## Midrash Tanchuma Buber, Korach

###### Midrash Tanchuma Buber, Korach 2:1
[Midrash Tanchuma Buber, Korach 2:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Midrash%20Tanchuma%20Buber/s/Korach/r/2:1)

[ד"א] ויקח. אין ויקח אלא לשון משיכת דברים רכים, שמשך כל גדולי ישראל והסנהדראות אחריו, במשה כתיב ויקח משה ואהרן את האנשים האלה וגו' (במדבר א יז), וכן כתיב קח את אהרן ואת בניו וגו' (שם כ כה), הוי ויקח קרח, שבדברים רכים משך לבם.

**Midrash Tanhuma, S. Buber Recension; trans. by John T. Townsend, 1989.:**
Another interpretation (of Numb. 16:1): NOW KORAH … TOOK.³ TOOK can only be a word for "attracting with persuasive words," in that he attracted all the leaders of Israel and the sanhedria to follow after him.⁴., Numb.5:1, cont.; Numb. R. 18:2. Concerning Moses it is written (in Numb. 1:17): SO MOSES AND AARON TOOK THESE MEN…. And similarly it is written (in Numb. 20:25): TAKE AARON AND HIS SON ELEAZAR…. Ergo (in Numb. 16:1) NOW KORAH … TOOK, in that he drew (i.e., took) their hearts with persuasive words.

footnotes:
³ In this and some of the following sections, the midrash is explaining the fact that the transitive verb, TOOK, has no object. Biblical translations offer solutions such as translating the verb intransitively, e.g., BETOOK HIMSELF, or by supplying an object, e.g., TOOK MEN.
⁴ Tanh