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Numbers

About this book
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 12:10 and 2 Kings 5:27

Hebrew Bible

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Summary

2 Kings 5 and Numbers 12 likely reflect a distinct source in Hebrew Bible tradition that connected physical disease as punishment for sin, distinct from the priestly source that did not make this connection.

Passages

Numbers 12:10

Hebrew Bible
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.”
750–400 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Numbers

2 Kings 5:27

Hebrew Bible
25 When he came and stood before his master, Elisha asked him, “Where have you been, Gehazi?” He answered, “Your servant hasn’t been anywhere.” 26 Elisha replied, “I was there in spirit when a man turned and got down from his chariot to meet you. This is not the proper time to accept silver or to accept clothes, olive groves, vineyards, sheep, cattle, and male and female servants. 27 Therefore Naaman’s skin disease will afflict you and your descendants forever!” When Gehazi went out from his presence, his skin was as white as snow.
600–501 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in 2 Kings

References

"... The fact that the Priestly writers did not make a connection between צרעת and transgressions is remarkable, especially since other biblical sources take this disorder to be an indicator of sinful behavior. Miriam, for example, suffers צרעת for contesting Moses (Numbers 12:10–12) while King Uzziah is punished with צרעת for the illegitimate offering of sacrifices (2 Chronicles 26:10–20). A similar correlation between צרעת and sin is reflected in 2 Kings 5:27 where Gehazi is afflicted with צרעת for stealing and lying ..."
Isabel Cranz, Atonement and Purification: Priestly and Assyro-Babylonian Perspectives on Sin and Its Consequences (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2017), 131.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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Numbers 12:10 and 2 Kings 5:27

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