Numbers 12:1
in Numbers 12Then Miriam and Aaron criticized Moses because of the Cushite woman he had married, for he had taken a Cushite wife.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And Miriam and Aaron spake against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had married; for he had married a Cushite woman.
KJV
And Miriam and Aaron spake against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married: for he had married an Ethiopian woman.
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This verse in Numbers 12
Commentary
8 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Miriam, as a prophetess (compare Exo 15:20-21) no less than as the sister of Moses and Aaron, took the first rank among the women of Israel; and Aaron may be regarded as the ecclesiastical head of the whole nation. But instead of being grateful for these high dignities they challenged the special vocation of Moses and the exclusive authority which God had assigned to him. Miriam was the instigator, from the fact that her name stands conspicuously first Num 12:1, and that the punishment Num 12:10 fell on her alone.
This site's exposition
Miriam and Aaron spake against Moses
on Numbers 12:1-2
The stated grievance is a marriage and the question in verse 2 is authority, hath the Lord indeed spoken only by Moses. Who the woman was is disputed, John Gill setting out the reading that Cush stands for Arabia and the wife is Zipporah the Midianite, while Keil and Delitzsch take her as a Cushite distinct from Zipporah. Miriam is named before Aaron and the Hebrew verb behind spake is singular and feminine, which is why Albert Barnes reads her as the mover and points to verse 10, where the stroke falls on her alone. The closing clause, and the Lord heard it, is the clause that opened the complaining at 11:1.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
Miriam the prophetess herself, who with her brothers had crossed the straits of the sea on foot, because, being still ignorant of the mystery of the Ethiopian woman, she had murmured against her brother Moses, broke out with leprous spots, so that she would scarcely have been freed from so great a plague, unless Moses had prayed for her.
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Zipporah, who is here called an Ethiopian, in the Hebrew a Cushite, because she was a Midianite: the word Cush being generally used in scripture, not for Ethiopia properly so called below Egypt, but for Arabia.
6 ), My mother's children were angry with me; and quarrels among relations are in a special manner grievous. A brother offended is harder to be won than a strong city. Yet this helps to confirm the call of Moses, and shows that his advancement was purely by the divine favour, and not by any compact or collusion with his kindred, who themselves grudged his advancement.
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And Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
an Ethiopian woman--Hebrew, "a Cushite woman"--Arabia was usually called in Scripture the land of Cush, its inhabitants being descendants of that son of Ham (see on Ex 2:15) and being accounted generally a vile and contemptible race (see on Am 9:7).
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1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Miriam and Aaron spake against Moses - It appears that jealousy of the power and influence of Moses was the real cause of their complaint though his having married an Ethiopian woman-האשה הכשית haishshah haccushith - That Woman, the Cushite, probably meaning Zipporah, who was an Arab born in the land of Midian - was the ostensible cause.
The words behind it
14 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַתְּדַבֵּ֨ר | vatedaber | and she spoke | H1696 → | 1141 times |
| מִרְיָ֤ם | miryam | Miriam | H4813 → | 15 times |
| וְאַהֲרֹן֙ | veaharon | and Aaron | H175 → | 347 times |
| בְּמֹשֶׁ֔ה | bemosheh | against Moses | H4872 → | 765 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| אֹד֛וֹת | ʾodot | [the] causes of | H182 → | |
| הָאִשָּׁ֥ה | haishah | the woman | H802 → | 781 times |
| הַכֻּשִׁ֖ית | hakushit | <the> Cushite | H3569 → | |
| אֲשֶׁ֣ר | ʾasher | whom | H834 → | 5497 times |
| לָקָ֑ח | lakach | he had taken | H3947 → | 966 times |
| כִּֽי־ | ki- | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| אִשָּׁ֥ה | ʾishah | a woman | H802 → | 781 times |
| כֻשִׁ֖ית | khushit | Cushite | H3569 → | |
| לָקָֽח׃ | lakach | he had taken | H3947 → | 966 times |
וַתְּדַבֵּ֨רand she spoke
vatedaberH1696 →1141 times
מִרְיָ֤םMiriam
miryamH4813 →15 times
וְאַהֲרֹן֙and Aaron
veaharonH175 →347 times
בְּמֹשֶׁ֔הagainst Moses
bemoshehH4872 →765 times
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
אֹד֛וֹת[the] causes of
ʾodotH182 →
הָאִשָּׁ֥הthe woman
haishahH802 →781 times
הַכֻּשִׁ֖ית<the> Cushite
hakushitH3569 →
אֲשֶׁ֣רwhom
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
לָקָ֑חhe had taken
lakachH3947 →966 times
כִּֽי־for
ki-H3588 →4482 times
אִשָּׁ֥הa woman
ʾishahH802 →781 times
כֻשִׁ֖יתCushite
khushitH3569 →
לָקָֽח׃he had taken
lakachH3947 →966 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Genesis 24:3and I will have you swear by the LORD, the God of heaven and the God of earth, that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites…
it leads to
- Genesis 26:34–35
When Esau was forty years old, he took as his wives Judith daughter of Beeri the Hittite and Basemath daughter of Elon the Hittite.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Genesis 28:8
And seeing that his father Isaac disapproved of the Canaanite women,
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 2 Corinthians 6:14–17
Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership can righteousness have with wickedness? Or what fellowship does light have with darkness?
- Nehemiah 13:25
I rebuked them and called down curses on them. I beat some of these men and pulled out their hair. Then I made them take an oath before God and said, “You must not…
- Deuteronomy 7:3–4
Do not intermarry with them. Do not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons,
- Genesis 26:34–35
Through
Genesis 27:46Then Rebekah said to Isaac, “I am weary of my life because of these Hittite women. If Jacob takes a Hittite wife from among them, what good is my life?”
it leads to
- Genesis 24:3
and I will have you swear by the LORD, the God of heaven and the God of earth, that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites…
- Genesis 24:3
Through
Exodus 2:21Moses agreed to stay with the man, and he gave his daughter Zipporah to Moses in marriage.
it leads to
- Hebrews 13:5
Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, for God has said: “Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you.”
- Genesis 31:38–40
I have been with you for twenty years now. Your sheep and goats have not miscarried, nor have I eaten the rams of your flock.
- Hebrews 13:5
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Numbers
Who and where
3 names in this verse with a page on the site.
- PersonExodus and Wilderness PeriodMosesIsrael's deliverer from Egyptian slavery, covenant mediator, and lawgiver.
- PersonExodus eraAaronBrother of Moses and Israel's first high priest; his rod budded, his garments were for glory and beauty, and his line carried the…
- PersonWildernessMiriamProphetess and sister of Moses and Aaron who led the women's song at the sea; struck with leprosy for challenging Moses' unique au…
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Ambrose of Milan, Epistle 63; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.