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Moses was to learn that a man’s foes may be of his own household. His sister Miriam and brother Aaron took him to task both because of Moses' choice of wife (why they waited until this point to vent their displeasure is not clear) and because it appeared to them that Moses was suggesting that he was God’s vicar, that God would speak only to Moses and only through Moses.
Thus the voice of protest and complaint continues in this section of Numbers—the people against the march (11:1-3), the rabble against the food (vv.4-35), Moses against his role (vv.10-15), and now siblings against Moses. (And that atmosphere will perpetuate itself in the narrative of chs. 13-14.)
God’s response, for he cannot allow nit-picking and backbiting to go unchallenged, was to strike Miriam with leprosy. The reason Aaron was not similarly punished is because of either a minor role he may have played or, more likely, because leprosy would have disqualified him from the priesthood.
Happily, God defended Moses (vv.6-8) rather than Moses defending Moses. What Moses did do was to intercede for the healing of his sister (v.13). Noteworthy is the absence of any attempt on Moses' part to defend either his marriage or his unique role. Moses is a humble person (v.3), one who feels no need always to get in the last word or engage in shouting matches with character assassins.