Numbers 16:3
New International Version
They came as a group to oppose Moses and Aaron and said to them, “You have gone too far! The whole community is holy, every one of them, and the LORD is with them. Why then do you set yourselves above the LORD’s assembly?”

New Living Translation
They united against Moses and Aaron and said, “You have gone too far! The whole community of Israel has been set apart by the LORD, and he is with all of us. What right do you have to act as though you are greater than the rest of the LORD’s people?”

English Standard Version
They assembled themselves together against Moses and against Aaron and said to them, “You have gone too far! For all in the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the LORD is among them. Why then do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the LORD?”

Berean Standard Bible
They came together against Moses and Aaron and told them, “You have taken too much upon yourselves! For everyone in the entire congregation is holy, and the LORD is in their midst. Why then do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the LORD?”

King James Bible
And they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron, and said unto them, Ye take too much upon you, seeing all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the LORD is among them: wherefore then lift ye up yourselves above the congregation of the LORD?

New King James Version
They gathered together against Moses and Aaron, and said to them, “You take too much upon yourselves, for all the congregation is holy, every one of them, and the LORD is among them. Why then do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the LORD?”

New American Standard Bible
They assembled together against Moses and Aaron, and said to them, “You have gone far enough! For all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the LORD is in their midst; so why do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the LORD?”

NASB 1995
They assembled together against Moses and Aaron, and said to them, “You have gone far enough, for all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the LORD is in their midst; so why do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the LORD?”

NASB 1977
And they assembled together against Moses and Aaron, and said to them, “You have gone far enough, for all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the LORD is in their midst; so why do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the LORD?”

Legacy Standard Bible
Then they assembled together against Moses and Aaron, and said to them, “You have gone far enough, for all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and Yahweh is in their midst; so why do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of Yahweh?”

Amplified Bible
They assembled together against Moses and Aaron, and said to them, “You have gone far enough, for all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the LORD is among them. Why then do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the LORD?”

Christian Standard Bible
They came together against Moses and Aaron and told them, “You have gone too far! Everyone in the entire community is holy, and the LORD is among them. Why then do you exalt yourselves above the LORD’s assembly? ”

Holman Christian Standard Bible
They came together against Moses and Aaron and told them, “You have gone too far! Everyone in the entire community is holy, and the LORD is among them. Why then do you exalt yourselves above the LORD’s assembly?”

American Standard Version
and they assembled themselves together against Moses and against Aaron, and said unto them, Ye take too much upon you, seeing all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and Jehovah is among them: wherefore then lift ye up yourselves above the assembly of Jehovah?

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
And they assembled with Moshe and with Ahron and they said to them: “Is it not enough for you that all of the assembly are holy ones and LORD JEHOVAH is among them, but you will be lifted up above all of the assembly of LORD JEHOVAH?”

Brenton Septuagint Translation
They rose up against Moses and Aaron, and said, Let it be enough for you that all the congregation are holy, and the Lord is among them; and why do ye set up yourselves against the congregation of the Lord?

Contemporary English Version
and Aaron and said, "Why do you think you're so much better than everyone else? We're part of the LORD's holy people, and he's with all of us. What makes you think you're the only ones in charge?"

Douay-Rheims Bible
And when they had stood up against Moses and Aaron, they said: Let it be enough for you, that all the multitude consisteth of holy ones, and the Lord is among them: Why lift you up yourselves above the people of the Lord?

English Revised Version
and they assembled themselves together against Moses and against Aaron, and said unto them, Ye take too much upon you, seeing all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the LORD is among them: wherefore then lift ye up yourselves above the assembly of the LORD?

GOD'S WORD® Translation
They came together to confront Moses and Aaron and said to them, "You've gone far enough! Everyone in the whole community is holy, and the LORD is among them. Why do you set yourselves above the LORD's assembly?"

Good News Translation
They assembled before Moses and Aaron and said to them, "You have gone too far! All the members of the community belong to the LORD, and the LORD is with all of us. Why, then, Moses, do you set yourself above the LORD's community?"

International Standard Version
They gathered together against Moses and Aaron and told them, "You have appropriated too much for yourselves from the entire congregation, since all of them are holy, and the LORD is among them, too. Why do you exalt yourselves over the LORD's assembly?"

JPS Tanakh 1917
and they assembled themselves together against Moses and against Aaron, and said unto them: 'Ye take too much upon you, seeing all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the LORD is among them; wherefore then lift ye up yourselves above the assembly of the LORD?'

Literal Standard Version
and they are assembled against Moses and against Aaron, and say to them, “Enough of you! For all the congregation—all of them [are] holy, and YHWH [is] in their midst; and why do you lift yourselves up above the assembly of YHWH?”

Majority Standard Bible
They came together against Moses and Aaron and told them, “You have taken too much upon yourselves! For everyone in the entire congregation is holy, and the LORD is in their midst. Why then do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the LORD?”

New American Bible
Holding an assembly against Moses and Aaron, they said, “You go too far! The whole community, all of them, are holy; the LORD is in their midst. Why then should you set yourselves over the LORD’s assembly?”

NET Bible
And they assembled against Moses and Aaron, saying to them, "You take too much upon yourselves, seeing that the whole community is holy, every one of them, and the LORD is among them. Why then do you exalt yourselves above the community of the LORD?"

New Revised Standard Version
They assembled against Moses and against Aaron, and said to them, “You have gone too far! All the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the LORD is among them. So why then do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the LORD?”

New Heart English Bible
and they assembled themselves together against Moses and against Aaron, and said to them, "You take too much on yourself, since all the congregation are holy, everyone of them, and the LORD is among them: why then lift yourselves up above the assembly of the LORD?"

Webster's Bible Translation
And they assembled themselves against Moses and against Aaron, and said to them, Ye take too much upon you, seeing all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the LORD is among them: why then do ye raise yourselves above the congregation of the LORD?

World English Bible
They assembled themselves together against Moses and against Aaron, and said to them, “You take too much on yourself, since all the congregation are holy, everyone of them, and Yahweh is among them! Why do you lift yourselves up above Yahweh’s assembly?”

Young's Literal Translation
and they are assembled against Moses and against Aaron, and say unto them, 'Enough of you! for all the company -- all of them are holy, and in their midst is Jehovah; and wherefore do ye lift yourselves up above the assembly of Jehovah?'

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Korah's Rebellion
2a rebellion against Moses, along with 250 men of Israel renowned as leaders of the congregation and representatives in the assembly. 3They came together against Moses and Aaron and told them, “You have taken too much upon yourselves! For everyone in the entire congregation is holy, and the LORD is in their midst. Why then do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the LORD?” 4When Moses heard this, he fell facedown.…

Cross References
Numbers 5:3
You must send away male and female alike; send them outside the camp so they will not defile their camp, where I dwell among them."

Numbers 12:2
"Does the LORD speak only through Moses?" they said. "Does He not also speak through us?" And the LORD heard this.

Numbers 16:7
and tomorrow you are to place fire and incense in them in the presence of the LORD. Then the man the LORD chooses will be the one who is holy. It is you sons of Levi who have taken too much upon yourselves!"

Numbers 16:41
The next day the whole congregation of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron, saying, "You have killed the LORD's people!"

Psalm 106:16
In the camp they envied Moses, as well as Aaron, the holy one of the LORD.


Treasury of Scripture

And they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron, and said to them, You take too much on you, seeing all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the LORD is among them: why then lift you up yourselves above the congregation of the LORD?

gathered

Numbers 16:11
For which cause both thou and all thy company are gathered together against the LORD: and what is Aaron, that ye murmur against him?

Numbers 12:1,2
And Miriam and Aaron spake against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married: for he had married an Ethiopian woman…

Numbers 14:1-4
And all the congregation lifted up their voice, and cried; and the people wept that night…

ye take too much upon you.

Exodus 19:6
And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.

Ezra 9:2
For they have taken of their daughters for themselves, and for their sons: so that the holy seed have mingled themselves with the people of those lands: yea, the hand of the princes and rulers hath been chief in this trespass.

Isaiah 1:11-16
To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith the LORD: I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats…

the Lord

Numbers 14:14
And they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land: for they have heard that thou LORD art among this people, that thou LORD art seen face to face, and that thy cloud standeth over them, and that thou goest before them, by day time in a pillar of a cloud, and in a pillar of fire by night.

Numbers 35:34
Defile not therefore the land which ye shall inhabit, wherein I dwell: for I the LORD dwell among the children of Israel.

Exodus 29:45,46
And I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will be their God…

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Numbers 16
1. The rebellion of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram
23. Moses separates the people from the rebels' tents
31. The earth swallows up Korah, and a fire consumes others
36. The censers are reserved to holy use
41. 14,700 are slain by a plague, for murmuring against Moses and Aaron
46. Aaron by incense stays the plague














(3) Ye take too much upon you . . . --Or, enough for you (comp. Gen. 14:28), i.e., you have held the priesthood and the government long enough; or, Let it be enough for you to be numbered amongst the holy people without usurping dominion over them. It is evident from the whole tenour of the address that Korah laid claim to a universal priesthood on behalf of the people, designing probably to secure the chief place in that priesthood for himself.

Verse 3. - They gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron. They had risen up before Moses, i.e., made a tumult in his presence, because they regarded him (and rightly) as the actual ruler of Israel in religious as well as in secular matters. At the same time, the attack of Korah and his company (with whom alone the narrative is really concerned here) was directed especially against the ecclesiastical rule which Moses exercised through his brother Aaron. Ye take too much upon you. רַב־לָכֶם, "much for you," probably in the sense of "enough for you" (cf. the use of רַב in Genesis 45:28), i.e., you have enjoyed power long enough; so the Targum Palestine. It may, however, be taken with the following כִּי as meaning, "let it suffice you that all the congregation," etc.; and so the Septuagint, ἐχέτω ὑμῖν ὅτι, κ.τ.λ. The Targum of Onkelos renders it in the same sense as the A.V. All the congregation are holy, every one of them. This was perfectly true, m a sense. There was a sanctity which pertained to Israel as a nation, in which all its members shared as distinguished from the nations around (Exodus 19:6; Leviticus 20:26); there was a priesthood which was inherent in all the sons of Israel, older and more indelible than that which was conferred on Aaron's line - a priesthood which, apart from special restrictions, or in exceptional circumstances, might and did assert itself in priestly acts (Exodus 24:5, and compare the cases of Samuel, Elijah, and others who offered sacrifice during the failure of the appointed priesthood). It Moses had taken the power to himself, or it he had (as they doubtless supposed) restricted active priestly functions to Aaron because he was his brother, and wholly under his influence, their contention would have been quite right. They erred, as most violent men do, not because they asserted what was false, but because they took for granted that the truth which they asserted was really inconsistent with the claims which they assailed. The congregation were all holy; the sons of Israel were all priests; that was true - but it was also true that by Divine command Israel could only exercise his corporate priesthood outwardly through the one family which God had set apart for that purpose. The same God who has lodged in the body certain faculties and powers for the benefit of the body, has decreed that those faculties and powers can only be exercised through certain determinate organs, the very specialization of which is both condition and result of a high organization. The congregation of the Lord. There are two words for congregation in this verse: קָהָל here, and עֵדָה before. The former seems to be used in the more solemn sense, but they are for the most part indistinguishable, and certainly cannot be assigned to different authors.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
They came together
וַיִּֽקָּהֲל֞וּ (way·yiq·qā·hă·lū)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Nifal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine plural
Strong's 6950: To gather as an assembly or congregation

against
עַל־ (‘al-)
Preposition
Strong's 5921: Above, over, upon, against

Moses
מֹשֶׁ֣ה (mō·šeh)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 4872: Moses -- a great Israelite leader, prophet and lawgiver

and
וְעַֽל־ (wə·‘al-)
Conjunctive waw | Preposition
Strong's 5921: Above, over, upon, against

Aaron
אַהֲרֹ֗ן (’a·hă·rōn)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 175: Aaron -- an elder brother of Moses

and told them,
וַיֹּאמְר֣וּ (way·yō·mə·rū)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine plural
Strong's 559: To utter, say

“You have gone too far!
רַב־ (raḇ-)
Adverb
Strong's 7227: Much, many, great

Everyone
כָל־ (ḵāl)
Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 3605: The whole, all, any, every

in the entire
כֻּלָּ֣ם (kul·lām)
Noun - masculine singular construct | third person masculine plural
Strong's 3605: The whole, all, any, every

congregation
הָֽעֵדָה֙ (hā·‘ê·ḏāh)
Article | Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 5712: A stated assemblage

is holy,
קְדֹשִׁ֔ים (qə·ḏō·šîm)
Adjective - masculine plural
Strong's 6918: Sacred, God, an angel, a saint, a sanctuary

and the LORD
יְהוָ֑ה (Yah·weh)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 3068: LORD -- the proper name of the God of Israel

is in their midst.
וּבְתוֹכָ֖ם (ū·ḇə·ṯō·w·ḵām)
Conjunctive waw, Preposition-b | Noun - masculine singular construct | third person masculine plural
Strong's 8432: A bisection, the centre

Why
וּמַדּ֥וּעַ (ū·mad·dū·a‘)
Conjunctive waw | Interrogative
Strong's 4069: Why? for what reason?

then do you exalt
תִּֽתְנַשְּׂא֖וּ (tiṯ·naś·śə·’ū)
Verb - Hitpael - Imperfect - second person masculine plural
Strong's 5375: To lift, carry, take

yourselves above
עַל־ (‘al-)
Preposition
Strong's 5921: Above, over, upon, against

the assembly
קְהַ֥ל (qə·hal)
Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 6951: Assembly, convocation, congregation

of the LORD?”
יְהוָֽה׃ (Yah·weh)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 3068: LORD -- the proper name of the God of Israel


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OT Law: Numbers 16:3 And they assembled themselves together against Moses (Nu Num.)
Numbers 16:2
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