Numbers 12:1
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.
KJV
And Miriam and Aaron spake against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married: for he had married an Ethiopian woman.
Matthew Henry
Hebrew interlinear
H1696
v — arrange, speak, subdue
Derivation: a primitive root;
perhaps properly, to arrange; but used figuratively (of words), to speak; rarely (in a destructive sense) to subdue
KJV: answer, appoint, bid, command, commune, declare, destroy, give, name, promise, pronounce, rehearse, say, speak, be spokesman, subdue, talk, teach, tell, think, use (entreaties), utter, × well, × work.
vb — speak
[דָבַר] 1142 vb. speak (original mng. dub.)
Qal speak
Niph. reciprocal sense, speak with one another, talk
Pi. speak
Pu. in the day when she may be spoken for
Hithp. speaking this word
Hiph. either leads subject, or puts to flight, fig. for subdues
H4813
n-pr-f — Mirjam
Derivation: from 4805; rebelliously;
Mirjam, the name of two Israelitesses
KJV: Miriam.
n.pr.f — Miriam
מִרְיָם n.pr.f. et m.
1. f. sister of Moses Aaron
2. m. (prob.) a Judahite
H175
n-pr-m — Aharon
Derivation: of uncertain derivation;
Aharon, the brother of Moses
KJV: Aaron.
n.pr.m — Aaron
אַהֲרֹן 346 n.pr.m. Aaron, elder brother of Moses
H4872
n-pr-m — Mosheh
Derivation: from 4871; drawing out (of the water), i.e. rescued;
Mosheh, the Israelite lawgiver
KJV: Moses.
n.pr.m — Moses
מֹשֶׁה 767 n.pr.m. Moses, the great Hebrew leader, prophet and lawgiver
H5921
prep — above, over, upon, against
Derivation: properly, the same as 5920 used as a preposition (in the singular or plural often with prefix, or as conjunction with a particle following);
above, over, upon, or against (yet always in this last relation with a downward aspect) in a great variety of applications
KJV: above, according to(-ly), after, (as) against, among, and, × as, at, because of, beside (the rest of), between, beyond the time, × both and, by (reason of), × had the charge of, concerning for, in (that), (forth, out) of, (from) (off), (up-) on, over, than, through(-out), to, touching, × with.
forasmuch as
כִּי עַל כֵּן forasmuch as
subst — above
עַל, עָ֑ל
I. subst. height
II. As prep. upon, and hence on the ground of, according to, on account of, on behalf of, concerning, beside, in addition to, together with, beyond, above, over, by, on to, towards, to, against
1. Upon, of the substratum upon which an object in any way rests, or on which an action is performed
a. —
(a). of clothing, etc., which any one wears
(b). With verbs of covering or protecting, even though the cover or veil be not over or above the thing covered, but around or before it
b. Of what rests heavily upon a person, or is a burden to him
c. Of a duty, payment, care, etc., imposed upon a person, or devolving on him
d. על is used idiom. to give pathos to the expression of an emotion, by emphasizing the person who is its subject, and who, as it were, feels it acting upon him
e. חָיָה עַל to live upon (as upon a foundation or support)
f. Of the ground or basis, on which a thing is done
2. It expresses excess
3. It denotes elevation or pre-eminence
4. It expresses addition
5. It expresses the idea of being extended, or suspended over anything, without however being in contact with it, above, over
6. From the sense of inclining or impending over, על comes to denote contiguity or proximity, Engl. by (or sts. on)
7. In connection with verbs of motion (actual or fig.)
8. By writers of the silver age, על is sts. used with the force of a dative
9. With other particles:
III. As conj.
a. עַל אֲשֶׁר because that
b. עַל כִּי similar in meaning, but less frequent
c. עַל alone:
(a). because
(b). notwithstanding that, although
IV. Compounds:
1. with כְּ (rare and late)
a. as concerning, as upon
b. the like of their deeds is the like of (that which) he will repay
2. מֵעַל from upon, from over, from by
H182
n-f — turnings, occasions, account
Derivation: or (shortened) אֹדוֹת (only thus in the plural); from the same as 181;
turnings (i.e. occasions); (adverb) on account of
KJV: (be-) cause, concerning, sake.
n.f — cause
[אוֹדָה] n.f. cause (perh. orig. circumstance)
H802
n-f — woman
Derivation: feminine of 376 or 582; irregular plural, נָשִׁים;(used in the same wide sense as 582)
a woman
KJV: (adulter) ess, each, every, female, × many, none, one, together, wife, woman. Often unexpressed in English.
n.f — woman
אִשָּׁה 773 n.f. woman, wife, female
1. woman
2. Wife (woman belonging to a man, usually cstr. or sf.)
3. Female of animals
4. With distrib. & recipr. sense, each woman from her neighbor; each one
H3571
a-f — a Cushite woman
Derivation: feminine of 3569;
a Cushite woman
KJV: Ethiopian.
adj.gent — Cushite
כּוּשִׁי adj.gent.
a. sg. agreeing with noun
b. = subst., a Cushite
c. id. c. art., the Cushite, of Joab’s adjutant
d. pl. = subst.
H834
r — who, which, what, that, when, where, how, because, in order that
Derivation: a primitive relative pronoun (of every gender and number);
who, which, what, that; also (as an adverb and a conjunction) when, where, how, because, in order that, etc.
KJV: × after, × alike, as (soon as), because, × every, for, + forasmuch, + from whence, + how(-soever), × if, (so) that ((thing) which, wherein), × though, + until, + whatsoever, when, where (+ -as, -in, -of, -on, -soever, -with), which, whilst, + whither(-soever), who(-m, -soever, -se). As it is indeclinable, it is often accompanied by the personal pronoun expletively, used to show the connection.
part. of relation — who
אֲשֶׁר part. of relation A sign of relation, bringing the clause introduced by it into relation with an antecedent clause.
adv — in which
בַאֲשֶׁר
a. in (that) which
b. adv. in (the place) where
c. conj. in that, inasmuch as
d. on account of whom?
conj — according as
כַּאֲשֶׁר conj. according as, as, when
1. according to that which, according as, as
2. with a causal force, in so far as, since
3. with a temporal force, when
adv — who
מֵאֲשֶׁר
a. from (or than) that which
b. adv. from (the place) where
c. conj. from (the fact) that …, since
H3947
v — take
Derivation: a primitive root;
to take (in the widest variety of applications)
KJV: accept, bring, buy, carry away, drawn, fetch, get, infold, × many, mingle, place, receive(-ing), reserve, seize, send for, take (away, -ing, up), use, win.
vb — take
לָקַח 965 vb. take
Qal
1. take, take in hand
2. take and carry along with oneself
3.
a. take from, or out of
b. take, carry away
c. take away from, so as to deprive of
d. esp. take away life
4. take to or for a person
5. take up, upon = put upon
6. = fetch
7. take = lead, conduct (with or without contact)
8. take = capture, seize
9. take = carry off
10. in phr. take vengeance
Niph.
1. be captured, of ark
2. be taken away, removed
3. be taken, brought unto
Pu.
1. be taken from, out of
2. = be stolen from
3. be taken captive
4. be taken away, removed
Hoph.
1. be taken, brought unto
2. be taken out of
3. be taken away from
Hithp. lit. fire taking hold of itself, of lightning
H3588
conj — relative conjunction
Derivation: a primitive particle (the full form of the prepositional prefix) indicating causal relations of all kinds, antecedent or consequent;
(by implication) very widely used as a relative conjunction or adverb (as below); often largely modified by other particles annexed
KJV: and, (forasmuch, inasmuch, where-) as, assured(-ly), but, certainly, doubtless, else, even, except, for, how, (because, in, so, than) that, nevertheless, now, rightly, seeing, since, surely, then, therefore, (al-) though, till, truly, until, when, whether, while, whom, yea, yet.
conj — that
כִּי conj. that, for, when
1. that
2.
a. Of time, when, of the past
b. elsewhere כִּי has a force approximating to if, though it usu. represents a case as more likely to occur than אִם
c. when or if, with a concessive force, i.e. though
3. Because, since
relative conjunction
כִּי אם־
1. each part. retaining its independent force, and relating to a different clause:
a. that if
b. for if
2. (About 140 t.) the two particles being closely conjoined, and relating to the same clause—
a. limiting the prec. clause, except
b. the if being neglected, and treated as pleonastic, so that the clause is no longer a limitation of the preceding clause but a contradiction of it: but rather, but
c. after an oath, surely
forasmuch as
כִּי עַל כֵּן forasmuch as
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Verses 1–3
Numbers 12:1–3
Here is, I. The unbecoming passion of Aaron and Miriam: they spoke against Moses, Num 12:1. If Moses, that received so much honour from God, yet received so many slights and affronts from men, shall any of us think such trials either strange or hard, and be either provoked or discouraged by them? But who would have thought that disturbance should be created to Moses, 1. From those that were themselves serious and good; nay, that were eminent in religion, Miriam a prophetess, Aaron the high priest, both of them joint-commissioners with Moses for the deliverance of Israel? Mic 6:4, I sent before thee Moses, Aaron, and Miriam. 2. From those that were his nearest relations, his own brother and sister, who shone so much by rays borrowed from him? Thus the spouse complains (Sol 1:6), My mother's children were angry with me; and quarrels among relations are in a special manner grievous. A brother offended is harder to be won than a strong city. Yet this helps to confirm the call of Moses, and shows that his advancement was purely by the divine favour, and not by any compact or collusion with his kindred, who themselves grudged his advancement. Neither did many of our Saviour's kindred believe on him, Joh 7:5. It should seem that Miriam began the quarrel, and Aaron, not having been employed or consulted in the choice of the seventy elders, was for the present somewhat disgusted, and so was the sooner drawn in to take his sister's part. It would grieve one to see the hand of Aaron in so many trespasses, but it shows that the law made men priests who had infirmity. Satan prevailed first with Eve, and by her with Adam; see what need we have to take heed of being drawn into quarrels by our relations, for we know not how great a matter a little fire may kindle. Aaron ought to have remembered how Moses stood his friend when God was angry with him for making the golden calf (Deu 9:20), and not to have rendered him evil for good. Two things they quarrelled with Moses about: - (1.) About his marriage: some think a late marriage with a Cushite or Arabian; others because of Zipporah, whom on this occasion they called, in scorn, an Ethiopian woman, and who, they insinuated, had too great an influence upon Moses in the choice of these seventy elders. Perhaps there was some private falling out between Zipporah and Miriam, which occasioned some hot words, and one peevish reflection introduced another, till Moses and Aaron came to be interested. (2.) About his government; not the mismanagement of it, but the monopolizing of it (Num 12:2): "Hath the Lord spoken only by Moses? Must he alone have the choice of the persons on whom the spirit of prophecy shall come? Hath he not spoken also by us? Might not we have had a hand in that affair, and preferred our friends, as well as Moses his?" They could not deny that God had spoken by Moses, but it was plain he had sometimes spoken also by them; and that which they intended was to make themselves equal with him, though God had so many ways distinguished him. Note, Striving to be greatest is a sin which easily besets disciples themselves, and it is exceedingly sinful. Even those that are well preferred are seldom pleased if others be better preferred. Those that excel are commonly envied.
II. The wonderful patience of Moses under this provocation. The Lord heard it (Num 12:2), but Moses himself took no notice of it, for (Num 12:3) he was very meek. He had a great deal of reason to resent the affront; it was ill-natured and ill-timed, when the people were disposed to mutiny, and had lately given him a great deal of vexation with their murmurings, which would be in danger of breaking out again when thus headed and countenanced by Aaron and Miriam; but he, as a deaf man, heard not. When God's honour was concerned, as in the case of the golden calf, no man more zealous than Moses; but, when his own honour was touched, no man more meek: as bold as a lion in the cause of God, but as mild as a lamb in his own cause. God's people are the meek of the earth (Zep 2:3), but some are more remarkable than others for this grace, as Moses, who was thus fitted for the work he was called to, which required all the meekness he had and sometimes more. And sometimes the unkindness of our friends is a greater trial of our meekness than the malice of our enemies. Christ himself records his own meekness (Mat 11:29, I am meek and lowly in heart), and the copy of meekness which Christ has set was without a blot, but that of Moses was not.
Cross-references: Num 12:1 · Mic 6:4 · Song 1:6 · John 7:5 · Deut 9:20 · Num 12:2 · Num 12:3 · Zeph 2:3 · Matt 11:29