Comentario sobre Números 16:5

בקר וידע וגו׳ TOMORROW THE LORD WILL MAKE KNOWN [WHO ARE HIS] — “Now (this hour of the day)” — he meant — “is a time of excessive drinking, and it is therefore not proper to appear before Him”. But his real intention in postponing the matter was that perhaps they might repent (abandon their opposition) (Midrash Tanchuma, Korach 5).

IN THE MORNING THE ETERNAL WILL MAKE KNOWN WHO ARE HIS — “for the Levitical service. AND WHO IS HOLY — for the priesthood.” This is Rashi’s language. He has explained it well; and the verse is thus stating that G-d will make it known if the Levites are His, just as it is said, and the Levites shall be Mine,⁴²Above, 8:14. or whether the firstborns are still His, just as it is said, for all the firstborn are Mine,⁴³Ibid., 3:13. so that He will not exchange them for the Levites. And who is holy, this refers to the priests who are sanctified for the Divine Service, just as it is said, and Aaron was separated, that he should be sanctified as most holy.⁴⁴I Chronicles 23:13. [He mentioned the Levites] because Korach, in [his attempt] to rally all the people to his side, contested also the [position of the] Levites, and tried to restore the entire service [of the offerings] to the firstborns. And then when these firstborns were burnt up,⁴⁵Further, Verse 35. it became clear that G-d did not choose them for the service, but when Aaron’s [burning of the] incense was accepted, it became known that he is the holy one [selected for the priesthood].

וידבר אל קרח ואל כל עדתו, he informed them that he was sensitive to the trumped up nature of their charges and the rebellious nature of their complaints.

בוקר ויודע ה' את אשר לו, “in the morning Hashem will make known the one who is His own, etc.” Moses referred to the fact that clear proof would be forthcoming if the Levites were performing their service with G’d’s consent or if the firstborn were still acceptable to Him as the ones chosen to represent the people as His servants in the Tabernacle. He would prove by the rejection of the 250 people offering incense that when G’d had said in Numbers 3,12 and 8,14 that the Levites had been chosen by Him, that it was not Moses who had chosen to replace the firstborn. In adding the words: ואת הקדוש והקריב אליו, “and who is holy, and He will draw him close to Himself,” Moses referred to Aaron’s position as High Priest. It is also possible that Moses meant that the firstborn must not consider themselves as having been rejected by G’d as we know from Numbers 3,13 and 8,17 כי לי כל בכור בבני ישראל, “for every firstborn among the Children of Israel has a special relationship to Me, etc.” On the other hand, the קדוש, “the priests,” would be confirmed as such by an act of Hashem on the morrow. It is their task to perform service in the Tabernacle/Temple as we read in Chronicles I 23,13 ויבדל אהרן להקדיש קודש קדשים הוא ובניו עד עולם, “Aaron and his sons were sanctified for the Holy of Holies, he and his sons throughout the generations.”

This is a time when we are intoxicated. They were [not actually drunk, but were] engaged in this dispute all day, therefore he said “This is a time when we are intoxicated.” Similarly we find written (Yeshayohu 51:21), “Intoxicated but not from wine.” We learn from here that even if one has not drunk he can be called “intoxicated.” Rashi had a further question: Why did Moshe not settle his own mind? Therefore he answers that “his intention was…”

בקר וידע ה׳ את אשר לו, "In the morning G'd will make known who is His, etc." The reason Moses said that the proof would come on the morrow and he did not offer to provide the proof immediately may either have been due to the fact that the incense offered every afternoon had already been offered on that day, or it may have been so that they could not accuse him of having chosen a time of day when G'd is not particularly well disposed towards the people. According to the Zohar second volume page 39 the late afternoon is a time when the attribute of Justice is in the ascendancy. In addition, Moses may have wanted to give Korach and associates time to reflect on the enormity of their challenge so that they could desist and repent before dawn. Our sages in Bamidbar Rabbah 18,7 suggest additional reasons why Moses delayed until the next morning.

V. 5. בקר .וידבר וגו׳ בקר וגו׳, nicht מחר: morgen, sondern Morgen, d. h. es soll erst der heutige Tag und die Nacht vorübergehen. Da die Entscheidung sich nur an den Empörern und durch deren Untergang bezeugen sollte, so sollte ihnen Zeit zur Besinnung gegeben sein, insbesondere in der Ruhe und Zurückgezogenheit der Nacht, wo jeder mehr auf den Umgang mit den Seinen und dem eigenen Innern gewiesen und dem Einflusse verführender Genossen entzogen ist. Zugleich wollte Mosche die Zeit zu ermahnenden Vorstellungen an die Verirrten benutzen, wie der Verfolg zeigt. In der Tat fehlt auch im Momente der Entscheidung On, den nach der Überlieferung seine Frau von weiterer Teilnahme an der Empörung zurückhielt, und ebenso ermannten sich noch im Momente der Katastrophe die Söhne Korachs zum Besseren und blieben von dem den Vater ereilenden Untergange gerettet. ויודע ד׳ את אשר לו, Gott wird kund tun, wer der Seine, d. h. wer sein Werkzeug, sein Bote und Diener ist; es ist dies die Beglaubigung Mosche, ואת הקדוש והקריב אליו und wer, wenn auch nicht absolut heilig, doch der Heilige, d. h. so heilig ist, dass Gott ihn der Bestimmung würdigt, in Vertretung des Volkes in die Nähe Gottes hintreten zu dürfen und zu sollen. Es ist die Beglaubigung Aharons. Jenes ist die Widerlegung der irrigen Folgerung aus der wahren Tatsache, dass בתוכם ד׳. Dieses die Wiederlegung der irrigen Folgerung aus der irrigen Behauptung, dass כל העדה כולם קדשים.

'בקר וידע ה את אשר לו TOMORROW THE LORD WILL MAKE KNOWN WHO ARE TO BE HIS for the Levitical service,

EVEN HIM WHOM HE HATH CHOSEN WILL HE CAUSE TO COME NEAR UNTO HIM. The meaning of this repetition [since the first half of this verse already says, and who is holy, He will cause him to come near unto Him] is that [at first Moses said] the Eternal will make known who are His, and who is holy, and will cause him to come near unto Him tomorrow, and He will have regard for his offering,⁴⁶See Genesis 4:4. whereas He will not turn to the others and to their offerings. Even him whom He hath chosen forever to stand to minister before Him, him and his seed forever,⁴⁷See Deuteronomy 18:5. will He cause to come near unto Him tomorrow. Thus he is saying that this test will be a proof to them throughout their generations not to contest [the rights of] him who is chosen, nor those of his seed forever.
Now Rabbeinu Chananel⁴⁸See (Exodus), Vol. II, p. 106, Note 45, for a brief biography of this great Rabbinic scholar. See also (Leviticus), Vol. III, p. 324, Note 286. wrote that all these people who assembled [against Moses] were Levites, of the same tribe as Korach, this being the reason for the expressions [by Moses]: ye take too much upon you, ‘ye sons of Levi;’⁴⁹Further, Verse 7. Hear now, ‘ye sons of Levi.’⁵⁰Ibid., Verse 8. Perhaps they thought that their whole tribe had been chosen for the priesthood, and that it was Moses of his own accord who gave the honor to his brother. Thus far [are the words of Rabbeinu Chananel]. But G-d forbid that there should be in the tribe of the ministers of our G-d two hundred and fifty men¹⁴Verse 2. — of the most distinguished [of the people], and princes — who were sons of rebellion,⁵¹Ibid., 17:25. rejecting their leader, the greatest of their tribe, and murmuring against G-d! And [furthermore], if these [rebels] were only of that tribe [of Levi, as Rabbeinu Chananel wrote], then all the tribes of Israel would not have murmured on the next day [after the rebels were killed] saying: ‘Ye have killed the people of the Eternal,’⁵²Ibid., Verse 6. since not one of their own tribe died, [and those who did die were] only of Moses’ and Aaron’s tribe. Similarly the sign of the rod⁵³Ibid., Verses 16-24. Each tribe had to deposit a rod with its name written on it in the Tent of Meeting, before the ark of the Testimony, and Moses placed another rod there with Aaron’s name written on it. G-d promised that he would make the rod of the one who was chosen bud miraculously. Thus the fact that each tribe had to put a rod there shows that the controversy embraced them all. also proves that the controversy embraced all tribes of Israel. In addition, Scripture expressly states, [and they rose up in the face of Moses,] with certain men ‘of the children of Israel,’⁵⁴Above, Verse 2. in order to point out that the men were from all the tribes, not only from the two tribes [previously] mentioned [Reuben and Levi]. But the reason why [Moses said] ye take too much upon you, ‘ye sons of Levi’⁴⁹Further, Verse 7. is that Korach won the tribes over to his side [by persuading them] that it was because of their honor that he wanted to restore the service [of the offerings] to their firstborns, as he said, seeing all the congregation are holy.⁵⁵Ibid., Verse 3. But Moses in his wisdom laid bare the hidden motives of Korach’s heart to the whole people, namely that he was only protesting because of his own [failure to attain the] priesthood; therefore Moses said to him that he had sufficient [honor] in the honor bestowed upon his tribe, for “you have enough honor, you sons of Levi.” Then Moses continued and said, Hear now, ye sons of Levi.⁵⁰Ibid., Verse 8. [This he said] to Korach their leader — as is shown by [the first part of] that verse, And Moses said unto Korach⁵⁰Ibid., Verse 8. — but he included in his words all the Levites, since Moses in his wisdom spoke conciliatory words to Korach and all his tribe, so that none of them should be drawn after him.
Now it was Moses himself who thought of this procedure, and chose the burning of incense [as the test to show who was suitable for the priesthood] rather than any of the other offerings, because he had already seen in the case of Nadab and Abihu that when they offered strange incense before the Eternal they were burnt.⁵⁶Leviticus 10:1-2. Therefore he permitted Aaron to burn the incense, because of the special needs of the time,⁵⁷See Exodus 30:9 (Vol. II, p. 509) that all offerings of incense are forbidden as “strange” incense, except for those especially prescribed [e.g., the daily offering of incense]. In times of emergency and special need, however, such as when the overall authority of the Torah is at stake, it is permitted to suspend temporarily the operation of a particular law or prohibition, and it was this power which Moses now made use of when he allowed Aaron to offer up this non-prescribed incense. Or it may be, as Ramban continues, that this test took place at the Service of the Morning Whole-offering, which included the burning of incense, so that there is no need to say that Moses resorted to special emergency powers. or maybe it was the [daily] incense of the morning which he used to burn when he kindled⁵⁸In the Tur: when he “dressed” the lamps. See Vol. II, pp. 472-474, for an explanation of the Service done in connection with the lamps at the daily Morning Service. See also my Hebrew commentary here, p. 257. the lamps, according to the ordinance, and Moses trusted that G-d confirmeth the word of His servant, and performeth the counsel of His messengers.⁵⁹Isaiah 44:26.
And some scholars⁶⁰So quoted by Ibn Ezra in Verse 4. say that [the meaning of the verse], And when Moses heard it, he fell upon his face,⁶¹Above Verse 4. is [that he did so] in order to inquire of G-d to know what to do, and then he was told, In the morning the Eternal will make known etc.;⁶²Verse 5 before us. According to this interpretation, the test of incense was declared by G-d, as is implied in Moses’ falling on his face to ask for Divine guidance, and the verse only tells us what G-d told him to do when mentioning Moses’ speech to Korach and all his company. but it is mentioned only in Moses’ account to the people. I have already shown you⁶³See e.g., Vol. II, pp. 101, 111. that in many places Scripture will sometimes deal at length with the account of G-d’s communication to Moses, but mention [the matter] in brief in Moses’ narration thereof, and at other times it does the opposite. At other instances [still] it does not mention one of the communications at all, such as in the story of the children of Gad and the children of Reuben, where Scripture tells the event [only] with respect to Moses himself [that he gave them the land east of the Jordan as a conditional inheritance], and [this whole matter] was [in fact] done by the commandment of the Eternal, as they said, As the Eternal hath said unto thy servants, so will we do.⁶⁴Further, 32:31. And in [the Book of] Joshua it is written, [And the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half-tribe of Menasheh returned … to go] unto the land of Gilead, to the land of their possession, whereof they were possessed, ‘according to the commandment of the Eternal by the hand of Moses’.⁶⁵Joshua 22:9. And if we say that [Moses in fact gave these lands to the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Menasheh on his own authority, and the above-mentioned verse which says that it was done according to the commandment of the Eternal] refers to G-d’s [subsequent] agreement to Moses’ action, similar to that which it says, This is the Land wherein ye shall receive inheritance by lot, which the Eternal hath commanded to give unto the nine tribes, and to the half-tribe,⁶⁶Further, 34:13. The verse thus indicates that G-d agreed that the nine and a half tribes should take their inheritance west of the Jordan, and therefore that the remaining two and a half tribes should take the land Moses gave them on the east side of the Jordan. in which case this would be one of the occasions when Moses acted of his own accord and the Holy One, blessed be He, [later] approved his decision⁶⁷In Shabbath 87a, the Talmud mentions three occasions when Moses acted on his own authority and G-d subsequently approved his decisions. Ramban is thus saying here: “In case one should suggest that Moses’ decision to grant the lands east of the Jordan as an inheritance to the two and a half tribes was in reality his own decision, which was subsequently approved by G-d — this hypothesis cannot be correct because etc.,” as Ramban continues. — See also at the end of Seder Naso where Ramban cites cases, where man’s opinion coincided with that on High. There is a marked difference though between the cases of Moses and those mentioned above. Moses according to tradition acted on his own reasoning, and G-d subsequently approved. In the cases mentioned above [such as in the section about the impure people on Passover, etc.] inquiry was first made for Divine guidance, and it happened that the opinion of those seeking guidance coincided with that on High. — [this cannot be so because] it is not right [to say] that Moses would have done anything in connection with the division of the Land without [Divine] permission. For [in dividing the Land] he did everything at the command of G-d, as it is written, [And the Lord spoke unto Moses saying:] Unto these the Land shall be divided etc.⁶⁸Further, 26:53. The verse saying And the Eternal spoke unto Moses clearly indicates that he acted originally on Divine instruction.
My own opinion in this matter [of Moses’ command to Korach and his company to take censers and burn incense], and in that which he said to Aaron [during the outbreak of the plague], Take thy fire-pan, and put fire therein from off the altar, and lay incense thereon⁶⁹Ibid., 17:11. is that the hand of the Eternal was upon him⁷⁰See Ezekiel 37:1. in these matters, and it is this which is called Ruach Hakodesh,⁷¹Literally: “The Holy Spirit.” See in Moreh Nebuchim, II, Chapter 45, beginning: “the second degree of prophecy.” See also further, Seder Balak Note 63, and Ramban ibid. as happened with the books of David and Solomon which were written by Ruach Hakodesh,⁷²Such is also the opinion of Rambam in his Moreh Nebuchim II, 45. and as David said, The spirit of the Eternal spoke by me, and His word was upon my tongue.⁷³II Samuel 23:2. For Moses our teacher was trusted in all His house,⁷⁴See above, 12:7. and I have explained the matter of “the house”⁷⁵Ibid., Verse 6. and mentioned it many times;⁷⁶See e.g. Exodus 32:19. but since this was not in the usual course of Moses’ prophecy, Scripture did not mention G-d’s communication to him about these matters.
Now I have seen in Onkelos’ translation that every time the word k’toreth (incense) appears in this section, he rendered it in his language [Aramaic also] as k’toreth and he did not translate it [as he does in all other places] as k’toreth busmin (aromatic incense), as he usually does.⁷⁷See e.g. Onkelos ibid. 30:8. — But note, however, that in our versions of Onkelos, the word k’toreth in this section is translated as k’toreth busmin (aromatic incense). In the opinion of the author of Minei Targima (Rabbi Yeshayah Pick), Ramban’s version of the text of Onkelos here is the correct one, and later copyists mistakenly amended the text. See my Hebrew commentary, p. 258. From this it would appear that he was of the opinion that this was not the aromatic incense used in the Sanctuary [i.e., Tabernacle], but it [consisted of] frankincense and similar ingredients which he [Moses] made them burn for the test. Onkelos translated likewise in the case of Aaron’s sons [Nadab and Abihu, who burnt the strange incense, for there too he did not render the Hebrew k’toreth as he usually does: k’toreth busmin, but as k’toreth].⁷⁸Leviticus 10:1. In our version of Onkelos, again, the text there is k’toreth busmin (aromatic incense), which in the opinion of the author of Minei Targima is likewise a copyist’s mistake. But in the opinion of our Rabbis⁷⁹Tanchuma Korach 5. it was the sacred incense, and this is the correct interpretation. Perhaps Onkelos [agrees that this was the sacred incense, but he] did not want to praise the incense by adding thereto the word busmin (aromatics), except when it [the incense] was used in performance of the [daily] commandment [to burn incense].

את אשר לו, who was the one who spoke sincerely in honour of G’d (did not mouth pious sounding phrases only)

ואת אשר יבחר בו יקריב אליו, “and the one whom He will choose, He will draw near to Him.” Nachmanides, pointing out that Moses said twice in the same verse that G’d would bring near to Him the one He had chosen, draws our attention to the fact that whereas the first time he added ואת הקדוש, “and the one who is holy,” sees in this a hint that the former refers to G’d’s accepting the incense offering of Aaron on the morrow while rejecting that of the 250 men The second time the words אשר יבחר בו refers to the status of the priests, descendants of Aaron, throughout the ages. The addition of the word מחר, “tomorrow,” in verse 7 means that this demonstration would occur only once and would settle the dispute once and for all. No other challenge would arise against the validity of the priests’ position. Ibn Ezra explains the words ויודע ה' את אשר לו as referring to the tribe that G’d had selected, i.e. the tribe of Levi. This was the answer to Datan and Aviram as well as to the dignitaries who also happened to be firstborns. He feels that all the people who had assembled in this rebellious demonstration were from the tribe of Levi hence the word הקדוש was meant to single out who amongst all these Levites was the one chosen to be the High Priest. Ibn Ezra uses the fact that Moses specifically addressed the members of the tribe of Levi, asking them if they had not already been honoured sufficiently that they now demanded even greater honours to support his explanation. Nachmanides writes that if, as Ibn Ezra claims, all the people ganging up on Moses and Aaron had been members of the tribe of Levi, how can we explain that on the day after Korach and supporters went down into the earth that all the tribes accused Moses of killing G’d’s people, and all of them presented their staffs to the test which staff would produce blossoms, etc.? As to Moses having said to the Levites רב לכם בני לוי, “it is much for you, offspring of Levi,” this reflects that Moses was aware that Korach was trying to fool the people into believing that he was a champion of the firstborns of each tribe who had been deprived of the privilege to perform service in the Tabernacle through the Levites having replaced them. This is why he had prefaced his incitement with the words כי כל העדה כולם קדושים, “for the entire Jewish community are holy.” Moses was intelligent enough to realize that Korach’s target was the priesthood, and Aaron, Moses’ brother being the High Priest, He hinted that if that were not so, it was strange that Korach, a member of the tribe of Levi, had not objected at the time when all the members of his tribe had been elevated to a privileged status. Korach had gladly accepted his elevation to a superior status, thereby contradicting his claim that all the Israelites were equally holy, seeing that Hashem had revealed Himself to all of them at Mount Sinai. This is why the Torah reports in verse 8 that now, instead of speaking to Korach and his rabble, he spoke to Korach in his capacity as their leader, when the latter did not have to posture in front of his cohorts. Moses, in his attempt to calm the situation and to bring about a פיוס, reconciliation, made his remarks to Korach part of his general remarks to the assembled rebels, instead of taking Korach aside, so that these people would become aware of Korach’s duping them into believing that he was championing their cause, and would not follow in his footsteps. Moses, personally, believed that his approach would work, and that is why he chose the offering of incense by lay Israelites as the litmus test rather than the offering of some other sacrifice. He thought that the fact that if even Aaron’s son Nadav and Avihu had died when offering unauthorized incense, surely that reminder would act as a brake on the eagerness of these 250 men when called upon to present incense in grounds not consecrated for such an offering. He permitted Aaron to participate in this test, basing his ruling on the concept of הוראת שעה, an immediate emergency. [We know that Aaron was specifically called upon to perform during such emergencies in Numbers 17,11-13 when Moses also demonstrated that incense was not necessarily what killed the people, but the reverse. Ed.] It is possible, however, that the time frame chosen by Moses for this test was when Aaron would offer the daily incense offering in the Tabernacle. Moses was confident that Hashem would support the initiative of His prophet on this occasion, although he had not yet asked for special permission to deviate from halachic norms. Personally, I do not think that Aaron’s offering of his morning incense could have played a part in this, seeing that the daily incense offering was presented on the golden altar inside the Sanctuary, a location beyond the view of anyone outside, seeing the Tabernacle did not even have any windows. Some commentators believe that the line וישמע משה ויפול על פניו, (verse 4) is the Torah’s way of describing how Moses turned to G’d to receive guidance as to how to deal with this rebellion. In response to Moses’ quest, Hashem answered that He would demonstrate on the following morning who were those chosen by Him and who were not. This would not be the only instance in which the Torah is very succinct, saving the details for another occasion. Sometimes we are told what G’d told Moses to tell the people, and the Torah hardly mentions that Moses conveyed the whole message. On other occasions we become aware of all that G’d had told Moses only when the Torah reports Moses as delivering G’d’s message to them. I have noticed that Onkelos who has translated the word קטורת in other places in the Torah as קטורת בוסמין, i.e. as קטורת הסמים, omits the word בוסמין, fagrances, when translating the word קטורת in our portion. [Our versions of Onkelos do not bear this out; maybe Nachmanides had a different version of Onkelos. Ed.] According to that version of Onkelos, he may have felt that the incense these 250 men were asked to offer in the test consisted only of לבונה, frankincense, and thus did not constitute the kind of affront with probably lethal consequences that the arrogant rebels subjected themselves to. Onkelos, according to that version, also understood the “incense” offered by Nadav and Avihu to have been of this variety. [Note that according to the Torah their capital sin was to bring אש זרה, man-made fire, on their censers. Nowhere does the Torah mention that the incense was what caused their death. Ed.]

For the Levite services. For the Torah writes about them (Bamidbar 8:14), “The Levites shall be Mine.” You might ask: Surely they were only disputing the service of the kehunah? The answer is that Moshe said [to himself] as follows: If I tell them [that Hashem will make known the one who is] holy for the kehunah, when they see that they have no way of disputing the kehunah they will dispute the Levite service. This would have been fitting, given that they were firstborn and the Levites had replaced them. Therefore Rashi explains …

את אשר לו ואת הקדוש, "who is His and who is holy, etc." Why did Moses have to repeat this statement (although he changed the wording somewhat)? The Zohar says that the words אשר לו refer to the status of the Levites, whereas the word קדוש refers to the status of the priesthood. If so, we must still understand why Moses had to mention the Levites altogether seeing that Korach had only challenged the appointment of the priests. If you consider that I have explained that Korach took the elders of Reuven in order to buttress his arguments that Moses had ignored the privileges due to people of seniority, we can understand that Korach had argued that the privileges of seniority should be restored to the members of the tribe of Reuven. In that event Moses also had to defend the appointment of the Levites to their respective positions.

ואת אשר יבחר בו וגו׳ spricht die Art und Weise aus, wie diese Entscheidung sich kund tun werde. Gott wird einen erwählen und ihn als den bezeichnen, der zu Ihm, in seine Nähe, hintreten dürfe und solle, und damit wird die ganze Frage nach allen Seiten entschieden sein. Es wird sich entscheiden, ob jeder, oder nur ein von Gott Bestimmter, und zwar wer Gott als כהן nahen dürfe und solle. Und wenn dies derselbe ist, den bereits Mosche im Namen Gottes als den zum Priestertum ausschließlich Erwählten verkündet hat, so wird damit zugleich die Wahrhaftigkeit der Sendung Mosche überhaupt sich erhärten. Und zwar wird diese Erwählung also sich äußern. Der Erwählte wird derjenige sein, den Gott zu sich hinantreten lässt, dessen Hinantreten Er duldet. Darin liegt unausgesprochen von selbst die Warnung, dass das Hinantreten der Nichterwählten von Gott nicht werde geduldet werden, und die Bezeugung ihrer Verwerfung leicht verhängnisvoll für sie werden könne.

ואת הקדוש AND HIM WHO IS HOLY enough for the priesthood,

ואת הקדוש והקריב אליו, He, G’d, Himself will make it plain who is entitled and worthy to offer sacrifices in His honour.

Them [close] to him. This is the meaning of the verse: In the morning Hashem will make known “who is His” for the [Levite] service, as the Torah states “the Levites shall be Mine” (Bamidbar 8:14). Also, “who is holy” for the kehunah, as it states “Aharon was separated and consecrated as the holy of holies” (Divrei Hayamim I 23:13). Accordingly the phrase “bring close to Him” has no subject, therefore Rashi adds the word “them.” How was this to be done? Let all the two hundred and fifty men who were seeking the kehunah come close “and offer the incense before Him.” The word "before Him" (לפניו) has the same meaning as the word "to him" (אליו) in the phrase “bring close to Him.” Thus the word “to Him” has the sense of “before Him.” In this way, He will determine who is holy, and everyone will know that Aharon is holy for the kehunah when his incense is accepted. [They will also know that] the Levites are fit for the Levite service when all those who offer the incense are burned up, among them being Korach who was a Levite and was still burned up. Thus the complaint of the Levites will be nullified. The Targum proves this point given that the first אליו ("to him") he translated as “before him” and the second as “into his service.” The second אליו ("to him") that appears in the verse must refer to the service of the kehunah. Re’m

We must also try and understand why Moses repeated that G'd would bring close to Him the one whom He considered holy, i.e. ואת הקדש הקריב אליו, ואת אשר יבחר יקריב אליו. Perhaps we can understand this by analysing the nature of Korach's complaints. Firstly, he claimed that Aaron was not specifically suited to be High Priest seeing there were people more qualified than he. Secondly, Korach argued that even if he granted Aaron's qualifications to be High Priest, there were others equally qualified to perform the sacrificial service with him. Why should he enjoy an exclusive? Concerning the argument that there were people better qualified than Aaron, Moses said את אשר לו, that G'd would demonstrate whom He had chosen, i.e. who had been designated for this task since creation. We have a parallel situation in Jeremiah 1,5 where G'd told Jeremiah that He had selected him for his task already before he was born. The words ואת הקדש mean that after having come into the world Aaron had sanctified himself in order to be worthy to occupy the position for which he had been destined. Moses carefully chose the expression והקריב to make it plain that Aaron had already been divinely approved and that G'd had seen fit to make His שכינה come to rest on him. Concerning the claim that others were just as worthy as Aaron to perform the service in the Tabernacle, Moses said ואת אשר יבחר בו יקריב אליו, "if G'd chooses anyone in addition He will bring him close to Him, i.e. they too will be allowed to enter the Tabernacle, etc."

והקריב AND HE WILL BRING them אליו UNTO HIM. The Targum proves that this is so (i.e. that Scripture alludes to two different matters), for it renders the first phrase by “He will bring near to Him”, and the second by “He will bring near to His service”. — A Midrashic explanation of the word בקר (instead of the more usual מחר) is the following: Moses said to him (Korah): “The Holy One, blessed be He, has assigned bounds in His world; can you, perhaps, change the morning into evening? Just as little, will you be able to make this (Aaron’s appointment as High Priest) of none effect, — as indeed it states, (Genesis 1:5) “and it was evening and it was morning… (Genesis 1:4) “and God separated (ויבדל) [light from darkness]”; and in the same sense (that the separation should be of a permanent character) it states, (I Chronicles 23:13) “and Aaron was separated (ויבדל) that he should be sanctified [as most holy … to minister unto him]” (Midrash Tanchuma, Korach 5).

ואת אשר יבחר בו יקריב אליו, only the worthy person G’d will select from all those taking part in this commotion. The meaning is reflected in G’d saying later to Moses: הבדלו מתוך העדה, “separate yourselves from among this congregation” (verse 21)