And Miriam and Aaron spake against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married: for he had married an Ethiopian woman.
Parallel translations
- WEB Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had married; for he had married a Cushite 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 2:21And Moses was content to dwell with the man: and he gave Moses Zipporah his daughter.
- Gen 26:34–35And Esau was forty years old when he took to wife Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Bashemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite:
- Gen 27:46And Rebekah said to Isaac, I am weary of my life because of the daughters of Heth: if Jacob take a wife of the daughters of Heth, such as these which are of the daughters of the land, what good shall my life do me?
- Gen 24:37And my master made me swear, saying, Thou shalt not take a wife to my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I dwell:
- Matt 10:36And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household.
- Gen 24:3And I will make thee swear by the LORD, the God of heaven, and the God of the earth, that thou shalt not take a wife unto my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell:
- John 7:5For neither did his brethren believe in him.
- Gen 28:6–9When Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob, and sent him away to Padanaram, to take him a wife from thence; and that as he blessed him he gave him a charge, saying, Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan;
- Gen 34:14–15And they said unto them, We cannot do this thing, to give our sister to one that is uncircumcised; for that were a reproach unto us:
- Gal 4:16Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth?
- Gen 41:45And Pharaoh called Joseph’s name Zaphnathpaaneah; and he gave him to wife Asenath the daughter of Potipherah priest of On. And Joseph went out over all the land of Egypt.
- Lev 21:14A widow, or a divorced woman, or profane, or an harlot, these shall he not take: but he shall take a virgin of his own people to wife.
- Exod 34:16And thou take of their daughters unto thy sons, and their daughters go a whoring after their gods, and make thy sons go a whoring after their gods.
- John 15:20Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.
- Matt 12:48But he answered and said unto him that told him, Who is my mother? and who are my brethren?
- Exod 2:16Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters: and 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
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