1
Numbers 12:1
英文原文
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 by that of the people.
Numbers 12:1
The Ethiopian woman whom he had married - (Hebrew, "Cushite," compare Genesis 2:13; Genesis 10:6) It is likely that Zipporah Exodus 2:21 was dead, and that Miriam in consequence expected to have greater influence than ever with Moses. Her disappointment at his second marriage would consequently be very great.
The marriage of Moses with a woman descended from Ham was not prohibited, so long as she was not of the stock of Canaan (compare Exodus 34:11-16); but it would at any time have been offensive to that intense nationality which characterized the Jews. The Christian fathers note in the successive marriage of Moses with a Midianite and an Ethiopian a foreshadowing of the future extension to the Gentiles of God's covenant and its promises (compare Psalm 45:9 ff; Sol 1:4 ff); and in the complaining of Miriam and Aaron a type of the discontent of the Jews because of such extension: compare Luke 15:29-30.
2
Numbers 12:2
「難道耶和華……」——即:歸根結底,耶和華說話豈是單藉著摩西嗎?
英文原文
Hath the Lord ... - i. e. Is it merely, after all, by Moses that the Lord hath spoken?
3
Numbers 12:3
「摩西為人極其謙和」——在這段以及摩西同樣毫不含糊地記錄自己過失的其他經文裡（參 Numbers 20:12 ff; Exodus 4:24 ff; Deuteronomy 1:37），顯出一種為自己作見證、卻非為自己求益處之人的單純（參 Matthew 11:28-29）。插入這些話，是為要說明摩西為何沒有採取任何步驟為自己辯白，以及主為何因而如此迅速地介入。
英文原文
The man Moses was very meek - In this and in other passages in which Moses no less unequivocally records his own faults (compare Numbers 20:12 ff; Exodus 4:24 ff; Deuteronomy 1:37), there is the simplicity of one who bare witness of himself, but not to himself (compare Matthew 11:28-29). The words are inserted to explain how it was that Moses took no steps to vindicate himself, and why consequently the Lord so promptly intervened.
8
Numbers 12:8
「口對口」——意即沒有任何第三者或事物居間介入：對照旁註參考。
「乃是明說」——摩西從神那裏直接且明白地領受神的話語，並非藉著夢、異象、比喻、晦澀的言語等類作媒介：對照旁註參考。
「他要看見耶和華的形像」——然而約翰說：「從來沒有人看見神」（John 1:18；對照 1 Timothy 6:16，尤其是 Exodus 33:20 及以下）。因此，一方面，摩西所看見的並不是榮福直觀，即神格未經遮蔽的本質；另一方面，那也不是單純的象徵性表像（如 Ezekiel 1:26 及以下、Daniel 7:9 那樣），更不是奉差傳信的天使。那是神自己顯現自己，使必朽的肉眼得以認出祂。經文在此詳細申明摩西在神面前所站的特別地位，因為這既立即證明摩西的至高地位乃建基於神明確的任命，也表明米利暗抵觸這地位時，就已招致了干犯神治之罪所當受的刑罰。
英文原文
Mouth to mouth - i. e. without the intervention of any third person or thing: compare the marginal references.
Even apparently - Moses received the word of God direct from Him and plainly, not through the medium of dream, vision, parable, dark saying, or such like; compare the marginal references.
The similitude of the Lord shall he behold - But, "No man hath seen God at any time," says John (John 1:18 : compare 1 Timothy 6:16, and especially Exodus 33:20 ff). It was not therefore the Beatific Vision, the unveiled essence of the Deity, which Moses saw on the one hand. Nor was it, on the other hand, a mere emblematic representation (as in Ezekiel 1:26 ff, Daniel 7:9), or an Angel sent as a messenger. It was the Deity Himself manifesting Himself so as to be cognizable to mortal eye. The special footing on which Moses stood as regards God is here laid down in detail, because it at once demonstrates that the supremacy of Moses rested on the distinct appointment of God, and also that Miriam in contravening that supremacy had incurred the penalty proper to sins against the theocracy.
12
Numbers 12:12
「如死人一樣」——麻瘋不啻是活著的死亡：它毒化生命的泉源，敗壞全身的體液，使整個身體逐漸潰解，以致一個肢體接著一個肢體實際腐爛脫落。可比較 Leviticus 13 的註釋。
英文原文
As one dead - leprosy was nothing short of a living death, a poisoning of the springs, a corrupting of all the humors, of life; a dissolution little by little of the whole body, so that one limb after another actually decayed and fell away. Compare the notes at Leviticus 13.
13
Numbers 12:13
「神啊，求你醫治她」——另有人將這話譯作：「哦，不要如此；求你現在醫治她。」
英文原文
Heal her now, O God, I beseech thee - Others render these words: "Oh not so; heal her now, I beseech Thee."
14
Numbers 12:14
「她父親若……」——意即：她的生身父親若這樣輕辱她（可比較 Deuteronomy 25:9），她尚且要蒙羞七天，何況神如此懲治她的時候呢？
「耶和華說」——差派探子的事最先是以色列人自己提出的。見 Deuteronomy 1:22。
英文原文
If her father ... - i. e. If her earthly parent had treated her with contumely (compare Deuteronomy 25:9) she would feel for a time humiliated, how much more when God has visited her thus?
And the Lord spake - The mission of the spies was first suggested by the Israelites themselves. See Deuteronomy 1:22.
米利暗不僅身為摩西與亞倫的姊姊,更以女先知的身分(參 Exodus 15:20-21),在以色列婦女中居於首位;亞倫則可視為全民族的宗教領袖。然而,他們非但沒有為這些崇高的尊榮心存感恩,反而挑戰摩西特殊的呼召,以及神所賦予他的獨有權柄。米利暗是主謀,這從她的名字在 Numbers 12:1 中顯著地列於首位,以及 Numbers 12:10 的刑罰只臨到她一人這兩項事實可以看出。她大概自覺被人取代了,而且是被一個外邦女子所取代。亞倫這次被姊姊的催逼所誤導,正如先前在 Exodus 32 被百姓所催逼一樣。
Numbers 12:1
「他所娶的古實女子」——(希伯來文作「古實人」,參 Genesis 2:13;Genesis 10:6)西坡拉(Exodus 2:21)很可能已經去世,米利暗因此指望自己對摩西的影響力會比以往更大。她對摩西再婚一事的失望,自然極為強烈。
摩西娶含的後裔為妻並未被禁止,只要她不是迦南的族裔即可(參 Exodus 34:11-16);但這在任何時候都會冒犯猶太人所特有的那種強烈民族意識。教父們在摩西先後娶米甸女子與古實女子一事上,看見神的約及其應許將來擴展至外邦人的預表(參 Psalm 45:9 及以下;Sol 1:4 及以下);又在米利暗與亞倫的抱怨上,看見猶太人因這種擴展而心懷不滿的預表:參 Luke 15:29-30。