זאת עשו קחו לכם מחתות. מָה רָאָה לוֹמַר לָהֶם כָּךְ? אָמַר לָהֶם, בְּדַרְכֵי הַגּוֹיִם יֵשׁ נִימוּסִים הַרְבֵּה וְכוּמָרִים הַרְבֵּה וְכֻלָם (אֵין) מִתְקַבְּצִים בְּבַיִת אֶחָד, אָנוּ אֵין לָנוּ אֶלָּא ה' אֶחָד, אָרוֹן אֶחָד, וְתוֹרָה אַחַת וּמִזְבֵּחַ אֶחָד וְכֹהֵן גָּדוֹל אֶחָד, וְאַתֶּם ר"ן אִישׁ מְבַקְּשִׁים כְּהֻנָּה גְדוֹלָה, אַף אֲנִי רוֹצֶה בְכָךְ, הֵא לָכֶם תַּשְׁמִישׁ חָבִיב מִכֹּל, הִיא הַקְּטֹרֶת הַחֲבִיבָה מִכָּל הַקָּרְבָּנוֹת, וְסַם הַמָּוֶת נִתַּן בְּתוֹכוֹ, שֶׁבּוֹ נִשְׂרְפוּ נָדָב וַאֲבִיהוּ, לְפִיכָךְ הִתְרָה בָהֶם והיה האיש אשר יבחר ה' הוא הקדש — כְּבָר הוּא בִקְדֻשָּׁתוֹ, וְכִי אֵין אָנוּ יוֹדְעִים שֶׁמִּי שֶׁיִּבְחַר הוּא הַקָּדוֹשׁ? אֶלָּא אָמַר לָהֶם מֹשֶׁה, הֲרֵינִי אוֹמֵר לָכֶם, שֶׁלֹּא תִּתְחַיְּבוּ, מִי שֶׁיִּבְחַר בוֹ יֵצֵא חַי וְכֻלְּכֶם אוֹבְדִין (תנחומא):
זאת עשו קחו לכם מחתות THIS DO: TAKE YOU CENSERS — What reason had he to speak to them thus? He said to them: according to the custom of the heathens there are numerous forms of divine worship, and consequently numerous priests, for they cannot assemble for worship in one temple; we, however, have One God, one Ark, one Law, one Altar, all constituting one form of worship and therefore we need but one High Priest; — and you, 250 men, all demand the High Priesthood?! I would like this myself, but events will prove that this is impossible. Here you have a rite which is dear to God more than any other — it is the offering of incense, which is even dearer to Him than all the sacrifices, but a deadly poison is contained in it, for through it Nadab and Abihu were burnt!” (cf. Leviticus 10:2). It was on this account that he warned them by saying, And it shall come to pass that the man whom the Lord will choose is the holy one — he is already in his state of holiness (not “he will become holy”; he thus warned them that there was not the slightest likelihood that they would be chosen). This must be the meaning of הוא הקדוש, not "he will become holy”, for do we not know that he whom He would choose would become holy? But this, in effect, is what Moses said to them: “I am telling you this in order that you may not imperil your lives, for only he whom He will choose will come out of this alive, but all of you will perish” (Midrash Tanchuma, Korach 5).
קחו לכם מחתות לא עלה בדעתו של משה שיסכימו בדבר שהרי ידוע שכל מקריבי קטרת זרה במיתה כמו שמצינו בנדב ואביהוא אלא כנגד שבאו הם על משה בדברי ריבות בא גם הוא בדברי ריבות.
קחו לכם מחתות, “take censers for yourselves.” It did not occur to Moses that these rebels would take him up on this, after all it was well known to all that anyone offering incense who had not been authorised to do so would die at the hands of G-d, as had even Aaron’s own two elder sons. Seeing that Korach challenged Moses with uncalled for accusations pulled out of thin air, Moses retaliated with equally ridiculous sounding answers, answers that he thought would be challenged instead of being taken seriously.