The primary focus of this article is to respond to certain theories surrounding the story in Numbers chapter 12, wherein Miriam and Aaron challenge the authority of Moses. Of more specific concern is Numbers 12:1 which states that:

This verse has resulted in a significant amount of confusion, primarily as the verse suggests that Moses was married to a Cushite. For those who don't know, the Cushites were one of the peoples descended from Ham, and later became the progenitor of the Ethiopian peoples. The obvious allusion here, is that Moses married a woman who was an Ethiopian i.e. an African. Which very obviously goes against the biblical prohibition against inter-racial marriage (Deuteronomy 7:3-4). Nonetheless, we see that Miriam was punished, with leprosy, for her remarks against Moses. The problem with this verse, is that Moses' wife, Zipporah, was a Midianite and the daughter of Jethro, the ruler of the Midianites. The Midianites were a Semitic people, who lived in the very Northwest corner of Arabia, and were not related to Sub-Saharan Africans. The problem then arises as to who is being referred to in this verse? As we can be sure that Zipporah was a Midianite/Kenite and of Semitic stock, then the "Cushite" woman cannot be Zipporah, meaning Moses had multiple wives, but then if this is the case then that means Moses was engaged not only in inter-marriage but in polygamy as well.

However, this dilemma is relatively unimportant, and it is the only the insistences of more liberal Christians, who claim that the Old Testament did not prohibit race-mixing, that leads to this dilemma in the first place. St Augustine however, provides us with some important insight into the matter, stating:

Historically, before their migration down the Nile and into Nubia, the Cushites resided in Arabia, supposedly in the same region as the Midianites. Later, the Midianites (Specifically the Kenites of whom Zipporah and Jethro belonged) migrated south from Canaan and settled in this region, replacing the Cushites who had by this time settled in Africa. The land, however, which once belonged to these Cushites, was still referred to in this way as evidenced by St Augustine, and the origins of the Cushites in Northwest Arabia prompted the inhabitants of this land to still often be referred to as Cushites, even though they were not genetically related to the original Cushitic peoples. This is why in the book of Numbers we see Zipporah, who is clearly identified as a Semitic Kenite, being referred to as a Cushite, for she dwelt in the land which the Cushites formerly inhabited. It is noted also that throughout history various Arabic tribes and peoples have been referred to as "Cushites", despite not being so, such as the Himyarites. So, we see that Zipporah is called a Cushite by Miriam because, as far as the Israelites were aware of, that area in North Arabia was Cush. The Israelites would've had little to no knowledge of Nubia or Ethiopia, and it seems highly improbable that a Nubian would've travelled all the way from Ethiopia to Northwestern Arabia (A distance of around 2000 miles which would've taken years), join the company of a small Semitic desert tribe and marry Jethro. It seems far more likely that at this point in time, the word Cushite was used interchangeably for Midianites, and did not refer to Ethiopians. Additionally, it is also possible that this is a mistranslation, meaning Miriam may not have even used the word Cushite at all, in the Samaritan Pentateuch, the word is rendered as Kaashet, meaning "beautiful", not Cushit.

Thus, it seems that Moses' wife Zipporah was not a black Ethiopian as is suggested by some, but was instead a Semitic Kenite (As indicated by her lineage). Furthermore, the accusation that Moses was polygamous, and had a second Cushite wife, should be avoided, for polygamy was a sin, meaning that Miriam would've been justified in her accusations against Moses if he had in fact been polygamous. As we have established, when Miriam refers to Zipporah as a Cushite here, she is simply identifying her as an inhabitant of the land of Cush, which the Israelites believed was in Northern Arabia (The Israelites would've had no knowledge of Ethiopia), therefore her accusation is not that Moses was wrong for marrying an Ethiopian, but Moses was wrong for marrying a Midianite, why? Well Miriam most likely believed that the prohibition on inter-marriage referred to all tribes, and was not racial, but given that one of the purposes of the prohibition was to maintain a pure genealogy from Adam to Christ, then we see that the ban is in fact racial, meaning that God-fearing Midianites could in theory be married as they are a Semitic people just like the Israelites. Additionally, Miriam is punished not for pointing out the ethnicity of Moses' wife, but because she tried to diminish the authority of Moses, which would've prevented God's plan of the Israelites reaching Canaan. Moses did not race-mix, but even if he did, that would be irrelevant, as the whole point of the story is that if Miriam had been allowed to question Moses' authority they would've never made it to Israel, prevent God's plan from manifesting.