Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Numbers 12:14
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].
14. I beseech thee ] A single exclamatory particle, which is rendered ‘I pray thee’ in Num 12:11, and ‘I pray’ in Num 12:12. We must probably read ’al for ’l (‘O God’) Nay, I pray, heal her I pray.
spit in her face ] Cf. Deu 25:9, Job 30:10, Isa 50:6. Possibly a reference to a custom, which is said to exist among the Arabs of to-day, by which the disgrace was inflicted as a punishment for a misdemeanour. It is implied, though not stated, that Miriam was healed at once, but the pollution of the leprosy remained.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 14. If her father had but spit in her face] This appears to have been done only in cases of great provocation on the part of the child, and strong irritation on the side of the parent. Spitting in the face was a sign of the deepest contempt. See Job 30:10; Isa 50:6; Mr 14:65. In a case where a parent was obliged by the disobedient conduct of his child to treat him in this way, it appears he was banished from the father’s presence for seven days. If then this was an allowed and judged case in matters of high provocation on the part of a child, should not the punishment be equally severe where the creature has rebelled against the Creator? Therefore Miriam was shut out of the camp for seven days, and thus debarred from coming into the presence of God her father, who is represented as dwelling among the people. To a soul who knows the value and inexpressible blessedness of communion with God, how intolerable must seven days of spiritual darkness be! But how indescribably wretched must their case be who are cast out into outer darkness, where the light of God no more shines, and where his approbation can no more be felt for ever! Reader, God save thee from so great a curse!
Several of the fathers suppose there is a great mystery hidden in the quarrel of Miriam and Aaron with Moses and Zipporah. Origen (and after him several others) speaks of it in the following manner: –
“1. Zipporah, a Cushite espoused by Moses, evidently points out the choice which Jesus Christ has made of the Gentiles for his spouse and Church.
2. The jealousy of Aaron and Miriam against Moses and Zipporah signifies the hatred and envy of the Jews against Christ and the apostles, when they saw that the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven had been opened to the Gentiles, of which they had rendered themselves unworthy.
3. The leprosy with which Miriam was smitten shows the gross ignorance of the Jews, and the ruinous, disordered state of their religion, in which there is neither a head, a temple, nor a sacrifice.
4. Of none but Jesus Christ can it be said that he was the most meek and patient of men; that he saw God face to face; that he had every thing clearly revealed without enigmatical representations; and that he was faithful in all the house of God.” This, and much more, Origen states in the sixth and seventh homilies on the book of Numbers, and yet all this he considers as little in comparison of the vast mysteries that lie hidden in these accounts; for the shortness of the time, and the magnitude of the mysteries, only permit him “to pluck a few flowers from those vast fields – not as many as the exuberance of those fields afford, but only such as by their odour he was led to select from the rest.” Licebat tamen ex ingentibus campis paucos flosculos legere, et non quantum ager exuberet, sed quantum ordoratui supiciat, carpere.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Spit in her face, i.e. expressed some eminent token of indignation and contempt, which this was, Job 30:10; Isa 1:6.
Should she not be ashamed, and withdraw herself from her fathers presence? as Jonathan did upon a like occasion, 1Sa 20:34. So though God healed her according to Mosess request, yet he would have her publicly bear the shame of her sin, and be a warning to others to keep them firm the same transgression.
Seven days, the time appointed for cleansing the unclean. See Num 6:9; 31:19.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
14. her father had but spit in herface, should she not be ashamed seven days?The Jews, in commonwith all people in the East, seem to have had an intense abhorrenceof spitting, and for a parent to express his displeasure by doing soon the person of one of his children, or even on the ground in hispresence, separated that child as unclean from society for sevendays.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And the Lord said unto Moses,…. By a voice out of the cloud, though at a distance; unless it was by a secret impulse upon his spirit, darting such words into his mind as if he heard an audible voice:
if her father had but spit in her face; or, “in spitting spitted” l; spit much, and continued spitting till he had covered her face with spittle; which, as it would have been a token of anger and displeasure in him, an earthly father, who is meant, and of shame and disgrace to her; so there is some likeness in spittle to leprosy, both being white, and in such a case to the abundance of it, her thee being covered with leprosy; and which came as it were from the mouth of the Lord, by his order and appointment, immediately, as spittle from a man, and like that, in a way of detestation and contempt, and to make abhorred and despised:
should she not be ashamed seven days? hide herself, and never appear in the family, and especially in her father’s presence, because of the shame she was put unto, for the space of seven days; how much more ashamed then should she be, now her heavenly Father did spit in her face, and covered it with a white leprosy and for as long a time at least, or indeed longer? fourteen days, say the Targum of Jonathan, and Jarchi, but no more than seven are required, when more might have justly been, for her separation and shutting up from company and conversation:
let her be shut out from the camp seven days; for so long the leper was to be shut up at the trial of his leprosy, and so long he was to be out of his tent at the cleansing of him, Le 13:5;
and after that let her be received [again]; into the camp and into society with her relations and friends.
l “spuendo spuisset”, Pagninus, Montanus, Fagius, Drusius.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Jehovah hearkened to His servant’s prayer, though not without inflicting deep humiliation upon Miriam. “ If her father had but spit in her face, would she not be ashamed seven days? ” i.e., keep herself hidden from Me out of pure shame. She was to be shut outside the camp, to be excluded from the congregation as a leprous person for seven days, and then to be received in again. Thus restoration and purification from her leprosy were promised to her after the endurance of seven days’ punishment. Leprosy was the just punishment for her sin. In her haughty exaggeration of the worth of her own prophetic gift, she had placed herself on a par with Moses, the divinely appointed head of the whole nation, and exalted herself above the congregation of the Lord. For this she was afflicted with a disease which shut her out of the number of the members of the people of God, and thus actually excluded from the camp; so that she could only be received back again after she had been healed, and by a formal purification. The latter followed as a matter of course, from Lev 13 and 14, and did not need to be specially referred to here.
Num 12:15-16 The people did not proceed any farther till the restoration of Miriam. After this they departed from Hazeroth, and encamped in the desert of Paran, namely at Kadesh, on the southern boundary of Canaan. This is evident from ch. 13, more especially v. 26, as compared with Deu 1:19., where it is stated not merely that the spies, who were sent out from this place of encampment to Canaan, returned to the congregation at Kadesh, but that they set out from Kadesh-barnea for Canaan, because there the Israelites had come to the mountains of the Amorites, which God had promised them for an inheritance.
With regard to the situation of Kadesh, it has already been observed at Gen 14:7, that it is probably to be sought for in the neighbourhood of the fountain of Ain Kades, which was discovered by Rowland, to the south of Bir Seba and Khalasa, on the heights of Jebel Helal, i.e., at the north-west corner of the mountain land of Azazimeh, which is more closely described at Num 10:12, where the western slopes of this highland region sink gently down into the undulating surface of the desert, which stretches thence to El Arish, with a breadth of about six hours’ journey, and keeps the way open between Arabia Petraea and the south of Palestine. “In the northern third of this western slope, the mountains recede so as to leave a free space for a plain of about an hour’s journey in breadth, which comes towards the east, and to which access is obtained through one or more of the larger wadys that are to be seen here (such as Retemat, Kusaimeh, el Ain, Muweileh).” At the north-eastern background of this plain, which forms almost a rectangular figure of nine miles by five, or ten by six, stretching from west to east, large enough to receive the camp of a wandering people, and about twelve miles to the E.S.E. of Muweileh, there rises, like a large solitary mass, at the edge of the mountains which run on towards the north, a bare rock, at the foot of which there is a copious spring, falling in ornamental cascades into the bed of a brook, which is lost in the sand about 300 or 400 yards to the west. This place still bears the ancient name of Kudes . There can be no doubt as to the identity of this Kudes and the biblical Kadesh. The situation agrees with all the statements in the Bible concerning Kadesh: for example, that Israel had then reached the border of the promised land; also that the spies who were sent out from Kadesh returned thither by coming from Hebron to the wilderness of Paran (Num 13:26); and lastly, according to the assertions of the Bedouins, as quoted by Rowland, this Kudes was ten or eleven days’ journey from Sinai (in perfect harmony with Deu 1:2), and was connected by passable wadys with Mount Hor. The Israelites proceeded, no doubt, through the wady Retemat, i.e., Rithmah (see at Num 33:18), into the plain of Kadesh. (On the town of Kadesh, see at Num 20:16.)
(Note: See Kurtz, History of the Old Covenant, vol. iii. p. 225, where the current notion, that Kadesh was situated on the western border of the Arabah, below the Dead Sea, by either Ain Hasb or Ain el Weibeh, is successfully refuted.)
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
Verses 14-16:
“If her father had. . .spit in her face” refers to a custom of that time, which dealt with a serious matter, De 25:9. It marks an act of public disgrace inflicted by one who had the legal right to do so. For a father publicly to spit in the face of his child meant that he was thoroughly ashamed of what that child had done. This subjected the child to public shame, and was a serious matter. It required the child to spend seven days in public mourning, isolated from friends and loved ones.
Miriam’s conduct was highly offensive to Jehovah. He had found it necessary to shame her publicly. Therefore it was only fitting that she should spend the required seven days in public mourning and repentance. It may be implied it was necessary that she submit to the public rites required for ceremonial cleansing, Le Nu 14.
Miriam’s punishment was humiliating to her, as a prophetess, and as the sister of Israel’s leader and law-giver.
Israel remained in camp until Miriam’s period of cleansing was fulfilled. They then removed from Hazeroth to the next station.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
(14) If her father had but spit in her face.Or, in her presence. Spitting in the presence of any one, much more spitting in the face of any one, is regarded in the East as an indication of the utmost degree of abhorrence and indignation. Comp. Deu. 25:9; Job. 30:10; Isa. 1:6; Mat. 26:67.
Seven days.This was the time during which the person suspected of being leprous was to be shut up in the first instance (Lev. 13:4; Lev. 13:21, &c.); and this was also the time during which the leper, when cleansed, was to tarry abroad out of his tent, after he had come into the camp, before the appointed sacrifices were offered on his behalf (Lev. 14:8; Lev. 14:10). It was thus that she who had placed herself on a level with the divinely-appointed head and ruler of her nation was to be excluded for seven days from any part or lot in the privileges which were enjoyed by the humblest member of the congregation.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
14. Spit in her face “Spitting at or upon a person or thing has been the mode of expressing the utmost contempt from very ancient times. It is still an intolerable insult, and you may thus interpret the spitting upon the ground by fanatical Moslems as we pass them. They dare not do more, or we would have it in our faces! Many years ago I saw a woman in great rage pluck off her old shoe, and, spitting on the sole of it, shake it frantically in the face of her antagonist.” Dr. W.M. Thomson.
Ashamed seven days The humiliating indignity and defilement of the father’s spitting in a child’s face would cause her to hide seven days from the presence of Jehovah at the tabernacle. Much more ought she to be banished from the holy God and his holy people, after receiving so striking evidence of Jehovah’s displeasure, infinitely more polluting than the contempt of her supposed father.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘And Yahweh said to Moses, “If her father had but spit in her face, should she not be ashamed seven days? Let her be shut up without the camp seven days, and after that she shall be brought in again.” ’
Yahweh’s reply was stern. It was important that Miriam learned her lesson. She must face up to her shame. A spit in the face was an insult, and depicted someone who had not done their duty (Deu 25:9), and when coming from someone who was unclean, it rendered unclean (Lev 15:8). This being like one spit in the face compares with Moses’ meekness (Num 12:3 – see analysis in that verse). He was worthy, she was not. Furthermore to be spat on in the face by her father would be even more humiliating and devastating. It would mean that she had done something very dishonourable and was being virtually disowned. It may well be that to so be spat on by a father rendered a woman unclean for seven days, although we are nowhere told so. But whatever the situation was about that, Miriam was to go through a seven day cleansing outside the camp. It would in fact strictly be necessary because of her skin disease, even though it was presumably cured immediately, for a skin diseased person could not be clean until seven days after they were found to be free from their disease. But she had to recognise that it was because of a sin that deserved the utmost contempt.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Num 12:14. If her father had but spit in her face, &c. That is to say, “If she had, by some undutiful behaviour, provoked her father to be angry with her, and to spit in her face, as an indication of that anger, (Job 30:10. Isa 50:6. Mar 14:65; Mar 15:19.) she would certainly be ashamed for some time to look him in the face. How much more, then, ought she to be ashamed, when she lies under this severe mark of my displeasure; and to exclude herself, at least, from the camp during the time appointed for legal cleansing from such impurities.” Lev 14:8. Num 6:9.
Many of the fathers have considered the events of this chapter as remarkably typical. Zipporah, espoused to Moses, is, according to them, a type of the Gentiles espoused by our Saviour: Miriam and Aaron represent the jealous synagogue; the leprosy of Miriam, the sin of the Jews; Moses, Jesus Christ: in fine, says Calmet, the eulogy which God himself gives to Moses is too elevated to be applied in the strictness of the letter to that law-giver. It is only of Jesus Christ that we can say, with strict truth, that he is the most meek and the most patient of all men, that he saw God face to face, and is most faithful in the house of God.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Though GOD pardons iniquity, yet our backslidings shall correct Jer 2:19 . And it is a blessed and true token of repentance, when we accept the punishment of our iniquity. Lev 26:40-42 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Num 12:14 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].
Ver. 14. Let her be shut out. ] That her sorrow for her sin may be sound and soaking, deep and downright.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
spit: Deu 25:9, Job 30:10, Isa 50:6, Mat 26:67, Heb 12:9
let her be: Num 5:2, Num 5:3, Lev 13:45, Lev 13:46, Lev 14:8, 2Ch 26:20, 2Ch 26:21
Reciprocal: Exo 4:7 – it was turned Lev 15:13 – seven days 2Ki 7:3 – four leprous 2Ki 15:5 – and dwelt Mar 14:65 – General Luk 17:12 – which 2Th 3:14 – that he
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Num 12:14. If her father had but spit in her face That is, had expressed some eminent token of indignation and contempt, in consequence of her having provoked him to anger by some undutiful behaviour. See Job 30:10; Isa 50:6. Should she not be ashamed seven days And withdraw herself from her fathers presence, as Jonathan did on a like occlusion? 1Sa 20:34. And how much more ought she to be ashamed when she lies under this severe mark of the divine displeasure! So, though God had healed her according to Mosess request yet he would have her publicly bear the shame of her sin, and be a warning to others to keep them from the same transgression.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
12:14 And the LORD said unto Moses, If her father had but {h} 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].
(h) In his displeasure.