When judgments beset a person, God forbid, those who pray for him should avoid mentioning his name so that the judgments do not grow stronger, God forbid.

As is brought: Noach’s father did not give him a name at birth because the world was then in [a state of] judgment. His father therefore did not want to name him, for through a name he would be discerned and identified by the accusing forces. The judgments could then overpower him.

Thus, when Moshe Rabbeinu, of blessed memory, prayed on behalf of Miriam, he did not mention her name. He only said simply (Numbers 12:13), “O God, please heal her!” Because the judgments had beset her, he did not want to explicitly mention her name, as explained.

Even so, he hid her name in an amazing allusion within his prayer, for “na r’pha (please heal)” is an exact numerical equivalent of “Miriam Yokheved”—i.e., the name of the sick person and the name of her mother. For it is necessary to mention the sick person when praying for him, but he did not want to mention [her name] explicitly, as above.