‘And Aaron said to Moses, “Oh, my lord, lay not, I pray you, sin on us, in that we have done foolishly, and in that we have sinned.'
Broken in heart and spirit and recognising how foolish they had been Aaron turned to what he knew was her only hope. Gone was his sense of equality with Moses. Gone was his pride. Gone was his concern over his own position. No longer did he feel in his heart that really there was not much difference between them. He recognised now how great a difference there really was. Here was a situation where he himself could do nothing. All he could do was humble himself and plead with a greater than himself. The thought of his sister living out her life like this was more than he could bear.
So he humbled himself before his younger brother. ‘My lord Moses.' Yahweh's words had made him aware of Moses' true status, lord over Israel, and lord over him, lord over Yahweh's house (Numbers 12:7). And he now openly acknowledged the fact. He no doubt remembered the amazing events of Egypt and of how Moses could cause and then remove all the afflictions with which Egypt was afflicted. And he did not doubt that Moses could do something. He begged that Moses would not lay their sin on them, that is, cause them to experience fully what they deserved. He humbly admitted that they had behaved foolishly, and had sinned. Could he not now obtain forgiveness for them and deliver Miriam from the consequences of her sin?