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Samaritan Numbers

Samaritan Penteteuch

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Chapter 12

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.

4 And Shema spoke suddenly to Moses and to Aaron and to Miriam: “Come out, you three, to the tent of meeting.” And the three of them came out. 5 And Shema came down in a pillar of cloud, and stood at the entrance of the tent, and called Aaron and Miriam; and they both came forward. 6 And he said: “Listen to my words: If there is a prophet among you, I Shema will make myself known to him in a vision, and in a dream I will speak with him. 7 This is different with my servant Moses; he is entrusted with all my house, 8 I will speak with him mouth to mouth, clearly, and not in riddles; and he shall see the form of Shema. Why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant, against Moses?” 9 And the anger of Shema flared against them, and he left. 10 And the cloud moved away from over the tent, and look, Miriam had leprosy, as [white as] snow. And Aaron turned toward Miriam, and look, she had leprosy. 11 And Aaron said to Moses: “My lord, please do not punish us for the sin we have foolishly committed. 12 Please do not let her be like a dead child, whose flesh is half consumed when he comes from his mother’s womb.” 13 And Moses cried to Shema, saying: “Heal her, God, please."

14 And Shema said to Moses: “If her father had merely spat in her face, she would be ashamed seven days! Let her be confined outside the camp seven days, and after that she may be brought in again.” 15 And Miriam was confined outside the camp seven days, and the people did not set out until Miriam was brought in again. 16 And after that the people traveled from Hazeroth, and camped in the wilderness of Paran. And Moses said to the children of Israel: “You have come to the hill country of the Amorites, which Shema our God gives us. Look, Shema your God has placed the land in front of you. Go up and take possession, as Shema, the God of your fathers, has told you. Do not fear or be discouraged. And they came near to Moses, and said, ‘Let us send men ahead of us, so that they may make us love the land, and report back to us about the route by which we must go up, and the cities we shall enter.’” And Moses was pleased with the proposal.

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Compare Samaritan Numbers 12:1 and Onkelos Numbers 12:1

Samaritan · Targum

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Summary

The Samaritan Pentateuch and the Aramaic Targum Onkelos describe Moses’ wife as “beautiful.” Their interpreters identify her as Zipporah, consistent with the Samaritan belief that Moses married only once.

Passages

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

Onkelos Numbers 12:1

Targum
1 And Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses, because of the beautiful woman he had married, because he had separated from the beautiful woman he had married. 2 And they said, Has the Lord spoken only with Moses? Has He not spoken with us also? And it was heard before the Lord. 3 But the man Moses was very humble, more than all the men who were upon the face of the earth.
50–500 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Onkelos Numbers

References

"... In Numbers 12:1 the Masoretic Text indicates that Moses took a second wife from the Kingdom of Cush (Ethiopia). Onkelos, the famous Jewish convert of the first century CE and nephew of the Roman Emperor Titus, suggested that the true meaning was not one of nationality, “Cushite” but had a true meaning of “beautiful.” Likewise, the Samaritan Pentateuch and the Masoretic Text in this text have the same Hebrew characters, but a different vocalization resulting in a different interpretation ... In the Samaritan tradition of the Biblical Text, Moses was only married to one woman, Zipporah ..."
Sharon Sullivan Dufour, “Variants in the Samaritan Pentateuch of the Hebrew Bible as Compared to the Masoretic Text” (diss., Eastern Michigan University, 2009), 1–16.

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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Samaritan Numbers 12:1 and Onkelos Numbers 12:1

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