Reference: Korah, Korahites
Hastings
1. Korah is the name of a'duke,' son of Esau and Abolibamah, named in Ge 36:5,14,18, and therefore an Edomite. 2. A Korah also appears in 1Ch 2:43 as a 'son' of Hebron and descendant of Caleb, the Kenizzite, i.e. Edomite. 3. In 1Ch 9:19,31. we hear of a ben-Korah and of a Korahite, the Korahites being further designated as door-keepers. Combining the various notes, we gather that the sons of Korah were of Edomite extraction, were incorporated among the Levites, and formed a Temple-guild. Moreover, Ps 42; 43; 44; 45; 46; 47; 48; 49; 84; 85; 87; 88 bear the superscription 'to the sons of Korah.' They share, therefore, with the sons of Asaph the honour of forming the Temple-choir. But whether they rose (or fell) from being door-keepers to being singers, or vice versa, it is, in our ignorance of most of the details of the worship of the first Temple, impossible to say. Nor can we say how it was that the guilds of Asaph and Korah came to be transformed into the guilds of Heman, Asaph, and Ethan. See also next article.
W. F. Cobb.