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Person · Tribe of Reuben

Dathan

Man living at the time of Egypt and Wilderness

Dathan, a Reubenite, joined Korah's rebellion against Moses and Aaron and was punished by God.

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Dathan, along with his brother Abiram, was a descendant of Reuben who joined Korah, a Levite, in rebelling against the authority of Moses and Aaron (Num.16.1). When Moses summoned Dathan and Abiram, they refused to come, accusing Moses of failing to bring them into a land flowing with milk and honey (Num.16.12-14).

As the rebellion escalated, Moses warned the congregation to move away from the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram (Num.16.24-27). God then caused the earth to open up and swallow Dathan, Abiram, and their households, along with Korah and his followers (Num.16.31-35; Psalm Num.106.17).

The sons of Dathan and Abiram, however, did not die in this judgment (Num.26.9-11). The rebellion of Dathan and Abiram is remembered as a warning against defying God's appointed leaders (Deu.11.6).

Family

Father
Eliab
Siblings
AbiramNemuel

Connections

Part of: Moses and his circle

A Levite and two Reubenites: the combined rebellion

RoleDebated

Korah's complaint was priestly (why only Aaron?); Dathan and Abiram of Reuben complained about Moses' civil leadership. Numbers 16 merges two grievances, and the Reubenites' bitterness may reflect Reuben's lost firstborn status.

KorahAaron's adversaryDathanSon of EliabAbiramAaron's adversaryMosesSon of Amram
Where the text shows it: Num 16:1 — The four leaders namedNum 16:12-14 — Dathan and Abiram refuse to come upNum 16:8-11 — Moses addresses Korah's priestly claim
Ways people read this (3)
  • Source-critical scholars often see two originally separate rebellions combined in Num 16.
  • Traditional readings treat the account as one event with a single coalition.
  • The Reubenite motive is an inference, not stated in the text.

Sources: Num 16:1 · Num 16:12-14 · Num 16:8-11

More background: search Wikipedia ↗

Bible dictionary

Dathan Easton Easton’s Bible Dictionary (1897)

Welled; belonging to a fountain, a son of Eliab, a Reubenite, who joined Korah (q.v.) in his conspiracy, and with his accomplices was swallowed up by an earthquake (Num. 16:1; 26:9; Deut. 11:6; Ps. 106:17).

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Dathan Smith Smith’s Bible Dictionary (1863)

(belonging to a fountain) a Reubenite chieftain, son of Eliab, who joined the conspiracy of Korah the Levite. (Numbers 16:1; 26:9; 11:6; Psalms 106:17) (B.C. 1490-1452).

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Dathan Hitchcock Hitchcock’s Bible Names Dictionary (1869)

laws or rites

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Dathan Hastings Hastings’ Dictionary of the Bible (1898)

DA'THAN (belonging to a fountain), a Reubenite chieftain who joined in Korah's rebellion. Num 16; Num 26:9; Deut 11:6; Ps 106:17.

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Dathan Schaff Schaff’s Dictionary of the Bible

DA'THAN (belonging to a fountain), a Reubenite chieftain who joined in Korah's rebellion. Num 16; Num 26:9; Deut 11:6; Ps 106:17. DAUGH'TER is used in the Bible in several other senses than the literal one. It describes a female descendant. Gen 27:46, the women of a city or country. Gen 36:2, or women in general, Prov 31:29; the female worshippers of an idol, Mal 2:11; cities and their dependent towns. In Eccl 12:4 "daughters of music" are singing-women.

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Easton (1897), Smith (1863), Hitchcock (1869), Hastings (1898) and Schaff are in the public domain. Parsed text: neuu-org/bible-dictionary-dataset (CC BY 4.0). Headwords and whitespace normalised for this site.

Where Dathan appears

8 verses in 3 books · English text: BSB (change it from the menu at the top) · Strong’s H1885

Numbers6
Deuteronomy1
Psalms1

Names, family links and references: STEPBible TIPNR (Tyndale House Cambridge, CC BY 4.0). Short descriptions were drafted with AI assistance by STEPBible. Family links follow STEPBible’s scholarly decisions where genealogies are ambiguous.