Numbers 12:15
in Numbers 12So Miriam was confined outside the camp for seven days, and the people did not move on until she was brought in again.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And Miriam was shut up without the camp seven days: and the people journeyed not till Miriam was brought in again.
KJV
And Miriam was shut out from the camp seven days: and the people journeyed not till Miriam was brought in again.
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This verse in Numbers 12
Commentary
7 notes on this verseJourneyed not - Which was a testimony of respect to her both from God and from the people, God so ordering it, partly lest she should be overwhelmed by such a publick rebuke from God, and partly lest, she being a prophetess, the gift of prophesy should come into contempt.
This site's exposition
Miriam was shut out from the camp
on Numbers 12:15-16
A nation of hundreds of thousands stays where it stands for seven days until one woman is brought back in. Deuteronomy 24:9 turns the week into a standing command, remember what the Lord thy God did unto Miriam by the way, and it is given inside the law of leprosy rather than as a story. Micah 6:4 names her with Moses and Aaron among those God sent before Israel, which is the weight she carries in the canon after this chapter. Verse 16 sets the camp in the wilderness of Paran, and chapter 13 sends the spies out from there.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
A commentator
Clement of RomeClement's First Letter to the Corinthians, Chapters 3-4 · Written before 99.
proposed
Every kind of honour and happiness was bestowed upon you, and then was fulfilled that which is written, "My beloved ate and drank, and was enlarged and became fat, and kicked." [Deuteronomy 32:15] Hence flowed emulation and envy, strife and sedition, persecution and disorder, war and captivity. So the worthless rose up against the honoured, those of no reputation against such as were renowned, the foolish against the wise, the young against those advanced in years.
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
1 And Miriam and Aaron spake against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married: for he had married an Ethiopian woman. 2 And they said, Hath the L ORD indeed spoken only by Moses? hath he not spoken also by us? 3 (Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth.) Here is, I.
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — scripture-overlap:92%@v1-3
And Miriam was shut out of the camp seven days,....
Note, Those that are under censure and rebuke for sin ought to be treated with a great deal of tenderness, and not be over-loaded, no, not with the shame they have deserved, not counted as enemies ( 2 Thess. iii. 15 ), but forgiven and comforted, 2 Cor. ii. Sinners must be cast out with grief, and penitents taken in with joy.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
the people journeyed not till Miriam was brought in again--Either not to crush her by a sentence of overwhelming severity or not to expose her, being a prophetess, to popular contempt.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
The words behind it
12 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַתִּסָּגֵ֥ר | vatisager | and she was shut up | H5462 → | |
| מִרְיָ֛ם | miryam | Miriam | H4813 → | 15 times |
| מִח֥וּץ | michutz | from [the] outside | H2351 → | 164 times |
| לַֽמַּחֲנֶ֖ה | lamachaneh | of the camp | H4264 → | 215 times |
| שִׁבְעַ֣ת | shivat | seven | H7651 → | 394 times |
| יָמִ֑ים | yamim | days | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| וְהָעָם֙ | vehaam | and the people | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| לֹ֣א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| נָסַ֔ע | nasa' | it set out | H5265 → | 146 times |
| עַד־ | ʾad- | until | H5704 → | 1261 times |
| הֵאָסֵ֖ף | heasef | was received | H622 → | 200 times |
| מִרְיָֽם׃ | miryam | Miriam | H4813 → | 15 times |
וַתִּסָּגֵ֥רand she was shut up
vatisagerH5462 →
מִרְיָ֛םMiriam
miryamH4813 →15 times
מִח֥וּץfrom [the] outside
michutzH2351 →164 times
לַֽמַּחֲנֶ֖הof the camp
lamachanehH4264 →215 times
שִׁבְעַ֣תseven
shivatH7651 →394 times
יָמִ֑יםdays
yamimH3117 →2304 times
וְהָעָם֙and the people
vehaamH5971 →1873 times
לֹ֣אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
נָסַ֔עit set out
nasa'H5265 →146 times
עַד־until
ʾad-H5704 →1261 times
הֵאָסֵ֖ףwas received
heasefH622 →200 times
מִרְיָֽם׃Miriam
miryamH4813 →15 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
Habakkuk 3:2O LORD, I have heard the report of You; I stand in awe, O LORD, of Your deeds. Revive them in these years; make them known in these years. In Your wrath, remember mercy!
it leads to
- Psalms 85:6
Will You not revive us again, that Your people may rejoice in You?
- Psalms 90:13–17
Return, O LORD! How long will it be? Have compassion on Your servants.
- Hosea 6:2–3
After two days He will revive us; on the third day He will raise us up, that we may live in His presence.
- Lamentations 3:32
Even if He causes grief, He will show compassion according to His abundant loving devotion.
- Isaiah 51:9–11
Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the LORD. Wake up as in days past, as in generations of old. Was it not You who cut Rahab to pieces, who pierced through the…
- Psalms 85:6
Through
Lamentations 3:32Even if He causes grief, He will show compassion according to His abundant loving devotion.
it leads to
- Psalms 78:38
And yet He was compassionate; He forgave their iniquity and did not destroy them. He often restrained His anger and did not unleash His full wrath.
- Psalms 30:5
For His anger is fleeting, but His favor lasts a lifetime. Weeping may stay the night, but joy comes in the morning.
- Psalms 103:11
For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His loving devotion for those who fear Him.
- Psalms 78:38
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Numbers
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Clement of Rome, Clement's First Letter to the Corinthians, Chapters 3-4; 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.