Tanach · Rishonim on Tanach · Ibn Ezra · Torah
Ibn Ezra on Numbers 16:33/אבן עזרא על במדבר ט״ז:ל״ג
אוירדו הם. הטעם כאשר ירדו נסתמה הארץ ולא נראו:
1SO THEY…WENT DOWN. Its meaning is: when they went down, the earth closed and they were not seen.83, this verse repeats verse 32. Hence I.E.’s comment.
בותכס עליהם. הארץ בעצמה:
2AND THE EARTH CLOSED UPON THEM. The earth itself.84 (and closed upon then) literally means and covered. Our clause thus reads, and the earth covered them. Hence va-yekhas may be taken as transitive. In this case, it means that the earth covered them with something. Hence I.E. points out that va-yekhas is intransitive.
גויאבדו. בעבור מות בניהם העומדים תחתם:
3AND THEY PERISHED. For their children who were to take their place died.85