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The Murmuring of Miriam and Aaron

12 Now [a]Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the [b]Cushite woman whom he had married (for he had married a Cushite woman); and they said, “Has the Lord really spoken only through Moses? Has He not spoken also through us?” And the Lord heard it. ([c]Now the man Moses was very humble (gentle, kind, devoid of self-righteousness), more than any man who was on the face of the earth.) Suddenly the Lord said to Moses, Aaron, and Miriam, “Come out, you three, to the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle).” And the three of them came out. The Lord came down in a pillar of cloud and stood at the doorway of the tabernacle, and He called Aaron and Miriam, and they came forward. And He said,

“Hear now My words:
If there is a prophet among you,
I the Lord will make Myself known to him in a vision
And I will speak to him in a dream.

“But it is not so with My servant Moses;
He is entrusted and faithful in all My house.(A)

“With him I speak mouth to mouth [directly],
Clearly and openly and not in riddles;
And he beholds the form of the Lord.
Why then were you not afraid to speak against My servant Moses?”

And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Miriam and Aaron, and He departed. 10 But when the cloud had withdrawn from over the tent, behold, Miriam was leprous, as white as snow. And Aaron turned and looked at Miriam, and, behold, she was leprous. 11 Then Aaron said to Moses, “Oh, my lord, I plead with you, do not account this sin to us, in which we have acted foolishly and in which we have sinned. 12 Oh, do not let her be like one dead, already half decomposed when he comes from his mother’s womb.” 13 So Moses cried out to the Lord, saying, “Heal her please, O God, I plead with You!” 14 But the Lord said to Moses, “If her father had but [d]spit in her face, would she not bear her shame for seven days? Let her be shut up outside the camp for seven days, and afterward she may return.” 15 So Miriam was shut up outside the camp for seven days, and the people did not move on until Miriam was brought in again [and declared ceremonially clean from her leprosy].

16 Afterward the people moved on from Hazeroth and camped in the Wilderness of Paran.

Spies View the Land

13 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am going to give to the sons of Israel. From each of their fathers’ tribes you shall send a man, every one a leader among them.” So Moses sent spies from the Wilderness of Paran at the command of the Lord, all of them men who were heads of the Israelites. These were their names: from the tribe of Reuben, Shammua the son of Zaccur; from the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat the son of Hori; from the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh; from the tribe of Issachar, Igal the son of Joseph; from the tribe of Ephraim, Hoshea [that is, Joshua] the son of Nun; from the tribe of Benjamin, Palti the son of Raphu; 10 from the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel the son of Sodi; 11 from the tribe of Joseph, that is, of the tribe of Manasseh, Gaddi the son of Susi; 12 from the tribe of Dan, Ammiel the son of Gemalli; 13 from the tribe of Asher, Sethur the son of Michael; 14 from the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi the son of Vophsi; 15 from the tribe of Gad, Geuel the son of Machi. 16 These are the names of the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land; but Moses called Hoshea the son of Nun, Joshua (the Lord is salvation).

17 Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan, and said to them, “Go up this way into the Negev (the South country); then go up into the hill country. 18 See what the land is like and whether the people who live there are strong or weak, few or many, 19 and whether the land in which they live is good or bad, and whether the cities in which they live are [open] camps or fortifications, 20 and what the land is, whether it is fat (productive) or lean, whether there is timber on it or not. Make an effort to get some of the fruit of the land.” Now the time was the time of the first ripe grapes.

21 So they went up and spied out the land from the Wilderness of Zin to Rehob [a town in Lebanon], at Lebo-hamath [in the far north]. 22 When they had gone up into the Negev (the South country), they came to Hebron; and Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai the descendants of Anak were there. (Now Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.)

23 Then they came to the Valley of Eshcol (cluster of grapes), and from there cut down a branch with a single cluster of grapes; and they carried it on a pole between two of them, with some of pomegranates and the figs. 24 That place was called the Valley of Eshcol (cluster of grapes) because of the cluster of grapes which the sons of Israel cut down there.

The Spies’ Reports

25 When they returned from spying out the land, at the end of forty days, 26 they came to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation of the sons of Israel in the Wilderness of Paran at Kadesh, and brought back word to them and to all the congregation, and showed them the land’s fruit. 27 They reported to Moses and said, “We went in to the land where you sent us; and it certainly does [e]flow with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. 28 But the people who live in the land are strong, and the cities are [f]fortified (walled) and very large; moreover, we saw there the descendants of Anak [people of great stature and courage]. 29 [The people descended from] Amalek live in the land of the Negev (South country); the Hittite, the Jebusite, and the Amorite live in the hill country; and the Canaanites live by the [Dead] Sea and along the side of the Jordan.”

30 Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses, and said, “Let us go up at once and take possession of it; for we will certainly conquer it.” 31 But the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against the people [of Canaan], for they are too strong for us.” 32 So they gave the Israelites a bad report about the land which they had spied out, saying, “The land through which we went, in spying it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants. And all the people that we saw in it are men of great stature. 33 There we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak are part of the Nephilim); and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.”

The People Rebel

14 Then all the congregation [of Israel] raised their voices and cried out, and the people wept that night. All the Israelites murmured [in discontent] against Moses and Aaron; and the whole congregation said to them, “Oh that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or that we had died in this wilderness! Why is the Lord bringing us to this land [of Canaan], to fall by the sword? Our wives and [g]children will become plunder. Would it not be better for us to return to Egypt?”(B) So they said one to another, “Let us appoint a [new] leader and return to Egypt.”

Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the Israelites. Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes [as a sign of grief], and they spoke to all the congregation of the sons of Israel, saying, “The land through which we passed as spies is an exceedingly good land. If the Lord delights in us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us, a land which [h]flows with milk and honey. Only do not rebel against the Lord; and do not fear the people of the land, for they will be our prey. Their protection has been removed from them, and the Lord is with us. Do not fear them.” 10 But all the congregation said to stone Joshua and Caleb with stones. But the glory and brilliance of the Lord appeared at the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle) before all the sons of Israel.

Moses Pleads for the People

11 The Lord said to Moses, “How long will these people treat me disrespectfully and reject Me? And how long will they not believe in Me, despite all the [miraculous] signs which I have performed among them? 12 I will strike them with the pestilence (plague) and dispossess them, and will make you into a nation greater and mightier than they.”

13 But Moses said to the Lord, “Then the Egyptians will hear of it, for by Your strength You brought up these people from among them, 14 and they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land. They have heard that You, Lord, are among these people [of Israel], that You, Lord, are seen face to face, while Your cloud stands over them; and that You go before them in a pillar of cloud by day and in a pillar of fire by night. 15 Now if You kill these people as one man, then the nations (Gentiles) that have heard of Your fame will say, 16 ‘Because the Lord was not able to bring these people into the land which He promised to give them, therefore He slaughtered them in the wilderness.’ 17 But now, please, let the power of the Lord be great, just as You have declared, saying, 18 ‘The Lord is slow to anger, and abundant in lovingkindness, forgiving wickedness and transgression; but He will by no means clear the guilty, visiting (avenging) the wickedness and guilt of the fathers on the children, to the third and fourth generations [that is, calling the children to account for the sins of their fathers].’(C) 19 Please pardon the wickedness and guilt of these people according to the greatness of Your lovingkindness, just as You have forgiven these people, from Egypt even until now.”

The Lord Pardons and Rebukes

20 So the Lord said, “I have pardoned them according to your word; 21 but indeed as I live, all the earth will be filled with the glory of the Lord.(D) 22 Surely all the men who have seen My glory and My [miraculous] signs which I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness, yet have put Me to the test these ten times and have not listened to My voice, 23 will by no means see the land which I swore to [give to] their fathers; nor will any who treated me disrespectfully and rejected Me see it.(E) 24 But My servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit and has followed Me fully, I will bring into the land into which he entered, and his descendants shall take possession of it. 25 Now the Amalekites and the Canaanites live in the valley; tomorrow turn and set out for the wilderness by way of the Red Sea.”

26 The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, 27 “How long shall I put up with this evil congregation who murmur [in discontent] against Me? I have heard the complaints of the Israelites, which they are making against Me. 28 Say to them, ‘As I live,’ says the Lord, ‘just what you have spoken in My hearing I will most certainly do to you; 29 your dead bodies will fall in this wilderness, even all who were numbered of you, your entire number from twenty years old and upward, who have murmured against Me.(F) 30 Except for Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun, not one of you shall enter the land in which I swore [an oath] to settle you. 31 But your children whom you said would become plunder, I will bring in, and they will know the land which you have despised and rejected. 32 But as for you, your dead bodies will fall in this wilderness. 33 Your sons shall be wanderers and shepherds in the wilderness for forty years, and they will suffer for your unfaithfulness (spiritual infidelity), until your corpses are consumed in the wilderness. 34 According to the number of days in which you spied out the land [of Canaan], forty days, for each day, you shall bear and suffer a year for your sins and guilt, for forty years, and you shall know My displeasure [the revoking of My promise and My estrangement because of your sin]. 35 I, the Lord, have spoken. I will most certainly do this to all this evil congregation who are gathered together against Me. In this wilderness they shall be consumed [by war, disease, and plagues], and here they shall die.’”(G)

36 As for the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land, and who returned and made all the congregation murmur and complain against him by bringing back a bad report concerning the land, 37 even those [ten] men who brought back the very bad report of the land died by a plague before the Lord.(H) 38 But Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh remained alive out of those men who went to spy out the land.

Israel Repulsed

39 Moses spoke the Lord’s words to all the Israelites, and the people mourned greatly. 40 They got up early in the morning and went up to the ridge of the hill country, saying, “Look, here we are; we have indeed sinned, but we will go up to the place which the Lord has promised.” 41 But Moses said, “Why then are you transgressing the commandment of the Lord, when it will not succeed? 42 Do not go up, or you will be struck down before your enemies, for the Lord is not among you. 43 For the Amalekites and the Canaanites will be there in front of you, and you will fall by the sword, because you have turned away from following the Lord; therefore the Lord will not be with you.” 44 But [in their arrogance] they dared to go up to the ridge of the hill country; however, neither the ark of the covenant of the Lord nor Moses left the camp. 45 Then the Amalekites and the Canaanites who lived in that hill country came down and struck the Israelites and scattered them as far as Hormah.

Footnotes

  1. Numbers 12:1 Miriam is presumed to be the leader of the attack on Moses’ authority because she is mentioned before Aaron and because of the severity of her punishment.
  2. Numbers 12:1 Because the ancient borders of Cush and Midian sometimes overlapped Miriam may have considered Moses’ wife, Zipporah, a Cushite instead of a Midianite (Ex 2:21); however, it is also possible that Zipporah had died and this refers to a second wife. Marriage with a Canaanite was forbidden (Ex 34:11, 16), but not marriage with an Egyptian or Cushite. Joseph’s wife was an Egyptian (Gen 41:45).
  3. Numbers 12:3 Some scholars believe this comment was added to the text after Moses’ death.
  4. Numbers 12:14 I.e. rebuked her publicly.
  5. Numbers 13:27 This phrase referred to the abundant fertility of the land of Canaan. Milk (typically that of goats and sheep) was associated with abundance; “honey” referred mainly to syrups made from dates or grapes and was the epitome of sweetness. Bees’ honey was very rare and was considered the choicest of foods.
  6. Numbers 13:28 The spies probably had not seen walled cities before, having lived their childhood in Goshen in Egypt. Those who forgot God’s power to help them naturally found the situation formidable.
  7. Numbers 14:3 Lit little ones.
  8. Numbers 14:8 See note 13:27.

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