Zipporah - Word Foundations

After Moses killed an Egyptian who had been physically abusive to a Hebrew—one of Moses’ own people—Moses learned that his deed apparently had been seen, and he rightly assumed that word of his actions was spreading. Two Hebrews were fighting the next day, and Moses sought to bring their conflict to an end. Immediately he was reprimanded, as the one he confronted asked him what right he had to judge. “Are you planning to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?” he asked Moses (Ex. 2:14). Moses knew he likely would pay dearly for his action if he stayed in Egypt, so he fled to Midian, located east of the Sinai peninsula. Sure enough, Pharaoh did hear about Moses’ deed, and he tried to kill him (v. 15). Moses, however, had escaped.

Upon arriving in Midian, Moses rested beside a well. Reuel, a priest in Midian, had seven daughters, and they came to the well to get water for their father’s sheep. Some shepherds came and ran them off, but apparently Moses gave them a lesson in how to treat women! He also watered Reuel’s flock for his seven daughters. With such wonderful help, the flock was watered early and Reuel asked his daughters how they finished the task ahead of schedule. It’s clear that Moses made a great first impression on these women and their father! (See Ex. 2:11-25.)

Moses was their guest for dinner that evening, and he decided to settle down with this family. Reuel gave Moses the hand of his daughter, Zipporah, in marriage, and she bore him two sons—Gershom, which means “expelled one” or “stranger there” (see Ex. 2:22; 18:2-3), and Eliezer, which means “God is my helper” (v. 4).

Reuel, Moses’ father-in-law, is called Jethro in Exodus 3:1 and Exodus 18. Exodus 18:2 seems to indicate that Zipporah and the couple’s two sons stayed with her father and their grandfather until Moses had brought Israel out of Egypt, even though we have an earlier indication that initially, Zipporah had journeyed with Moses back to Egypt at least part of the way. She saved Moses’ life by circumcising Gershom when God confronted Moses (see 4:24-26). While boys in Egypt were circumcised when they were 14, the covenant God had made with Abraham called for circumcision of a male child on the eighth day after his birth (see Gen. 17:1-14; 21:4). As God’s spokesman before Pharaoh, Moses could not deviate from the covenant God had established for His people.

In Numbers 12:1 the Bible states, “Miriam and Aaron criticized Moses because of the Cushite woman he married (for he had married a Cushite woman).” While some Bible scholars believe that this verse refers to Zipporah, others make the case that by this time, Zipporah had died and that Moses had remarried. Marrying a Cushite did not violate God’s prohibitions for His people regarding marriage (see Ex. 34:12-16, where God forbade the Hebrews from making binding agreements with or marrying inhabitants of the land they were on their way to possess).

Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations in this article have been taken from the Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Holman CSB®, and HCSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers.