A Sibling Rivalry
The Bible tells us of many challenges to Moses’ authority during the long period of wandering through the wilderness. One of the most surprising challenges came from Moses’ own siblings, Aaron and Miriam in chapter 12 of the Book of Numbers. They mocked his wife and accused him of hoarding power. As a punishment for this insubordination, God afflicts Miriam with leprosy, turning her skin “as white as snow” (Num. 12:10).
Say the Actual Words Spoken by Moses
Moses, always humble and righteous, does not take pride in the downfall of his enemies. Instead, he turns to God and utters one of the simplest prayers found in Scripture, “O God, please heal her!” In the original Hebrew which Moses spoke, the prayer sounds like this:
EL NA REFAH NA LA
אֵל נָא רְפָא נָא לָהּ
Learn to Address God as Moses Did
Notice how pure this simple prayer is in the original Hebrew. Notice how short each of the five words is: a single syllable. Notice how symmetrical the phrase is: it begins with the giver (“God”) and ends with recipient (“her”). The central word is the crucial verb (“heal”), which is softened on either side with “please”. This truly is heartfelt prayer in its purest form. Learn to pray authentically as Moses did, by studying Biblical Hebrew online today.