Korach

The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to Eleazar the son of Aaron the Kohen that he take up the firepans out of the burning and scatter the fire, for they are holy. Even the firepans of these men who have sinned at the cost of their lives, and let them be made beaten plates for a covering for the altar, for they have become holy because they were offered before the Lord, that they may be a sign to the Israelites.

17:1 – 3

The firepans as the objects with which a heinous crime against God had been committed, should have been banished from the sanctuary. To serve as a solemn warning to future wrongdoers to beware of the command forbidding a stranger to set foot in the sanctuary it would have sufficed to hand the offending firepans in the courtyard of the Tabernacle or in any other public place. It would have been much more fitting to have used Aaron’s firepans and his alone to serve as a sign of holiness to the Lord…They symbolized the victory over falsehood…there is no vessel holier than that which vindicates the cause of a saint.

Akedat Yitzchak (15^th Century)

(one would think) that a holy vessel made by one who is not a Kohen to offer incense outside, in violation of the Torah, does not become sanctified…In this case the vessels became holy because, after all, they sanctified them at the bidding of Moses, imagining that God would vindicate them bough the fire, and the firepans would accordingly become permanently consecrated, as holy vessels for use in the tent of meeting…God made the vessels holy from the moment they were offered before Him to serve as a sign to the Israelites.

Ramban (13^th Century)

The men who offered the firepans were not sinners but saintly persons, for whom the deprivation of priestly office spelt the forfeiting of a coveted opportunity for closer communion with the Creator…They were well aware of the authenticity of the Divine message through Moses…In spite of that, they longed to do the will of God and gave their lives for the love of God; for love is stronger than death…Just as there, it has been interpreted to mean that the Nazirite has to atone “for sinning against his soul” for trying to be holier than he was capable… so here the ones who strove to attain a sanctity that was beyond them were guilty of sinning against their souls

Ha’emek Hadavar (19^th Century)

Their sin (the 250 men), consisted neither of an act of insurrection nor of belittling the honor of God or of Moses his prophet. On the contrary, they strove to be accorded the kind of honor and glory that is traditionally reserved for the sages once they enter the World to come. They endeavored to come close to God and died while coming too close to God prematurely. Since incense is a symbol of a close relationship with God, their censers were sanctified, not like those of Korach whose incense was equivalent to idol worship…

Shnei Luchot Habrit (16^th Century)