The Complaint of Miriam and Aaron
Rebellion was not restricted to the “foreign rabble”...
Rebellion was not restricted to the “foreign rabble” or to the Israelites who were bored with manna (11:4). Moses’ own brother and sister, Aaron the high priest (Exod 29:30) and Miriam the prophet (Exod 15:20), rebelled against him. Israel was near the nadir of its rebellion against God (Num 13:25–14:12).
Miriam and Aaron might have perceived Moses’ marriage...
Miriam and Aaron might have perceived Moses’ marriage as a threat to their status and ambitions. Miriam is named first, which suggests that she instigated this family feud and could explain why God punished her and not Aaron (12:9–10).
1Then 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.
3Now Moses was a very humble man, more so than any man on the face of the earth.
In response, the Lord reconfirmed Moses’ special status...
In response, the Lord reconfirmed Moses’ special status and authority.
4And suddenly the LORD said to Moses, Aaron, and Miriam, “You three, come out to the Tent of Meeting.” So the three went out, 5and 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,
The Lord’s trust in Moses resulted in an...
The Lord’s trust in Moses resulted in an intimate relationship. God spoke to prophets in visions and dreams, but he spoke to Moses face to face (literally mouth to mouth; see Exod 33:8–11, 18–23; Deut 34:10).
6He said, “Hear now My words:
If there is a prophet among you,I, the LORD, will reveal Myself to him in a vision;I will speak to him in a dream.7But this is not so with My servant Moses;he is faithful in all My house.†8I speak with him face to face,clearly and not in riddles;he sees the form of the LORD.Why then were you unafraid to speak against My servant Moses?”
Miriam bore the brunt of God’s wrath (see...
Miriam bore the brunt of God’s wrath (see study note on 12:1–2). Once Aaron saw what had happened to her, he admitted his error and sought Moses’ intercession (cp. 11:2). Both Moses and the Lord accepted Aaron’s confession.
9So the anger of the LORD burned against them, and He departed.
10As the cloud lifted from above the Tent, suddenly Miriam became leprous,† white as snow. Aaron turned toward her, saw that she was leprous, 11and said to Moses, “My lord, please do not hold against us this sin we have so foolishly committed. 12Please do not let her be like a stillborn infant whose flesh is half consumed when he comes out of his mother’s womb.”
13So Moses cried out to the LORD, “O God, please heal her!”
14But the LORD answered Moses, “If her father had but spit in her face, would she not have been in disgrace for seven days? Let her be confined outside the camp for seven days; after that she may be brought back in.”
15So Miriam was confined outside the camp for seven days, and the people did not move on until she was brought in again. 16After that, the people set out from Hazeroth and camped in the Wilderness of Paran.