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LXX Numbers

Septuagint

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Chapter 12

1 And Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses, because of the Ethiopian woman whom Moses took; for he had taken an Ethiopian woman. 2 And they said, Has the Lord spoken to Moses only? has he not also spoken to us? and the Lord heard it. 3 And the man Moses was very meek beyond all the men that were upon the earth. 4 And the Lord said immediately to Moses and Miriam and Aaron, Come forth all three of you to the tabernacle of witness. And the three came forth to the tabernacle of witness. 5 And the Lord descended in a pillar of a cloud, and stood at the door of the tabernacle of witness; and Aaron and Miriam were called; and both came forth. 6 And he said to them, Hear my words: If there should be of you a prophet to the Lord, I will be made known to him in a vision, and in sleep I will speak to him. 7 My servant Moses is not so; he is faithful in all my house. 8 I will speak to him mouth to mouth in appearance, and not in riddles; and he has seen the glory of the Lord;⁠ and why were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses? 9 And the great anger of the Lord was upon them, and he departed. 10 And the cloud departed from the tabernacle; and, look, Miriam was leprous, white as snow; and Aaron looked upon Miriam, and, look, she was leprous. 11 And Aaron said to Moses, Please, my lord, do not lay sin upon us, for we were ignorant of how we sinned. 12 Let her not be as it were like death, as an abortion coming out of a mother's womb, and it devours the half of her flesh.⁠ 13 And Moses cried to the Lord, saying, God, Please, heal her. 14 And the Lord said to Moses, If her father had only spit in her face, would she not be ashamed seven days? let her be set apart seven days outside the camp, and afterwards she shall come in. 15 And Miriam was separated outside the camp seven days; and the people did not move forward till Miriam was cleansed. 16 And afterwards the people set forth from Hazeroth, and encamped in the wilderness of Paran.

Texts in conversation

Compare LXX Numbers 12:8 and 1 Corinthians 13:12

Septuagint · New Testament

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Summary

In Numbers 12, God says he speaks with Moses face to face, openly and not in riddles, while other prophets receive only visions. Paul echoes this in 1 Corinthians 13, promising that all believers will one day see God face to face.

Passages

LXX Numbers 12:8

Septuagint
7 My servant Moses is not so; he is faithful in all my house. 8 I will speak to him mouth to mouth in appearance, and not in riddles; and he has seen the glory of the Lord; and why were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses? 9 And the great anger of the Lord was upon them, and he departed.
300–201 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in LXX Numbers

1 Corinthians 13:12

New Testament
11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. But when I became an adult, I set aside childish ways. 12 For now we see in a mirror indirectly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know in part, but then I will know fully, just as I have been fully known. 13 And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love.
55–57 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in 1 Corinthians

References

“... In 13:12 Paul alludes to Numbers 12:6–8, which contrasts Moses’ prophetic experience with that of all other prophets. Whereas other prophets receive revelation through visions and dreams (12:6; compare Joel 2:28), Moses experiences the presence of the Lord face to face (stoma kata stoma), not indirectly (ou di ainigmatōn) and sees his form (LXX: ‘glory’): ‘With him I speak face to face, clearly, and not in riddles, and he beholds the form of the LORD.’ Paul says, ‘Now we see in a mirror [di esoptrou] indirectly [en ainigmati], but then face to face [prosōpon pros prosōpon]. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.’ According to Leviticus Rabbah 1:14, there was a debate regarding the difference between Moses and the other prophets based on Numbers 12:8. Both sides held that Moses, like the other prophets, saw the Lord through a mirror (reading the word for ‘appearance’ [mar’eh] in Numbers 12:8 as though it meant ‘mirror,’ another meaning of the word used for ‘vision’ [mar’â] in Numbers 12:6). Some thought that the difference was that the other prophets saw the Lord through a series of mirrors rather than just one, while others thought that Moses saw the Lord through a polished mirror while the other prophets saw him through a blurred one ...”
Roy E. Ciampa and Brian S. Rosner, "1 Corinthians" in Beale, G. K., and D. A. Carson, editors. Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2007), 741.

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LXX Numbers 12:8 and 1 Corinthians 13:12

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