Numbers 12:13

Old Testament Law (Torah) ASV (1901)

What does Numbers 12:13 say?

The American Standard Version records this verse as: “And Moses cried unto Jehovah, saying, Heal her, O God, I beseech thee.” Read the surrounding verses and the named sources below before drawing broader conclusions.

The verse

And Moses cried unto Jehovah, saying, Heal her, O God, I beseech thee.
Numbers 12:13 — American Standard Version

Context — Numbers 12

American Standard Version (1901) — public domain. Click any verse for its study page.
13And Moses cried unto Jehovah, saying, Heal her, O God, I beseech thee.

What do historical commentaries say?

John Gill's Exposition
John Gill (1697–1771) · Exposition of the Old and New Testament · 18th-century historical commentary
“And Moses cried unto the Lord, etc.] With a loud voice, and with great earnestness and importunity, being heartily affected with the miserable condition Miriam was in: saying, heal her now, O God, I beseech thee; in the original text it is, “O God now, heal her now”; for the same particle is used at the close as at the beginning of the petition; and the repetition of it shows his earnestness and importunity that she might be healed directly, immediately, without any delay; and Moses uses the word “El”, which signifies the strong and mighty God, as expressive of his faith in the power of God, that he was able to heal her; and at the same time suggests that none but he could do it; and so Aben…”
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Barnes' Notes
Albert Barnes (1798–1870) · Notes on the Whole Bible · 19th-century historical commentary
“Miriam, as a prophetess (compare Exodus 15:20-21) no less than as the sister of Moses and Aaron, took the first rank among the women of Israel; and Aaron may be regarded as the ecclesiastical head of the whole nation. But instead of being grateful for these high dignities they challenged the special vocation of Moses and the exclusive authority which God had assigned to him. Miriam was the instigator, from the fact that her name stands conspicuously first Numbers 12:1, and that the punishment Numbers 12:10 fell on her alone. She probably considered herself as supplanted, and that too by a foreigner. Aaron was misled this time by the urgency of his sister, as once before Exodus 32:0 by that…”
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Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge
R. A. Torrey and contributors · The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge · Cross-reference reference work
“Num 14:2, Num 14:13-20, Num 16:41, Num 16:46-50; Exo 32:10-14; Sa1 12:23, Sa1 15:11; Mat 5:44, Mat 5:45; Luk 6:28, Luk 23:34; Act 7:60; Rom 12:21; Jam 5:15 Numbers 12:14”
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Keil & Delitzsch
C. F. Keil & F. Delitzsch · Commentary on the Old Testament · 19th-century historical commentary
“Moses, with his mildness, took compassion upon his sister, upon whom this punishment had fallen, and cried to the Lord, "O God, I beseech Thee, heal her." The connection of the particle נא with אל is certainly unusual, but yet it is analogous to the construction with such exclamations as אוי ( Jer 4:31; Jer 45:3) and הנּה ( Gen 12:11; Gen 16:2, etc.); since אל in the vocative is to be regarded as equivalent to an exclamation; whereas the alteration into אל, as proposed by J. D. Michaelis and Knobel, does not even give a fitting sense, apart altogether from the fact, that the repetition of נא after the verb, with נא אל before it, would be altogether unexampled. Numbers 12:14”
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Related study paths

Sources and verification