Numbers 12:1

Numbers 12:1 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)And Miriam and Aaron spake against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married: for he had married an Ethiopian woman.
• English Standard Version (ESV)Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had married, for he had married a Cushite woman.
• New King James Version (NKJV)Then Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married; for he had married an Ethiopian woman.
• New Living Translation (NLT)While they were at Hazeroth, Miriam and Aaron criticized Moses because he had married a Cushite woman.

Context of Numbers 12:1

Miriam and Aaron began to talk against Moses because of his Cushite wife, for he had married a Cushite. 2“Has the Lord spoken only through Moses?” they asked. “Hasn’t he also spoken through us?” And the Lord heard this. 3(Now Moses was a very humble man, more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth.)

Numbers 12:1 word by word

וַתְּדַבֵּ֨ר מִרְיָ֤ם וְאַהֲרֹן֙ בְּמֹשֶׁ֔ה עַל־אֹד֛וֹת הָאִשָּׁ֥ה הַכֻּשִׁ֖ית אֲשֶׁ֣ר לָקָ֑ח כִּֽי־אִשָּׁ֥ה כֻשִׁ֖ית לָקָֽח׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• And Miriamמִרְיָםmiryâm · MiriamH4813
• and Aaronאַהֲרֹן'ahărôn · AaronH175
• spakeדָבַרdâbar · to speak: speakH1696
• against Mosesמֹשֶׁהmôsheh · MosesH4872
• because ofאוֹדָה'ôdôth 'ôdôth · causeH182
• the Ethiopianכּוּשִׁיתkûshîyth · CushitessH3571
• womanאִשָּׁה'ishshâh nâshîym · womanH802
• whom he had marriedלָקַחlâqach · to take: marryH3947

Cross-references for Numbers 12:1

• Matthew 10:36a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’
• Matthew 12:48He replied to him, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?”
• John 7:5For even his own brothers did not believe in him.
• John 15:20Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also.
• Galatians 4:16Have I now become your enemy by telling you the truth?
• Exodus 2:16Now a priest of Midian had seven daughters, and they came to draw water and fill the troughs to water their father’s flock.
• Genesis 24:3I want you to swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and the God of earth, that you will not get a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I am living,
• Genesis 26:34When Esau was forty years old, he married Judith daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and also Basemath daughter of Elon the Hittite.
• Genesis 27:46Then Rebekah said to Isaac, “I’m disgusted with living because of these Hittite women. If Jacob takes a wife from among the women of this land, from Hittite women like these, my life will not be worth living.”
• Genesis 28:6Now Esau learned that Isaac had blessed Jacob and had sent him to Paddan Aram to take a wife from there, and that when he blessed him he commanded him, “Do not marry a Canaanite woman,”
• Genesis 34:14They said to them, “We can’t do such a thing; we can’t give our sister to a man who is not circumcised. That would be a disgrace to us.
• Genesis 41:45Pharaoh gave Joseph the name Zaphenath-Paneah and gave him Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, to be his wife. And Joseph went throughout the land of Egypt.
• Exodus 34:16And when you choose some of their daughters as wives for your sons and those daughters prostitute themselves to their gods, they will lead your sons to do the same.
• Leviticus 21:14He must not marry a widow, a divorced woman, or a woman defiled by prostitution, but only a virgin from his own people,

Commentaries on Numbers 12:1

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 1Miriam and Aaron spake against Moses - It appears that jealousy of the power and influence of Moses was the real cause of their complaint though his having married an Ethiopian woman-הכשית האשה haishshah haccushith - That Woman, the Cushite, probably meaning Zipporah, who was an Arab born in the land of Midian - was the ostensible cause.Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 1-15Verses 1-15 Miriam, as a prophetess (compare Exodus 15:20-21) no less than as the sister of Moses and Aaron, took the first rank among the women of Israel; and Aaron may be regarded as the ecclesiastical head of the whole nation. But instead of being grateful for these high dignities they challenged the special vocation of Moses and the exclusive authority which God had assigned to him. Miriam was the instigator, from the fact that her name stands…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 1God rebukes the murmuring of Aaron and Miriam. (1-9) Miriam struck with leprosy, and healed at the prayer of Moses. (10-16) Verses 1-9 The patience of Moses was tried in his own family, as well as by the people. The pretence was, that he had married a foreign wife; but probably their pride was hurt, and their envy stirred up, by his superior authority. Opposition from our near relations, and from religious friends, is most painful. But this is to be…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 1Most interpreters believe the Cushite woman is Zipporah, the wife of Moses. She was from Midian (Exodus 2:16–22). They see Cush as referring to Cushan, a region and people near Midian (Habakkuk 3:7). Other interpreters think Cushite refers to Kusi in northern Arabia, Ethiopia, or Sudan. This would suggest she was a different wife. In either case, it is possible that Miriam and Aaron disapproved of his having married a non-Israelite or that they were…Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1-91. an Ethiopian woman--Hebrew, "a Cushite woman"--Arabia was usually called in Scripture the land of Cush, its inhabitants being descendants of that son of Ham (see on Ex 2:15) and being accounted generally a vile and contemptible race (see on Am 9:7). The occasion of this seditious outbreak on the part of Miriam and Aaron against Moses was the great change made in the government by the adoption of the seventy rulers [Nu 11:16]. Their irritating…Read the comment

Topics related to Numbers 12:1

• Aaron
• Citizens
• Envy
• Ethiopia
• Forgiveness
• Judgments
• Leprosy
• Minister, Christian
• Miscegenation
• Treason
• Zipporah

In the dictionaries

• Aaron
• Miriam
• Moses
• Ethiopian
• Ethiopia, Ethiopian
• Ethiopian woman
• Cushite
• Dedicate
• Exodus
• Hazeroth

Commentaries on Numbers 12

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings