Midrash sobre Números 16:8

9 (Numb. 16:8) “So Moses said unto Korah, [‘Please listen, you Children of Levi]”: Do you have someone speaking with Joseph, who tells Simon to listen?¹⁹The midrash is concerned with the fact that Moses addresses the Children of Levi when speaking only to Korah. Some say that he wished him to reconsider. So he said gentle words to him. When he saw that he did not listen to him, he said (to himself), “Before others join with him, they should reconsider.” He began to urge them (in Numb. 16:8), “’Please listen, you Children of Levi,’ is the honor that you have too little.” [It is so stated] (in vs. 9) “Is it too small a thing for you […]?” He turned again to Korah (in vs. 10), “That he has had you approach Him and all your brother Levites along with you?” [It was] because he was the head person in the tribe, that his brothers had become an extension of himself. (Numb. 16:11,) “Therefore you and all your company have come together against the Lord.” This dissension which you are creating is not against us, but rather against the Holy One, blessed be He. It is comparable to a king who had a lot of slaves. He wanted to make one of them a freedman and give him a dominion.²⁰In imperial Rome the emperor’s freedmen were habitually given positions of power. He reconsidered and [even] made him [one of the] senators.²¹Sinqelitin: Gk.: syngkletoi. His companions rose up against him. If he had made himself a freedman and taken this dignity for himself, it would have been well for them to rise up against him. Now that his master has acted for him, when anyone rises against him, is not such a one rising up against his master? So also did Moses say to them, “If my brother Aaron had taken the priesthood for himself, it would have been well for you to murmur against him. [But since] the one who gave it to him was the Holy One, blessed be He, to whom belong royalty, high office and power, whenever someone rises against my brother Aaron, is he not taking sides against the Holy One, blessed be He?” It is therefore written (in Numb. 16:11), “and as for Aaron, what is he that you murmur against him?” Come and see the piety of Aaron the righteous! When Moses stood Aaron up and poured the anointing oil upon his head, Aaron trembled with fear. He said to him, “Moses my brother, perhaps I was not worthy to be anointed with the anointing oil; for I may have acted fraudulently and become liable to excision, since it is stated (in Exod. 30:32), ‘Upon human flesh it shall not be poured.’”²²Lev. R. 3:6; M. Pss. 133:1. Therefore, scripture testified about him (in Ps. 133:1-3), “See how good and pleasant it is […]! It is like the precious oil upon the head running down onto the beard, the beard of Aaron […]; Like the dew of Hermon….” [Scripture] has compared the anointing oil with the dew of Hermon. As the dew of Hermon has no [rules concerning] fraudulent use, neither does the anointing oil that was on the head of Aaron have [rules concerning] fraudulent use. It is therefore [written] (in Numb. 16:1), “[Therefore you and all your company] have come together against the Lord.” With all these words Moses [tried to] appease Korah, but you do not find that he gave him any answer. Because he was clever in his wickedness, he said [to himself], “If I answer him, I know that, since he has great wisdom, he will now overwhelm me with his words and seduce me into being reconciled with him against my will. It is [hence] better that I not respond to him.” When Moses saw that there was nothing to be gained with him, he withdrew from him.