Numbers 12:2

12:2 They ¹  said, “Has the Lord only ²  spoken through Moses? Has he not also spoken through us?” ³  And the Lord heard it. ⁴ 

Numbers 15:31

15:31 Because he has despised ⁵  the word of the Lord and has broken ⁶  his commandment, that person ⁷  must be completely cut off. ⁸  His iniquity will be on him.’” ⁹ 

Numbers 23:8

23:8 How ¹⁰  can I curse ¹¹  one whom God has not cursed,

or how can I denounce one whom the Lord has not denounced?

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¹ tn Now the text changes to use a plural form of the verb. The indication is that Miriam criticized the marriage, and then the two of them raised questions about his sole leadership of the nation.

² tn The use of both רַק and אַךְ (raq and ’akh) underscore the point that the issue is Moses’ uniqueness.

³ tn There is irony in the construction in the text. The expression “speak through us” also uses דִּבֵּר + בְּ(dibber + bÿ). They ask if God has not also spoken through them, after they have spoken against Moses. Shortly God will speak against them – their words are prophetic, but not as they imagined.

sn The questions are rhetorical. They are affirming that God does not only speak through Moses, but also speaks through them. They see themselves as equal with Moses. The question that was asked of the earlier presumptuous Moses – “Who made you a ruler over us?” – could also be asked of them. God had not placed them as equals with Moses. The passage is relevant for today when so many clamor for equal authority and leadership with those whom God has legitimately called.

⁴ sn The statement is striking. Obviously the Lord knows all things. But the statement of the obvious here is meant to indicate that the Lord was about to do something about this.

⁵ tn The verb בָּזָה (bazah, “to despise”) means to treat something as worthless, to treat it with contempt, to look down the nose at something as it were.

⁶ tn The verb פָּרַר (parar, “to break”) can mean to nullify, break, or violate a covenant.

⁷ tn Heb “soul.”

⁸ tn The construction uses the Niphal imperfect with the modifying Niphal infinitive absolute. The infinitive makes the sentence more emphatic. If the imperfect tense is taken as an instruction imperfect, then the infinitive makes the instruction more binding. If it is a simple future, then the future is certain. In either case, there is no exclusion from being cut off.

⁹ sn The point is that the person’s iniquity remains with him – he must pay for his sin. The judgment of God in such a case is both appropriate and unavoidable.

¹⁰ tn The figure is erotesis, a rhetorical question. He is actually saying he cannot curse them because God has not cursed them.

¹¹ tn The imperfect tense should here be classified as a potential imperfect.