Skip to content
Zakhor
The Bible · 38/54

Korah

The revolt against Moses and Aaron, and the confirmation of the priesthood.

Hebrew name
קֹרַח
Book
Numbers
Verses
Nb 16,1–18,32
Haftara
1 S 11,14–12,22

Korah contests authority in the name of equality for all — "the whole assembly is holy" — and the text does not prove him wrong on principle while condemning his maneuver. The rabbis drew from this the distinction between controversy conducted for the sake of truth and that conducted for the sake of power. Contradictory debate remains, in Jewish culture, a virtue; it is the motive that is judged.

Documented figures