Moses and his brother Aaron (Exodus 4:14) are the more familiar figures in their family to church, but significant statements are made about their sister Miriam more than once. Miriam is declared a prophetess in the book of Exodus, and later, Micah credits God with saying that she was appointed by him to lead the Israelites alongside Moses and Aaron. Other references to her throughout the Old Testament, even the most controversial one (in the book of Numbers), do not undermine these facts as put forth by Exodus and Micah. And the words of these books certainly do not deny women a place right beside men as they speak for God and exercise power:
Micah 6:4—"'I brought you up out of Egypt and redeemed you from the land of slavery. I sent Moses to lead you, also Aaron and Miriam.'"
Miriam would have been a leader over male Israelites, appointed by God over Israelite men and women like Deborah who also prophesied (Judges 2:16-19, 4:4-8). To be a legitimate prophet, which she is treated as in Exodus, someone must receive information from God (Deuteronomy 18:17-22). And Micah 6 starkly teaches that Miriam was brought to her position of authority by God, which logically excludes any usurpation of a role allegedly reserved for men on her part. Although Miriam is a clear example of a woman God designates to authority over men and women alike, there is a story prominently featuring her which is particularly misunderstood by some.
An incident in Numbers 12 sees Miriam suddenly develop leprosy as a temporary consequence of illicitly grumbling against Moses, an event alluded to in Deuteronomy 24:8-9, which warns people to abide by the skin disease laws detailed largely in Leviticus 13-14. In Numbers 12, Miriam and Aaron both come before Moses to insist that they are not secondary representatives of God, as they say God has also spoken through them (12:1-2), with Miriam also criticizing Moses for marrying a Cushite woman. In the narrative, the complaint about the special status of Moses is treated as a sin of arrogance by God, who imposes leprosy on Miriam (12:9-15). Does God discriminate against Miriam because she is a woman, since Aaron, a man, is not said to be afflicted in the same way? Not at all. I address this matter here [1] in the context of demonstrating that the skin disease laws, like other parts of Yahweh's Torah laws, are rigidly gender egalitarian.
In fact, that God, Moses, and Aaron do not dismiss Miriam on the basis of her gender is a vital part of the Numbers 12 account. It would not matter if Moses and Aaron did so as far as demonstrating sexism in the actual philosophy of Judeo-Christianity rather than in the actions of mere humans within a story, but neither these men nor God belittles or stereotypes Miriam for being a woman. Again, God himself is the one speaking later in Micah 6 where Miriam is called a leader alongside both men; her status as a genuine representative of Yahweh alongside her brothers is not trivialized or denied anywhere in the story or elsewhere. Hence, the sporadic references to her, one and all, reinforce that she is a leader/prophet of Yahweh, her genitalia being irrelevant to her capabilities. No person in the Israelite community dismisses her as a woman in any Biblical texts, and if they did, they would contradict how the text says God regards her.
If the Bible taught that specifically men should lead and rule, including over people of both genders, but that women should not lead or rule at all or must lead only women, it would never include any examples affirming female leadership or authority as with Miriam (or Deborah, Huldah, and so on). It would never acknowledge women as equally obligated to take ethical dominion over the natural world as fellow bearers of the divine image (Genesis 1:26-28). If the Bible held that women should submit to and never be submitted to by men, it would never provide direct or indirect commands for husbands to submit to their wives (such as in Deuteronomy 24:5 and 1 Corinthians 7:2-5; even then, it would have to say submission should be unilateral rather than simply not explicitly positing mutual submission). As significant as she is, the prophetess and leader Miriam is far from the only example of a female leader or prophet, a woman appointed to human dominion over creation alongside men, or a woman who deserves submission from men.
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