Plague on 14,700

Numbers 16:42-50 - But when the assembly gathered in opposition to Moses and Aaron and turned toward the Tent of Meeting, suddenly the cloud covered it and the glory of the LORD appeared. Then Moses and Aaron went to the front of the Tent of Meeting, and the LORD said to Moses, "Get away from this assembly so I can put an end to them at once." And they fell facedown.

Then Moses said to Aaron, "Take your censer and put incense in it, along with fire from the altar, and hurry to the assembly to make atonement for them. Wrath has come out from the LORD; the plague has started." So Aaron did as Moses said, and ran into the midst of the assembly. The plague had already started among the people, but Aaron offered the incense and made atonement for them. He stood between the living and the dead, and the plague stopped. But 14,700 people died from the plague, in addition to those who had died because of Korah. Then Aaron returned to Moses at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, for the plague had stopped.

The plague seems like it started at one end of the camp and was sweeping over it like a wave. I wonder what kind of plague would spread like that. I wonder how it could move so quickly that apparently in a matter of minutes 14,700 people were affected and eventually died.

This sounds a bit morbid, but I wonder if people were literally falling over dead outside their tents. How else would Aaron have known where to go to get between the living and the dead?

There very likely were entire families wiped out by the plague. I wonder what happened to the possessions -- tents, flocks and herds, and other everyday items -- that these people owned.