The Death of Miriam

(א) וַיָּבֹ֣אוּ בְנֵֽי־יִ֠שְׂרָאֵל כָּל־הָ֨עֵדָ֤ה מִדְבַּר־צִן֙ בַּחֹ֣דֶשׁ הָֽרִאשׁ֔וֹן וַיֵּ֥שֶׁב הָעָ֖ם בְּקָדֵ֑שׁ וַתָּ֤מָת שָׁם֙ מִרְיָ֔ם וַתִּקָּבֵ֖ר שָֽׁם׃ (ב) וְלֹא־הָ֥יָה מַ֖יִם לָעֵדָ֑ה וַיִּקָּ֣הֲל֔וּ עַל־מֹשֶׁ֖ה וְעַֽל־אַהֲרֹֽן׃ (ג) וַיָּ֥רֶב הָעָ֖ם עִם־מֹשֶׁ֑ה וַיֹּאמְר֣וּ לֵאמֹ֔ר וְל֥וּ גָוַ֛עְנוּ בִּגְוַ֥ע אַחֵ֖ינוּ לִפְנֵ֥י יְהוָֽה׃ (ד) וְלָמָ֤ה הֲבֵאתֶם֙ אֶת־קְהַ֣ל יְהוָ֔ה אֶל־הַמִּדְבָּ֖ר הַזֶּ֑ה לָמ֣וּת שָׁ֔ם אֲנַ֖חְנוּ וּבְעִירֵֽנוּ׃ (ה) וְלָמָ֤ה הֶֽעֱלִיתֻ֙נוּ֙ מִמִּצְרַ֔יִם לְהָבִ֣יא אֹתָ֔נוּ אֶל־הַמָּק֥וֹם הָרָ֖ע הַזֶּ֑ה לֹ֣א ׀ מְק֣וֹם זֶ֗רַע וּתְאֵנָ֤ה וְגֶ֙פֶן֙ וְרִמּ֔וֹן וּמַ֥יִם אַ֖יִן לִשְׁתּֽוֹת׃

Numbers 20:1-5

(1) The Israelites arrived in a body at the wilderness of Zin on the first new moon, and the people stayed at Kadesh. Miriam died there and was buried there. (2) The community was without water, and they joined against Moses and Aaron. (3) The people quarreled with Moses, saying, “If only we had perished when our brothers perished at the instance of the LORD! (4) Why have you brought the LORD’s congregation into this wilderness for us and our beasts to die there? (5) Why did you make us leave Egypt to bring us to this wretched place, a place with no grain or figs or vines or pomegranates? There is not even water to drink!”

בבא בתרא י״ז א:ג׳

תנו רבנן ששה לא שלט בהן מלאך המות ואלו הן אברהם יצחק ויעקב משה אהרן ומרים אברהם יצחק ויעקב דכתיב בהו בכל מכל כל משה אהרן ומרים דכתיב בהו (במדבר לג, לח) על פי ה'

Bava Batra 17a:3

The Sages taught: There were six people over whom the Angel of Death had no sway in their demise, and they are: Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Moses, Aaron, and Miriam. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as it is written with regard to them, respectively: “With everything,” “from everything,” “everything”; since they were blessed with everything they were certainly spared the anguish of the Angel of Death. Moses, Aaron, and Miriam, as it is written with regard to them that they died “by the mouth of the Lord” (Numbers 33:38; Deuteronomy 34:5), which indicates that they died with a kiss, and not at the hand of the Angel of Death.

בבא בתרא י״ז א:ד׳

והא מרים לא כתיב בה על פי ה' אמר ר"א מרים נמי בנשיקה מתה דאתיא שם שם ממשה ומפני מה לא נאמר בה על פי ה' שגנאי הדבר לומר

Bava Batra 17a:4

The Gemara asks: But with regard to Miriam it is not written: “By the mouth of the Lord.” Rabbi Elazar says: Miriam also died with a kiss, as this is learned through a verbal analogy between the word “there” mentioned in regard to Miriam: “And Miriam died there” (Numbers 20:1), and the word “there” mentioned in regard to Moses: “And Moses died there” (Deuteronomy 34:5). And for what reason is “by the mouth of the Lord” not stated with regard to her? It is unseemly to mention death by a kiss with regard to a woman.

דברים ל״ד:ה׳

(ה) וַיָּ֨מָת שָׁ֜ם מֹשֶׁ֧ה עֶֽבֶד־יְהוָ֛ה בְּאֶ֥רֶץ מוֹאָ֖ב עַל־פִּ֥י יְהוָֽה׃

Deuteronomy 34:5

(5) So Moses the servant of the LORD died there, in the land of Moab, at the command of the LORD.

ברכות ח׳ א:י״ג

תניא נמי הכי תשע מאות ושלשה מיני מיתה נבראו בעולם שנאמר למות תוצאות תוצאות בגימטריא הכי הוו קשה שבכלן אסכרא ניחא שבכלן נשיקה אסכרא דמיא כחיזרא בגבבא דעמרא דלאחורי נשרא ואיכא דאמרי כפיטורי בפי ושט נשיקה דמיא כמשחל בניתא מחלבא

Berakhot 8a:13

It was also taught in a baraita: Nine hundred and three types of death were created in the world, as it is stated: “Issues [totzaot] of death,” and that, 903, is the numerical value [gimatriya] of totzaot. The Gemara explains that the most difficult of all these types of death is croup [askara], while the easiest is the kiss of death. Croup is like a thorn entangled in a wool fleece, which, when pulled out backwards, tears the wool. Some say that croup is like ropes at the entrance to the esophagus, which would be nearly impossible to insert and excruciating to remove. The kiss of death is like drawing a hair from milk.

מועד קטן כ״ח א:ב׳

ר' אלעזר אמר אפילו שאר הנשים דכתיב (במדבר כ, א) ותמת שם מרים ותקבר שם סמוך למיתה קבורה

Moed Katan 28a:2

Rabbi Elazar said: Even the biers of other women must not be set down in the street, as it is written: “And Miriam died there and was buried there” (Numbers 20:1), which teaches that the site of her burial was close to the place of her death. Therefore, it is preferable to bury a woman as close as possible to the place where she died.

קיצור שלחן ערוך קצ״ח:ו׳

אִם אֶחָד תַּלְמִיד חָכָם וְאֶחָד עַם הָאָרֶץ, מוֹצִיאִין אֶת הַתַּלְמִיד חָכָם תְּחִלָּה, אֲפִלּוּ אִם עַם הָאָרֶץ מֵת תְּחִלָּה. אִישׁ וְאִשָּׁה, מוֹצִיאִין אֶת הָאִשָּׁה תְחִלָּה, אֲפִלּו אִם הָאִישׁ מֵת תְחִלָּה, דִּכְתִיב, וַתָּמָת שָׁם מִרְיָם וַתִּקָּבֵר שָׁם, סָמוּךְ לְמִיתָה קְבוּרָה.

Kitzur Shulchan Arukh 198:6

If one of the deceased persons is a Torah scholar, and the other is an ignorant man, the Torah scholar should be taken out for burial first, even though the ignorant man died first. If there is a man and a woman, the woman should be buried first, even if the man died first, for it is written, "And Miriam died there, and was buried there,"³Numbers 20:1 (which means) the burial was immediately after her death.

רש"י על במדבר כ׳:ב׳:א׳

ולא היה מים לעדה. מִכָּאן שֶׁכָּל אַרְבָּעִים שָׁנָה הָיָה לָהֶם הַבְּאֵר בִּזְכוּת מִרְיָם (תענית ט'):

Rashi on Numbers 20:2:1

ולא היה מים לעדה AND THERE WAS NO WATER FOR THE CONGREGATION — Since this statement follows immediately after the mention of Miriam’s death, we may learn from it that during the entire forty years they had the “well” through Miriam’s merit (Taanit 9a).

תענית ט׳ א:ט׳

מיתיבי ר' יוסי בר' יהודה אומר שלשה פרנסים טובים עמדו לישראל אלו הן משה ואהרן ומרים וג' מתנות טובות ניתנו על ידם ואלו הן באר וענן ומן באר בזכות מרים עמוד ענן בזכות אהרן מן בזכות משה מתה מרים נסתלק הבאר שנאמר (במדבר כ, א) ותמת שם מרים וכתיב בתריה ולא היה מים לעדה וחזרה בזכות שניהן

Taanit 9a:9

The Gemara raises an objection from a baraita: Rabbi Yosei, son of Rabbi Yehuda, says: Three good sustainers rose up for the Jewish people during the exodus from Egypt, and they are: Moses, Aaron and Miriam. And three good gifts were given from Heaven through their agency, and these are they: The well of water, the pillar of cloud, and the manna. He elaborates: The well was given to the Jewish people in the merit of Miriam; the pillar of cloud was in the merit of Aaron; and the manna in the merit of Moses. When Miriam died the well disappeared, as it is stated: “And Miriam died there” (Numbers 20:1), and it says thereafter in the next verse: “And there was no water for the congregation” (Numbers 20:2). But the well returned in the merit of both Moses and Aaron.

אור החיים על במדבר כ׳:א׳:ד׳

ותמת שם וגו'. צריך לדעת טעם אומרו שם, ורז''ל דרשו (מוע''ק שם) שלא עכבוה, ודרשה זו נשמעת מאומרו ותקבר שם, ונראה כי לצד שהזכיר מיתה חש על כבוד הצדקת שהרי אמרו (ברכות יח) צדיקים במיתתם קרויים חיים, לזה דקדק לומר שם פירוש שם הוא שמתה ולא נשארה ביניהם אלא במקום אחר ישנה בין הצדיקים, כי הצדיקים דומים לפני הקב''ה למרגליות המונחים בארגז כשהוא חפץ באחת מהם הוא מוציאה מהארגז וקובעה בתכשיט אחד מתכשיטיו, ורז''ל דרשו (מוע''ק שם) ותמת שם לגזירה שוה לומר שגם היא מתה בנשיקה, וע' פנים לתורה:

Or HaChaim on Numbers 20:1:4

ותמת שם מרים, Miriam died there, etc. Why did the Torah have to write the word שם, "there?" Our sages in Moed Katan 28 say that the people buried Miriam near the place where she died. This interpretation is based on the words ותקבר שם, "she was buried there." Seeing the Torah mentioned the death of this righteous woman it also was concerned with the honour due to the body of such a righteous woman stating she was interred on the spot. We learned in Berachot 18 that the righteous are called "alive" even after they have died a physical death. When the Torah said שם, it wanted to remind us that Miriam was "dead" only "there," i.e. on earth, whereas she lived on in another region, the region reserved for the souls of the righteous. G'd views the righteous as if they were pearls reposing in a jewel box. Whenever it pleases Him He takes out one of these pearls and enjoys looking at it only to replace it at His leasure or to place it in another of His various jewel boxes. A different scholar on the same folio in Moed Katan uses the word שם in our verse as a גזרה שוה, a form of exegesis based on similar words being used in different contexts as proof that Miriam too experienced death in the form of a Divine kiss, i.e. painlessly. All of these explanations are equally valid.