Numbers 16:40

To be a memorial unto the children of Israel, that no stranger, which is not of the seed of Aaron, come near to offer incense before the LORD; that he be not as Korah, and as his company: as the LORD said to him by the hand of Moses.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(40) To be a memorial unto the children of Israel.—The Apostle Jude warns Christians by the same example against the profanation of Divine ordinances (Numbers 16:11).

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

16:35-40 A fire went out from the Lord, and consumed the two hundred and fifty men that offered incense, while Aaron, who stood with them, was preserved alive. God is jealous of the honour of his own institutions, and will not have them invaded. The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord. The censers are devoted, and, as all devoted things, must be made serviceable to the glory of God. This covering of the altar would remind the children of Israel of this event, that others might hear and fear, and do no more presumptuously. They brought destruction on themselves both in body and soul. Thus all who break the law and neglect the gospel choose and love death.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

These sinners against their own souls - That is, "against their own lives." By their sin they had brought destruction upon themselves.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

39, 40. the brazen censers … made broad plates to be a memorial—The altar of burnt offerings, being made of wood and covered with brass, this additional covering of broad plates not only rendered it doubly secure against the fire, but served as a warning beacon to deter all from future invasions of the priesthood.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

As Korah, and as his company, i.e. that he do not imitate them in their sin, and therefore bring upon himself the same plague.

To him, i.e. to Eleazar. These words belong to Numbers 16:38; the meaning is, that Eleazar did as God bade him.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

To be a memorial unto the children of Israel,.... The whole body of them; this explains what is meant by sign, Numbers 16:38; that it was to put or keep in mind what follows:

that no stranger which is not of the seed of Aaron come near to offer incense before the Lord; not only any Gentile but any Israelite, and not any Israelite only, but any Levite; none but those of the family of Aaron might offer incense before the Lord:

that he be not as Korah and as his company; this makes it clear that Korah perished at this time, though it is nowhere expressed; and it seems pretty plain from hence that he perished by fire, as his company, the two hundred fifty men with censers, did:

as the Lord said unto him by the hand of Moses; either to Korah, who is the immediate antecedent, and who perished as the Lord had told him by Moses he should; so some understand it, mentioned by Aben Ezra and Jarchi; or else to Aaron, as they interpret it; and then the sense is, that none but those of Aaron's seed should offer incense, as the Lord had declared to him by Moses; see Numbers 3:10; or it may be rather to Eleazar, as Abendana, who did as the Lord spake to him by Moses, took up the censers of the men that were burnt, and got them beaten into broad plates, and covered the altar of burnt offering with them.

Geneva Study Bible

To be a memorial unto the children of Israel, that no stranger, which is not of the seed of Aaron, come near to offer incense before the LORD; that he be not as {q} Korah, and as his company: as the LORD said to him by the hand of Moses.

(q) Who presumed above his calling.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

40. which is not of the seed of Aaron] i.e. a priest, and not a Levite as Korah was (see note before Numbers 16:37).

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 40. - That he be not as Korah. וְלֹא־יִחְיֶח. That he do not meet with the same fate as Korah.

CHAPTER 16:41-50 THE PLAGUE BEGUN AND AVERTED (verses 41-50). Numbers 16:40

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

(Or Numbers 17:1-5). After the destruction of the sinners, the Lord commanded that Eleazar should take up the censers "from between the burning," i.e., from the midst of the men that had been burned, and scatter the fire (the burning coals in the pans) far away, that it might not be used any more. "For they (the censers) are holy;" that is to say, they had become holy through being brought before Jehovah (Numbers 16:39); and therefore, when the men who brought them were slain, they fell as banned articles to the Lord (Leviticus 27:28). "The censers of these sinners against their souls" (i.e., the men who have forfeited their lives through their sin: cf. Proverbs 20:2; Habakkuk 2:10), "let them make into broad plates for a covering to the altar" (of burnt-offering). Through this application of them they became a sign, or, according to Numbers 16:39, a memorial to all who drew near to the sanctuary, which was to remind them continually of this judgment of God, and warn the congregation of grasping at the priestly prerogatives. The words, יהיה ולא, in Numbers 16:40, introduce the predicate in the form of an apodosis to the subject, which is written absolutely, and consists of an entire sentence. היה with כּ signifies, "to experience the same fate as" another.