Numbers 12:1
New International Version
Miriam and Aaron began to talk against Moses because of his Cushite wife, for he had married a Cushite.

New Living Translation
While they were at Hazeroth, Miriam and Aaron criticized Moses because he had married a Cushite woman.

English Standard Version
Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had married, for he had married a Cushite woman.

Berean Standard Bible
Then Miriam and Aaron criticized Moses because of the Cushite woman he had married, for he had taken a Cushite wife.

King James Bible
And Miriam and Aaron spake against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married: for he had married an Ethiopian woman.

New King James Version
Then Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married; for he had married an Ethiopian woman.

New American Standard Bible
Then Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had married (for he had married a Cushite woman);

NASB 1995
Then Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had married (for he had married a Cushite woman);

NASB 1977
Then Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had married (for he had married a Cushite woman);

Legacy Standard Bible
Then Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had taken as a wife (for he had taken a Cushite woman);

Amplified Bible
Now Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had married (for he had married a Cushite woman);

Christian Standard Bible
Miriam and Aaron criticized Moses because of the Cushite woman he married (for he had married a Cushite woman).

Holman Christian Standard Bible
Miriam and Aaron criticized Moses because of the Cushite woman he married (for he had married a Cushite woman).

American Standard Version
And Miriam and Aaron spake against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had married; for he had married a Cushite woman.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
And Maryam and Ahron spoke with Moshe on the matter of an Ethiopian woman whom he took because he had taken an Ethiopian woman.

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And Mariam and Aaron spoke against Moses, because of the Ethiopian woman whom Moses took; for he had taken an Ethiopian woman.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And Mary and Aaron spoke against Moses, because of his wife the Ethiopian,

English Revised Version
And Miriam and Aaron spake against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had married: for he had married a Cushite woman.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
Miriam and Aaron began to criticize Moses because he was married to a woman from Sudan.

Good News Translation
Moses had married a Cushite woman, and Miriam and Aaron criticized him for it.

International Standard Version
Miriam and Aaron rebelled against Moses on account of the Cushite woman that he had married.

JPS Tanakh 1917
And Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had married; for he had married a Cushite woman.

Literal Standard Version
And Miriam speaks—Aaron also—against Moses concerning the circumstance of the Cushite woman whom he had taken, for he had taken a Cushite woman;

Majority Standard Bible
Then Miriam and Aaron criticized Moses because of the Cushite woman he had married, for he had taken a Cushite wife.

New American Bible
Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses on the pretext of the Cushite woman he had married; for he had in fact married a Cushite woman.

NET Bible
Then Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman he had married (for he had married an Ethiopian woman).

New Revised Standard Version
While they were at Hazeroth, Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had married (for he had indeed married a Cushite woman);

New Heart English Bible
Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had married; for he had married a Cushite woman.

Webster's Bible Translation
And Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had married: for he had married a Cushite woman.

World English Bible
Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had married; for he had married a Cushite woman.

Young's Literal Translation
And Miriam speaketh -- Aaron also -- against Moses concerning the circumstance of the Cushite woman whom he had taken: for a Cushite woman he had taken;

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
The Murmuring of Miriam and Aaron
1Then Miriam and Aaron criticized Moses because of the Cushite woman he had married, for he had taken a Cushite wife. 2“Does the LORD speak only through Moses?” they said. “Does He not also speak through us?” And the LORD heard this.…

Cross References
Exodus 2:21
Moses agreed to stay with the man, and he gave his daughter Zipporah to Moses in marriage.

Numbers 14:22
not one of the men who have seen My glory and the signs I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness--yet have tested Me and disobeyed Me these ten times--


Treasury of Scripture

And Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married: for he had married an Ethiopian woman.

Miriam

Matthew 10:36
And a man's foes shall be they of his own household.

Matthew 12:48
But he answered and said unto him that told him, Who is my mother? and who are my brethren?

John 7:5
For neither did his brethren believe in him.

Ethiopian or Cushite

Exodus 2:16,21
Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters: and they came and drew water, and filled the troughs to water their father's flock…

married.

Genesis 24:3,37
And I will make thee swear by the LORD, the God of heaven, and the God of the earth, that thou shalt not take a wife unto my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell: …

Genesis 26:34,35
And Esau was forty years old when he took to wife Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Bashemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite: …

Genesis 27:46
And Rebekah said to Isaac, I am weary of my life because of the daughters of Heth: if Jacob take a wife of the daughters of Heth, such as these which are of the daughters of the land, what good shall my life do me?

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Aaron Circumstance Cushite Ethiopian Evil Speaketh Talk Wife
Numbers 12
1. God rebukes the sedition of Miriam and Aaron
11. Miriam's leprosy is healed at the prayer of Moses
14. God commands her to be shut out of the host
16. The people encamp in the desert of Paran














XII.

(1) And Miriam and Aaron spake against Moses.--Miriam appears to have been the leader in this insurrection against the authority of Moses. Her name occurs before that of Aaron, either as the nearer or as the more prominent subject; and the verb which is rendered "spake" is in the feminine gender. Moreover, the judgment which was inflicted (Numbers 12:10) fell upon Miriam, not upon Aaron. who seems to have yielded to the suggestions of Miriam, as he had previously done to the request of the Israelites in regard to the golden calf.

Because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married.--Some suppose that the reference is to Zipporah, who may have been included amongst the Asiatic division of the Ethiopians, or Cushites (comp. Habakkuk 3:7, where the tents of Cushan, or Cush, are coupled with the curtains of Midian), and that the occasion of the opposition to Moses was the undue influence which he is supposed to have allowed Hobab and other members of Zipporah's family to exercise over him. This supposition, however, seems improbable on many accounts. The words, "for he had married an Ethiopian (or Cushite) woman," naturally point to some recent occurrence, not to one which had taken place more than forty years previously, and which is, therefore, very unlikely to have given occasion to the murmuring of Miriam and Aaron at this time. Moreover, the murmuring is expressly connected with the Cushite herself, not with any of the subsequent or incidental results of the marriage. It seems, therefore, much more probable that Zipporah was dead, and that Moses had married one of the African Cushites who had accompanied the Israelites in their march out of Egypt, or one of the Cushites who dwelt in Arabia, and who were found at this time in the neighbourhood of Sinai. A similar marriage had been contracted by Joseph, and such marriages were not forbidden by the Law, which prohibited marriage with the Canaanites (Exodus 34:16).

Verse 1. - And Miriam and Aaron spake against Moses. While the people were encamped at Hazeroth (see verse 16), and therefore probably very soon after the events of the last chapter. That Miriam's was the moving spirit in the matter is sufficiently evident,

(1) because her name stands first;

(2) because the verb "spake" is in the feminine (יַתְּדַבֵּר, "and she said");

(3) because the ground of annoyance was a peculiarly feminine one, a mesalliance; . . .

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
Then Miriam
מִרְיָ֤ם (mir·yām)
Noun - proper - feminine singular
Strong's 4813: Miriam -- a sister of Aaron, also a man of Judah

and Aaron
וְאַהֲרֹן֙ (wə·’a·hă·rōn)
Conjunctive waw | Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 175: Aaron -- an elder brother of Moses

criticized
וַתְּדַבֵּ֨ר (wat·tə·ḏab·bêr)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Piel - Consecutive imperfect - third person feminine singular
Strong's 1696: To arrange, to speak, to subdue

Moses
בְּמֹשֶׁ֔ה (bə·mō·šeh)
Preposition-b | Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 4872: Moses -- a great Israelite leader, prophet and lawgiver

because of
עַל־ (‘al-)
Preposition
Strong's 5921: Above, over, upon, against

the Cushite
הַכֻּשִׁ֖ית (hak·ku·šîṯ)
Article | Noun - proper - feminine singular
Strong's 3569: Cushite -- descendant of Cush

woman
הָאִשָּׁ֥ה (hā·’iš·šāh)
Article | Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 802: Woman, wife, female

he had married,
לָקָ֑ח (lā·qāḥ)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 3947: To take

for
כִּֽי־ (kî-)
Conjunction
Strong's 3588: A relative conjunction

he had taken
לָקָֽח׃ (lā·qāḥ)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 3947: To take

a Cushite
כֻשִׁ֖ית (ḵu·šîṯ)
Noun - proper - feminine singular
Strong's 3569: Cushite -- descendant of Cush

wife.
אִשָּׁ֥ה (’iš·šāh)
Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 802: Woman, wife, female


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OT Law: Numbers 12:1 Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because (Nu Num.)
Numbers 11:35
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