Comentário sobre Números 12:3

ענו means, humble and patient.

NOW THE MAN MOSES WAS VERY MEEK. This [is stated] to tell us that G-d Himself was zealous for Moses’ sake on account of his [great] humility, since he would never pay attention to injustice [meted out to him] even if he were to consider it such [and therefore G-d vindicated his innocence]. And Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra explained [the meaning of this phrase] by saying that Moses never sought superiority over any person, nor did he ever pride himself at all about his high position, and certainly not in relation to his brother, thus they [Miriam and Aaron] sinned by speaking against him for no reason.²⁷⁰The slander was in connection with Moses’ separating himself from his wife, which Miriam and Aaron attributed to his pride, as if to show that he was a holy man. “We also receive Divine revelations,” they said, “and yet continue our conjugal life.” But in the Sifre [it is said]:²⁷¹Sifre Beha’alothcha 100. “Rabbi Nathan says: They spoke against Moses even in his presence, as it is said, And the Eternal heard it. Now the man Moses was very meek,²⁷²Verses 2-3. and he restrained himself about the matter.” [According to the Sifre, therefore, Scripture] mentions Moses’ meekness in that he endured [their insult] and did not answer them back, and that G-d was [therefore] zealous for his sake.

והאיש משה ענו, The man Moses was a humble man, etc. The reason the Torah chose this point to inform us about Moses' extreme humility is that it is best demonstrated here where Moses was under extreme provocation and did not even complain to G'd. Had he responded, he would have revealed himself as not quite so humble. This, in spite of the fact that he could have given a convincing explanation for his conduct. The Torah goes out of its way to describe Moses' level of humility as "greater than that of any other human being on earth." The reason is that one could have argued that it is impossible for a person who considers himself as inferior to everybody else to at one and the same time be the greatest prophet. This is why G'd Himself had to answer Miriam and Aaron. פתאם, without prior warning. The sudden appearance of G'd was due to the אונאה, insult, seeing that Miriam's words were an insult to Moses. We find a similar instance of G'd appearing suddenly in Amos 7,6: והנה ה׳ נצב על חומת אנך. [I confess that I have not been able to follow the author in this. Perhaps he considered the last three letters in the word פ־תאם "properly aligned like twins" as similar to the plumb line which properly aligns the stones in a wall and this is the meaning of the comparison with the verse in Amos. Ed.] Our sages in Yalkut? understood the word פתאם to mean that it was "close to a spark." [Maybe the meaning is "as suddenly as a spark of lightning." I have not found that quote. Perhaps "spark-like" in its effect? Ed.].

והאיש משה עניו מאד, “and Moses was an exceedingly humble person.” According to Nachmanides this line has been inserted here to explain why G’d Himself had to defend Moses’ virtue. Moses, was unable, by definition, to defend his conduct without in the process losing his reputation as a truly humble and modest, unassuming person. [Imagine how he would have appeared in the eyes of both Miriam and Aaron if he had used the very arguments on his own behalf that G’d used on his behalf! Ed.]

והאיש משה ענו, “and the man Moses was humble, etc.” The word ענו is written defectively, i.e. the letter י being missing. This seems extraordinary seeing Moses is described as possessing the virtue of humility in its full dimension. The reason that the letter י is missing here is because on a different occasion Moses left out the letter י when it would have given honor to Hashem. In Numbers 20,10, at the rock which Moses was supposed to have spoken to but struck instead, he said to the Jewish people: המן הסלע הזה נוציא לכם מים, “are we supposed to extract water for you from this rock?” He should have said: המן הסלע הזה יוציא לכם מים, “is HE supposed to extract water for you from this rock?” Seeing Moses had been remiss on that occasion, the Torah omitted the letter י when describing him as the most humble man on earth on this occasion. This is a fine interpretation. We read the word as if it had been spelled with the letter י in its appropriate position.
Why did the Torah add the adverb מאד, “very” to the description of Moses’ humility? We have been taught concerning all other virtues, attributes, that we must not practice them excessively but must strive to tread the path called דרך הממוצע, striving not to veer to the right or to the left. The attribute of humility, modesty, by contrast is one which one should practice in the extreme. The Torah alludes to this by complimenting Moses on doing just that (Compare Maimonides Hilchot Deiot 2,3). This consideration prompted the sages in Avot 4,4 to say מאד מאד הוה שפל רוח, “be exceedingly humble in spirit.” The additional words “of any man on earth,” have been added to remind us that only amongst human beings did Moses qualify for this title. Had the Torah written על פני הארץ, instead of על פני האדמה it would have included the creatures in the celestial regions as the word ארץ is often used as a term describing the universe. It is comparable to Genesis 6,6 where the Torah writes וינחם ה' כי עשה את האדם בארץ, “G’d had second thoughts about having made man on ‘earth.’” There was no real need for the word בארץ, but it was introduced as an overall term for the world. When G’d speaks about precisely what He is going to do, the Torah uses the word אדמה in Genesis 6,7 אמחה את האדם אשר בראתי מעל פני האדמה, “I will wipe out man whom I have created from the face of the earth.” I have elaborated on that difference in connection with that verse. האדם, “Man” as a concept will not be wiped out from the universe, only “man” whom G’d placed on terrestrial earth will be wiped out at that time.
When David (Psalms 145,12) speaks of להודיע לבני האדם גבורותיו וכבוד הדר מלכותו, “to make His mighty acts known amongst man and the majestic glory of His kingship,” these words which are the only time in the hymn that the author does not use direct speech, i.e. address G’d, we need to understand why the sequence commences with individual acts instead of with G’d’s overall majesty. David means that in order to comprehend the overall majesty of G’d one must first learn to appreciate individual mighty acts He has performed. Before addressing G’d directly one needs to acquire knowledge of Him indirectly.

V. 3. ענה .והאיש משה ענו, im Gebiete geistiger Tätigkeit: das durch ein Wort oder eine Tatsache Veranlasste äußern, mit Worten einer Rede oder einer Tatsache "entsprechen", antworten, eine entsprechende Rede beginnen, aussagen (siehe zu Schmot 20, 14), daher יען und למען die Partikeln des Grundes und der Folge, — im sozialen Gebiete: Bezeichnung gänzlicher Abhängigkeit der Existenz von dem Willen anderer, — wird ענו und ענוה Charakterausdruck vollständigster Selbstlosigkeit, bei welcher ein Gedanke eigenen Wertes, eigener Größe keine Stätte hat, und welche Gott zugewandt mit Sein und Wollen ganz aufgeht in den göttlichen Willen. Sie ist die negative Vorbedingung des positiven חסירות-Charakters, der vollendeten Aufopferung in praktischer Erfüllung des göttlichen Willens. Beide zusammen bilden den Höhepunkt der sittlichen Charakter- und Tatengröße, also dass Aboda Sara 20 b man nur noch schwanken konnte, welchem von beiden, dem חסידות oder der ענוה, die Palme zuzuerkennen sei. Hier dürfte aus doppeltem Grunde auf diese Charaktergröße Mosche hingewiesen sein. Eben diese ihnen sicherlich bekannte Charakterseite ihres Bruders hätte die Geschwister wohl vor falscher Beurteilung seiner Handlungsweise, die nach ihrer Auffassung nur in einer Selbstüberhebung wurzeln sollte, schützen müssen. War doch von einer solchen Selbstüberhebung kein Mensch ferner, als eben Mosche! Und ferner würde Mosche seiner Charakterweise gemäss sich selbst nicht verteidigt haben und tritt daher Gott für ihn ein. Endlich dürfte aber in dem והאיש משה die Ursache angedeutet sein, weshalb sie zu einem solchen Urteil über Mosche gelangen konnten. Mosche unbegrenzte ענוה war schuld, dass sie von seiner besonderen, ja einzigen Beziehung zu Gott gar keine Ahnung hatten. Er hatte sich stets nur als ihres Gleichen betrachten lassen, hatte über das spezifisch Höhere seiner Prophetie nie etwas geäußert, ja vielleicht war er in seiner vollendeten ענוה sich selbst gar nicht des Besonderen bewußt und setzte Gleiches auch bei andern der Prophetie Gewürdigten voraus. —

והאיש משה ענו מאד, “and the man called Moses was an extremely humble person.” The Torah testifies that Moses had not married the Cushite queen from a sense of pride, but that circumstances had led to that marriage. [It might have been decreed by heaven before he had been born, i.e. mazzal.] Even at this point, he remained humble by not responding to unwarranted criticism of him, until G–d acted as his advocate.

The man, Moshe [was] most humble. The meaning of humble is that Moshe paid no attention to his honor or pains. This was not because he felt lowly and did not realize that such a lack of respect and pain was not worthy of him. Rather, it was because he conducted himself without concern for honor.

ענו, the combined numerical value of the letters in this word is 248, a hint that there was not a bone in his body that was conceited. [We are supposed to have 248 limbs in our bodies. Ed.]