Moses' Cushite Wife

Numbers 12:1-2 says that Miriam and Aaron "began to talk against Moses because of his Cushite wife." The commentaries say this could either be a racial slur against his wife Zipporah or refer to a new wife. However, the wife issue was really a pretext for the fact that they were envious of their younger brother. "Has the LORD spoken only through Moses? Hasn't he also spoken through us?" The original Hebrew implies that Miriam was taking the lead in the criticism with Aaron all-too-easily following along again (think of the golden calf situation), which is why she was punished with the temporary leprosy.