Numbers 12:2

2 “Does the LORD speak only through Moses?” they said. “Does He not also speak through us?” And the LORD heard this.

Numbers 12:2 Meaning and Commentary

Numbers 12:2

And they said, hath the Lord, indeed spoken only by Moses?
&c.] They own he had spoken by him; this was so notorious that it could not be denied:

hath he not spoken also by us?
are we not prophets as well as he? the Lord spake to Aaron while he was in Egypt, and had made him a good spokesman in his name, and bore this testimony of him, that he could speak well, and Miriam is expressly called a prophetess, ( Exodus 4:14 Exodus 4:27 ) ( Exodus 15:20 ) ; and this being the case, they stomached it that they should have no concern in the choice and appointment of the seventy elders:

and the Lord heard [it];
for perhaps this was said secretly between themselves; but God, that sees, and hears, and knows all things, took notice of what was spoken by them, and resented it; for it was ultimately against himself, who had ordered Moses to do what he did.

Numbers 12:2 In-Context

1 Then Miriam and Aaron criticized Moses because of the Cushite woman he had married, for he had taken a Cushite wife.

2 “Does the LORD speak only through Moses?” they said. “Does He not also speak through us?” And the LORD heard this.

3 Now Moses was a very humble man, more so than any man on the face of the earth.

4 And suddenly the LORD said to Moses, Aaron, and Miriam, “You three, come out to the Tent of Meeting.” So the three went out,

5 and the LORD came down in a pillar of cloud, stood at the entrance to the Tent, and summoned Aaron and Miriam. When both of them had stepped forward,