The sons of Korah were Levitical musicians who descended from an ancient rebel. But Korah’s sons didn’t perish with their father, because they separated themselves from him (Num. 16:26–27; 26:10–11). These sons had descendants, and the generations of Korahites extended into the days of David. When we read “Sons of Korah” in a superscription of some psalms (either in Book 2 or Book 3), we’re reading about the Levitical musicians whom David appointed. 

There once was a man named Korah, and the ground opened up beneath him. He and some others had been rebelling against Moses and against the Lord. Moses said, “If the LORD creates something new, and the ground opens its mouth and swallows them up with all that belongs to them, and they go down alive into Sheol, then you shall know that these men have despised the LORD” (Num. 16:30).

And the ground opened, and they perished (Num. 16:31-33).

Korah had been a descendant of Levi and thus was a relative of Moses and Aaron. The lineage of Korah looks like this: Levi begat Kohath, Kohath begat Izar, and Izar begat Korah.

As a Levite, Korah was part of the set-apart tribe, yet Korah coveted the priesthood (Num. 16:8–11), which was an institution God had assigned to Aaron’s line and not broadly to every Levite. Every priest was a Levite, but not every Levite was a priest.

The death of Korah—and deaths of those allied with him—was the result of divine judgment. Since we know what happened to Korah in Numbers 16, his death raises a curious question when you read the superscriptions of some psalms. Who are the “Sons of Korah”?

While almost all psalms in Book 1 (Psalms 1–41) were written by David, the psalms in Book 2 (Psalms 42–72) don’t begin with David’s name in the superscription. Psalm 42 is “A Maskil of the Sons of Korah.” In fact, there are eleven psalms with “Sons of Korah” in the superscription (Pss. 42, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 84, 85, 87, and 88).

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