Numbers 16:45

“Get away from this congregation so that I may consume them in an instant.” And Moses and Aaron fell facedown.

Berean Standard Bible

Study note

Setting — The Lord speaks to Moses concerning the rebellious congregation, commanding immediate separation before judgment falls. Moses and Aaron respond by falling facedown upon hearing the declaration.

The words — The Hebrew הֵרֹ֗מּוּ (he.Ro.mu) literally means “get away,” and כְּ/רָ֑גַע (ke./Ra.ga') translates to “like a moment,” marking the command for swift withdrawal and imminent execution.

The thread — The directive to separate from the congregation appears at Numbers 16:21, 16:24, and 16:26. The narrative proceeds to Numbers 16:46, where Moses instructs Aaron to carry a censer and incense to halt the plague.

Why it lands — The verse documents the required posture of submission when divine judgment is declared and the procedural shift toward mediated atonement. It establishes that separation precedes intervention and that intercession follows, not replaces, the execution of 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

הֵרֹ֗מּוּhe.Ro.muget away מִתּוֹךְ֙mi./toKhfrom/ among הָעֵדָ֣הha./'e.Dahthe/ congregation הַזֹּ֔אתha./Zot<the>/ this וַאֲכַלֶּ֥הva./'a.kha.Lehso/ I may make an end of אֹתָ֖ם'o.Ta/m<obj.>/ them כְּרָ֑גַעke./Ra.ga'like/ a moment וַֽיִּפְּל֖וּva/i.yi.pe.Luand/ they fell עַל־'al-on פְּנֵיהֶֽם׃pe.nei./Hemfaces/ their

King James Version

Get you up from among this congregation, that I may consume them as in a moment. And they fell upon their faces.

Cross-references

Numbers 16:21 “Separate yourselves from this congregation so that I may consume them in an instant.”
Numbers 16:24 “Tell the congregation to move away from the dwellings of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.”
Numbers 16:26 And he warned the congregation, “Move away now from the tents of these wicked men. Do not touch anything that belongs to them, or you will be swept away because of all their sins.”
Numbers 20:6 Then Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly to the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. They fell facedown, and the glory of the LORD appeared to them.
1 Chronicles 21:16 When David lifted up his eyes and saw the angel of the LORD standing between heaven and earth, with a drawn sword in his hand stretched out over Jerusalem, David and the elders, clothed in sackcloth, fell facedown.
Matthew 26:39 Going a little farther, He fell facedown and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me. Yet not as I will, but as You will.”