the>/ human יִפָּקֵ֖דyi.pa.Kedit will be visited עֲלֵיהֶ֑ם'a.lei./Hemon/ them לֹ֥אlo'not יְהוָ֖הYah.wehYahweh שְׁלָחָֽנִי׃she.la.Cha./nihe has sent/ me

King James Version

If these men die the common death of all men, or if they be visited after the visitation of all men; then the Lord hath not sent me.

Cross-references

1 Kings 22:28 But Micaiah replied, “If you ever return safely, the LORD has not spoken through me.” Then he added, “Take heed, all you people!”
Lamentations 4:22 O Daughter of Zion, your punishment is complete; He will not prolong your exile. But He will punish your iniquity, O Daughter of Edom; He will expose your sins.
Exodus 32:34 Now go, lead the people to the place I described. Behold, My angel shall go before you. But on the day I settle accounts, I will punish them for their sin.”
2 Chronicles 18:27 But Micaiah replied, “If you ever return safely, the LORD has not spoken through me.” Then he added, “Take heed, all you people!”
Job 35:15 and further, that in His anger He has not punished or taken much notice of folly!
Ecclesiastes 3:19 For the fates of both men and beasts are the same: As one dies, so dies the other—they all have the same breath. Man has no advantage over the animals, since everything is futile.
Isaiah 10:3 What will you do on the day of reckoning when devastation comes from afar? To whom will you flee for help? Where will you leave your wealth?
Jeremiah 5:9 Should I not punish them for these things?” declares the LORD. “Should I not avenge Myself on such a nation as this?
Exodus 20:5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on their children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me,