This verse returns without an explicit transition (except for the Hebrew waw conjunction rendered And) to the scene of the 250 rebels led by Korah. They were presumably somewhere in the vicinity of the Tent of Meeting, where they were offering their illegitimate incense to the LORD. The separation of this scene from the preceding one may have to be clarified in translation, at the very least by a new paragraph (so Good News Translation).

And fire came forth from the LORD: See 11.1. The Hebrew does not indicate that this event happened sequentially, after what was reported in verses 31-34. In fact, it would be plausible to begin this clause with “And fire had come forth….” There is no reason to begin with “Then” (Good News Translation). “Suddenly” (Contemporary English Version) is even worse. A good transitional expression here is “Meanwhile” (Chewa). It seems that the narrator wants to point out that the 250 chieftains with their censers and incense (verse 17) were punished by fire from heaven at approximately the same time that the earth was swallowing the families of Dathan and Abiram.

And consumed the two hundred and fifty men offering the incense: For the two hundred and fifty men, see verse 2; for incense see verse 7.

In some languages the following model of this verse may be another way to avoid the impression that this event happened sequentially:

• As for the 250 men who were offering the incense, the LORD sent a fire that burned them up.

Quoted with permission from de Regt, Lénart J. and Wendland, Ernst R. A Handbook on Numbers. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2016. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .