Wednesday, April 6, 2022

The name Korah comes from the Hebrew קרח (qoraḥ), where it is the name of the eldest son of Izhar and a descendant of Levi in Exodus 6:21–24). The name comes from the Hebrew adjective קרח (qërëaḥ), meaning "to be bald," as in Leviticus 13:40 or 2 Kings 2:23, and the corresponding Hebrew verb קרח (qāraḥ), meaning "to make bald, shave one's head," whether as the result of physical exertion (Ezekiel 29:18), for ritual reasons (Leviticus 21:5), or in the context of mourning and death (Ezekiel 27:31; Jeremiah 16:6). This association with the dead is fitting since, as leader of a rebellion against Moses, Korah and his family and followers were said to have been swallowed up alive into Sheol according to Numbers 16:32–33: "The earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, along with their households—everyone who belonged to Korah and all their goods. So they with all that belonged to them went down alive into Sheol; the earth closed over them, and they perished from the midst of the assembly."