Language Studies

Aramaic Thoughts

The Peshitta of the Old Testament - Part 16 - The Humility of Moses: Number 12:3

Numbers 12 tells the story of the opposition to Moses voiced by Miriam and Aaron. There are two matters of constant debate in this story, though neither of them has to do with a textual variant. In this passage, all the textual witnesses are in agreement on how the text reads. The first matter for debate is the identity of the wife of Moses referred to here. Vs. 1 reads, “Miriam and Aaron criticized Moses because of the Cushite woman he married (for he had married a Cushite woman).” Is this Zipporah, or is this some other woman? In addition, is this a wife in addition to Zipporah (assuming Zipporah to be still living) or is this a replacement for Zipporah (assuming Zipporah to be deceased)? Unfortunately, it is probably not possible to decide for certain on those questions. Some hold that because the text uses the term “Cushite” that the reference cannot be to Zipporah, since Zipporah was of Midianite birth. This is not an entirely compelling objection, however, because the area generally identified as Cush is either Ethiopia or Nubia, though some argue for a Mesopotamian location, understanding the name as a variant of “Cassites.” In either case, the identification of Midian as northwest Arabia certainly allows for someone from either location of Cush to have settled there, and hence become identified as a Midianite. My own sense is that the reference is to Zipporah for two reasons. First, we have no other clear reference to a wife for Moses other than Zipporah. Second, Zipporah was not an Israelite by birth, wherever her family might have come from, and this might well have sparked opposition from Miriam—that Moses did not retain racial purity.

The second difficulty for this text is the statement about Moses’ “humility” or “meekness” in vs 3. This is frequently understood to be a gloss or comment added by a later writer than Moses, and hence an example of post-Mosaic material in the Pentateuch. For example, the Dillard-Longman An Introduction to the Old Testament says, “The notorious passage in which Moses is described as the most humble man ever to live, while capable of a rather strained argument in favor of a Mosaic origin, is also most naturally read as a non-Mosaic gloss” (p. 84, see also p. 39). For a statement of what Dillard-Longman consider “a strained argument” the reader can consult the discussion of this passage in Edward J. Young’s My Servants the Prophets. It must be admitted that it does seem an odd comment for the world’s humblest man to make. But no one else could make the comment with a straight face. It is only the truly humble who can confess publicly to humility. In addition, those who count this as a post-Moses addition to the text never bother to answer two questions. First, if Moses did not write this, then why did someone write it? Second, if someone other than Moses wrote it, why did they write it here? The passage makes perfectly good sense without the verse, so there is no compelling reason for adding the verse at a time after the material is largely complete. Hence, we conclude that the words come from Moses.

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