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EspañolZIPPORAH
'Zipporah' or 'Tzipora' ( ; Greek: ''Sephora'' ; Arabic: ''Safura'' or ''Safrawa'' ; "bird"), mentioned in the Book of Exodus, was the wife of Moses, and the daughter of Jethro, a priest of Midian.
In the Book of Exodus, in the process of Moses' exile from Egypt, he begins working for Jethro as a shepherd. Consequently he meets Zipporah (meaning female/little bird), and marries her, and they have two sons, Gershom, and Eliezer.
Zipporah also features in a much more curious, and much-debated, passage. The passage concerning Moses and Zipporah reach an inn, contains four of the most difficult sentences in Biblical text. One possible interpretation is that something (perhaps God, perhaps an agent of God) tries to kill Moses, until Zipporah carries out a circumcision. (Other interpretations suggest that it is their son, Gershom, who is attacked.). Yet another is that Moses tried to kill his own son and only after Zippora cut the child's foreskin, drawing blood and pain, did his anger subside.
A third reference to a wife of Moses occurs in the story of Aaron and Miriam's complaints, at Numbers 12:1, where his wife is described as a Cushite, but is not named. Since Zipporah is a Midianite, some early sources, such as Josephus in his ''Jewish Antiquities'' 2.10-11, and the Targum Pseudo-Jonathan, as well as modern biblical criticism, have stated that they were different individuals, particularly since bigamy was legal, and practiced elsewhere by Jacob, a major patriarch. Nevertheless, a traditional Jewish and Christian view has been that they are both the same woman, the Cushite reference being only a metaphorical one concerning the perceived beauty of the Cushites.
Zipporah is one of the three circumcisers in the Bible. As a descendant of Midian, one of Abraham's son, she understood the importance of circumcision. It would seem that the Jewish people had forgotten this very important ritual during the time of their enslavement in Israel, but the Midianites had preserved it. Throughout history, Jewish rabbis have praised Zipporah; Many Christians however --perhaps not fully understanding the importance of blood as a covenant relationship-- have often maligned her believing she rebuffed Moses because of her comment about her husband's circumcision.
★ Moses in rabbinic literature
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| Contents |
| Biblical context |
| See also |
| External links |
Biblical context
In the Book of Exodus, in the process of Moses' exile from Egypt, he begins working for Jethro as a shepherd. Consequently he meets Zipporah (meaning female/little bird), and marries her, and they have two sons, Gershom, and Eliezer.
Zipporah also features in a much more curious, and much-debated, passage. The passage concerning Moses and Zipporah reach an inn, contains four of the most difficult sentences in Biblical text. One possible interpretation is that something (perhaps God, perhaps an agent of God) tries to kill Moses, until Zipporah carries out a circumcision. (Other interpretations suggest that it is their son, Gershom, who is attacked.). Yet another is that Moses tried to kill his own son and only after Zippora cut the child's foreskin, drawing blood and pain, did his anger subside.
A third reference to a wife of Moses occurs in the story of Aaron and Miriam's complaints, at Numbers 12:1, where his wife is described as a Cushite, but is not named. Since Zipporah is a Midianite, some early sources, such as Josephus in his ''Jewish Antiquities'' 2.10-11, and the Targum Pseudo-Jonathan, as well as modern biblical criticism, have stated that they were different individuals, particularly since bigamy was legal, and practiced elsewhere by Jacob, a major patriarch. Nevertheless, a traditional Jewish and Christian view has been that they are both the same woman, the Cushite reference being only a metaphorical one concerning the perceived beauty of the Cushites.
Zipporah is one of the three circumcisers in the Bible. As a descendant of Midian, one of Abraham's son, she understood the importance of circumcision. It would seem that the Jewish people had forgotten this very important ritual during the time of their enslavement in Israel, but the Midianites had preserved it. Throughout history, Jewish rabbis have praised Zipporah; Many Christians however --perhaps not fully understanding the importance of blood as a covenant relationship-- have often maligned her believing she rebuffed Moses because of her comment about her husband's circumcision.
See also
★ Moses in rabbinic literature
External links
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