Dissension of Aaron and Miriam
1 Then Ex. 15:20, 21; Num. 20:1Miriam and Aaron spoke Num. 11:1against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married; for Ex. 2:21he had married an Ethiopian woman. 2 So they said, "Has the Lord indeed spoken only through Num. 16:3Moses? Ex. 15:20; Mic. 6:4Has He not spoken through us also?" And the LordGen. 29:33; Num. 11:1; 2 Kin. 19:4; Is. 37:4; Ezek. 35:12, 13heard it.3 (Now the man Moses was very humble, more than all men who were on the face of the earth.)
4 (Ps. 76:9)Suddenly the Lord said to Moses, Aaron, and Miriam, "Come out, you three, to the tabernacle of meeting!" So the three came out. 5 Ex. 19:9; 34:5; Num. 11:25; 16:19Then the Lord came down in the pillar of cloud and stood in the door of the tabernacle, and called Aaron and Miriam. And they both went forward. 6 Then He said,
"Hear now My words:
If there is a prophet among you,
I, the Lord, make Myself known to him Gen. 46:2; 1 Sam. 3:15; Job 33:15; Ezek. 1:1; Dan. 8:2; Luke 1:11; Acts 10:11, 17; 22:17, 18in a vision;
I speak to him Gen. 31:10; 1 Kin. 3:5, 15; Matt. 1:20in a dream.
7 Not so with Josh. 1:1; Ps. 105:26My servant Moses;
Heb. 3:2, 5He is faithful in all 1 Tim. 1:12My house.
8 I speak with him Ex. 33:11; Deut. 34:10; Hos. 12:13face to face,
Even (1 Cor. 13:12)plainly, and not in dark sayings;
And he sees Ex. 33:19–23the form of the Lord.
Why then 2 Pet. 2:10; Jude 8were you not afraid
To speak against My servant Moses?"
9 So the anger of the Lord was aroused against them, and He departed. 10 And when the cloud departed from above the tabernacle, Deut. 24:9suddenly Miriam becameEx. 4:6; 2 Kin. 5:27; 15:5; 2 Chr. 26:19, 20leprous, as whiteas snow. Then Aaron turned toward Miriam, and there she was, a leper. 11 So Aaron said to Moses, "Oh, my lord! Please 2 Sam. 19:19; 24:10do not lay this sin on us, in which we have done foolishly and in which we have sinned. 12 Please Ps. 88:4do not let her be as one dead, whose flesh is half consumed when he comes out of his mother’s womb!"
13 So Moses cried out to the Lord, saying, "Please Ps. 103:3heal her, O God, I pray!"
14 Then the Lord said to Moses, "If her father had but Deut. 25:9; Job 30:10; Is. 50:6spit in her face, would she not be shamed seven days? Let her be Lev. 13:46; Num. 5:1–4shut out of the camp seven days, and afterward she may be received again." 15 Deut. 24:9; 2 Chr. 26:20, 21So Miriam was shut out of the camp seven days, and the people did not journey till Miriam was brought in again.16 And afterward the people moved from Num. 11:35; 33:17, 18Hazeroth and camped in the Wilderness of Paran.