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Numbers

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Chapter 12

1 Then Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman he had married⁠ (for he had married an Ethiopian woman).⁠ 2 They said, “Has the Lord spoken only through Moses? Has he not also spoken through us?” And the Lord heard it. 3 (Now the man Moses was very humble, more so than any man on the face of the earth.) 4 The Lord spoke immediately to Moses, Aaron, and Miriam: “The three of you come to the tent of meeting.” So the three of them went. 5 And the Lord came down in a pillar of cloud and stood at the entrance of the tent; he then called Aaron and Miriam, and they both came forward.⁠ 6 The Lord said, “Hear now my words: If there is a prophet among you, I the Lord will make myself known to him in a vision; I will speak with him in a dream. 7 My servant Moses is not like this; he is faithful in all my house. 8 With him I will speak face to face, openly and not in riddles, and he will see 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 departed. 10 After the cloud had departed from above the tent, there was Miriam, leprous like snow. Then Aaron turned toward Miriam, and realized that she was leprous.⁠ 11 So Aaron said to Moses, “O my lord, please do not hold this sin against us, in which we have acted foolishly and have sinned! 12 Do not let her be like a baby born dead, whose flesh is half consumed when it comes out of its mother’s womb!”⁠ 13 Then Moses cried to the Lord, “Heal her now, O God.”⁠ 14 The Lord said to Moses, “If her father had only spit in her face, would she not have been disgraced for seven days? Shut her out from the camp seven days, and afterward she can be brought back in again.” 15 So Miriam was shut outside of the camp for seven days, and the people did not journey on until Miriam was brought back in. 16 After that the people moved from Hazeroth and camped in the wilderness of Paran.

Texts in conversation

Compare Numbers 12:1 and Samaritan Numbers 12:1

Hebrew Bible · Samaritan

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Summary

In Numbers, Moses’ wife is described as a “Cushite,” suggesting an African origin. The Samaritan Pentateuch interprets “Cushite” as “beautiful,” following Samaritan tradition that Moses had only one wife.

Passages

Numbers 12:1

Hebrew Bible
1 Then Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman he had married (for he had married an Ethiopian woman). 2 They said, “Has the Lord spoken only through Moses? Has he not also spoken through us?” And the Lord heard it. 3 (Now the man Moses was very humble, more so than any man on the face of the earth.)
750–400 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Numbers

Samaritan Numbers 12:1

Samaritan · Samaritan Penteteuch
1 And Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the beautiful woman whom he had married, for he had married a beautiful woman. 2 And they said: “Has Shema indeed spoken only through Moses? Look, he has also spoken through us!” And Shema heard [it]. 3 Now the man Moses was very humble, more than all the men who were on the face of the earth.
130–120 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Samaritan Numbers

References

"... 12:1 “The beautiful” — The standard translation and also Jewish commentary suggest “black woman” = “Cushi”. However, the Israelite Samaritans pronounce this word as “Kaashet”. Maryaam and Aahrron spoke about Seebbooraa, Mooshe’s only wife, who was sent back to her father’s house after the incident at the inn. The Israelite Samaritan sages made a comparison between the quality of Seebbooraa as beautiful = “Kaashet” and Deuteronomy 32:15, = “Kaasheetaa” = “You became handsome.” This attitude of the Israelite Samaritan sages came from the understanding that Mooshe married only one wife, and once he became absolutely devoted to his mission he never got married again ..."
Benyamim Tsedaka and Sharon Sullivan, eds., The Israelite Samaritan Version of the Torah: First English Translation Compared with the Masoretic Version, trans. Benyamim Tsedaka (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2013), 336.

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Numbers 12:1 and Samaritan Numbers 12:1

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