One of the stories describing a challenge to Moses’ status as God’s exclusive emissary is the account of Miriam’s skin disease (Numbers 12:1–16). The Torah tells us that Moses’ siblings, Miriam and Aaron, spoke about the Cushite woman he had married, belittling him by equating their own standing as prophets with his. In response, God called the three siblings to the Tent of Meeting, addressed Aaron and Miriam, and showed them their error. When God finished speaking, Miriam was afflicted with a skin disease and, by His command, excluded from the camp for seven days. The Torah tells us that the people did not set out until Miriam completed her period of exclusion and returned to the camp:
And the LORD said unto Moses: ‘If her father had but spit in her face, should she not hide in shame seven days? let her be shut up without the camp seven days, and after that she shall be brought in again.’ And Miriam was shut up without the camp seven days; and the people journeyed not till Miriam was brought in again. And afterward the people journeyed from Hazeroth, and pitched in the wilderness of Paran. (Numbers 12:14–16)
וַיֹּאמֶר ה' אֶל מֹשֶׁה וְאָבִיהָ יָרֹק יָרַק בְּפָנֶיהָ הֲלֹא תִכָּלֵם שִׁבְעַת יָמִים תִּסָּגֵר שִׁבְעַת יָמִים מִחוּץ לַמַּחֲנֶה וְאַחַר תֵּאָסֵף. וַתִּסָּגֵר מִרְיָם מִחוּץ לַמַּחֲנֶה שִׁבְעַת יָמִים וְהָעָם לֹא נָסַע עַד הֵאָסֵף מִרְיָם. וְאַחַר נָסְעוּ הָעָם מֵחֲצֵרוֹת וַיַּחֲנוּ בְּמִדְבַּר פָּארָן. (במדבר י"ב יד-טז)
The Mishnah cites this incident among biblical examples of the principle of “measure for measure”:
[…] Miriam waited for Moses for one hour, as stated in Exodus 2:4, when his sister stood at a distance (וַתֵּתַצַּב אֲחֹתוֹ מֵרָחֹק). Israel therefore waited seven days for her in the wilderness, as stated in Numbers 12:15: the people did not journey until Miriam was brought in (וְהָעָם לֹא נָסַע עַד הֵאָסֵף מִרְיָם). (Mishnah Sotah 1:9; translated from Hebrew)
Following the Mishnah, Rashi explains that this was a gesture of honor from God to Miriam:
The Omnipresent accorded her this honor for the hour she waited for Moses when he was cast into the Nile, as stated in Exodus 2:4: his sister stood at a distance (וַתֵּתַצַּב אֲחֹתוֹ מֵרָחֹק). (Rashi on Numbers 12:15; translated from Hebrew)
Miriam certainly deserved this honor. Yet the interpretation presents a difficulty. Rashi attributes the gesture to God, while the verse – and even the source on which Rashi relies – attributes it to the people: they did not journey until Miriam was brought in. Why does Rashi credit God with honoring Miriam rather than the people, as the verse and the Mishnah do?
The likely reason is a passage several chapters earlier, which suggests that the decision when to journey and when to encamp rested exclusively with Heaven:
And on the day that the tabernacle was reared up the cloud covered the tabernacle, even the tent of the testimony; and at even there was upon the tabernacle as it were the appearance of fire, until morning. So it was alway: the cloud covered it, and the appearance of fire by night. And whenever the cloud was taken up from over the Tent, then after that the children of Israel journeyed; and in the place where the cloud abode, there the children of Israel encamped. At the commandment of the LORD the children of Israel journeyed, and at the commandment of the LORD they encamped: as long as the cloud abode upon the tabernacle they remained encamped. And when the cloud tarried upon the tabernacle many days, then the children of Israel kept the charge of the LORD, and journeyed not. And sometimes the cloud was a few days upon the tabernacle; according to the commandment of the LORD they remained encamped, and according to the commandment of the LORD they journeyed. And sometimes the cloud was from evening until morning; and when the cloud was taken up in the morning, they journeyed; or if it continued by day and by night, when the cloud was taken up, they journeyed. Whether it were two days, or a month, or a year, that the cloud tarried upon the tabernacle, abiding thereon, the children of Israel remained encamped, and journeyed not; but when it was taken up, they journeyed. At the commandment of the LORD they encamped, and at the commandment of the LORD they journeyed; they kept the charge of the LORD, at the commandment of the LORD by the hand of Moses. (Numbers 9:15–23)
וּבְיוֹם הָקִים אֶת הַמִּשְׁכָּן כִּסָּה הֶעָנָן אֶת הַמִּשְׁכָּן לְאֹהֶל הָעֵדֻת וּבָעֶרֶב יִהְיֶה עַל הַמִּשְׁכָּן כְּמַרְאֵה אֵשׁ עַד בֹּקֶר. כֵּן יִהְיֶה תָמִיד הֶעָנָן יְכַסֶּנּוּ וּמַרְאֵה אֵשׁ לָיְלָה. וּלְפִי הֵעָלֹת הֶעָנָן מֵעַל הָאֹהֶל וְאַחֲרֵי כֵן יִסְעוּ בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וּבִמְקוֹם אֲשֶׁר יִשְׁכָּן שָׁם הֶעָנָן שָׁם יַחֲנוּ בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל. עַל פִּי ה' יִסְעוּ בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וְעַל פִּי ה' יַחֲנוּ כָּל יְמֵי אֲשֶׁר יִשְׁכֹּן הֶעָנָן עַל הַמִּשְׁכָּן יַחֲנוּ. וּבְהַאֲרִיךְ הֶעָנָן עַל הַמִּשְׁכָּן יָמִים רַבִּים וְשָׁמְרוּ בְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל אֶת מִשְׁמֶרֶת ה' וְלֹא יִסָּעוּ. וְיֵשׁ אֲשֶׁר יִהְיֶה הֶעָנָן יָמִים מִסְפָּר עַל הַמִּשְׁכָּן עַל פִּי ה' יַחֲנוּ וְעַל פִּי ה' יִסָּעוּ. וְיֵשׁ אֲשֶׁר יִהְיֶה הֶעָנָן מֵעֶרֶב עַד בֹּקֶר וְנַעֲלָה הֶעָנָן בַּבֹּקֶר וְנָסָעוּ אוֹ יוֹמָם וָלַיְלָה וְנַעֲלָה הֶעָנָן וְנָסָעוּ. אוֹ יֹמַיִם אוֹ חֹדֶשׁ אוֹ יָמִים בְּהַאֲרִיךְ הֶעָנָן עַל הַמִּשְׁכָּן לִשְׁכֹּן עָלָיו יַחֲנוּ בְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וְלֹא יִסָּעוּ וּבְהֵעָלֹתוֹ יִסָּעוּ. עַל פִּי ה' יַחֲנוּ וְעַל פִּי ה' יִסָּעוּ אֶת מִשְׁמֶרֶת ה' שָׁמָרוּ עַל פִּי ה' בְּיַד מֹשֶׁה. (במדבר ט' טו-כג)
Since God determined when the people would journey and when they would encamp, Rashi attributes the gesture to Him. He understands the statement that the people did not journey until Miriam was brought in to mean that God honored Miriam by keeping His cloud over the tent until she returned.
But this explanation is difficult. If the gesture came from God rather than from the people, the text should have attributed it explicitly to Him, saying that the cloud did not rise until Miriam was brought in. Instead, it says that the people did not journey until she was brought in.
Here it is important to distinguish the cloud’s departure in our passage – after God’s anger flared, He departed and the cloud withdrew from the tent, revealing Miriam’s skin disease (Numbers 12:9–10) – from the cloud’s rising over the tent in Numbers 9, which signaled that Israel should journey. Here, God’s cloud descended and stood at the tent’s entrance so that He could speak to Moses, Aaron, and Miriam (וַיֵּרֶד ה’ בְּעַמּוּד עָנָן וַיַּעֲמֹד פֶּתַח הָאֹהֶל; verse 5). It withdrew in anger when He finished speaking.
Not only is this departure of the cloud different from the cloud’s rising during Israel’s travels; the tent is different as well. The tent mentioned in chapter 9 was the Tabernacle at the center of the camp, also called “the tent,” “the Tent of Meeting,” and “the Tabernacle of the Tent of Meeting.” The tent in our passage is another tent, outside the camp, which people had to leave the camp to reach. The Torah emphasizes this twice:
And the LORD spoke suddenly unto Moses, and unto Aaron, and unto Miriam: ‘Come out ye three unto the tent of meeting.’ And they three came out. And the LORD came down in a pillar of cloud, and stood at the door of the Tent, and called Aaron and Miriam; and they both came forth. (Numbers 12:4–5)
וַיֹּאמֶר ה' פִּתְאֹם אֶל מֹשֶׁה וְאֶל אַהֲרֹן וְאֶל מִרְיָם צְאוּ שְׁלָשְׁתְּכֶם אֶל אֹהֶל מוֹעֵד וַיֵּצְאוּ שְׁלָשְׁתָּם. וַיֵּרֶד ה' בְּעַמּוּד עָנָן וַיַּעֲמֹד פֶּתַח הָאֹהֶל וַיִּקְרָא אַהֲרֹן וּמִרְיָם וַיֵּצְאוּ שְׁנֵיהֶם. (במדבר י"ב ד-ה)
This is the tent Moses pitched outside the camp after the sin of the golden calf:
Now Moses used to take the tent and to pitch it without the camp, afar off from the camp; and he called it The tent of meeting. And it came to pass, that every one that sought the LORD went out unto the tent of meeting, which was without the camp. And it came to pass, when Moses went out unto the Tent, that all the people rose up, and stood, every man at his tent door, and looked after Moses, until he was gone into the Tent. And it came to pass, when Moses entered into the Tent, the pillar of cloud descended, and stood at the door of the Tent; and [the LORD] spoke with Moses. (Exodus 33:7–9)
וּמֹשֶׁה יִקַּח אֶת הָאֹהֶל וְנָטָה לוֹ מִחוּץ לַמַּחֲנֶה הַרְחֵק מִן הַמַּחֲנֶה וְקָרָא לוֹ אֹהֶל מוֹעֵד וְהָיָה כָּל מְבַקֵּשׁ ה' יֵצֵא אֶל אֹהֶל מוֹעֵד אֲשֶׁר מִחוּץ לַמַּחֲנֶה. וְהָיָה כְּצֵאת מֹשֶׁה אֶל הָאֹהֶל יָקוּמוּ כָּל הָעָם וְנִצְּבוּ אִישׁ פֶּתַח אָהֳלוֹ וְהִבִּיטוּ אַחֲרֵי מֹשֶׁה עַד בֹּאוֹ הָאֹהֱלָה. וְהָיָה כְּבֹא מֹשֶׁה הָאֹהֱלָה יֵרֵד עַמּוּד הֶעָנָן וְעָמַד פֶּתַח הָאֹהֶל וְדִבֶּר עִם מֹשֶׁה. (שמות ל"ג ז-ט)
On the reasonable assumption that the two tents – one at the camp’s center and the other outside it – did not exist simultaneously, we may conclude that Miriam’s affliction occurred before the Tabernacle was erected, during the period when Moses’ Tent of Meeting stood outside the camp. The description of journeying and encamping according to the cloud over the Tabernacle is therefore not directly relevant. See the fuller discussion in the chapter “The Meeting Tent, the Curtain, and the Incense Altar.”
Even if the cloud’s rising above and resting on the Tabernacle describes only the period after its erection, while our story belongs to the earlier period, it remains likely that Israel’s travels and encampments were governed by God’s instructions through Moses even beforehand. This was certainly true during the Exodus, when Israel maneuvered back toward Pi-hahiroth at God’s command to mislead Pharaoh (Exodus 14:1–4; see also “A Study of the Splitting of the Sea”). It was also true on the journey to Sinai, where the Tabernacle was erected after the Torah was given. Before the Tabernacle existed, the cloud’s rising and resting could still have signaled when to journey and when to encamp, as the Exodus account describes God’s guidance through a pillar of cloud by day and fire by night (וַה’ הֹלֵךְ לִפְנֵיהֶם יוֹמָם בְּעַמּוּד עָנָן לַנְחֹתָם הַדֶּרֶךְ וְלַיְלָה בְּעַמּוּד אֵשׁ לְהָאִיר לָהֶם לָלֶכֶת יוֹמָם וָלָיְלָה; Exodus 13:21). If the cloud did not guide them, another sign or an explicit divine command to Moses could have served that purpose. The question therefore returns: why does the verse say that the Israelites themselves did not journey until Miriam returned, if their travels were directed by God?
The answer is that the gesture really did come from the people. Israel’s travels and the verses in chapter 9 create the impression that journeying and encamping were wholly determined by Heaven. Verses 18, 20, and 23 repeatedly state that both occurred at God’s command, and that Israel kept His charge through Moses. Yet a closer reading reveals a difference between setting out and encamping.
When encamping, Israel had to stop precisely where the cloud rested (וּבִמְקוֹם אֲשֶׁר יִשְׁכָּן שָׁם הֶעָנָן שָׁם יַחֲנוּ בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל; verse 17). The cloud’s presence also prevented them from proceeding as long as it remained over the Tabernacle; even when it stayed for many days, they kept God’s charge and did not journey (verse 19). Setting out was different. The cloud’s rising permitted departure, but did not require it to occur immediately. The wording is significant: the Israelites journeyed afterward (וּלְפִי הֵעָלֹת הֶעָנָן מֵעַל הָאֹהֶל וְאַחֲרֵי כֵן יִסְעוּ בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל; verse 17). Only after the cloud rose could they set out. Accordingly, the Torah chiefly emphasizes their restraint in not continuing before it rose: throughout its stay they encamped, however prolonged that stay might be (verses 18–19), and they did not journey until it was taken up (verse 22).
Immediately following the account of the cloud’s signals for encamping and journeying comes the passage about the trumpets. It describes how the trumpets were used to time the Israelite camps’ departures:
And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying: ’Make thee two trumpets of silver; of beaten work shalt thou make them; and they shall be unto thee for the calling of the congregation, and for causing the camps to set forward. … And when ye blow an alarm, the camps that lie on the east side shall take their journey. And when ye blow an alarm the second time, the camps that lie on the south side shall set forward; they shall blow an alarm for their journeys. (Numbers 10:1–2, 5–6)
וַיְדַבֵּר ה' אֶל מֹשֶׁה לֵּאמֹר. עֲשֵׂה לְךָ שְׁתֵּי חֲצוֹצְרֹת כֶּסֶף מִקְשָׁה תַּעֲשֶׂה אֹתָם וְהָיוּ לְךָ לְמִקְרָא הָעֵדָה וּלְמַסַּע אֶת הַמַּחֲנוֹת... וּתְקַעְתֶּם תְּרוּעָה וְנָסְעוּ הַמַּחֲנוֹת הַחֹנִים קֵדְמָה. וּתְקַעְתֶּם תְּרוּעָה שֵׁנִית וְנָסְעוּ הַמַּחֲנוֹת הַחֹנִים תֵּימָנָה תְּרוּעָה יִתְקְעוּ לְמַסְעֵיהֶם. (במדבר י' א-ו)
The trumpet passage may support my argument that Israel had some freedom to decide when to depart. On this reading, it concerns something more substantial than a technical arrangement for their travels. Rabbi Professor Elie Assis writes:
Although the cloud indicated when the journey should begin, the arrangements for the journey and the timing of each camp’s departure remained in the hands of the human agent sounding the trumpet. (Elie Assis, “Beha’alotekha: A Call to Journey,” Shabbat supplement of Makor Rishon, 9 Sivan 5779, June 12, 2019; translated from the Hebrew quotation)
Why was departure, whose timing Israel could choose, different from encamping, which remained in God’s hands?
Israel was traveling toward the land, seeking to advance toward entry into it. Keeping God’s charge primarily meant refraining from advancing while the cloud lingered, or being obliged to interrupt the journey and encamp where it rested. Their obedience lay in restraining their desire to reach the land as quickly as possible and stopping at God’s command. Leaving an encampment to resume their progress, by contrast, accorded with their wishes. Ultimately, the cloud’s rising did oblige them to continue, but they could choose the timing of departure – afterward (וְאַחֲרֵי כֵן). This explains why the Torah credits the people with the gesture honoring Miriam. Although the cloud had risen and God had signaled to Moses and Israel that they should continue, the people chose to honor Miriam and wait until her seven-day exclusion had ended.
