Numbers 12 is puzzling in several ways, which the Midrash (a rabbinical commentary on the Torah) attempts to explain. The first puzzle is that Miriam and Aaron complain about Moses's "Cushite" wife. KJV has "Ethiopian" which is close enough. Cushite refers to people from the area south of Egypt, including what is today Sudan, Somalia, and Ethiopia. But when Moses fled after killing the Egyptian he sojourned among the Midianites, which is the identity of his wife Zipporah and her father. We don't know what direction he fled, but we do know that the Midianites are from Palestine. In one version of the abduction of Joseph, he was sold to Midianites who were trading between Palestine/Canaan and Egypt. Now we are about to encounter the Midianites gain, in Canaan. In Exodus, the Midianites worshipped Yaweh, which is no big surprise since they are descendants of Abraham, but evidently he's turned his back on them because he chose the Israelites and the Midianites are going to get screwed big time.
One possible interpretation is that Moses had a second wife, but it's hard to see how he would have met her. According to the Midrash, Cushite is not to be taken literally but is a metaphor for an outstanding person. Racism based on skin color is a modern invention, and "Cushite" is not pejorative but rather merely points to distinction. In this version, Miriam and Aaron are not criticizing Moses for marrying Zipporah, but rather for neglecting her since he's been so preoccupied with leadership. It seems rather strained, but whatev. What I will say is just to repeat what I have said innumerable times. The Torah is a compilation of fragmentary tales from various sources, that have been cobbled together. The many discrepancies and contradictions are there because this isn't trying to be a single, coherent document. It's more like a library. The documents have been placed in what is trying to look like chronological order, but they weren't composed as a single story. It was left to the Midrashic commentators to try to clean it up. Other commentators have offered other possible explanations which you can read about in the linked Wikipedia article. None seem satisfactory to me.
2 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.
Another reminder that Yahweh is not omniscient. He happens to hear this, but he doesn't hear everything. He has a physical body and he is in specific locations.
3 (Now Moses was a very humble man, more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth.)
We have seen Moses characterized similarly before, but this interpolation seems something of a non-sequitur here. Perhaps what's why the translators put it in parentheses. Anyway, since Moses supposedly wrote this himself (not true, but that's what believers believe) this would be a rather insincere statement, no?
4 At once the Lord said to Moses, Aaron and Miriam, “Come out to the tent of meeting, all three of you.” So the three of them went out. 5 Then the Lord came down in a pillar of cloud; he stood at the entrance to the tent and summoned Aaron and Miriam. When the two of them stepped forward, 6 he said, “Listen to my words:
“When there is a prophet among you,
I, the Lord, reveal myself to them in visions,
I speak to them in dreams.
7 But this is not true of my servant Moses;
he is faithful in all my house.
8 With him I speak face to face,
clearly and not in riddles;
he sees the form of the Lord.
Why then were you not afraid
to speak against my servant Moses?”9 The anger of the Lord burned against them, and he left them.
One interpretation of all this is that this story was from the Elohist, who is concerned to emphasize the status of Moses over that of Aaron. That would explain why this seems inconsistent with most of the story which comes from J and the priestly sources, which emphasize the importance of the priesthood of Aaron and his descendants. It is also more consistent with my understanding of the nature of the Torah.
10 When the cloud lifted from above the tent, Miriam’s skin was leprous[a]—it became as white as snow. Aaron turned toward her and saw that she had a defiling skin disease, 11 and he said to Moses, “Please, my lord, I ask you not to hold against us the sin we have so foolishly committed. 12 Do not let her be like a stillborn infant coming from its mother’s womb with its flesh half eaten away.”
13 So Moses cried out to the Lord, “Please, God, heal her!”
14 The Lord replied to Moses, “If her father had spit in her face, would she not have been in disgrace for seven days? Confine her outside the camp for seven days; after that she can be brought back.” 15 So Miriam was confined outside the camp for seven days, and the people did not move on till she was brought back.
It is unclear what the analogy means about her father spitting in her face, but evidently it means that Yahweh is angry with her. So she has to endure 7 days of exile.
16 After that, the people left Hazeroth and encamped in the Desert of Paran.
Footnotes
- Numbers 12:10 The Hebrew for leprous was used for various diseases affecting the skin.
1 comment:
As usual, what's remarkable to me is how I never questioned the things I saw in the Pentateuch when I was young--as well as all that I seemed to miss. I guess a lot went over my head when I was that young.
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