And he spake unto Korah and unto all his company, saying, Even to morrow the LORD will shew who are his, and who is holy; and will cause him to come near unto him: even him whom he hath chosen will he cause to come near unto him.
He spake unto Korah, and unto all his company. They were first addressed, not only because, being a party headed by his own cousin, Moses might hope to have more influence in that quarter, but because they were stationed near the tabernacle, and especially because an expostulation was the more weighty, coming from him who was a Levite himself, and who was excluded, along with his family, from the priesthood. But to bring the matter to an issue he proposed a test, which would afford a decisive evidence of the divine appointment.
Even tomorrow, х boqer (H1242)] - 'in the morning,' the usual time of meeting in the East for the settlement of public affairs. [The Septuagint has epeskeptai, he has looked at or inspected; as if the text had been biqeer, to look at. But our version has doubtless adopted the proper rendering, which is confirmed by the synonymous word, maachaar (H4279), tomorrow, which is used in Numbers 16:7; Numbers 16:16 (see the note at 1 Samuel 11:5).]
Him whom he hath chosen ... to come near unto him - i:e., will bear attestation to his ministry by some visible or miraculous token of his approval. (These words are cited and applied generally by the apostle, 2 Timothy 2:19.)
Verse 6. Take you censers, Korah ... - i:e., since you aspire to the priesthood, then go, perform the highest function of the office, that of offering incense, and if you are accepted, well. How magnanimous the conduct of Moses, who was now as willing that God's people should be priests as formerly that they should be prophets! (Numbers 11:29.) But he warned them that they were making a perilous experiment.