5 - The Rhetoric of Fear

Summary

This chapter is a reading of the Korah episode (Numbers 16–17). An initial, hierocratic version is linked to a revision of the census in Numbers 1–4 that disenfranchises the Levites by framing their role as service to Aaron, as though he were a king. The Korah episode is designed to discourage dissent, as Korah and 250 laypeople object to the use of holiness to centralize power with Aaron, and complaint is framed as rebellion. Moses does not teach here but manipulates, using rhetorical techniques characteristic of the sophists in order to underwrite Aaron’s power play. Fear of death and disgust are used rhetorically to dissuade readers from even associating with the likes of Korah. This version is still political allegory, as Aaron is Joshua ben Jehozadak, who takes over Zerubbabel’s role in Zechariah with support from Transjordanian Tobiads. Aaron’s addition to the second rock-water episode is also treated here. The section of Numbers 16 that deals with the Reubenites is read as a revision to the Korah episode that rejects the inclusion of Transjordan in the promised land because it has a competing sanctuary. Moses’s character is also rehabilitated here.