SEV Biblia, Chapter 16:31
Y aconteció, que al acabar él de hablar todas estas palabras, se rompió la tierra que estaba debajo de ellos;
John Gill's Bible Commentary
Ver. 31. And it came to pass, as he had made an end of speaking all these things , etc.] As soon as he had finished his discourse, which was addressed to the congregation, and, according to Josephus f231 , after a long prayer to God, which that writer gives at large; immediately so it was, that the ground clave asunder that [was] under them ; on which they stood, not from any natural cause, as by subterranean volcano, forcibly making their way and bursting the earth, and so getting vent, which has been thought to be the cause of earthquakes; but this was by the immediate hand and almighty power of God, and came to pass just as Moses suggested it would, and as soon as he had uttered his words, which made it the more observable.
Matthew Henry Commentary
Verses 23-34 - The seventy elders of Israel attend Moses. It is our duty to do what we can to countenance and support lawful authority when it is opposed. An those who would not perish with sinners, must come out from among them and be separate. It was in answer to the prayer of Moses, that God stirred up the hearts of the congregation to remove for their ow safety. Grace to separate from evil-doers is one of the things tha accompany salvation. God, in justice, left the rebels to the obstinac and hardness of their own hearts. Moses, by Divine direction, when all Israel were waiting the event, declares that if the rebels die a commo death, he will be content to be called and counted an imposter. As soo as Moses had spoken the word, God caused the earth to open and swallo them all up. The children perished with their parents; in which, thoug we cannot tell how bad they might be to deserve it, or how good God might be otherwise to them; yet of this we are sure, that Infinit Justice did them no wrong. It was altogether miraculous. God has, when he pleases, strange punishments for the workers of iniquity. It wa very significant. Considering how the earth is still in like manne loaded with the weight of man's sins, we have reason to wonder that is does not now sink under its load. The ruin of others should be ou warning. Could we, by faith, hear the outcries of those that are gon down to the bottomless pit, we should give more diligence than we do to escape for our lives, lest we also come into their condemnation.
Original Hebrew
ויהי 1961 ככלתו 3615 לדבר 1696 את 853 כל 3605 הדברים 1697 האלה 428 ותבקע 1234 האדמה 127 אשׁר 834 תחתיהם׃ 8478
