Comentario sobre Números 16:34

נסו לקולם [AND ALL ISRAEL …] FLED AWAY AT THEIR VOICE — i.e. on account of the sound that broke out because of their being swallowed up.

נסו לקולם, when they cried out at the time when they fell into the bowels of the earth. Compare Jeremiah 49,21 לקול נפלם רעשה ארץ, “the earth itself shook when it heard the sound of their downfall.”

נסו לקולם, “they fled when they heard their sound.” This appears to mean that as Korach and companions descended into the bowels of the earth they called out in repentance: “Moses is true and his Torah is true,” as our sages reported Rabbi bar Chanah as hearing over a site reputedly the point where all of this took place (Baba Batra 74). According to the report of the Talmud, an Arab guide took Rabbi bar Chanah to a site at which thin smoke emerged from the earth on top of two small cracks in the surface of the earth. The Arab placed some wet wool on top of the site, ignited it, and told the Rabbi to listen carefully. When Rabbi bar Chanah put his ear to it he could hear the confession of Korach that Moses and his Torah are true whereas he and his crowd were liars. According to that Arab this phenomenon could be observed every thirty days. This was a demonstration of the justice meted out in purgatory, i.e. to make the guilty confess their erstwhile sins.

The sound of [the earth swallowing them up]. Meaning: The sound emitted from the splitting of the earth; this is similar to the sound of thunder which terrifies people causing them to flee. However it was not the sound of their screams when they were swallowed up, because this is not a sound that causes one to flee. On the contrary, it would cause people to gather in order to see the wonder.

Fled from their uproar. Why does it say literally “to their uproar”? The Sages said (Sanhedrin 110a) that Korach and his congregation constantly exclaim that Moshe is true and his Torah is true, and they are deceivers. That exclamation was heard immediately after they were swallowed, and it was “to” that voice emanating from the place in which they were swallowed that “all of Yisroel fled” — to hear what they were saying. They thought that in all likelihood they were confessing about their sin, and they wanted to know what the main sin was, so they would know how to keep away from it and not suffer the same punishment. This is the meaning of what follows: For they said, perhaps the earth will swallow us.

נסו לקולם, “they fled when hearing their sounds”. This is a reference to the outcries of the people being swallowed by the earth. We know of a parallel in Jeremiah 49,21: מקול נפלם רעשה כל הארץ, “at the sound of their downfall the whole earth will shake.”