Numbers 12:3

3. Moses was very meek This statement is not a gratuitous piece of self-praise, but is necessary in order to bring out the reason why Moses not only refused to vindicate himself, but also to invoke the vengeance of Jehovah on account of the injury which had been done to him. “For this is the idea of the eulogium of his meekness, that he had swallowed the injury in silence, since he had imposed a law of patience upon himself because of his meekness.” Calvin. This verse furnishes no argument against the Mosaic authorship of this book, as, when properly viewed, it contains no offensive egotism or vain-glorying. “As he praises himself without pride, so he will blame himself elsewhere with humility.” Numbers 20:12, note. We must call to mind the great candour of Moses in recording his own faults his killing the Egyptian, (Exodus 2:12,) his backwardness to obey God’s call, his neglect to circumcise his child, (Exodus 4:10-26,) and the sin which excluded him from Canaan. We must bear in mind that Moses was repelling the foul and envious slander that he was fond of power and ambitious to usurp it. Since the inner life is inscrutable, and its external manifestations may be counterfeited, all the graces inwrought by the Sanctifier are to be declared by the lips while they are confirmed by the life. That the meekness of Moses was only of grace and not of nature is plainly seen from the sudden vengeance wreaked on the Egyptian oppressor. Exodus 2:12. “Should we admit that in a very few instances a word or even a verse or paragraph may have been inserted by some duly authorized person for the sake of explanation or of greater completeness of record, we would not invalidate the Mosaic authorship of the Pentateuch.” Dr. W.H. Green.