^12:6The Lord¹⁰ said, “Hear now my words: If there is a prophet among you,¹¹ I the Lord¹² will make myself known to him in a vision; I will speak with him in a dream. ^12:7My servant¹³ Moses is not like this; he is faithful¹⁴ in all my house. ^12:8With him I will speak face to face,¹⁵ openly,¹⁶ and not in riddles; and he will see the form¹⁷ of the Lord. Why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?”

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Footnotes

10 Heb “he.”
11 The form of this construction is rare: נְבִיאֲכֶם (névi’akhem) would normally be rendered “your prophet.” The singular noun is suffixed with a plural pronominal suffix. Some commentators think the has condensed “a prophet” with “to you.”
12 The Hebrew syntax is difficult here. “The Lord” is separated from the verb by two intervening prepositional phrases. Some scholars conclude that this word belongs with the verb at the beginning of v. 6 (“And the Lord spoke”).
13 The title “my servant” or “servant of the Lord” is reserved in the Bible for distinguished personages, people who are truly spiritual leaders, like Moses, David, Hezekiah, and also the Messiah. Here it underscores Moses’ obedience.
14 The word “faithful” is נֶאֱמָן (ne’eman), the Niphal participle of the verb אָמַן (’aman). This basic word has the sense of “support, be firm.” In the Niphal it describes something that is firm, reliable, dependable—what can be counted on. It could actually be translated “trustworthy.”
15 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.
16 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.
17 The word “form” (תְּמוּנָה, témunah) 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.

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

And the Lord came down in a pillar of cloud and stood at the entrance of the tent and called Aaron and Miriam, and they both came forward. And he said, “Hear my words: If there is a prophet among you, I the Lord make myself known to him in a vision; I speak with him in a dream. Not so with my servant Moses. He is faithful in all my house. With him I speak mouth to mouth, clearly, and not in riddles, and he beholds the form of the Lord. Why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?”

NIVNew International Version (2011)

Then the Lord came down in a pillar of cloud; he stood at the entrance to the tent and summoned Aaron and Miriam. When the two of them stepped forward, he said, “Listen to my words:

“When there is a prophet among you,

I, the Lord, reveal myself to them in visions,

I speak to them in dreams.

But this is not true of my servant Moses;

he is faithful in all my house.

With him I speak face to face,

clearly and not in riddles;

he sees the form of the Lord.

Why then were you not afraid

to speak against my servant Moses?”

CSBChristian Standard Bible

Then the Lord descended in a pillar of cloud, stood at the entrance to the tent, and summoned Aaron and Miriam. When the two of them came forward, he said:

“Listen to what I say:

If there is a prophet among you from the Lord,

I make myself known to him in a vision;

I speak with him in a dream.

Not so with my servant Moses;

he is faithful in all my household.

I speak with him directly,

openly, and not in riddles;

he sees the form of the Lord.

So why were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?”

NLTNew Living Translation

Then the Lord descended in the pillar of cloud and stood at the entrance of the Tabernacle. “Aaron and Miriam!” he called, and they stepped forward. And the Lord said to them, “Now listen to what I say:

“If there were prophets among you,

I, the Lord, would reveal myself in visions.

I would speak to them in dreams.

But not with my servant Moses.

Of all my house, he is the one I trust.

I speak to him face to face,

clearly, and not in riddles!

He sees the Lord as he is.

So why were you not afraid

to criticize my servant Moses?”

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

And Yahweh went down in a column of cloud and stood at the doorway of the tent, and he called Aaron and Miriam, and the two of them went, and he said,

“Please hear my words:

If there is a prophet among you, I, Yahweh,

will make myself known to him in a vision.

I will speak to him in a dream.

Not so with my servant Moses;

in all my house he is faithful.

I will speak to him mouth to mouth,

in clearness, not in riddles;

and he will look at the form of Yahweh.

Why were you not afraid to speak against my servant, against Moses?”

KJV 1900King James Version

And the Lord came down in the pillar of the cloud, and stood in the door of the tabernacle, and called Aaron and Miriam: and they both came forth. And he said, Hear now my words: If there be a prophet among you, I the Lord will make myself known unto him in a vision, and will speak unto him in a dream. My servant Moses is not so, who is faithful in all mine house. With him will I speak mouth to mouth, even apparently, and not in dark speeches; and the similitude of the Lord shall he behold: wherefore then were ye not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?

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