Zipporah

Biblical Record

Her name is generally understood to mean "bird" in Hebrew. She is mentioned by name in only three places in Scripture, all in Exodus.

• Meeting at the well: According to Exodus 2:15-22, Moses, having killed an Egyptian and fled to Midian, came to the aid of the seven daughters of the priest of Midian when shepherds drove them away from a well. As a result, he came to stay in the priest's household, and the priest gave his daughter Zipporah to Moses as his wife. Her father is called Reuel in this passage and Jethro elsewhere. Zipporah bore a son, Gershom, whose name Moses explained by saying, "I have been a stranger in a strange land."
• The "bloody husband" incident: While Moses was returning to Egypt with his family, the LORD met "him" at the lodging place and sought to kill him. Zipporah then took a sharp stone, cut off her son's foreskin, and cast it at "his feet," saying, "Surely a bloody husband art thou to me." So the LORD let him go (Exodus 4:24-26).
• Reunion in the wilderness: According to Exodus 18:1-6, Moses' father-in-law Jethro brought Zipporah, whom Moses had earlier sent back, together with her two sons, Gershom and Eliezer, to Moses at the mountain of God in the wilderness.

Significance within Scripture

Zipporah entered Moses' household as a woman from outside Israel, that is, as a Gentile. In the circumcision episode, neglect of circumcision, the sign of the covenant, is portrayed as a matter of life and death, and it is Zipporah who averts the crisis. The New Testament does not mention Zipporah by name. However, in his sermon Stephen states that Moses "was a stranger in the land of Madian, where he begat two sons" (Acts 7:29).

Interpretation and Points of Debate

• Exodus 4:24-26: The text does not make clear whether the one God sought to kill was Moses or his son, nor whose feet are meant by "his feet." Interpretations therefore vary widely. Zipporah's words are likewise read by some as a rebuke of her husband and by others as a formula used in the rite of circumcision.
• The reason she was sent back: It is commonly said that Zipporah disapproved of the circumcision and returned to her father's house. The text, however, does not state why she was sent back.
• The Cushite woman: In Numbers 12:1, Miriam and Aaron speak against Moses because of the "Ethiopian woman" (that is, a Cushite woman) whom he had married. Some identify this Cushite woman with Zipporah, while others regard her as a different wife. Those who identify the two sometimes point to Habakkuk 3:7, where "Cushan" and "Midian" appear in parallel. Josephus's Antiquities of the Jews contains a story that Moses married the daughter of the king of Cush, but this account is not found in Scripture.
• The sign of the covenant: This incident is sometimes cited in connection with the question of administering the sign of the covenant to children. Presbyterians and others who follow covenant theology understand circumcision and baptism within the continuity of the covenant. Baptists emphasize the differences between the two signs (see Infant baptism debate).

In the Korean Church

Sermons most often address the "bloody husband" passage in Exodus 4. This passage is frequently interpreted to mean that those who have received a calling must first obey the Word in their own households and in their own lives. In Sunday school, Zipporah is introduced when students study the life of Moses, together with the scene in which he helps the seven daughters at the well. She is also frequently discussed in Bible studies on the women of the Bible.