Literary Devices – Bemidbar 12

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Structure

Hashem's Rebuke: Chiasm

Hashem's chastisement of Miriam and Aharon in verses 6-8 is built chiastically:

  • אִם יִהְיֶה נְבִיאֲכֶם י״י בַּמַּרְאָה אֵלָיו אֶתְוַדָּע
  • בַּחֲלוֹם אֲדַבֶּר בּוֹ
  • לֹא כֵן עַבְדִּי מֹשֶׁה בְּכׇל בֵּיתִי נֶאֱמָן הוּא
  • פֶּה אֶל פֶּה אֲדַבֶּר בּוֹ
  • וּמַרְאֶה וְלֹא בְחִידֹת וּתְמֻנַת י״י יַבִּיט

The outer rings of the chiasm contrast Moshe's prophecy with that of other prophets, while the inner rings highlight Moshe's unique status as Hashem's most loyal servant.1

Key Words

"דבר"

  • See the Tanakh Lab that the root "דבר" is one of the most prevalent words in this short chapter, appearing six times.  It encapsulates the main themes of the chapter, the problematic speech of Miryam and Aharon, and the uniqueness of God's speech/prophecy to Moshe. Usage of the same word in both contexts highlights one of the questions emerging from the unit: what is the relationship between the initial critique of Miryam and Aharon regarding the Cushite woman (v.1) and their questioning the uniqueness of Moshe's relationship with Hashem (v.2)?
  • See Miryam's Critique of Moshe and his Cushite Marriage for discussion of the relationship between the two complaints and various approaches regarding what lay at the core of the siblings' comments.

Parenthetical Statements

The chapter makes use of parenthetical statements to give the reader background that they are otherwise not privy to:

  • See Rashbam, R. Yosef Bekhor Shor, R. Yosef Ibn Kaspi, and Shadal, that the phrase “for he had married a Cushite woman” (verse 1) is a parenthetical statement explaining to the reader that Moshe had married another woman aside from Tzipporah. 
  • Verse 3, which describes Moshe’s great humility, is a parenthetical statement meant to vindicate Moshe of the insinuation in verse 2 that he considered himself of elevated stature.
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