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Joseph's Buried Fortune and Korah's Fatal Discovery

Three hundred white mules carried only the keys. Korah had opened one of Joseph's buried rooms, and the earth was already waiting.

Curated by Arthur · Told by Maggid ·
Table of Contents
  1. Joseph Hid Three Fortunes
  2. Three Hundred Mules Carried the Keys
  3. Korah Asked Why Moses Stood Above
  4. The Earth Closed Over the Keys

Three hundred white mules stood in a line, and they were not carrying gold. They were carrying keys.

Joseph's Buried Fortune and Korah's Fatal Discovery Click for full size

Korah had so many locked rooms that the keys themselves needed livestock. Each key was heavy enough to require a beast under it. When the sun struck the garments he wore, people in the camp shaded their eyes.

Joseph Hid Three Fortunes

The keys had a history. In the seven fat years Joseph had named the price of grain for a whole empire, and in the seven lean years the ancient world had come to Egypt to buy. Money poured in until ordinary counting failed. Joseph divided it.

The first portion he surrendered to Pharaoh, as proper accounting demanded. The third he hid in the sanctuary of Baal-zephon, where Israel would later carry it off as booty. The second he concealed in the wilderness, in rooms a hundred cubits wide and a hundred cubits long and a hundred cubits high, filled with coin, against a day he did not name.

He was honest past the point of family. He would not leave even five silver shekels of that grain-money to his own children. He delivered the buildings to Pharaoh and walked away. The wilderness cache waited.

Three Hundred Mules Carried the Keys

Generations later Korah was Pharaoh's treasurer. He came out of Egypt with Israel, but his mind was still arranged around royal accounts. Somewhere in those ledgers he found a thread that led to Joseph's hidden rooms. He opened one of them.

The fortune reorganized him. His sons staggered under what he brought home. His household was built around the work of keeping it. "He that trusts in his riches shall fall," the proverb already said (Proverbs 11:28). Korah did not hear it. The wealth had him.

One of the three caches was never meant to stay in a rebel's hand. The old telling says it disappeared again after he found it, not to come to view until the days of the Messiah, and then for the pious. In Korah's lifetime it was enough. It made him impatient with every honor decided without him.

Korah Asked Why Moses Stood Above

When Moses appointed Aaron to the priesthood and the Levites to their posts, Korah heard an arrangement that had not accounted for him. He brought two hundred fifty princes of the assembly, men of renown, and stood them in front of Moses.

"All the congregation is holy," he said. "Every one of them, and God is among them. Why do you lift yourselves above the assembly of God?"

The question sounded like equality. It was the question of a man who owned the keys on three hundred mules, asking why someone else had been given an honor he had not been consulted about.

Moses told him to wait until morning. God would show who was holy. Take fire pans, all two hundred fifty of you, and come. Then Moses said to the whole congregation: stand away from the tents of Korah and his companions.

The Earth Closed Over the Keys

Morning came. The two hundred fifty men stood with fire in their pans. Korah stood in the door of his tent with his household behind him and the locked rooms somewhere in his accounts. Moses finished speaking. The ground split.

It swallowed Korah and his household and everything that belonged to them. The earth closed over them and they were gone from the assembly. Fire came out from God and consumed the two hundred fifty men who had offered incense.

The treasure that had required three hundred mules to carry its keys went into the earth with its owner. Joseph had buried a fortune in the wilderness against some future purpose. Korah's discovery of it had not been a gift. It had given him the material power to challenge Moses, and the challenge brought the ground down on top of everything he owned.

Two caches remained. One would wait for a later redemption. One had already gone out of Egypt in Israel's packs. The third went down with the man who had trusted it (Numbers 16:31-33).

JosephKorahWealthMosesExodusMessiahWorld To ComeJudgmentGinzberg
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From the tradition

Sources

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The texts behind this telling. Some cards carry a translation of the source; others are our own retelling of it, and each card says which. Every card links out to the original.

Legends of the Jews 1:12Legends of the Jews

Retold in our words. Read the original at the link below.The Legends of the Jews by Louis Ginzberg (1909) · Public Domain

The familiar story is this: from Genesis – how he wisely stored up food for the famine. But what became of that fortune?

Well, legend has it that Joseph, a brilliant administrator if ever there was one, divided the wealth into three impressive stashes.

In Legends of the Jews, the first portion went to Pharaoh, as you might expect. He was, after all, Joseph's boss. That makes sense. But The second part, that immense hoard of riches, was hidden away in the wilderness. Can you imagine stumbling across that? The story goes that Korah, yes, the very same Korah who rebelled against Moses, actually found it! But, alas, it wasn’t meant to be. The treasure vanished again.

The third part? This is perhaps the most intriguing. Joseph supposedly concealed it in the sanctuary of Baal-zephon. Baal-zephon was a deity, a kind of Canaanite storm god. His sanctuary became a place called Pi-hahiroth. Why hide it there? Perhaps it was seen as a secure place, a temple dedicated to a powerful god. Or perhaps it was a deliberate act, a test. Whatever the reason, the Israelites, in their exodus from Egypt, seized this treasure as booty. Imagine what that must have felt like: taking back wealth that had been used, perhaps, to oppress them!

So, there you have it. A glimpse into the legendary fate of Joseph's wealth. One part given to the ruler, one part hidden for a future, more righteous time, and one part taken as spoils of a hard-won freedom. And the enduring hope for a future where it will be used for good.

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Legends of the Jews 5:2Legends of the Jews

Retold in our words. Read the original at the link below.The Legends of the Jews by Louis Ginzberg (1909) · Public Domain

He wasn't a Canaanite, those ancient inhabitants of the land of Israel. But, like some of them, Korah serves as a cautionary tale: immense wealth, squandered by pride. The Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary) tells us that Korah was no ordinary man; he was Pharaoh's treasurer! They say he had 300 white mules just to carry the keys to his treasure rooms! As (Proverbs 11:28) says, "He that trusts in his riches shall fall." And fall, Korah did.

So, how did he amass such a fortune? The story, as retold by Ginzberg in Legends of the Jews, is quite fascinating. Remember Joseph, from the Book of Genesis? When he was second-in-command in Egypt, and oversaw the grain distribution during the years of famine? Well, all that grain was paid for, and Joseph, being an honest man, amassed tremendous wealth for Pharaoh. He built three enormous storehouses, each a hundred cubits wide, long, and high – absolutely packed with money. And when the famine ended, he turned it all over to Pharaoh. Joseph was too scrupulous to even keep a few silver shekels for his own family. Korah, somehow, discovered one of these hidden treasuries.

This incredible wealth led to his downfall. As we find in Pirkei Avot (Ethics of the Fathers), "Who is rich? He who is happy with his lot." Korah, it seems, was not. His newfound riches swelled his ego, and he began to feel slighted. He became convinced that Moses had unfairly favored others, specifically by appointing his cousin Elizaphan as the chief of the Kohathite Levites.

Korah's argument, as presented in Numbers 16, went something like this: "My grandfather, Kohath, had four sons: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel. Amram, being the eldest, got all the perks – Aaron is the High Priest, and Moses is the king! But I, the son of Izhar, the second son, should be the prince of the Kohathites! But Moses skipped over me and appointed Elizaphan, whose father, Uzziel, was the youngest! I will stir up rebellion and overthrow everything!"

Now, Korah wasn't stupid. He was a wise man. The Zohar tells us that he knew God wouldn't just stand idly by while someone rebelled against Moses. But here's the tragic irony: Korah possessed a prophetic vision! He foresaw that Samuel, a prophet as great as both Aaron and Moses, would be his descendant. He also knew that twenty-four of his descendants, inspired by the Ruach (spirit) HaKodesh (Holy Spirit), would compose and sing Psalms in the Temple.

He thought to himself: "God wouldn't let the father of such righteous people perish, would He?" But Korah's vision wasn't clear enough. He didn't see that his own sons would repent of their rebellion and because of that repentance, they would be deemed worthy of fathering prophets and Temple singers. He only saw the glory of his future lineage, not his own tragic end.

And so, driven by pride and a distorted vision, Korah launched his rebellion, challenging the authority of Moses and Aaron. He focused on his perceived slight by Moses and the appointment of Elizaphan to incite others. The outcome, as we know, was catastrophic. The earth opened up and swallowed Korah and his followers. A truly terrifying end.

Korah's story is a powerful reminder that wealth and power, without humility and a clear vision of what truly matters, can lead to devastating consequences. It begs the question: What are we truly striving for? And are we willing to sacrifice our integrity, our relationships, and ultimately, ourselves, for the sake of ambition?

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