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Yahweh said to Moses, “If her father had but spit in her face, shouldn’t she be ashamed seven days? Let her be shut up outside of the camp seven days, and after that she shall be brought in again.”
Miriam was shut up outside of the camp seven days, and the people didn’t travel until Miriam was brought in again.
Numbers 12:14-15 sits inside this longer paragraph.
Yahweh said to Moses, “If her father had but spit in her face, shouldn’t she be ashamed seven days? Let her be shut up outside of the camp seven days, and after that she shall be brought in again.”
Miriam was shut up outside of the camp seven days, and the people didn’t travel until Miriam was brought in again. Afterward the people traveled from Hazeroth, and encamped in the wilderness of Paran.
Yahweh said to Moses, “If her father had but spit in her face, shouldn’t she be ashamed seven days? Let her be shut up outside of the camp seven days, and after that she shall be brought in again.”
Miriam was shut up outside of the camp seven days, and the people didn’t travel until Miriam was brought in again.
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.
And Miriam was shut out from the camp seven days: and the people journeyed not till Miriam was brought in again.
And the LORD said unto Moses: 'If her father had but spit in her face, should she not hide in shame seven days? let her be shut up without the camp seven days, and after that she shall be brought in again.'
And Miriam was shut up without the camp seven days; and the people journeyed not till Miriam was brought in again.
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On v14 In his displeasure.
In his displeasure.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv14–15 Num 12:14 And the LORD said unto Moses, If…
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.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv14–15 Spit in her face, i.e. expressed some eminent token…
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 father’s presence? as Jonathan did upon a like occasion, 1Sa 20:34. So though God healed her according to Moses’s 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.
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Seven days, the time appointed for cleansing the unclean. See Num 6:9; 31:19.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv14–15 And the Lord said unto Moses,.... By a voice…
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:
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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, Lev 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.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv14–15 Spit in her face - That is, expressed some…
Spit in her face - That is, expressed some eminent token of indignation and contempt, which was this, Job xxx, 10 Isaiah l, 6. Ashamed - And withdraw herself, from her father's presence, as Jonathan did upon a like occasion, 1 Sam. xx, 34. So though God healed her according to Moses's request, yet he would have her publickly bear the shame of her sin, and be a warning to others to keep them from the same transgression.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On v14 Verse 14. If her father had but spit in…
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: -
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"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.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv14–15 Num 12:14. If her father had but spit in…
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 father’s 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 Moses’s 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.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On v14 Answered him. The force of this reply must be…
Answered him. The force of this reply must be very obvious. If a father had been so irritated by his daughter, as to shew his indignation in the strongest manner, (see Job xxx. 10.; Mark xiv. 65,) she would surely keep out of sight for a time: and can she complain, if I, who have been more injured in the person of my minister, exclude her from society seven days, after having covered her with the leprosy as with spittle. (Calmet) --- The excommunication, in the Christian Church, bears some resemblance with this exclusion. Mary did not undergo all the legal purifications, (Leviticus xxxiv.) as the miraculous cure dispensed her from them. (Menochius) --- Origen (hom. vi. 7,) and other Fathers, explain the mystery of this historical event. Moses, taking to wife the Ethiopian, represents Christ calling the Gentiles, which excites the murmurs of the synagogue. Mary shews the deformity of the latter religion at the present day, without head or sacrifice. The encomiums bestowed upon the Jewish legislator, belong in a still stricter sense to Jesus Christ, the mildest of men, fully acquainted with all the secrets of God, and the most faithful in all his house. (St. Jerome, ep. ad Fab. mansion xiv.)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv14–15 her father had but spit in her face, should…
her father had but spit in her face, should she not be ashamed seven days?--The Jews, in common with all people in the East, seem to have had an intense abhorrence of spitting, and for a parent to express his displeasure by doing so on the person of one of his children, or even on the ground in his presence, separated that child as unclean from society for seven days.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv14–15 14. Spit in her face — “Spitting at or…
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.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On v14 14. I beseech thee] A single exclamatory particle, which…
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 ’çl (‘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.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv14–15 (14) If her father had but spit in her…
(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.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv14–15 The Lord said unto Moses. Presumably in the tabernacle,…
The Lord said unto Moses. Presumably in the tabernacle, whither Moses would have returned to supplicate God. If her father had but spit in her face. The "but" is superfluous, and obscures the sense; the act mentioned is referred to not as something trifling, but as something in its way very serious. The Septuagint renders it correctly ei o pathr ... ptuwn eneptusen . The Targums have, "if her father had corrected her." Probably they used this euphemism from a sense of a certain want of dignity and propriety in the original expression, considered as coming from the mouth of God. The act in question was, however, not uncommon in itself, and in significance clearly marked. (see Deu_25:9) It was the distinctive note of public disgrace inflicted by one who had a right to inflict it. In the case of a father, it meant that he was thoroughly ashamed of his child, and judged it best (which would be only in extreme cases) to put his child to shame before all the world. So public a disgrace would certainly be felt in patriarchal times as a most severe calamity, and entailed by ordinary custom (as we learn here) retirement and mourning for seven days at least. How much more, when her heavenly Father had been driven to inflict a public disgrace upon her for perverse behavior, should the shame and the sorrow not be lightly put away, but patiently endured for a decent period! (cf. Heb_12:9)
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v14 12:14 Miriam was required to follow the normal procedure…
12:14 Miriam was required to follow the normal procedure for achieving ritual purity after a skin disease (5:2-4; Lev 13–14).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.