Datan and Aviram

(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—

(4) ודתן ואבירם AND DATHAN AND ABIRAM — Because the tribe of Reuben had their place, when they encamped, in the South, thus being neighbours of Kohath and his sons, who, too, encamped in the South (cf. Numbers 3:29), they (the Reubenites) joined Korah in his quarrel. “Woe to the wicked, woe to his neighbour!”

(12) Moses sent for Dathan and Abiram, sons of Eliab; but they said, “We will not come!(13) Is it not enough that you brought us from a land flowing with milk and honey to have us die in the wilderness, that you would also lord it over us?

(1) וישלח משה וגו׳ AND MOSES SENT [TO CALL DATHAN AND ABIRAM] — From here we may learn that one should not persist in strife (Midrash Tanchuma, Korach 10), for, you see, Moses sought them out in order to conciliate them by peaceful words (Sanhedrin 110a).

(25) Moses rose and went to Dathan and Abiram, the elders of Israel following him.(26) He addressed the community, saying, “Move away from the tents of these wicked men and touch nothing that belongs to them, lest you be wiped out for all their sins.”(27) So they withdrew from about the abodes of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. Now Dathan and Abiram had come out and they stood at the entrance of their tents, with their wives, their children, and their little ones.

(1) ויקם משה AND MOSES ROSE UP [AND WENT UNTO DATHAN AND ABIRAM] — He still believed that they would show respect to him (defer to him if he personally appealed to them), but they did not do so, (and therefore he then addressed himself to all the congregation — cf. next verse) (Midrash Tanchuma, Korach 8).

Moses said, “In as much as they did not want to come [to me], I shall go to them. Perhaps they will be ashamed and repent.” It is so stated (in Numb. 16:25), “Then Moses arose and went unto Dathan and Abiram.” When they saw him they began to curse and blaspheme, as stated (in vs. 27), “and Dathan and Abiram came out standing (rt.: ntsb).”

(1) יצאו נצבים [AND DATHAN AND ABIRAM] CAME OUT, STATIONING THEMSELVES [AT THE ENTRANCE OF THEIR TENT] — The word נצבים suggests that they stood with erect stature in a challenging attitude, ready to revile and to curse. The phrase is similar in meaning to (I Samuel 17:16) “And he stationed himself (ויתיצב) there for forty days”, which occurs in the story of Goliath (Midrash Tanchuma, Korach 3).

....“and Dathan and Abiram came out standing (rt.: ntsb).” Does one go out sitting, kneeling, or lying prostrate? It is simply [that it is to teach] that they went out cursing and blaspheming. As going out and standing upright (rt.: ytsb) is mentioned here, and going out and standing upright (rt.: ntsb) is [also] mentioned in reference to Goliath the Philistine, where it is written (in I Sam. 17:4, 16), “And there went out a champion [….] Then the Philistine drew near at dawn and in the evening, and he took his stand (rt.: ytsb) for forty days.” Just as going out and standing upright (rt.: ntsb) involved cursing and blaspheming in that case, so also in this case did going out and standing upright (rt.: ntsb) involve cursing and blaspheming.

(13) When he went out the next day, he found two Hebrews fighting; so he said to the offender, “Why do you strike your fellow?”(14) He retorted, “Who made you chief and ruler over us? Do you mean to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?” Moses was frightened, and thought: Then the matter is known!

(15) When Pharaoh learned of the matter, he sought to kill Moses; but Moses fled from Pharaoh. He arrived in the land of Midian, and sat down beside a well.

(1) וישמע פרעה AND PHARAOH HEARD IT — they (Dathan and Abiram) slandered (denounced) him (Exodus Rabbah 1:31).

...anything that you can blame on those wicked men, blame (them)

...this is Dasan and Aviram

They said this They left over the Manna.

They said 'Let us appoint a leader, and let us return to Egypt

They rebelled at the Yam Suf

They encountered Moshe and Aron standing to meet them as they left Pharaoh’s presence

(1) ויפגעו AND THEY MET — men of Israel met — את משה ואהרן וגו׳ MOSES AND AARON etc.; Our Rabbis explained that wherever it speaks of people “quarelling” (2:13; cf. Rashi on that verse) or “standing” these were Dathan and Abiram about whom it is stated (Numbers 16:27) “[And Dathan and Abiram] came out standing” (Nedarim 64b).

(22) and the Israelites went into the sea on dry ground, the waters forming a wall for them on their right and on their left.

(29) But the Israelites had marched through the sea on dry ground, the waters forming a wall for them on their right and on their left.

...The lowest possible plural is two, to state that because of only two people, the sea split – they were Datan and Aviram, about whom Our Rabbis say, that they remained (in Egypt) and the sea split only for them

(3) Pharaoh will say to (about) the Israelites, “They are astray in the land; the wilderness has closed in on them.”

(3) And Pharoh said to Dathan and Abiram, sons of Israel, who had remained in Mizraim

(13) And the taskmasters pressed them, saying, “You must complete the same work assignment each day as when you had straw.”(14) And the foremen of the Israelites, whom Pharaoh’s taskmasters had set over them, were beaten....

...They sacrificed themselves at the hands of the taskmasters and said; it is better for us to get beaten rather than the rest of the people. Therefore when Hashem said to Moshe ‘Gather for me 70 men’ Moshe said to Hashem; ‘How will I know who is appropriate?’ He said ‘the elders and the officers who sacrificed themselves and were beaten up in Egypt’……From here you can learn that anyone who dedicates himself for the sake of Israel merits honour, glory (and prophecy….)

(9) The sons of Eliab were Nemuel, and Dathan and Abiram. These are the same Dathan and Abiram, chosen in the assembly, who agitated against Moses and Aaron as part of Korah’s band when they agitated against the LORD.(10) Whereupon the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up with Korah—when that band died, when the fire consumed the two hundred and fifty men—and they became an example.(11) The sons of Korah, however, did not die.

(2) I believe that the reason the Torah recalls what these brothers had done was to inform us that they had been the cause of Korach's rebellion. It was G'd's wish to publicise the names of the wicked people who had orchestrated the evil in question. By writing אשר הצו, the Torah stresses that these two incited others both against Moses and Aaron as well as against G'd. Rashi explains the verse in the same sense. Once we have heard that these two caused the whole Israelite community to sin, it is quite possible to blame them also for having incited Korach. Although the Torah wrote (Numbers 16,1) "Korach took, etc.," which sounds as if Korach had initiated whatever he did, this may have occurred after something the brothers Datan and Aviram had already done, and that they had incited him. When the Torah repeats here once more what it had written in Numbers 16,32 that "the earth opened its mouth and it swallowed them and Korach," it may be that these two were the root cause why Korach and family were swallowed by the earth and why the 250 men who offered incense were burned to death at the time. The Torah also suggests here that but for the two demagogues Datan and Aviram the Israelites who had gathered threateningly against Moses and Aaron would have done תשובה.

(6) and what He did to Dathan and Abiram, sons of Eliab son of Reuben, when the earth opened her mouth and swallowed them, along with their households, their tents, and every living thing in their train, from amidst all Israel—

...Moshe did not mention what happened to Korach et al

“Dathan” is one who violated the precepts [dat] of God. “Abiram” is one who braced [iber] himself from repenting.

ונשיהם ובניהם וטפם AND THEIR WIVES, AND THEIR SONS, AND THEIR LITTLE ONES — Come and see how grievous a sin dissension is: for an earthly tribunal (more lit., a tribunal of here below) does not punish a person before he shows signs of puberty, the heavenly tribunal (more lit., the tribunal of above) not even before he is twenty years old, while here even the sucklings perished (Midrash Tanchuma, Korach 3).

(19) And Moses said to them, “Let no one leave any of it over until morning.”(20) But they paid no attention to Moses; some of them left of it until morning, and it became infested with maggots and stank. And Moses was angry with them.

(1) "And the waters will came back and cover the chariot and the horsemen" (Exodus 14:26) And even Par'oh, according to Rabi Yehuda, as it says "the chariots of Phar'oh and his army" (15:4). Rabi Natan says Par'oh was the exception, since we have this verse about him: "maybe for this I made you stand up"(Exodus 9:16). And there are those who say that at the end Par'oh went down and drowned, as it says "and the horse of Par'oh came" (Exodus 15:19). "And the children of Israel went into the sea in dry ground" - the angels of service were astounded, saying: 'the children of Israel, idolaters that they are, are coming on dry land?!' And from where do we know that even the sea was filled with rage from Above? Because the text says "and the waters were like rage to them" [since the vav is missing to the word chomah, wall, it can be read as chema, rage; so you can re-read the verse as "the water was like anger on their right and on their left"]. And what caused them to be saved from their right and their left? From the right, it was Torah, which they would receive later on, as it says "From His right, [He gave] a fiery law to them". And left? This is tefilin.