Numbers 12

Listen to Numbers 12

Miriam and Aaron Oppose Moses

1 Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had married, for he had married a Cushite woman.
2 And they said, "Has the LORD indeed spoken only through Moses? 1Has he not spoken through us also?" And 2the LORD heard it.
3 Now the man Moses was very meek, more than all people who were on the face of the earth.
4 And suddenly the LORD said to Moses and to Aaron and Miriam, "Come out, you three, to the tent of meeting." And the three of them came out.
5 And 3the LORD came down in a pillar of cloud and stood at the entrance of the tent and called Aaron and Miriam, and they both came forward.
6 And he said, "Hear my words: If there is a prophet among you, I the LORD make myself known to him 4in a vision; I speak with him 5in a dream.
7 Not so with 6my servant Moses. 7He is faithful in all my house.
8 With him I speak 8mouth to mouth, clearly, and not in 9riddles, and he beholds 10the form of the LORD. Why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?"
9 And the anger of the LORD was kindled against them, and he departed.
10 When the cloud removed from over the tent, behold, 11Miriam was 12leprous,[a] like snow. And Aaron turned toward Miriam, and behold, she was leprous.
11 And Aaron said to Moses, "Oh, my lord, 13do not punish us[b] because we have done foolishly and have sinned.
12 Let her not be as one dead, whose flesh is half eaten away when he comes out of his mother's womb."
13 And Moses cried to the LORD, "O God, please heal her--please."
14 But the LORD said to Moses, "If her father had but 14spit in her face, should she not be shamed seven days? Let her be 15shut outside the camp seven days, and after that she may be brought in again."
15 So Miriam 16was shut outside the camp seven days, and the people did not set out on the march till Miriam was brought in again.
16 After that the people set out from 17Hazeroth, and camped in 18the wilderness of Paran.

Cross References 18

  • 1. Micah 6:4
  • 2. Numbers 11:1; 2 Kings 19:4; Isaiah 37:4; Ezekiel 35:12, 13; [Malachi 3:16]
  • 3. Numbers 11:25; Numbers 16:19
  • 4. Genesis 46:2; Ezekiel 1:1; Daniel 8:2; Daniel 10:8, 16; Luke 1:11, 22; Acts 10:11; Acts 22:17, 18
  • 5. Genesis 20:6; Genesis 31:10, 11; 1 Kings 3:5; Job 33:15; Matthew 1:20; Matthew 27:19
  • 6. Psalms 105:26
  • 7. Hebrews 3:2, 5
  • 8. Numbers 7:89; [Exodus 33:11; Deuteronomy 34:10; 1 Corinthians 13:12]
  • 9. Psalms 49:4; Psalms 78:2; Proverbs 1:6
  • 10. [Exodus 33:20, 23]
  • 11. Deuteronomy 24:9
  • 12. See Leviticus 13:10
  • 13. [2 Samuel 19:19; 2 Samuel 24:10; Proverbs 30:32]
  • 14. Deuteronomy 25:9; Job 30:10
  • 15. See Leviticus 13:46
  • 16. [2 Kings 15:5; 2 Chronicles 26:20, 21; Luke 17:12]
  • 17. Numbers 11:35; [Numbers 33:18]
  • 18. See Numbers 10:12

Footnotes 2

  • [a]. Leprosy was a term for several skin diseases; see Leviticus 13
  • [b]. Hebrew do not lay sin upon us

Numbers 12 Commentaries

The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.