Numbers 12:1

Miriam and Aaron. Miriam’s name is given first, since she was the leader in the murmuring.

Spake. The verb is feminine, singular number, pointing to Miriam as the instigator. “She spake.”

Ethiopian woman. Literally, a “Cushite woman” (see on Gen. 10:6). Zipporah’s father was actually a Midianite (Ex. 2:16-19; 3:1), and thus a descendant of Abraham (Gen. 25:1, 2 PP 383). Upon rejoining Moses at Mt. Sinai (see on Ex. 4:25 and 18:2), Zipporah had observed the heavy burdens borne by her husband and expressed to Jethro her fears for his well-being. Thereupon Jethro counseled Moses to select others to share the responsibilities of administration with him. When Moses acted upon this counsel without first consulting Miriam and Aaron, they became jealous of him and blamed Zipporah for what they considered Moses’ neglect of them (see PP 383). The fact that Zipporah was a Midianite, though a worshiper of the true God, was used by Miriam and Aaron merely as an excuse for rebelling against the authority of Moses. He did not violate the principle of nonmarriage with the heathen when he took her to wife, as they apparently claimed.