Numbers — Chapter 12

Miriam and Aaron speak against Moses on account of his Ethiopian wife; allegorically, Moses' marriage to an Ethiopian woman prefigures the marriage of Christ with the Church of the Gentiles (St. Ambrose, St. Bernard).

Moses was a very meek man, above all men upon earth; because of his meekness he did not answer his detractors, and God Himself took up his defence. Meekness merits divine protection and familiar intercourse with God.

Miriam is struck with leprosy white as snow; she alone is punished (not Aaron) because she instigated the rebellion; Aaron as high priest could not bear the disgrace of leprosy without dishonour to the sacred ministry.

Moses prays for his sister who slandered him: \"Heal her, O God, I beseech thee\"; an example of intercession for enemies surpassed only by St. Stephen, who prayed for Saul without being asked.

Miriam is excluded from the camp seven days; the whole people waited for her return and did not continue the march — even the sinner's exclusion is a corrective mercy.