Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had married; for he had married a Cushite woman.
Parallel translations
- KJV And Miriam and Aaron spake against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married: for he had married an Ethiopian woman.
- BSB Then Miriam and Aaron criticized Moses because of the Cushite woman he had married, for he had taken a Cushite wife.
- NKJV Then Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married; for he had married an Ethiopian woman.
- NASB Then Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had married (for he had married a Cushite woman);
- NLT While they were at Hazeroth, Miriam and Aaron criticized Moses because he had married a Cushite woman.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Miriam and Aaron criticize Moses over his Cushite wife. Personal grievance masks a deeper challenge to Moses' unique authority.
Overview
Moses' own siblings speak against him, ostensibly because of his Cushite wife. The marriage objection appears to be a pretext for jealousy over Moses' leadership, as the next verse reveals. The episode warns against opposing those God has appointed, and against letting envy disguise itself as principle.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 16
- Exod 2:21Moses was content to dwell with the man. He gave Moses Zipporah, his daughter.
- Gen 26:34–35When Esau was forty years old, he took as wife Judith, the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath, the daughter of Elon the Hittite.
- Gen 27:46Rebekah said to Isaac, “I am weary of my life because of the daughters of Heth. If Jacob takes a wife of the daughters of Heth, such as these, of the daughters of the land, what good will my life do me?”
- Gen 24:37My master made me swear, saying, ‘You shall not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I live,
- Matt 10:36A man’s foes will be those of his own household.
- Gen 24:3I will make you swear by Yahweh, the God of heaven and the God of the earth, that you shall not take a wife for my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I live.
- John 7:5For even his brothers didn’t believe in him.
- Gen 28:6–9Now Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him away to Paddan Aram, to take him a wife from there, and that as he blessed him he gave him a command, saying, “You shall not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan,”
- Gen 34:14–15and said to them, “We can’t do this thing, to give our sister to one who is uncircumcised; for that is a reproach to us.
- Gal 4:16So then, have I become your enemy by telling you the truth?
- Gen 41:45Pharaoh called Joseph’s name Zaphenath-Paneah; and he gave him Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera priest of On as a wife. Joseph went out over the land of Egypt.
- Lev 21:14A widow, or one divorced, or a woman who has been defiled, or a prostitute, these he shall not marry: but a virgin of his own people shall he take as a wife.
- Exod 34:16and you take of their daughters to your sons, and their daughters play the prostitute after their gods, and make your sons play the prostitute after their gods.
- John 15:20Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his lord.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours.
- Matt 12:48But he answered him who spoke to him, “Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?”
- Exod 2:16Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters. They came and drew water, and filled the troughs to water their father’s flock.
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Christ at the center
In the wilderness Christ is the water from the rock, the bronze serpent lifted up that the dying might look and live (John 3:14), and the star and scepter that Balaam saw rising out of Jacob.
How Numbers 12:1 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.