Endnote 16 – Moses

Frank Moore Cross, Canaanite Myth and Hebrew Epic (Cambridge, MA: Harvard Univ. Press, 1973), p. 204; cited by Philip J. Budd, Numbers, Word Biblical Commentary (Waco, TX: Word, 1984), p. 137. Also suggesting this view is Cain Hope Felder, Troubling Biblical Waters (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis, 1989), p. 42. Note also the narrative context of Numbers 11, where the nation is grumbling against Moses. Perhaps Moses turned to this Cushite woman for support and consolation in the midst of this difficult time. It is noteworthy, however, that at a time when the nation as a whole is hostile to the man of God, it is a Cushite that appears to be sympathetic. This theme will recur again (Jeremiah 38:1–13).