One day Miriam and Aaron, Moses' older siblings, blindside him about his wife:
While they were at Hazeroth, Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had married (for he had indeed married a Cushite woman) (Numbers 12:1).
Seems pretty racist, right?
Why does everything have to be about race?
Excuse me?
Why does everything have to be about race?
Everything isn’t about race.
Well, why does this have to be about race?
You’d have to ask Miriam and Aaron.
Gah. Why is this story really about race?
Keep reading.
The Argument Against A Racist Interpretation
(Even though it's mostly wrong)
Our interrupting friend's last question has been the source of biblical debate for centuries. This is because, despite what seems to be a racially-charged beginning to the story, Miriam and Aaron do go on to say:
“Has the Lord spoken only through Moses? Has he not spoken through us also?” (Numbers 12:2)
It seems that there is a case to be made that this story is more about sibling rivalry than racial animus. This argument is made more compelling when the events of the previous chapter are taken into account.
Numbers 11 records the repeated complaints of the Hebrew people as they traveled from slavery in Egypt to freedom and prosperity in the Promised Land. Complaints that almost got them all killed by the God who was making provision for them the whole time. In the midst of this chapter, Moses wants to walk away from his role as desert tour guide for a cranky classroom of kindergartens (Numbers 11:10-15). To help Moses keep his sanity, God orders Moses to appoint 70 elders to help him bear the burden of leadership.
It is with this backdrop that we begin chapter 12: Moses’ own siblings, his own family, leaders who know and care for him the most, are apparently trying to usurp his authority. There is a power struggle over who speaks for God. And since Moses is too “humble” to fight for himself (vs 4) [which is an odd choice of words, since the narrator has already told us that Mo don’t want this job no mo’], God gets involved.
God calls Miriam, Moses, and Aaron before The Tent of Meeting, appears as a pillar of smoke, and tells Aaron and Miriam to shut the sheol up. God explains that He has a special relationship with Moses, different from their own. God doesn’t communicate using dreams and visions with Moses. No: Mo gets the face to face treatment (vs 5-8).
And because a stern talking to is not enough, God cursed Miriam with a skin aliment, turning her white as snow. Aaron, after screwing up in a major way, once again, receives no punishment whatsoever (#WTF #SmashThePatriarchy). Perhaps seeing that this is completely unfair, or perhaps being a good little brother trying to protect his sister (#OkPatriachyHasSomeUses), Aaron turns to Moses, humbles himself, calls Moses “my lord,” and asks Moses to ask God to spare their sister (vs 10-12).
Moses advocates on Miriam's behalf and God, after using a parable about a father shaming his daughter by spitting in her face (#BackToPatriarchySmashing), decrees that Miriam's aliment will clear up after seven days. However, she must remain outside the Hebrew camp alone, returning only after she is healed. Thankfully the people decided to wait for her instead of continuing their nomadic trek to the Promised Land (vs 13-16).
So there you have it: this was not about race.
Yes. Yes it was.
But you just said…
Have you seen how long this Card Talk is? Clearly we’re not done yet.
But...
We're not done yet. Also, there is an obvious question you should have asked by now...
Who Was This Woman?
Did you forget that this passage starts with Miriam and Aaron throwing disrespect at Moses' wife? What happened to her part in this story? For that matter, who the heck is she? This is a question that anyone who survived some form of Sunday or Saturday school (or watched The Prince of Egypt), should be wondering.
The Bible says that Moses had a wife named Zipporah, and she was pretty badass. She threw her son's freshly circumcised foreskin at her husband's penis to win an argument with God. Is this the woman Miriam and Aaron are talking about? We don't think so because there are multiple problems with this interpretation.
First, why would Miriam and Aaron suddenly have a problem with Zipporah? She's been with Moses for a long time. She's even been in the biblical narrative longer than Aaron has (Zipp shows up in Exodus 2. We don't even know Aaron exists until Exodus 4). Second, and more important, Zipporah is not a Cushite. She was a Midianite (Exodus 2:15-22). We're to believe that Miriam and Aaron are throwing racial invective, but suddenly forgot what country/tribe their sister-in-law is from?
Over the centuries, some Jewish and Christian scholars have attempted to square this round peg by simply saying that the wife mentioned in Numbers 12 was Zipporah. Why? Because the Bible only records Moses having one wife. Other scholars point to this very passage as emphatically saying the opposite: Moses did have more than one wife, hence the narrative's emphasis at the end of vs 1:
While they were at Hazeroth, Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had married (for he had indeed married a Cushite woman)
So if this is wife #2, where did she come from? When, in the midst of his nomad lifestyle, did Mo have time to court another wife? The top two scholarly contending answers are:
1. Moses married an African woman in his younger days, specifically between fleeing Egypt and arriving in Midian (sometime during the second chapter of The Book of Exodus). This makes Zipporah his second wife, as Moses would have met the Cushite woman before arriving to Jethro’s house in Midian.
and
2. Moses met this woman in Egypt while trying to convince Pharaoh to let God's people go. Exodus 18:2 tells us that Moses had sent Zipporah and their children away during the whole Egypt escapade. The family was reunited once the Hebrews were on their way to The Promised Land.
While these ideas may be offensive to our modern (and/or Sunday School flannel graph) sensibilities, this was an age of polygamous relationships (for men #UghPatriarchy), so the idea that Moses had multiple wives should not be considered too scandalous. This idea wasn’t a problem over the centuries for such Jewish biblical luminaries as Josephus, Rashbam, and Moses Mendelson whose works all record some variation of the argument that Moses had at least two wives.
Okay fine. Maybe Moses had multiple wives like most of the patriarchs in the Bible. Maybe it’s even weird to think that he didn’t have multiple wives when, like everyone else did. But that doesn’t make this story about racism. I mean, God. You showed how this whole story is obviously about Miriam and Aaron’s attempted power grab-- them trying to usurp power from their younger brother who was God’s chosen. Why do you liberal snowflake progressive millennial tree-hugging Prius driving milksops always find yourselves triggered by everything except hummus and almond milk, and make everything about race? Maybe not everything is about racism. Some people are just jerks or are power hungry and that’s not about race. It just is, like, sin. People sometimes suck. I mean, yeah.
You done?
…
Okay. Let’s unpack the ideas in that word-salad. But that requires the definition of terms.
Racism Defined (Sociologically)
Racism
Racism is the system of privileges and advantages given members of a society based on their race. Members of a society, who are not a part of the preferred race, are disenfranchised from the aforementioned privileges and advantages, either in part or as a whole. Some refer to this a "structural racism," "institutionalized racism," "cultural racism," but they amount to the same thing.
In layman's terms: if you’re in the “good” race, you get a leg up in society. If you’re in the “bad” race, you get screwed.
Keywords: system, privileges, advantages, race.
prejudice
A mental bias or negative outlook a person holds against another person or group, based on perceived status or characteristics of that person or group (e.g. age, gender, ethnicity, nationality, race, sex, sexuality, socioeconomic status, etc.). This bias is not based on reason or empirical evidence: prejudices are beliefs held independently of the actual facts about a person or group. It is an attitude that, when enacted, leads to discrimination. Prejudice is not confined to the culturally dominant groups in a society: anyone can be prejudice. However, when the discrimination born from prejudice is codified into a system, it is often the culturally dominant who receive privileges and advantages (e.g. ageism, classism, racism, sexism).
In layman's terms: anyone can be a dick, but it's easier for some people than others. And dickitude can become the cultural norm in a society.
Keywords: in group bias, anyone, dicks
But I don’t like those definitions. That's not what I see when I do a quick Dogpile search online.
Whether you are comfortable with those def… wait. Why the hell are you still using Dogpile to do a search? You also rocking AskJeeves on your T-mobile Sidekick? Anyway, whether you are comfortable with these definitions is irrelevant. The meaning of words don’t change to suit your cultural preference in the midst of an argument, no more than a Bible verse will adapt to the sin you’re trying to justify. The sociologists and linguists who research and write about race and racism are no more swayed or impressed by your discomfort, than Paul or James would be with your Joel Osteen-eque prosperity gospel replacing their argument over salvation by faith or work. The experts are not confused about what words mean, but they are frustrated with the layperson’s determination to be right. Arguing that you didn’t read this in your online dictionary is like arguing with an astrophysicist about the definition of “gravity” you got in middle school. So once again: The experts /who write about this stuff for a living / don't care / that you don't like /their definitions, but feel free to click on any of those links to read what the experts say (Spoiler: they call "racism" a race-based system of privileges and advantages).
But while we're here, let's drill down on something, because it is important for when we return to Moses and his siblings.
If you live in a racist system,
and you are a member of the race that gains privileges and advantages from that system,
you gain privileges and advantages from that system.
No, that wasn't a typo. That's exactly what we meant to say. If you are given privileges and advantages, you are given privileges and advantages.
Stop pretending like you're not.
This applies internationally and it's not all about White people. The Japanese have a problem with racism, but it’s not about White people. A White person in Japan can’t be racist because the system is not set up to give them prime advantage. But White people in Japan can be prejudiced. Some argue that post-apartheid South Africa has a problem with racism, that the current system oppresses White people. This claim might be dubious, but we’ll let it stand for now. If this claim is true, a White person in South Africa can’t be racist because the system is no longer not set up to give them prime advantage. But they can be prejudiced. In Brazil, man that is a whole complicated mess, but still adheres to the definitions above. And hopefully you get the idea.
And since we need to say it, in the United States, the only people who can be racist are White. Everyone in the US can be prejudiced, but only White people can be racist.
So all White people in the US are racist?
You don't listen very well. No. It means that racism exists in the US and that White people benefit from the system. Once more for the cheap seats: You can benefit from racism even if you’re not personally racist.
While socioeconomics, education, gender, sexuality, sexual identity, family/friend connections, and a whole host of other demographic and contextual factors, as well as good/bad luck and divine intervention/meddling, impact every interaction in our lives, race matters too.
In the US, because the system favors it, a White person will get that job, obtain that house, be granted that permit, get out of that speeding ticket, be allowed to walk in and out of a Starbucks with a licensed AR-15 without getting shot by the cops, and be given the benefit of the doubt, more often than others who are not White. If you disagree, ask your non-White friends about it, but then keep your mouth closed while they take a deep-breath, get a far away look, and decide if they have the energy to have this conversation with you while sober.
And we’re going to cut you off before you start talking about “affirmative action” and “diversity initiatives” because 1) your understanding of those terms is probably woefully inaccurate (get out your Sidekick and do a very slow search for how many White people, esp. White women and White folk in rural areas, benefit from the programs you’re trying to tear down), and 2) the very existence of those ideas proves the point that racism exists. They are attempting to counteract a system of privilege and advantage that is largely based on race.
And we're going to shut you down before you start talking about "Black on Black crime," "White on White Crime," "All lives mattering," "Blue Lives mattering," "Chicago," or anything else that is really off topic. People can be evil to other people no matter their race. Yes. If you've read through at least the first 5 chapters of the Bible, you know that to be true. If you've turned on the news today, you know that to be true. Man's inhumanity to man is rampant. That's (in part) why Christians believe in the sacrificial and salvific work of God through Jesus the Christ. Yes. Everyone can hurt everyone else. Everyone can be prejudiced. Everyone can be a dick to other people and should work hard to stop being one.
But not everyone can be racist.
To be racist is to not only benefit passively from the system of PRIVILEGES and advantages, but to actively use those PRIVILEGES and advantages to oppress and further DISENFRANCHISE those who do not have them.
{deep breath}
Now, back to Miriam, Aaron, and their racism.
Why This Story is About Race
(And Why Ignoring the Racial Elements Shows There is Something in your life You Should really Pray About)
To recap, the Bible explicitly begins the story by saying that Moses was confronted by Miriam and Aaron about his wife, whoever she was, because she was a Cushite (or "Ethiopian," or "from the Sudan" depending on your translation), "for he had indeed married a Cushite woman." Serious readers of the text recognize that they cannot merely sidestep this language. In his translation of the text, the renowned Evertt Fox admits that, if this is referring to her as an Ethiopian, this is “clearly a racial slur.”
The mention of this woman's nationality focused on her "otherness," specifically her race, her color: In Biblical literature, Cushites (Ethiopians/Nubians) were knows for their darker skin (see Jeremiah 13:23).
Even if you argue that the text is ultimately an argument about who wields divine authority, just like our comments in "That time Jesus was Racist" we still have to wrestle with the manner in which Miriam and Aaron broached the subject with Moses. We can't ignore the words they used to start the conversation/confrontation.
One rabbinical reading is that, for some reason, Moses wasn't sleeping with his second wife (not Zipporah). According to this reading, in confronting him, Miriam was not speaking against the woman's "blackness," she was advocating for her: “If you’re not going to sleep with the woman, making her a full, honest wife, why the hell are you with her?!” To us, this reading stretches credibility.
A more popular reading (*cough* cop-out *cough*) is to assert that Miriam and Aaron's mentioning of this woman's race/color was a red herring: they were getting Moses off-kilter before diving into the real conversation about authority and power. By this reading, it wasn't that they were saying, "What gives?! You married a [fill in racial/ethnic slur] woman from outside of our race: how can you say that God only speaks through you when you make decisions like that?" Instead, we are supposed to believe, they were merely using racist rhetoric as a ploy, but they really didn't mean it. Those who subscribe to this interpretation/fantasy, also find an interesting explanation for God's initial silence: God knew that they weren't really being racist, so He didn't speak up when they sounded racist. God knew it was really about a power grab. So God waited and responded when they finally got around to issuing challenges to Moses’ power, and thereby God’s authority in choosing His own speaker.
We have three responses to this final argument.
1. Are you Serious right now?
No really? You said that out loud. With all the other options, you're going with that one?
2. No. Really: Are you Fucking serious right now?
How is saying,"You married a [fill in racial/ethnic slur] woman from outside of our race..." as a rhetorical tactic, as a way to gain political traction, a good outcome in your mind? How is that a better interpretation?
How is that less racist?
Okay. Try some of these out:
“No no. Chad's not racist! He just tells racist jokes sometimes. Don't be so over-sensitive.”
“Martha doesn’t have anything against racial minorities, she just doesn’t think they work very hard to get where they are. They're just not as qualified as other people. You know, "Affirmative Action" and all that.”
"Honey, your mother and I want you to have a diverse set of friends, but we forbid you from dating anyone from another race. We just don't want you to deal with all the intolerant people out there sweetheart. And think about what your children would have to go through being mulatto halfsies..."
“Look: just because he refuses to condemn the actions of the KKK, the alt-right, neo-nazis, think moving confederate statues to museums will result in a change in objective history, calls Mexicans rapists and murders, and refers to Africa and Haiti as "shithole countries" [even though Africa is a continent], does not make him a racist!"
Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks (you brood of vipers).
3. Look at Miriam's Punishment
Look at it. Look at Miriam. Look at her punishment
Look at her skin.
When the cloud went away from over the tent, Miriam had become leprous, as white as snow. And Aaron turned towards Miriam and saw that she was leprous. (Numbers 12:10)
Miriam singled out a woman for her darker skin. God punished her with skin so white and disgusting that Moses compares her to a premature, stillborn baby (Numbers 12:12). But this was only the first part of her punishment. For when Moses intercedes on her behalf:
...the Lord said to Moses, “If her father had but spit in her face, would she not bear her shame for seven days? Let her be shut out of the camp for seven days, and after that she may be brought in again.” So Miriam was shut out of the camp for seven days; and the people did not set out on the march until Miriam had been brought in again. (Numbers 12:14-15)
God, her father, "spits in her face" and sends her outside the camp, outside of her race of people. She is excluded from her own community, just as she would have excluded her darker sister-in-law.
And what about the challenge to Moses' authority? What? God can't kill two birds with one stone? Racism and an attempted coup all caught in one leprous cursing. Doubt this? Spend more time reading the Bible: the writers tend to show God doling out punishments that fit the crime in clever/creative ways. But also, put this in the context of Who we are talking about.
A God of Salvation Has No Time for Racist Bullshit
(And neither should you)
This is the God of the Hebrew Bible, the God of salvation, when “salvation” wasn’t about feel good spirituality, or the soul not spending an eternity in Hell. It was about physical and tangible trouble in the here and now. Hence the metaphors of God in the Bible: a shepherd fighting off actually lions, tigers, and bears (oh my). An ever-present help, pulling people out of pits dug by enemies with too much time on their hands. A warrior-king fighting alongside His servants, as arrows fly and swords clash. The God who brought His people out of bondage, out of slavery, in Egypt.
Think about that last one: think about where the people in this story JUST came from.
They JUST came out a slavery:
They JUST came out of a system of privilege and oppression, based on schemes of racial superiority and inferiority.
And since they JUST received the Law (Torah), God has JUST told them they will not perpetuate that system.
The Torah is full of prohibitions against treating those of other cultures, nations, and/or races poorly. We've written about this before, twice. But staying within our present book, Numbers 15:11-16 goes so far as to say that Jews and foreigners living among them are judged by the same law. That supposed outsiders, like this Cushite wife of Moses, participate in the most sacred rights of the people, standing in equality before God. Leviticus 19:33-34 gives the clearest picture of how God feels about all this.
When an alien resides with you in your land, you shall not oppress the alien. The alien who resides with you shall be to you as the citizen among you; you shall love the alien as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.
Notice the two most prevalent reasons God gives for treating all of humanity with equity are
1) "because I am the LORD your God, and I said so!"
and
2) "because you were JUST treated like shit in Egypt!"
In layman's terms: YOU didn’t like racism, did you?
So don’t be racist.
Idiot.
(That almost sounds like, wait, how does that go? "Do onto others as you would have them" something something...)
Perhaps those social justice warrior snowflakes you sometimes mock are correct when they see the injustice of racism, even in a biblical narrative.
If you were offended by this post in some way, perhaps you should do some serious soul searching as to why.
Perhaps you need to acknowledge the advantages and privileges you hold based on your race, even if you aren't "rich," "male," "heterosexual," "educated," "upwardly socially mobile," "able-bodied/able-privileged," or any of the other demographic areas where you may feel real prejudice from another group. If you're White, and live in a country that favors White skin, you have a leg up. Acknowledge it.
Perhaps you should spend more time addressing the ways your actions, and your silence, perpetuate systems of inequity in our world, our country, our region, our cities, our communities.
If you go to a church that never talks about racism, prejudice, or injustice, perhaps you should start asking why: why the pulpit is silent and why you go to that church.
But what do we know: we made this game and you probably think we're going to Hell.
Linguistic Afterword/sidenote:
Numbers 12:1a reads:
וַתְּדַבֵּר מִרְיָם וְאַהֲרֹן בְּמֹשֶׁה = "And Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses"
The verb in this sentence is piel imperfect, feminine, second person, singular. For non-Hebrew nerds, this means in a nutshell, that the sentence seems to be signifying that only one speaker, who was female, addressed Moses.
This is noteworthy because some have used this linguistic oddity to explain why Aaron was not cursed alongside Miriam. Two schools of thought on the matter.
1. Aaron was a later addition to the story. In the original versions of the tale, only Miriam spoke out against Moses. Aaron was later added to the narrative, but the grammar was not changed.
2. The grammar was changed to screw over Miriam. In the original version of the story, both Miriam and Aaron were present in the confrontation of Moses. However, scribes changed the grammar to insinuate that the whole episode was Miriam's idea, so Aaron is really not to blame for going along with his big sister, and/or Aaron stood there silently, as Miriam was racist and power hungry.
#BiblicalFeminism #FoodForThought
