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וישלח משה וגו׳ AND MOSES SENT [TO CALL DATHAN AND ABIRAM] — From here we may learn that one should not persist in strife (Midrash Tanchuma, Korach 10), for, you see, Moses sought them out in order to conciliate them by peaceful words (Sanhedrin 110a).

AND MOSES SENT TO CALL DATHAN AND ABIRAM. Now Dathan and Abiram were the instigators of this controversy as much as Korach was, as Scripture states, Now Korach took … and Dathan and Abiram … and they rose up in the face of Moses with certain of the children of Israel etc.,⁸⁴Above, Verses 1-2. meaning that they were the ones who roused them together against Moses and Aaron. Then Moses spoke [once] to Korach and to all his company,⁸⁰Verse 16. and furthermore said to him: thou and all thy company,⁸⁵Verse 11. for it was to him [Korach] that he spoke first, since he was the leader amongst them. Now amongst those that were gathered together were also the followers of Dathan and Abiram; therefore Moses wanted to speak to them also now, and to warn them about themselves and all those who were gathered together [with them], who were their company, and to appease them with good words, even comforting words⁸⁶Zechariah 1:13. to Israel, since his [earlier] words to Korach were a conciliation only to the Levites.
The meaning of the expression and Moses sent is that Dathan and Abiram had gone away from his presence whilst he was speaking to Korach [as stated in Verses 5-7], and afterwards it again says, And Moses said unto Korach [Verse 8], who was still standing before him there, or maybe since Korach was a Levite he stayed in the camp of the Levites near the tent of Moses.⁸⁷Accordingly, the speech of Moses to Korach, which is recorded in Verses 8-11, took place near Moses’ and Korach’s tents, and not near the Tent of Meeting. All this happened on the first day [of the rebellion], just as Moses said, thou and they, and Aaron tomorrow,⁸⁰Verse 16. — this being the “morning” he mentioned to them: In the ‘morning’ the Eternal will make it known who are His.⁸⁸Above, Verse 5.
It is possible that Dathan and Abiram, as princes of the congregation,⁵⁴Above, Verse 2. were more distinguished than On the son of Peleth,⁵⁴Above, Verse 2. and if they would have been won over to Moses, On would have followed their counsel; therefore Moses did not send for him. Thus On did not come, and was not present together with them [Dathan and Abiram], nor was he with Korach’s company; since he left him when Dathan and Abiram went away, while Moses was debating with Korach, and he never returned [to Korach’s company], because he changed his mind [after his original participation] on the advice of his wife who saved him, according to the words of our Rabbis.⁸⁹Sanhedrin 109b. She said to her husband: “What benefit will you have from this controversy? Either Moses remains master and you are his disciple, or Korach becomes master and you are his disciple!” For Scripture does not mention him [On] as one who was swallowed up [in the earth] together with Dathan and Abiram, nor was he among the company of those that gathered together against the Eternal⁹⁰See further, 27:3. who offered the incense, since there were two hundred and fifty men besides the four⁹¹I.e., Korach, Dathan, Abiram, and On the son of Peleth. Now since Scripture mentions these four men besides the two hundred and fifty (Verse 2), and the fire which burnt those who offered the incense, destroyed two hundred and fifty men (further, Verse 35), it follows that On must have been saved. The death of Korach, Dathan, and Abiram, however, is expressly mentioned separately (ibid., Verses 27, and 32-33). mentioned at first.

וישלח משה לקרא, Moses despatched a messenger to call, etc. Moses was clever in trying to speak to Datan and Aviram individually, not when all the rebels were together, hoping thereby to persuade them to adopt a more receptive attitude. He also hoped that the honour he paid them by inviting them individually might cause them to at least listen to what he had to say. The Torah uses the word משה although there was no need to tell us who invited Datan and Aviram. The Torah emphasised that these people received an invitation from the king for a private audience.

ויאמרו לא נעלה, to be judged by you or your court. The expression עליה occurs frequently in conjunction with going to a court, to a judge. We find it in Deuteronomy 25,7 ועלתה יבמתו השערה, “his (the deceased’s) widow shall go up to the judges to protest her brother-in-law’s refusal to marry her.” It also occurs in this sense in Judges 4,5 where Boaz is reported as going up to the court to settle the matter of who will marry Ruth.

וישלח משה לקרוא לדתן ואבירם, “Moses sent a messenger to summon Datan and Aviram, etc.” They were at the core of the entire dispute together with Korach, and up until now Moses had carried on a dialogue only with Korach. He had attempted to placate Korach, and was now ready to attempt to placate Datan and Aviram also. He did not summon Aun, son of Pelet, Nachmanides speculates that the reason that Moses did not invite Aun son of Pelet to a dialogue may have been that as a member of the tribe of Reuven, he presumed that Aun would automatically follow the lead of Datan and Aviram who were members of his tribe. If such illustrious men as Datan and Aviram would be reconciled with Moses, he, Aun, would of course follow suit. As it turned out, Aun was no longer with Datan and Aviram, neither did he come to debate with Moses as he had listened to the advice of his wife who had told him not to become a pawn in the hands of such demagogues as Datan and Aviram. Our sages derived this from the fact that when the death of Korach and Datan and Aviram is reported, the Torah never mentioned another word about Aun son of Pelet. Had he persisted in his opposition, surely he would have been enumerated as one of the victims of this rebellion. He clearly did not even belong to the 250 men who presented their incense or he would have died as a result of that. The reason that Moses had to send a messenger to summon Datan and Aviram was that they had gone away during the argument that Moses carried on with Korach. It is also possible that whereas Korach had been positioned in the camp of the Levites, not far from Moses’ own tent, Datan and Aviram being members of the tribe of Reuven, had remained within the confines of their own camp. This entire dialogue occurred on the first day, as the Torah said that G’d had said that on the following morning the issue would be put to the test.

ויאמרו לא נעלה, they said: “we will not go up.” The Tabernacle was on an elevated site in the desert. We find this construction again in verse 24 when the people are instructed to “go up and away from the area surrounding Korach”.

V. 12. וישלח וגו׳. Wir haben schon bemerkt, dass Datan und Abiram eine eigene Fraktion in dieser Verschwörung Korachs gebildet zu haben scheinen. Korachs Empörung galt zunächst Aharons Priesterstellung und nur indirekt, als deren Urquell und Stütze, der Autorität Mosche. Datan und Abiram waren aber direkt gegen Mosche aufgestanden und ihr Ziel war die Beseitigung der politischen Führerschaft Mosche. Die Feindschaft gegen Mosche — direkt oder indirekt — bildete den Kitt der beiden Fraktionen. Darum wollte Mosche Datan und Abiram besonders sprechen, sie aber erwiderten: לא נעלה. In diesem Ausdruck fassten sie mit beißender Ironie die ganze Gehässigkeit ihrer Gesinnung zusammen. שלח לקרא ל־ involviert keineswegs ein von einem Höhern ausgehendes diktatorisches "Vorladen". Es wird vielmehr zur Bezeichnung freundlichster "Einladungen" gebraucht (vergl. Kap. 22, 5. 20 u. 37; — Schmot 2, 20 u. 34, 15; — Sam. I. 16, 3; — Kön. I. 1, 19 und sonst). עלה ist aber nicht bloß das Hinaufgehen zu einem räumlich höher gelegenen Orte, sondern auch das Hingehen zu einer, der Bedeutung nach höheren Stelle, das Hingehen zu einem Höheren, insbesondere das Hingehen zum Gerichte, ועלתה יבמתו השערה. (Dewarim 25, 7); ובועז עלה השער (Ruth 4, 1). Mosche hatte sie in freundlichster Weise zu sich bitten lassen. Sie aber gaben der Einladung die Auffassung einer Vorladung und antworteten: wir kommen nicht hinauf zum "Herrn!" d. h. wir folgen seinem Befehle nicht, es ist eine Anmaßung von ihm, uns so von oben herab zu befehlen, zu ihm zu kommen, er hat nichts zu befehlen.

לא נעלה, “we will not go up [to face Moses]. This does not mean that Moses stood on an elevated platform, but is a standard expression when people are asked to appear before a judge or judges. Our author quotes Deuteronomy 25,7, as well as Judges 4,5, and Ruth 4,1, as proof of his interpretation. In each instance the verb עלה is used for people appearing at a court.

לא נעלה WE WILL NOT GO UP — Their mouth tripped them up (i.e. unwittingly they made mention of their fate) — that they would have only a “descent” (their words are taken to mean: we shall not be going up; we shall go down into the depths of the earth) (Midrash Tanchuma, Korach 6).

לא נעלה, “we will not go up.” Ibn Ezra writes that it is possible that the Tabernacle was located on a slight elevation outside the general encampment, or that the word “going up” is used in a spiritual sense, i.e. that anyone invited to meet with Moses at the entrance to the Tabernacle was automatically viewed as “ascending.”

לא נעלה; המעט כי העליתנו מארץ זבת חלב ודבש, "we will not go up; is it not enough that you have taken us away from a land flowing with milk and honey, etc.?" By saying לא נעלה, Datan and Aviram made it clear that seeing they did not consider Moses fit to be their leader, they also did not consider it an honour to be secluded with him in a private audience. They spurned any honour which emanated from Moses.

They justified their attitude vis-a-vis Moses by citing Moses' track record as a leader. They ridiculed what Moses had portrayed as an ascent from Egypt, saying: "is this what you call an ascent that you took us from a land flowing with milk and honey and now we are stuck in a desert, a place only fit to die? If this is your idea of an עליה, ascent, improvement in our lot, then no thank you, we do not want any part of it." They added כי תשתרר עלינו, "your sole purpose is to make yourself a prince over us." They did not even give Moses credit that his invitation was designed to provide them with a "soft landing," a face-saving opportunity to climb down from the limb they were on. By repeating the words גם השתרר, they added insult to injury claiming that Moses was not content with his status as leader prior to the Exodus, but that he wanted to consolidate his position. They hinted thereby that it suited Moses' purpose for the Israelites to remain in the desert for a long time as they were dependent upon him and this strengthened his positon as autocrat. We do know from Shemot Rabbah 5,23 that Moses' position as king was in effect only while the Jewish people were in the desert.