Bible Strands
Numbers 16:31
As soon as Moses had finished saying all this, the ground beneath them split open,
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Moses addresses the congregation and the rebel faction at the exact moment his conditional prophecy concludes. The narrative transitions from spoken warning to immediate physical enactment.
The words — וַתִּבָּקַע (va.ti.ba.Ka') translates literally as "and it was split open," denoting the sudden rupture of the earth. כַּלּוֹתוֹ לְדַבֵּר (kha.lo.T/o le.da.Ber) means "when he finished speaking," marking the precise temporal trigger for the event.
The thread — The rupture fulfills the sign Moses outlined in Numbers 16:30 and resurfaces in Deuteronomy 11:6 and Psalm 106:17 as a catalogued act of judgment. The motif tracks the consistent pattern of rebellion meeting immediate divine intervention.
Why it lands — The text requires the reader to observe that spoken warning directly precipitates historical consequence. It demands a sober recognition that prophetic declaration functions as the operative mechanism of judgment, not merely a descriptive forecast.
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
King James Version
And it came to pass, as he had made an end of speaking all these words, that the ground clave asunder that was under them:
Cross-references
- Numbers 27:3 “Our father died in the wilderness, but he was not among the followers of Korah who gathered together against the LORD. Instead, he died because of his own sin, and he had no sons.
- Deuteronomy 11:6 and what He did in the midst of all the Israelites to Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab the Reubenite, when the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them, their households, their tents, and every living thing that belonged to them.
- Psalms 106:17 The earth opened up and swallowed Dathan; it covered the assembly of Abiram.
- Numbers 26:10 And the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them along with Korah, whose followers died when the fire consumed 250 men. They serve as a warning sign.