“Does the LORD speak only through Moses?” they said. “Does He not also speak through us?” And the LORD heard this.
Parallel translations
- WEB They said, “Has Yahweh indeed spoken only with Moses? Hasn’t he spoken also with us?” And Yahweh heard it.
- KJV And they said, Hath the LORD indeed spoken only by Moses? hath he not spoken also by us? And the LORD heard it.
- NKJV So they said, “Has the Lord indeed spoken only through Moses? Has He not spoken through us also?” And the Lord heard it.
- NASB and they said, “Is it a fact that the Lord has spoken only through Moses? Has He not spoken through us as well?” And the Lord heard this.
- NLT They said, “Has the Lord spoken only through Moses? Hasn’t he spoken through us, too?” But the Lord heard them.
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
They claim God speaks through them too, not only Moses, and the LORD hears it. Pride over spiritual standing fuels their complaint.
Overview
Miriam and Aaron assert their own prophetic standing in rivalry to Moses, and the LORD overhears their grumbling. Their words reveal that the real issue is envy of Moses' singular relationship with God. That God "heard it" assures the reader that he takes notice of complaints made against his servants.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 20
- Num 16:3They came together against Moses and Aaron and told them, “You have taken too much upon yourselves! For everyone in the entire congregation is holy, and the LORD is in their midst. Why then do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the LORD?”
- Ezek 35:12–13Then you will know that I, the LORD, have heard every contemptuous word you uttered against the mountains of Israel when you said, ‘They are desolate; they are given to us to devour!’
- Isa 37:4Perhaps the LORD your God will hear the words of the Rabshakeh, whom his master the king of Assyria has sent to defy the living God, and He will rebuke him for the words that the LORD your God has heard. Therefore lift up a prayer for the remnant that still survives.”
- Phil 2:3Do nothing out of selfish ambition or empty pride, but in humility consider others more important than yourselves.
- Phil 2:14Do everything without complaining or arguing,
- Mic 6:4For I brought you up from the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of slavery. I sent Moses before you, as well as Aaron and Miriam.
- Rom 12:10Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Outdo yourselves in honoring one another.
- Num 11:1Soon the people began to complain about their hardship in the hearing of the LORD, and when He heard them, His anger was kindled, and fire from the LORD blazed among them and consumed the outskirts of the camp.
- 2 Kgs 19:4Perhaps the LORD your God will hear all the words of the Rabshakeh, whom his master the king of Assyria has sent to defy the living God, and He will rebuke him for the words that the LORD your God has heard. Therefore lift up a prayer for the remnant that still survives.”
- 2 Sam 11:27And when the time of mourning was over, David had her brought to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son. But the thing that David had done was evil in the sight of the LORD.
- 1 Pet 5:5Young men, in the same way, submit yourselves to your elders. And all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”
- Rom 12:3For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but think of yourself with sober judgment, according to the measure of faith God has given you.
- Num 11:29But Moses replied, “Are you jealous on my account? I wish that all the LORD’s people were prophets and that the LORD would place His Spirit on them!”
- Gen 29:33Again she conceived and gave birth to a son, and she said, “Because the LORD has heard that I am unloved, He has given me this son as well.” So she named him Simeon.
- Ps 94:7–9They say, “The LORD does not see; the God of Jacob pays no heed.”
- Exod 7:10So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did just as the LORD had commanded. Aaron threw his staff down before Pharaoh and his officials, and it became a serpent.
- Prov 13:10Arrogance leads only to strife, but wisdom is with the well-advised.
- Exod 5:1After that, Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘Let My people go, so that they may hold a feast to Me in the wilderness.’”
- Exod 4:30and Aaron relayed everything the LORD had said to Moses. And Moses performed the signs before the people,
- Exod 15:20–21Then Miriam the prophetess, Aaron’s sister, took a tambourine in her hand, and all the women followed her with tambourines and dancing.
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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 12:2 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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