Job said: “He will dwell in desolate cities, in houses in which one would not live, which are destined to become heaps. He will not become rich, and his wealth will not endure; nothing of his will extend over the earth. He will not turn away from darkness; the flame will dry his shoots, and they will pass away from the breath of his mouth. Let him not trust in futility that misleads, for futility will be his compensation.
He will wither before his time, and his treetop will not be green. He will shed his unripe grapes like a vine, and he will cast off his blossoms like an olive tree. For the company of the hypocrite will be desolate, and fire will consume the tents of bribery” (Job 15:28–34). “He will dwell in desolate cities, in houses in which one would not live, which are destined to become heaps” – this is Koraḥ, who was a treasurer in Pharaoh’s palace, and had the keys of his treasuries in his possession.
The Holy One blessed be He said to him: ‘What benefit do you have? You do not control them, as it is stated: “Houses in which one would not live, which are destined to become heaps [legalim].”’ For whom are they destined? It if for those who are exiled [golim], for Israel who were exiled from Egypt.
But Koraḥ, he will not become rich, and his wealth will not endure – even when he dies, it will not endure.23It will not be transferred to his heirs. “Nothing of theirs will extend over the earth. He will not turn away from darkness” – he will never turn away from the darkness.24The darkness of Gehenna. “The flame will dry his shoots [yonakto]” – our Rabbis said: Koraḥ’s wife, when she descended to Gehenna, she extinguished it.25According to this explanation, it is saying that she would never leave there.
There is an alternative explanation that she extinguished its fire. She was so wicked that the fire that was designated to burn her was so great that it extinguished the fire of Gehenna. “And they will pass away from the breath of his mouth” – so he will not say: ‘Samuel is destined to emerge from Me and for his sake, I will be spared.’ He [Korah], too, “will pass away from the breath of his mouth.
Let him not trust in futility that misleads” – the Holy One blessed be He is shouting at the two hundred and fifty who entered into the dispute along with him: ‘Do not believe, he is mistaken: Do not trust him when he has strayed.’ “It will be concluded before his time” – before his time to die arrives, he will cause himself to die. “He will shed his unripe grapes like a vine” – this is his wife. “He will cast off his blossoms like an olive tree” – these are his children. 26See Psalms 128:3: “Your wife is like a fruitful vine...Your children like olive saplings….”
Why? "For the company of the hypocrite will be desolate, and fire will consume the tents of bribery” – “Fire emerged from before the Lord” (Numbers 16:35).