Numbers 12:10

New American Standard Bible

But when the cloud had withdrawn from above the tent, behold, Miriam was leprous, as white as snow. As Aaron turned toward Miriam, behold, she was leprous.

Parallel Translations

Geneva Bible (1587)
Also the cloude departed from the Tabernacle: and beholde, Miriam was leprous like snowe: and Aaron looked vpon Miriam, and beholde, she was leprous.

George Lamsa Translation
And the cloud departed from off the tabernacle; and, behold, Miriam became leprous, white as snow; and when Aaron turned toward Miriam, behold, she was leprous;

Hebrew Names Version
The cloud removed from over the Tent; and, behold, Miryam was leprous, as [white as] snow: and Aharon looked at Miryam, and, behold, she was leprous.

Easy-to-Read Version
The cloud rose from the Tent. Aaron turned and looked at Miriam. Her skin was white like snow—she had a terrible skin disease!

English Standard Version
When the cloud removed from over the tent, behold, Miriam was leprous, like snow. And Aaron turned toward Miriam, and behold, she was leprous.

American Standard Version
And the cloud removed from over the Tent; and, behold, Miriam was leprous, as white as snow: and Aaron looked upon Miriam, and, behold, she was leprous.

Bible in Basic English
And the cloud was moved from over the Tent; and straight away Miriam became a leper, as white as snow: and Aaron, looking at Miriam, saw that she was a leper.

Contemporary English Version
and the cloud disappeared from over the sacred tent, Miriam's skin turned white with leprosy. When Aaron saw what had happened to her,

Complete Jewish Bible
But when the cloud was removed from above the tent, Miryam had tzara‘at, as white as snow. Aharon looked at Miryam, and she was as white as snow.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
And when the cloud was removed from over the Tent, behold, Miriam was leprous, as white as snow; and Aaron looked upon Miriam; and, behold, she was leprous.

King James Version (1611)
And the cloud departed from off the Tabernacle, and behold, Miriam became leprous, white as snow: and Aaron looked vpon Miriam, and behold, she was leprous.

Amplified Bible
But when the cloud had withdrawn from over the tent, behold, Miriam was leprous, as white as snow.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.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And the cloud departed from the tabernacle; and, behold, Mariam was leprous, white as snow; and Aaron looked upon Mariam, and, behold, she was leprous.

English Revised Version
And the cloud removed from over the Tent; and, behold, Miriam was leprous, as white as snow: and Aaron looked upon Miriam, and, behold, she was leprous.

Berean Standard Bible
As the cloud lifted from above the Tent, suddenly Miriam became leprous, white as snow. Aaron turned toward her, saw that she was leprous,

Lexham English Bible
And the cloud departed from on the tent, and behold, Miriam was infected with a skin disease white like snow; when Aaron turned toward Miriam, behold, she was afflicted with a skin disease.

Literal Translation
And the cloud turned away from the tent. And, behold Miriam was leprous as snow! And Aaron turned toward Miriam, and, behold, she was leprous!

New Century Version
When the cloud lifted from the Tent and Aaron turned toward Miriam, she was as white as snow; she had a skin disease.

New English Translation
When the cloud departed from above the tent, Miriam became leprous as snow. Then Aaron looked at Miriam, and she was leprous!

New King James Version
And when the cloud departed from above the tabernacle, suddenly Miriam became leprous, as white as snow. Then Aaron turned toward Miriam, and there she was, a leper.

New Living Translation
As the cloud moved from above the Tabernacle, there stood Miriam, her skin as white as snow from leprosy. When Aaron saw what had happened to her,

New Life Bible
When the cloud lifted from over the meeting tent, Miriam had a very bad skin disease. She was as white as snow. Aaron turned toward Miriam and saw that she had a bad skin disease.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And, when, the cloud, removed from off the tent, - lo! Miriam, leprous, like snow! And Aaron turned unto Miriam and lo! …leprous!

Douay-Rheims Bible
The cloud also that was over the tabernacle departed: and behold Mary appeared white as snow with a leprosy. And when Aaron had looked on her, and saw her all covered with leprosy,

Revised Standard Version
and when the cloud removed from over the tent, behold, Miriam was leprous, as white as snow. And Aaron turned towards Miriam, and behold, she was leprous.

Good News Translation
and the cloud left the Tent, Miriam's skin was suddenly covered with a dreaded disease and turned as white as snow. When Aaron looked at her and saw that she was covered with the disease,

King James Version
And the cloud departed from off the tabernacle; and, behold, Miriam became leprous, white as snow: and Aaron looked upon Miriam, and, behold, she was leprous.

Darby Translation
and the cloud departed from off the tent. And behold, Miriam was leprous as snow; and Aaron turned toward Miriam, and behold, she was leprous.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And the cloude yede awei, that was on the tabernacle and lo! Marie apperide whijt with lepre as snow. And whanne Aaron biheelde hir, and siy hir bispreynd with lepre,

Young's Literal Translation
and the cloud hath turned aside from off the tent, and lo, Miriam [is] leprous as snow; and Aaron turneth unto Miriam, and lo, leprous!

World English Bible
The cloud removed from over the Tent; and, behold, Miriam was leprous, as [white as] snow: and Aaron looked at Miriam, and, behold, she was leprous.

Update Bible Version
And the cloud removed from over the Tent; and, look, Miriam was leprous, as [white as] snow: and Aaron looked on Miriam, and saw that she was leprous.

Webster's Bible Translation
And the cloud departed from off the tabernacle; and behold, Miriam [became] leprous, [white] as snow: and Aaron looked upon Miriam, and behold, [she was] leprous.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
And the cloude departed from the tabernacle, and beholde Miriam was become leprous, as it were snowe: And Aaron looked vpon Miriam, and beholde, she was leprous.

Christian Standard Bible®
As the cloud moved away from the tent, Miriam’s skin suddenly became diseased, resembling snow. When Aaron turned toward her, he saw that she was diseased

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
and ye cloude also departed from the Tabernacle. And beholde, then was Miriam become leporus, as it were snowe. And Aaron turned him vnto Miriam, and sawe that she was leporous,

THE MESSAGE
When the Cloud moved off from the Tent, oh! Miriam had turned leprous, her skin like snow. Aaron took one look at Miriam—a leper!

New Revised Standard
When the cloud went away from over the tent, Miriam had become leprous, as white as snow. And Aaron turned towards Miriam and saw that she was leprous.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
But when the cloud had withdrawn from over the tent, behold, Miriam was leprous, as white as snow. As Aaron turned toward Miriam, behold, she was leprous.

Legacy Standard Bible
But the cloud withdrew from over the tent, and behold, Miriam was leprous, as white as snow. And Aaron turned toward Miriam, and behold, she was leprous.

Contextual Overview

¹⁰ But when the cloud had withdrawn from above the tent, behold, Miriam was leprous, as white as snow. As Aaron turned toward Miriam, behold, she was leprous.¹¹ Then Aaron said to Moses, "Oh, my lord, I beg you, do not hold us responsible for this sin by which we have turned out to be foolish, and by which we have sinned. ¹² "Oh, do not let her be like a dead person, whose flesh is half eaten away when he comes out of his mother's womb!" ¹³ So Moses cried out to the LORD, saying, "God, heal her, please!" ¹⁴ But the LORD said to Moses, "If her father had only spit in her face, would she not be put to shame for seven days? Have her shut outside the camp for seven days, and afterward she may be received again." ¹⁵ So Miriam was shut outside the camp for seven days, and the people did not move on until Miriam was received again. ¹⁶ Afterward, however, the people moved on from Hazeroth and camped in the wilderness of Paran.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

the cloud: Exodus 33:7-10, Ezekiel 10:4, Ezekiel 10:5, Ezekiel 10:18, Ezekiel 10:19, Hosea 9:12, Matthew 25:41

behold: Deuteronomy 24:9

leprous: Leviticus 13:2, Leviticus 13:3-46, 2 Kings 5:27, 2 Kings 15:5, 2 Chronicles 26:19-21

Reciprocal: Exodus 4:6 - leprous as snow Leviticus 13:10 - shall see him Numbers 20:1 - Miriam 2 Kings 5:1 - a leper Psalms 107:17 - because Matthew 8:2 - a leper Mark 1:40 - a leper Luke 5:12 - full

Cross-References

Genesis 12:1
Now the LORD said to Abram, "Go from your country, And from your relatives And from your father's house, To the land which I will show you;

Genesis 12:2
And I will make you into a great nation, And I will bless you, And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing;

Genesis 12:3
And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed."

Genesis 12:4
So Abram went away as the LORD had spoken to him; and Lot went with him. Now Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.

Genesis 12:8
Then he proceeded from there to the mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; and there he built an altar to the LORD and called upon the name of the LORD.

Genesis 12:18
Then Pharaoh called Abram and said, "What is this that you have done to me? Why did you not tell me that she was your wife?

Genesis 42:5
So the sons of Israel came to buy grain among those who were coming, because the famine was also in the land of Canaan.

Genesis 43:1
Now the famine was severe in the land.

Genesis 47:13
Now there was no food in all the land, because the famine was very severe, so that the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan languished because of the famine.

Ruth 1:1
Now it came about in the days when the judges governed, that there was a famine in the land. And a man of Bethlehem in Judah went to reside in the land of Moab with his wife and his two sons.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And the cloud departed from off the tabernacle,.... Not from off the door of the tabernacle, as Aben Ezra, for that is implied in the last clause of Numbers 12:9, but from off that part of the tabernacle, the most holy place, where it had used to abide; but now it went up higher in the air, or removed at some distance from thence, which was a further indication of the sore displeasure of God; that as he would not stay with Aaron and Miriam at the door of the tabernacle, so neither would he suffer the cloud to continue over it, as it was wont to do, so long as they were there:

and, behold, Miriam [became] leprous, [white] as snow; was smote immediately with a leprosy by the Lord, as the hand of Moses was in a miraculous way, Exodus 4:6; and as Gehazi was, who was smitten of God in like manner, 2 Kings 5:27; in an ordinary and gradual leprosy, when it was all white, the man was clean, Leviticus 13:13; but in an extraordinary one, and which was immediately from God, and at once, in this case it was a sign it was incurable. Miriam only, and not Aaron, was smitten with a leprosy; though Chaskuni says, that some of their Rabbins were of opinion, that Aaron was; but this does not appear, nor is it likely that he should be thus defiled and dishonoured, being the priest of the Lord, and since he was not so deep in the transgression as Miriam, and was drawn into it by her, and also repented of it:

and Aaron looked upon Miriam, and, behold, [she was] leprous; he not only cast his eye upon her, as it were accidentally, and saw what was her case; but, as the priest of the Lord, looked upon her, as it was the business of his office to do, and perceived she was leprous, and was obliged to pronounce her so; and perhaps she was the first, after the law of the leprosy, that he was called to look upon, and pronounced her unclean, which must be a great mortification to him.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Miriam, as a prophetess (compare Exodus 15:20-21) no less than as the sister of Moses and Aaron, took the first rank among the women of Israel; and Aaron may be regarded as the ecclesiastical head of the whole nation. But instead of being grateful for these high dignities they challenged the special vocation of Moses and the exclusive authority which God had assigned to him. Miriam was the instigator, from the fact that her name stands conspicuously first Numbers 12:1, and that the punishment Numbers 12:10 fell on her alone. She probably considered herself as supplanted, and that too by a foreigner. Aaron was misled this time by the urgency of his sister, as once before Exodus 32:0 by that of the people.

Numbers 12:1

The Ethiopian woman whom he had married - (Hebrew, “Cushite,” compare Genesis 2:13; Genesis 10:6) It is likely that Zipporah Exodus 2:21 was dead, and that Miriam in consequence expected to have greater influence than ever with Moses. Her disappointment at his second marriage would consequently be very great.

The marriage of Moses with a woman descended from Ham was not prohibited, so long as she was not of the stock of Canaan (compare Exodus 34:11-16); but it would at any time have been offensive to that intense nationality which characterized the Jews. The Christian fathers note in the successive marriage of Moses with a Midianite and an Ethiopian a foreshadowing of the future extension to the Gentiles of God’s covenant and its promises (compare Psalms 45:9 ff; Song of Solomon 1:4 ff); and in the complaining of Miriam and Aaron a type of the discontent of the Jews because of such extension: compare Luke 15:29-30.

Numbers 12:2

Hath the Lord ... - i. e. Is it merely, after all, by Moses that the Lord hath spoken?

Numbers 12:3

The man Moses was very meek - In this and in other passages in which Moses no less unequivocally records his own faults (compare Numbers 20:12 ff; Exodus 4:24 ff; Deuteronomy 1:37), there is the simplicity of one who bare witness of himself, but not to himself (compare Matthew 11:28-29). The words are inserted to explain how it was that Moses took no steps to vindicate himself, and why consequently the Lord so promptly intervened.

Numbers 12:8

Mouth to mouth - i. e. without the intervention of any third person or thing: compare the marginal references.

Even apparently - Moses received the word of God direct from Him and plainly, not through the medium of dream, vision, parable, dark saying, or such like; compare the marginal references.

The similitude of the Lord shall he behold - But, “No man hath seen God at any time,” says John (John 1:18 : compare 1 Timothy 6:16, and especially Exodus 33:20 ff). It was not therefore the Beatific Vision, the unveiled essence of the Deity, which Moses saw on the one hand. Nor was it, on the other hand, a mere emblematic representation (as in Ezekiel 1:26 ff, Daniel 7:9), or an Angel sent as a messenger. It was the Deity Himself manifesting Himself so as to be cognizable to mortal eye. The special footing on which Moses stood as regards God is here laid down in detail, because it at once demonstrates that the supremacy of Moses rested on the distinct appointment of God, and also that Miriam in contravening that supremacy had incurred the penalty proper to sins against the theocracy.

Numbers 12:12

As one dead - leprosy was nothing short of a living death, a poisoning of the springs, a corrupting of all the humors, of life; a dissolution little by little of the whole body, so that one limb after another actually decayed and fell away. Compare the notes at Leviticus 13:0.

Numbers 12:13

Heal her now, O God, I beseech thee - Others render these words: “Oh not so; heal her now, I beseech Thee.”

Numbers 12:14

If her father ... - i. e. If her earthly parent had treated her with contumely (compare Deuteronomy 25:9) she would feel for a time humiliated, how much more when God has visited her thus?

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Numbers 12:10. Miriam became leprous — It is likely Miriam was chief in this mutiny; and it is probable that it was on this ground she is mentioned first, (see Numbers 12:1,) and punished here, while Aaron is spared. Had he been smitten with the leprosy, his sacred character must have greatly suffered, and perhaps the priesthood itself have fallen into contempt. How many priests and preachers who deserved to be exposed to reproach and infamy, have been spared for the sake of the holy character they bore, that the ministry might not be blamed! But the just God will visit their transgressions in some other way, if they do not deeply deplore them and find mercy through Christ. Nothing tends to discredit the work of God so much as the transgressions and miscarriages of those who minister in holy things.