Now Korah the son of Izhar, son of Kohath, son of Levi …: An appropriate discourse marker will be needed to begin this new story. Revised Standard Version uses the adverb Now, and New Living Translation has “One day.” Korah was the first son of Izhar (Exo 6.21), and Izhar was the second son of Kohath (see 3.19), and Kohath was the second son of Levi (see 3.17). Kohath’s oldest son was Amram (see 3.19), who was the father of Aaron and Moses (Exo 6.20). So Korah was a cousin of Moses and Aaron. His close relationship to Moses and Aaron might have led Korah to feel that he had a right to contest their authority. Good News Translation begins verses 1-2 with “Korah son of Izhar, from the Levite clan of Kohath,” which indicates that Kohath was one of the clans of the tribe of Levi, but in this translation it is no longer clear that Korah was related closely to Moses and Aaron.

And Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab, and On the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben: Dathan, Abiram, and Eliab were members of “the tribe of Reuben” (Good News Translation). New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh says they were “descendants of Reuben.” On is not mentioned again after this verse (or indeed anywhere else in the Old Testament); perhaps he withdrew from the revolt.

Took men is literally “he [Korah] took” (yiqqach in Hebrew from the verb laqach). The Hebrew does not specify who or what was taken. Gane (page 633) has suggested that the lack of an object here is an intentional literary strategy to get the reader/listener thinking about what Korah wanted to take, which we find later in this passage is the censer of Aaron that represents his high priestly function. To avoid the problem in translation, a different meaning of the Hebrew verb here, or even a different verb, is sometimes assumed. So New International Version has “became insolent” (similarly Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, Budd), a reading suggested by Origen. The Arabic verb waqacha does indeed mean “be insolent, behave in an impudent manner,” but there is really no basis for such an interpretation of the Hebrew verb laqach in the Old Testament. Levine (page 411) proposes that the implied object of this verb is “counsel,” comparing its meaning with the Akkadian verb leqû, which means “take, grasp, learn.” Levine begins verse 1 with “Korah … took counsel, along with Dathan and….” So it seems more plausible to treat this verb as introducing further action, meaning “began,” “determined,” or “decided.” The early medieval Jewish grammarian Jonah ibn Janah gave this explanation (mentioned in Rashbam’s commentary). New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh gives it this sense by beginning verses 1-2 with “1 Now Korah, son of Izhar son of Kohath son of Levi, betook himself, along with Dathan and Abiram sons of Eliab, and On son of Peleth—descendants of Reuben—2 to rise up against Moses….” Although the Hebrew verb for took is singular, referring to Korah as the leader, it can have the four men as its plural subject (see the comments below).

And they rose up before Moses: The Hebrew verb for rose up is plural, referring to the four men. Rose up before Moses is better rendered “confronted Moses” (New Revised Standard Version) or “rebelled against Moses” (NET Bible). Good News Translation makes the reason for the rebellion explicit by saying “rebelled against the leadership of Moses.”

With a number of the people of Israel, two hundred and fifty leaders of the congregation: 250 Israelite leaders joined with these four men in their rebellion against Moses. The Hebrew word rendered leaders is nasiʾ (see the comments on 1.16). This term refers to a prominent and distinguished leader, for example, a much respected sheikh of a tribe. So leaders seems a rather flat translation. A better rendering is “chiefs” (Revised English Bible) or “chieftains” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh). The Hebrew word for congregation (ʿedah) is better translated “community” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh), as in 1.2 (see the comments there).

Chosen from the assembly means these 250 chieftains were chosen by their fellow Israelites. The Hebrew word for assembly (moʿed) is also used in the phrase “tent of meeting” (see 1.1). Here it refers to the community of the people assembled in one place.

Well-known men is literally “men of name.” These 250 leaders were “men of repute” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh), “men of good standing” (Revised English Bible) in the community. So men with a high status in the community also took part in the rebellion.

Who of all the men in verses 1-2 took the initiative to rebel? In Good News Translation it is only Korah who took the initiative. Good News Translation says “Korah … was joined by three members of the tribe of Reuben … and by 250 other Israelites.” Subsequent verses refer to “Korah and his/your company,” which seems to indicate that Korah was, in fact, their leader or the primary instigator in some sense (see verses 5, 6, 11, 16). But Revised Standard Version follows the Hebrew of verses 1-2 more closely by saying that Korah and the three Reubenites were acting together from the start.

New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh follows the Hebrew sentence structure of verses 1-2 closely as follows:

• 1 Now Korah, son of Izhar son of Kohath son of Levi, betook himself, along with Dathan and Abiram sons of Eliab, and On son of Peleth—descendants of Reuben—2 to rise up against Moses, together with two hundred and fifty Israelites, chieftains of the community, chosen in the assembly, men of repute.

Following our comments above, this translation could be reworded as follows:

• 1 Now Korah, son of Izhar son of Kohath son of Levi, along with Dathan and Abiram sons of Eliab, and On son of Peleth—descendants of Reuben—determined/decided 2 to rebel against Moses. They were joined by two hundred and fifty other Israelites, chieftains of the community, chosen in the assembly, men of repute.

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 .