Numbers 12:8

KJV1611 – Modern English

'With him I will speak face to face, clearly, and not in dark speeches; and he will see the likeness of the LORD. Why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?'

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

פֶּ֣ה אֶל־פֶּ֞ה אֲדַבֶּר־בּ֗וֹ וּמַרְאֶה֙ וְלֹ֣א בְחִידֹ֔ת וּתְמֻנַ֥ת יְהוָ֖ה יַבִּ֑יט וּמַדּ֙וּעַ֙ לֹ֣א יְרֵאתֶ֔ם לְדַבֵּ֖ר בְּעַבְדִּ֥י בְמֹשֶֽׁה׃

Transliteration

Peh ʾel-peh ʾădabbēr-bō ūmarʾeh wə-lōʾ ḇəḥîdōt ūtəmūnat YHWH yabbîṭ ūmaddūaʿ lōʾ yərēʾtem lədabbēr bə-ʿaḇdî ḇə-Mōšeh

Grammar Details

• *Peh*: masculine singular noun - 'mouth'
• *ʾel-peh*: preposition + masculine singular noun - 'to mouth'
• *ʾădabbēr-bō*: Piel imperfect, 1st person singular + preposition + 3rd person masculine singular suffix - 'I speak with him'
• *ūmarʾeh*: conjunction + masculine singular noun - 'and appearance'
• *wə-lōʾ*: conjunction + negative particle - 'and not'
• *ḇəḥîdōt*: preposition + feminine plural noun - 'in riddles'
• *ūtəmūnat*: conjunction + feminine singular construct - 'and form of'
• *YHWH*: proper noun - 'the LORD'
• *yabbîṭ*: Hiphil imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular - 'he beholds'
• *ūmaddūaʿ*: conjunction + interrogative - 'and why'
• *lōʾ*: negative particle - 'not'
• *yərēʾtem*: Qal perfect, 2nd person masculine plural - 'you feared'
• *lədabbēr*: preposition + Piel infinitive construct - 'to speak'
• *bə-ʿaḇdî*: preposition + masculine singular noun + 1st person singular suffix - 'against my servant'
• *ḇə-Mōšeh*: preposition + proper noun - 'against Moses'

Word Meanings

• *Peh* *ʾel-peh*: mouth to mouth/face to face
• *ūmarʾeh*: and appearance/and visibly/clearly
• *ḇəḥîdōt*: in riddles/in dark sayings
• *təmūnat*: form/likeness/manifestation
• *yabbîṭ*: he beholds/he looks upon/he sees
• *yərēʾtem*: you feared/you were afraid

Other Translations

• Linguistic Bible Translation from Source Texts

  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?'

• King James Version 1769 (Standard Version)

  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?

• American Standard Version with Strong's Numbers

  with him will I speak{H1696} mouth{H6310} to mouth,{H6310} even manifestly,{H4758} and not in dark speeches;{H2420} and the form{H8544} of Jehovah{H3068} shall he behold:{H5027} wherefore then were ye not afraid{H3372} to speak{H1696} against my servant,{H5650} against Moses?{H4872}

• King James Version with Strong's Numbers

  With him will I speak{H1696}{(H8762)} mouth{H6310} to mouth{H6310}, even apparently{H4758}, and not in dark speeches{H2420}; and the similitude{H8544} of the LORD{H3068} shall he behold{H5027}{(H8686)}: wherefore then were ye not afraid{H3372}{(H8804)} to speak{H1696}{(H8763)} against my servant{H5650} Moses{H4872}?

• Tyndale Bible (1526/1534)

  Vnto him I speake mouth to mouth and he seeth the syght and the facyon of the Lorde ad not thorow rydels. Wherfore the were ye not afrayed to speake agenst my servaunte Moses?

• Coverdale Bible (1535)

  Mouth to mouth speake I vnto him, & he seyth the LORDE in his fashion, not thorow darke wordes or licknesses: Wherfore were ye not afrayed then to speake agaynst my seruaunt Moses?

• Geneva Bible (1560)

  Vnto him will I speake mouth to mouth, and by vision, and not in darke wordes, but hee shall see the similitude of the Lorde. Wherefore then were ye not afraid to speake against my seruant, euen against Moses?

• Bishops' Bible (1568)

  Unto hym wyll I speake mouth to mouth in a vision, not in darke speaches and similitudes of the Lord shall he see: Wherfore then were ye not afrayde to speake against my seruaunt Moyses?

• Authorized King James Version (1611)

  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?

• Webster's Bible (1833)

  with him will I speak mouth to mouth, even manifestly, and not in dark speeches; and the form of Yahweh shall he see: why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant, against Moses?

• Young's Literal Translation (1862/1898)

  mouth unto mouth I speak with him, and `by' an appearance, and not in riddles; and the form of Jehovah he beholdeth attentively; and wherefore have ye not been afraid to speak against My servant -- against Moses?'

• American Standard Version (1901)

  with him will I speak mouth to mouth, even manifestly, and not in dark speeches; and the form of Jehovah shall he behold: wherefore then were ye not afraid to speak against my servant, against Moses?

• American Standard Version (1901)

  with him will I speak mouth to mouth, even manifestly, and not in dark speeches; and the form of Jehovah shall he behold: wherefore then were ye not afraid to speak against my servant, against Moses?

• Bible in Basic English (1941)

  With him I will have talk mouth to mouth, openly and not in dark sayings; and with his eyes he will see the form of the Lord: why then had you no fear of saying evil against my servant Moses?

• World English Bible (2000)

  With him I will speak mouth to mouth, even plainly, and not in riddles; and he shall see Yahweh's form. Why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant, against Moses?"

• NET Bible® (New English Translation)

  With him I will speak face to face, openly, and not in riddles; and he will see the form of the LORD. Why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?”

Referenced Verses

• Deut 34:10 : 10 And there arose no prophet since in Israel like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face,
• 1 Cor 13:12 : 12 For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then I shall know just as I also am known.
• Exod 33:11 : 11 And the LORD spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. And he returned again into the camp: but his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, did not depart from the tabernacle.
• Exod 24:10-11 : 10 And they saw the God of Israel: and there was under his feet as it were a paved work of sapphire stone, and as it were the body of heaven in his clearness. 11 And upon the nobles of the children of Israel he did not lay his hand: also they saw God, and ate and drank.
• Exod 33:23 : 23 And I will take away my hand, and you shall see my back parts: but my face shall not be seen.
• Ps 49:4 : 4 I will incline my ear to a parable: I will open my dark saying upon the harp.
• Isa 40:18 : 18 To whom then will you liken God? Or what likeness will you compare to him?
• Isa 46:5 : 5 To whom will you liken me, and make me equal, and compare me, that we may be alike?
• Ezek 17:2 : 2 Son of man, present a riddle and speak a parable to the house of Israel;
• Ezek 20:49 : 49 Then I said, Ah Lord GOD! they say of me, Does he not speak in parables?
• Matt 13:35 : 35 So was fulfilled what was spoken through the prophet: I will open my mouth in parables, I will utter things hidden since the creation of the world.
• Luke 10:16 : 16 He who hears you hears me; and he who despises you despises me; and he who despises me despises him who sent me.
• John 1:18 : 18 No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has declared him.
• John 14:7-9 : 7 If you had known me, you would have known my Father also: and from now on you know him, and have seen him. 8 Philip said to him, Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us. 9 Jesus said to him, Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not known me, Philip? He who has seen me has seen the Father; and how do you say then, Show us the Father? 10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on my own: but the Father who dwells in me does the works.
• John 15:15 : 15 From now on I call you not servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.
• John 15:24 : 24 If I had not done among them the works which no other man did, they would not have sin; but now they have both seen and hated both me and my Father.
• Exod 34:5-7 : 5 And the LORD descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD. 6 And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, "The LORD, the LORD God, merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abundant in goodness and truth," 7 "Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and by no means clearing the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, to the third and the fourth generation."
• 2 Cor 3:18 : 18 But we all, with unveiled faces beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.
• 2 Cor 4:4-6 : 4 In whom the god of this world has blinded the minds of those who do not believe, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. 5 For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake. 6 For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, has shone in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
• Ps 17:15 : 15 As for me, I will see your face in righteousness; I shall be satisfied when I awake with your likeness.
• 1 Thess 4:8 : 8 Therefore he who despises does not despise man, but God, who has also given unto us His Holy Spirit.
• 1 Tim 6:16 : 16 Who alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see: to whom be honor and everlasting power. Amen.
• 2 Pet 2:10 : 10 And especially those who walk according to the flesh in the lust of uncleanness and despise authority. They are presumptuous, self-willed, and not afraid to speak evil of dignities.
• Jude 1:8 : 8 Likewise also these dreamers defile the flesh, reject authority, and speak evil of dignitaries.
• Deut 4:15 : 15 Take therefore good heed to yourselves; for you saw no form on the day that the LORD spoke to you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire:
• Heb 1:3 : 3 Who being the brightness of His glory, and the exact image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;
• Col 1:15 : 15 Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation:
• Exod 34:30 : 30 And when Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone, and they were afraid to come near him.
• Num 14:14 : 14 And they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land: for they have heard that you LORD are among this people, that you LORD are seen face to face, and that your cloud stands over them, and that you go before them, by day in a pillar of a cloud, and in a pillar of fire by night.
• Exod 20:4 : 4 You shall not make for yourself any carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.
• Exod 33:19 : 19 And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before you; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.