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Numbers 12:12-14
New English Translation
Numbers 12:12-14
New English Translation
12 Do not let her be like a baby born dead, whose flesh is half consumed when it comes out of its[a] mother’s womb!”
13 Then Moses cried to the Lord, “Heal her now, O God.”[b] 14 The Lord said to Moses, “If her father had only spit[c] in her face, would she not have been disgraced for seven days? Shut her out from the camp seven days, and afterward she can be brought back in again.”
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- Numbers 12:12 tc The words “its mother” and “its flesh” are among the so-called tiqqune sopherim, or “emendations of the scribes.” According to this tradition the text originally had here “our mother” and “our flesh,” but the ancient scribes changed these pronouns from the first person to the third person. Apparently they were concerned that the image of Moses’ mother giving birth to a baby with physical defects of the sort described here was somehow inappropriate, given the stature and importance of Moses.
- Numbers 12:13 tc Some scholars emend אֵל (ʾel, “God”) to עַל (ʿal, “no”). The effect of this change may be seen in the NAB: “Please, not this! Pray, heal her!”
- Numbers 12:14 tn The infinitive absolute strengthens the modality of the clause, here emphasizing the alternative condition.
New English Translation (NET)
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