Image Details

Courtesy of the Studio in Old Jaffa, Israel

Flames engulf Korah and his followers, in this painting by Israeli artist Michael Meron. Shown sideways at upper left, the priest Korah challenges Moses and Aaron (in white) in the wilderness: “All the community are holy…Why then do you raise yourselves above the congregation?” (Numbers 16:3, quoted in Hebrew beneath the scene).

So Moses sets up a test: If the Lord accepts incense offered by Korah and his men, then they will be considered the holiest ones. But when the men set out their incense pans, they are swallowed by the earth (top center). Korah’s name (pronounced KORR-akh, with an aspirated h), in large Hebrew and English letters, frames related biblical passages, beginning with Numbers 16:32, 35: “And the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up…” In this way, the Israelites learn that only Aaron and the other Levites may offer incense to God, as depicted in the narrow strip near the bottom of the page. At bottom center appears Aaron’s flowering rod, which distinguishes him among all the Israelite tribal leaders.