Zipporah

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Zipporah
Jethro
RelativesSix sisters
Aaron (brother-in-law)
Miriam (sister-in-law)

Zipporah, or Tzipora (/ˈzɪpərə, zɪˈpɔːrə/; Hebrew: צִפּוֹרָה, Ṣīppōrā, "bird"),[a] is mentioned in the Book of Exodus as the wife of Moses, and the daughter of Reuel/Jethro, the priest and prince of Midian.[2]

She is the mother of Moses' two sons: Eliezer, and Gershom.

In the

Rehabiah, son of Eliezer (1 Chronicles 23:16–17
).

Biblical narrative

The Daughters of Jethro, Théophile Hamel, c. 1850

Background

In the Book of Exodus, Zipporah was one of the seven daughters of Jethro, a

Hobab.[4] Hobab is also the name of Jethro's son in Numbers 10:29
.

Moses marries Zipporah

While the Israelites/Hebrews were captives in Egypt, Moses killed an Egyptian who was striking a Hebrew, for which offense Pharaoh sought to kill Moses. Moses therefore fled from Egypt and arrived in Midian. One day while he sat by a well, Reuel's daughters came to water their father's flocks. Other shepherds arrived and drove the girls away, so that they could water their own flocks first. Moses defended the girls and watered their flocks. Upon their return home, their father asked them, "How is it that you have come home so early today?" The girls answered, "An Egyptian rescued us from the shepherds; he even drew water for us and watered the flock." "Where is he then?", Reuel asked them. "Why did you leave the man? Invite him for supper to break bread." Reuel then gave Moses Zipporah as his wife (Exodus 2:11–21).

Incident at the inn

Main article: Zipporah at the inn

After God commanded Moses to return to Egypt to free the Israelites, Moses took his wife and sons and started his journey. On the road, they stayed at an inn, where God came to kill Moses. Zipporah quickly circumcised her son with a sharp stone and touched Moses' feet with the foreskin, saying "Surely you are a husband of blood to me!" God then left Moses alone (Exodus 4:24–26). The details of the passage are unclear and subject to debate.

The Exodus

Miriam and Aaron complain against Moses, illustration from The Bible and Its Story, Taught By One Thousand Picture Lessons (1908)

After Moses succeeded in leading the Israelites out of Egypt, and won a battle against Amalek, Reuel came to the Hebrew camp in the wilderness of Sinai, bringing with him Zipporah and their two sons, Gershom and Eliezer. The Bible does not say when Zipporah and her sons rejoined Reuel/Jethro, only that after he heard of what God did for the Israelites, he brought Moses' family to him. The most common translation is that Moses sent her away, but another grammatically permissible translation is that she sent things or persons, perhaps the announcement of the victory over Amalek.[5] The word that makes this difficult is shelucheiha, the sendings [away] of her (Ex. 18:2).[citation needed]

Numbers 12

Moses and his Ethiopian wife Zipporah (Mozes en zijn Ethiopische vrouw Sippora). Jacob Jordaens, c. 1650

Moses' wife is referred to as a "

Arabians. The sons of Ham, mentioned within the Book of Genesis, have been identified with nations in Africa (Ethiopia, Egypt, Libya), the Levant (Canaan), and Arabia. The Midianites themselves were later depicted at times in non-Biblical sources as dark-skinned and called Kushim, a Hebrew word used for dark-skinned Africans.[8][9] One interpretation is that the wife is Zipporah, and that she was referred to as a Cushite though she was a Midianite, because of her beauty.[10]

The

better source needed
]

"Cushite woman" becomes Αἰθιόπισσα in the Greek

Jesuit, reasoned that Zipporah and the Cushite woman was the same person, and that she was black. He puts her in a group of what he calls "notable and sainted Ethiopians".[13]
: 248, 253–254 

In the Druze religion

In the

relationship between Israeli Jews and Druze.[22]

Art and culture

Zipporah, detail from Sandro Botticelli's Youth of Moses, c. 1480

Like many other prominent biblical characters, Zipporah is depicted in several works of art.

In Marcel Proust's story Swann's Way (1913), Swann is struck by the resemblance of his eventual wife Odette to Sandro Botticelli’s painting of Zipporah in a Sistine Chapel fresco, and this recognition is the catalyst for his obsession with her.[23]

Zipporah is often included in Exodus-related drama. Examples include the films The Ten Commandments (1956),[24] The Prince of Egypt (1998),[25] and Exodus: Gods and Kings (2014).[26] She is the main character in Marek Halter's novel Zipporah, Wife of Moses (2005).[27]

See also

Notes

  1. Arabic
    : صفورة, Ṣaffūrah

References

  1. ^ Harwood, Edith (1907). Notable pictures in Rome. J.M. Dent. p. 6.
  2. ISBN 978-0-8308-7197-1
    .
  3. Harris, Stephen L., Understanding the Bible. Palo Alto, California: Mayfield. 1985.[page needed
    ]
  4. ^ "Judges 4 / Hebrew – English Bible / Mechon-Mamre". mechon-mamre.org. Retrieved 2014-04-05.
  5. ^ See e.g. Ibn Ezra on Exodus 18:2 – ור׳ ישועה אמר: ששלוחיה הוא דורון ומנחה, כמו: שלוחים לבתו (מלכים א ט׳:ט״ז). והטעם: אחר שיגרה דרונה וזה קרוב אלי.
  6. ^ Skinner, Shlomo (2012-06-07). "The Mystery of the Cushite Woman". Thinking Torah. Retrieved 2023-12-11.
  7. ^ Filler, Elad. "Moses and the Kushite Woman: Classic Interpretations and Philo's Allegory – TheTorah.com". www.thetorah.com. Retrieved 2023-12-11.
  8. ^ David M. Goldenberg. The curse of Ham: race and slavery in early Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, chapter 8. p. 124.
  9. ISBN 978-0-7453-0818-0
    .
  10. ^ Filler, Elad. "Moses and the Kushite Woman: Classic Interpretations and Philo's Allegory". TheTorah.com. Retrieved 10 May 2019.
  11. ISBN 978-0802865199
    .
  12. ^ "Cush from the McClintock and Strong Biblical Cyclopedia". McClintock and Strong Biblical Cyclopedia Online. Retrieved 3 May 2023.
  13. S2CID 193538684
    .
  14. ISBN 978-0-8308-7197-1
    .
  15. ISBN 978-0-3933-3374-9
    .
  16. ISBN 0-8156-2336-4
    .
  17. ^ Rosenfeld, Judy (1952). Ticket to Israel: An Informative Guide. p. 290.
  18. ^ Lev, David (25 October 2010). "MK Kara: Druze are Descended from Jews". Israel National News. Arutz Sheva. Retrieved 23 March 2015.
  19. ISBN 1-1344-0854-4
    .
  20. ISBN 9780786451333
    .
  21. ISBN 9780521794763
    .
  22. ISBN 9782881240072
    .
  23. JSTOR 428744
    . Retrieved 1 July 2022.
  24. ^ Thomas, Bob (12 January 2007). "Yvonne De Carlo, 84; Said Her "Munsters" Role Made Her Hot". Retrieved 7 March 2018 – via www.washingtonpost.com.
  25. ISBN 9780810891920
    . Retrieved 7 September 2019.
  26. ISBN 9780567672339
    . Retrieved 7 September 2019.
  27. ^ "Zipporah, Wife of Moses". www.publishersweekly.com. Publishers Weekly. Retrieved 10 September 2019.

Further reading

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