Numbers 26:11

Summary

The verse states that the bene ("sons of", H1121G) Korah did not die, forming a brief clause that stands apart from the preceding account of Korah's fate. It affirms the survival of Korah's descendants specifically.

Key words

u. ("and", H9002) — the conjunction opens the verse, linking it to the prior narrative context (the account of the earth swallowing those associated with Korah's rebellion).

ve.nei- ("sons of", H1121G) — construct plural form of "son," meaning it must be followed by another noun to complete its sense ("sons of X"); here it links to Ko.rach.

Ko.rach ("Korah", H7141I) — a proper name identifying the person to whom the "sons" belong.

lo'- ("not", H3808) — a simple negation particle placed directly before the verb, negating the action that follows.

Me.tu ("they died", H4191) — qal perfect, third person plural, of the verb "to die." The perfect aspect marks this as a completed action; combined with the negation, it states that the dying did not occur for this group.

What the text says

The Hebrew clause is short and follows a straightforward subject-negation-verb structure: u-vene-Qorach ("and the sons of Korah") functions as the subject, followed by lo-metu ("did not die"). The construct chain bene Qorach ("sons of Korah") ties the plural noun "sons" (H1121G) directly to the proper name Korah (H7141I), producing a single compound subject rather than two separate ideas. The negation lo (H3808) precedes the verb metu (H4191) directly, which is standard Biblical Hebrew word order for negating a finite verb.

The verb metu is in the qal perfect, third person plural — a straightforward, unmodified report of a completed (or in this case, non-completed, due to the negation) action. There is no additional verbal stem (such as intensive or causative) that would suggest anything beyond the plain sense "they died" being denied.

Differences between versions

The Vulgate (VULCLEM) renders the clause differently in structure, embedding it in a purpose clause: "ut, Core pereunte, filii illius non perirent" ("so that, with Korah perishing, his sons would not perish"). This introduces the idea of Korah's own death ("Core pereunte") explicitly, which is not present as a separate finite verb in the Hebrew clause itself — the Hebrew only states that the sons did not die, without a parallel clause about Korah's own perishing within this verse. The LXX (οἱ δὲ υἱοὶ Κόρε οὐκ ἀπέθανον) follows the Hebrew structure closely, stating "the sons of Korah did not die," matching the Hebrew subject-negation-verb pattern. The BSB translation "the line of Korah did not die out" interprets bene ("sons", H1121G) as "line" (i.e., lineage) rather than a literal plural "sons," and also merges the verse with the start of the next section heading ("The Tribe of Simeon"), which is not part of the Hebrew verse itself.