Zipporah צִפֹּרָה
Wife of Moses, daughter of Jethro
Who is Zipporah in the Bible?
Zipporah was the wife of Moses and daughter of Jethro, the priest of Midian, whom Moses married after fleeing Egypt (Exodus 2:21). She bore Moses two sons, Gershom and Eliezer, and is remembered for a remarkable incident during Moses' return to Egypt when she circumcised their son and touched Moses' feet with the foreskin, declaring "Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me" (Exodus 4:25). This cryptic act appears to have averted divine judgment against Moses. After the Exodus, Zipporah and her sons were initially sent back to stay with Jethro but were later reunited with Moses in the wilderness (Exodus 18:2-6). As Moses' wife and the mother of his heirs, Zipporah was an important figure in the narrative of Israel's liberation, though her role remains largely peripheral in the biblical account.
Biography
Zipporah was the wife of Moses and the daughter of Jethro (also known as Reuel), the priest of Midian. She first appears in the biblical narrative when Moses fled from Egypt and settled in Midian (Exo.2.21). Zipporah and Moses were married and had two sons, Gershom and Eliezer. In Exo.4.24-26, during Moses' return to Egypt, Zipporah circumcised their son and cast the foreskin at Moses' feet, saying, "Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me!" This enigmatic event seems to have resolved a divine threat against Moses' life. Later, when Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt, Zipporah and her sons were sent back to Jethro (Exo.18.2). They were reunited with Moses when Jethro brought them to him in the wilderness (Exo.18.5-6). As the wife of Moses, Zipporah played a significant role in his personal life and, by extension, in the history of Israel.
Family
In Scripture
1 biblical book ; 1 with study contentExodus 3 verses
- Exodus 2:21
"Moses agreed to stay with the man, and he gave his daughter Zipporah to Moses in marriage."
Study Exodus → - Exodus 4:25
"But Zipporah took a flint knife, cut off her son’s foreskin, and touched it to Moses’ feet. “Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me,” she said."
Study Exodus → - Exodus 18:2
"After Moses had sent back his wife Zipporah, his father-in-law Jethro had received her,"
Study Exodus →
Names & Aliases
| Form | Language | Script | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| Named | Hebrew | צִפֹּרָה | Tsipporah , Moses’ wife |
Zipporah
ded at his death by Jethro, or Hobab (Ex 2:21,22; 4:25,26; 18:2-6).
Whether or not Zipporah was the "Cushite woman" (Nu 12:1) is a much-mooted question. There is little ground for anything more than speculation on the subject. The use of the words, "Cushite woman" in the mouth of Aaron and Miriam may have been merely a description of Zipporah and intended to be opprobrious, or they may have been ethnic in character and intended to denote another woman whom Moses had married, as suggested by Ewald (Gesch. des Volkes Israel, II, 252). The former view seems the more probable. The association of Midian and Cushan by Habakkuk (3:7) more than 700 years afterward may hardly be adduced to prove like close relationship between these peoples in the days of Moses.
M. G. Kyle
zith'-ri.
See SITHRI.
ziv (ziw; the King James Version Zif): The 2nd month of the old Hebrew calendar, corresponding to Iyyar of the Jewish