Bible Strands
Numbers 16:33
They went down alive into Sheol with all they owned. The earth closed over them, and they vanished from the assembly.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrative recounts the immediate execution of judgment on Korah, his household, and all their followers following the ground’s opening. The event occurs in the wilderness camp as the surrounding Israelites react to the physical manifestation of divine wrath.
The words — וַ/יֵּ֨רְד֜וּ (va/i.Ye.re.Du) means "and they went down," paired with חַיִּ֖ים (chai.Yim) for "alive," marking their descent before death. וַ/תְּכַ֤ס (va./te.Khas) translates "and it covered," describing the earth’s final action over them.
The thread — The event is framed by Numbers 16:32, which records the earth swallowing them and their possessions, and Numbers 16:34, where nearby Israelites flee at their cries. The cited Psalms use pit and depth imagery for destruction or deliverance but do not mirror the specific detail of descending alive.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition that divine judgment operates through irreversible physical means rather than symbolic warning. It requires the reader to acknowledge the finality of the earth’s closing and the complete removal of the rebels from the community.
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
They, and all that appertained to them, went down alive into the pit, and the earth closed upon them: and they perished from among the congregation.
Cross-references
- Psalms 9:15 The nations have fallen into a pit of their making; their feet are caught in the net they have hidden.
- Psalms 55:23 But You, O God, will bring them down to the Pit of destruction; men of bloodshed and deceit will not live out half their days. But I will trust in You.
- Psalms 69:15 Do not let the floods engulf me or the depths swallow me up; let not the Pit close its mouth over me.
- Psalms 143:7 Answer me quickly, O LORD; my spirit fails. Do not hide Your face from me, or I will be like those who descend to the Pit.
- Isaiah 14:9 Sheol beneath is eager to meet you upon your arrival. It stirs the spirits of the dead to greet you—all the rulers of the earth. It makes all the kings of the nations rise from their thrones.
- Isaiah 14:15 But you will be brought down to Sheol, to the lowest depths of the Pit.
- Ezekiel 32:18 “Son of man, wail for the multitudes of Egypt, and consign her and the daughters of the mighty nations to the depths of the earth with those who descend to the Pit:
- Ezekiel 32:30 All the leaders of the north and all the Sidonians are there; they went down in disgrace with the slain, despite the terror of their might. They lie uncircumcised with those slain by the sword and bear their shame with those who descend to the Pit.
- Jude 1:11 Woe to them! They have traveled the path of Cain; they have rushed for profit into the error of Balaam; they have perished in Korah’s rebellion.