Numbers 12

Cush was a kingdom of dark-skinned people in what is now southern Egypt and Sudan. Some scholars say the woman of Cush may have been a reference to Zipporah. Though she was from Midian, she may also have had some connection to Cush. More likely, scholars say, Moses married a second wife. After what Zipporah said and did when she circumcised her son earlier (Exodus 4:25), Moses may have divorced her when he “sent his wife Zipporah back to her father, and Jethro took care of her” (Exodus 18:2). That’s the last time Bible writers mention her.

Moses has also been traditionally identified as the writer of this book.

The Hebrew phrase is peh ‘el peh. It’s sometimes translated “face-to-face,” but given that God didn’t want even Moses to see his face (Exodus 33:20), that might not be the best way to put it. The idea is “man to man,” but in this case, “God to man.”

The Hebrew word describing the disease, ṣāraʽ, can refer to any serious skin disease that makes the person ritually unclean, and unfit to step foot on the sacred grounds of the tent worship center. The word is often translated as leprosy, but there’s no way of knowing if Miriam had what we today call Hansen’s disease. It’s caused by bacteria that grows slowly and damages nerves, skin, and eyes. It’s curable today with steroids and antibiotics.

12:16. Wherever the Paran Desert was, it seems to have been no more than a few days away from Mount Sinai. The Israelites got there during a single excursion (Numbers 10:12). Scholars generally say the desert was north of Mount Sinai and south of Israel’s Negev badlands. Some scholars say its eastern border was the rift valley, which is a huge rip in the earth’s crust, from the Dead Sea southward to the Red Sea’s Gulf of Aqaba.