Numbers 12

Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman he had married. He had indeed married a Cushite woman.

1And Miriam and Aaron spake against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married: for he had married an Ethiopian woman.

Note"Cushite" (KJV "Ethiopian") means a woman from Cush, the land along the Nile south of Egypt, roughly modern Sudan and southern Egypt, not the modern country of Ethiopia. Who she was is disputed: some take her to be Zipporah, the Midianite wife Moses married in Exodus 2, others a second wife not otherwise named. The text does not say what the objection to her was.

2They said, "Has the LORD spoken only through Moses? Hasn't he spoken through us too?" And the LORD heard them.

2And they said, Hath the LORD indeed spoken only by Moses? hath he not spoken also by us? And the LORD heard it.

NoteTheir complaint is a claim about status, not about the marriage: both had a recognized speaking role. Miriam is called a prophetess in Exodus 15:20, and Aaron had been appointed to speak for Moses in Exodus 4:14-16.

3(Now Moses was a very humble man, more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth.)

3(Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth.)

NoteThis sentence is an aside from the narrator, not part of the conversation, the King James prints it in brackets for that reason. The Hebrew word behind "humble" (KJV "meek") describes someone who does not push his own claims or defend his own standing; it does not mean timid or weak.

4Suddenly the LORD spoke to Moses, Aaron, and Miriam: "The three of you, come out to the Tent of Meeting." So the three of them went out.

4And the LORD spake suddenly unto Moses, and unto Aaron, and unto Miriam, Come out ye three unto the tabernacle of the congregation. And they three came out.

NoteThe Tent of Meeting (KJV "tabernacle of the congregation") was the portable tent-shrine at the center of the Israelite camp, the appointed place where God and Israel met. "Congregation" in the King James means the assembled people, not a building.

5The LORD came down in the pillar of cloud and stood at the entrance of the tent. He called Aaron and Miriam, and the two of them came forward.

5And the LORD came down in the pillar of the cloud, and stood in the door of the tabernacle, and called Aaron and Miriam: and they both came forth.

NoteThe pillar of cloud was the visible column that had led Israel out of Egypt and settled over the tent; its presence or absence marked whether God was there. See Exodus 13:21 and 40:34-38.

6He said, "Listen to my words. When there is a prophet among you, I, the LORD, make myself known to him in a vision, and I speak to him in a dream.

6And he said, Hear now my words: If there be a prophet among you, I the LORD will make myself known unto him in a vision, and will speak unto him in a dream.

NoteA prophet (Hebrew *nabi*) is someone who speaks on God's behalf. The word is about carrying a message, not primarily about predicting the future. Visions and dreams are named here as the normal, indirect channels by which such messages came.

7It is not that way with my servant Moses. He is faithful in all my house.

7My servant Moses is not so, who is faithful in all mine house.

Note"House" here means household or establishment, the whole of God's people and its arrangements, not a building. To be "faithful in all my house" is the language used of a trusted steward given run of an entire estate.

8With him I speak mouth to mouth, clearly and not in riddles, and he sees the form of the LORD. So why were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?"

8With him will I speak mouth to mouth, even apparently, and not in dark speeches; and the similitude of the LORD shall he behold: wherefore then were ye not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?

Note"Mouth to mouth" is a Hebrew idiom for speaking directly, in person, with nothing in between, the equivalent of the English "face to face." "Riddles" (KJV "dark speeches") means deliberately veiled or enigmatic sayings that have to be puzzled out. "Form" translates a Hebrew word meaning shape or likeness; what exactly it refers to is left unspecified.

9The LORD's anger burned against them, and he went away.

9And the anger of the LORD was kindled against them; and he departed.

10As the cloud lifted from above the tent, Miriam's skin broke out with a disease, white as snow. Aaron turned toward her and saw that she had the disease.

10And the cloud departed from off the tabernacle; and, behold, Miriam became leprous, white as snow: and Aaron looked upon Miriam, and, behold, she was leprous.

NoteThe Hebrew word (KJV "leprous") covers a range of skin conditions and is not the disease now called leprosy. Under the rules in Leviticus 13-14, someone with it was ritually unclean and had to live outside the camp until a priest declared them clean again, which is why exclusion from the camp follows in verse 14.

11Aaron said to Moses, "Please, my lord, do not hold this sin against us. We have acted foolishly, and we have sinned.

11And Aaron said unto Moses, Alas, my lord, I beseech thee, lay not the sin upon us, wherein we have done foolishly, and wherein we have sinned.

12Please do not let her be like a baby born dead, whose body is half wasted away when it comes out of its mother's womb."

12Let her not be as one dead, of whom the flesh is half consumed when he cometh out of his mother’s womb.

NoteAaron is comparing Miriam's wasting skin to a stillborn baby, a picture of flesh already decaying at birth. The point is the visible ruin of the body, not a statement about her death.

13So Moses cried out to the LORD, "Please, God, heal her now!"

13And Moses cried unto the LORD, saying, Heal her now, O God, I beseech thee.

14The LORD answered Moses, "If her father had spit in her face, wouldn't she be in disgrace for seven days? Keep her shut outside the camp for seven days. After that she may be brought back in."

14And the LORD said unto Moses, If her father had but spit in her face, should she not be ashamed seven days? let her be shut out from the camp seven days, and after that let her be received in again.

NoteSpitting in someone's face was a public act of contempt that left the person disgraced for a set period; a father doing it to his daughter is the strongest domestic example available. Seven days is also the standard quarantine period for a suspected skin disease in Leviticus 13.

15So Miriam was shut outside the camp for seven days, and the people did not travel on until she was brought back in.

15And Miriam was shut out from the camp seven days: and the people journeyed not till Miriam was brought in again.

16After that the people set out from Hazeroth and camped in the Wilderness of Paran.

16And afterward the people removed from Hazeroth, and pitched in the wilderness of Paran.

NoteHazeroth and the Wilderness of Paran are stopping points on the route north from Sinai. Paran is the desert region south of Canaan, from which the scouts are sent out in the next chapter.