Numbers 12
03 Oct 2026 - Theology
Mouth to Mouth
Two stories seem to be combined in this chapter. In the first, Miriam and Aaron complain that Moses married a Cushite (Ethiopian) woman, a non-Israelite:
Numbers 12:1 (NASB) - “Then Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had married (for he had married a Cushite woman);”
Commentators like Ibn Ezra think that Miriam and Aaron are actually complaining about Moses’ Midianite wife, Zipporah. If so, the word “Cushite” is used not as a reference to her ethnic origin, but rather to her physical appearance as a person of dark sin, to show how foreign Zipporah seemed to the Israelites.
The second story is about jealousy. Miriam and Aaron ask, “Hath the Lord indeed spoken only by Moses? hath he not spoken also by us? …” (2). We see in verse 2 that the Lord heard their complaint against Moses.
Numbers 12:3 - “(Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth.)”
So the Lord called Moses, Miriam, and Aaron to the Tent of Meeting. There the Lord spoke to Miriam and Aaron:
Numbers 12:6-8 - “And he said, Hear now my words: If there be a prophet among you, I the Lord will make myself known unto him in a vision, and will speak unto him in a dream. My servant Moses is not so, who is faithful in all mine house. With him will I speak mouth to mouth, even apparently, and not in dark speeches; and the similitude of the Lord shall he behold: wherefore then were ye not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?”
Still angry at them, the Lord departed (9).
Suddenly, white, snowy scales appeared on Miriam’s skin. Aaron was afraid.
Numbers 12:11-12 - “And Aaron said unto Moses, Alas, my lord, I beseech thee, lay not the sin upon us, wherein we have done foolishly, and wherein we have sinned. Let her not be as one dead, of whom the flesh is half consumed when he cometh out of his mother’s womb.”
Then Moses cried out to the Lord asking for healing for his sister Miriam (13).
Numbers 12:14-16 - “And the Lord said unto Moses, ‘If her father had but spit in her face, should she not be ashamed seven days? let her be shut out from the camp seven days, and after that let her be received in again.’ And Miriam was shut out from the camp seven days: and the people journeyed not till Miriam was brought in again. And afterward the people removed from Hazeroth, and pitched in the wilderness of Paran.”
“Mouth to Mouth”
The way this story is told, Moses pays no attention when Miriam and Aaron complain about his marriage or even when they are jealous of his standing with the Lord. But the Lord is offended by Aaron and Miriam’s jealousy, so He explains how Moses is special: the Lord speaks to Moses “mouth to mouth”, and not in riddles.
What does the Lord mean that He speaks with Moses “mouth to mouth”?
Ibn Ezra explains that “mouth to mouth” means “directly”. This would make sense, especially if we remember Exodus 33:
Exodus 33:11 - “So the Lord used to speak to Moses face to face, just as a man speaks to his friend…”
But other commentators think Ibn Ezra doesn’t have the whole idea. The Scripture does not say “mouth to ear”, meaning that Moses heard the Lord’s words. It does not say “mouth to soul”, meaning that Moses felt and internalized what the Lord spoke. It says “mouth to mouth”, meaning that what the Lord said is what Moses said, so what Moses said is what the Lord said. In other words, other people might dream, feel, or hear the words of the Lord, but the words of Moses could be trusted completely because they were the words of the Lord.
“We don’t just want to read about what God wants. We don’t want someone telling us what God wants either. We don’t even want God telling us what God wants. We want our eyes to be God’s eyes so that we can see the world the way God sees it. We want our teaching to be God’s Torah. We want our hands to do God’s work. We want our prayers to be God’s prayers. We want what God wants. Devekut: being one with God.” 3
“If a person who cynically refused to believe in God could observe everything a congregation said and did whenever its members gathered for prayer, study, and communal meetings, by the end of a year or two he would know a lot about what God does, even if God never showed up. For while God does not have hands, we do. Our hands are God’s. And when people behave as if their hands were the hands of God, then God ‘acts’ in history.” 3
References
- The Hebrew - Greek Key Study Bible (KJV Version)
- Rabbi Seymour Rossel, The Torah Portion-by-Portion (2007)
- Rabbi Lawrence Kushner, God Was in This Place & I, i Did Not Know (2016)