Numbers 16:34

At their cries, all the people of Israel who were around them fled, saying, “The earth may swallow us too!”

Berean Standard Bible

Study note

Setting — The text describes the Israelites surrounding Korah’s group at the moment the earth closes over them after they descend alive to Sheol. They flee in response to the sounds of the judgment.

The words — נָסוּ (nasu) means “they fled,” and סְבִיבֹתֵיהֶם (sevivotehem) refers to those “around them.” These terms anchor the verse in a physical reaction to the immediate event.

The thread — The imagery of fleeing divine judgment echoes Isaiah 33:3 and Zechariah 14:5, where peoples scatter before God’s voice or flee as they did from an earthquake. The reaction of the surrounding Israelites parallels their later declaration of being perishing and lost in Numbers 17:12.

Why it lands — The passage demands recognition that proximity to rebellion does not grant safety from divine execution. Readers must acknowledge that the threat of sudden judgment extends to all who witness it.

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

וְכָל־ve./kholand/ all יִשְׂרָאֵ֗לYis.ra.'ElIsrael אֲשֶׁ֛ר'a.Sherwhich סְבִיבֹתֵיהֶ֖םse.vi.vo.tei./Hem[was] around/ them נָ֣סוּNa.suthey fled לְקֹלָ֑םle./ko.La/mto/ voice/ their כִּ֣יkifor אָֽמְר֔וּ'a.me.Ruthey said פֶּן־pen-lest תִּבְלָעֵ֖נוּtiv.la.'E./nuit should swallow/ us הָאָֽרֶץ׃ha./'A.retzthe/ earth

King James Version

And all Israel that were round about them fled at the cry of them: for they said, Lest the earth swallow us up also.

Cross-references

Numbers 17:12 Then the Israelites declared to Moses, “Look, we are perishing! We are lost; we are all lost!
Isaiah 33:3 The peoples flee the thunder of Your voice; the nations scatter when You rise.
Zechariah 14:5 You will flee by My mountain valley, for it will extend to Azal. You will flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the LORD my God will come, and all the holy ones with Him.
Revelation 6:15 Then the kings of the earth, the nobles, the commanders, the rich, the mighty, and every slave and free man hid in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains.