Numbers 12:8

12:8 With him I will speak face to face, ¹  openly, ²  and not in riddles; and he will see the form ³  of the Lord. Why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?”

Exodus 33:9-11

33:9 And ⁴  whenever Moses entered the tent, the pillar of cloud would descend and stand at the entrance of the tent, and the Lord ⁵  would speak with Moses. ⁶  33:10 When all the people would see the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance of the tent, all the people, each one at the entrance of his own tent, would rise and worship. ⁷  33:11 The Lord would speak to Moses face to face, ⁸  the way a person speaks ⁹  to a friend. Then Moses ¹⁰  would return to the camp, but his servant, Joshua son of Nun, a young man, did not leave the tent. ¹¹ 

¹ tn The emphasis of the line is clear enough – it begins literally “mouth to mouth” I will speak with him. In human communication this would mean equality of rank, but Moses is certainly not equal in rank with the Lord. And yet God is here stating that Moses has an immediacy and directness with communication with God. It goes beyond the idea of friendship, almost to that of a king’s confidant.

² tn The word מַרְאֶה (mar’eh) refers to what is seen, a vision, an appearance. Here it would have the idea of that which is clearly visible, open, obvious.

³ tn The word “form” (תְּמוּנָה, tÿmunah) means “shape, image, form.” The Greek text took it metaphorically and rendered it “the glory of the Lord.” This line expresses even more the uniqueness of Moses. The elders saw God on one special occasion (Exod 24:10), and the people never (Deut 4:12, 15), but Moses has direct and familiar contact with God.

⁴ tn Heb “and it was when.”

⁵ tn Heb “and he”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁶ tn Both verbs, “stand” and “speak,” are perfect tenses with vav (ו) consecutive.

⁷ tn All the main verbs in this verse are perfect tenses continuing the customary sequence (see GKC 337 §112.kk). The idea is that the people would get up (rise) when the cloud was there and then worship, meaning in part bow down. When the cloud was not there, there was access to seek God.

⁸ tn “Face to face” is circumstantial to the action of the verb, explaining how they spoke (see GKC 489-90 §156.c). The point of this note of friendly relationship with Moses is that Moses was “at home” in this tent speaking with God. Moses would derive courage from this when he interceded for the people (B. Jacob, Exodus, 966).

⁹ tn The verb in this clause is a progressive imperfect.

¹⁰ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Moses) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹¹ sn Moses did not live in the tent. But Joshua remained there most of the time to guard the tent, it seems, lest any of the people approach it out of curiosity.