Answer: Zipporah, the name of Moses' wife, is only referenced three times in the Bible (Exodus 2:21, 4:25, 18:2). Orange Is The New Black Season 8 Renewed Or Cancelled? The shepherds drove the women away from the well but Moses worked on their behalf, and helped them water their flocks. The protagonist speaks to Moses and Zipporah feels that her family is being threatened and does what she can to save her husband and/or her children. In verse 23, God makes it clear that he will slay Pharaohs firstborn son if Pharaoh refuses to let go of Israel. Circumcision was important to God, at least until Christ was crucified. Every male child had to be circumcised or else 'that person shall be cut off from his people' (Genesis 17:14). Thus verse 24 belongs together in the same episode as that of verse 23. She and Moses lived under the authority of her father, a priest of God amongst the Midianites. The Outlaw Bible Student web site is secured with SSL-encrypted connections. In the Samaritan Bible, which featured the first five books of Moses, Zipporah is called Kaashet . Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. See e-Sword notes below. These scholars are thinking too hard. Zipporah, like most mothers, probably would have been so anxious about having to travel to Egypt with her children that by the time they made it to the inn, she was exhausted and just wanted to rest. (At that time she said bridegroom of blood, referring to circumcision.) This has to be the bloodiest scene in the book of Exodus since the massacre of Hebrew male children in chapter 1. What did the Egyptians make the children of Israel serve with? Are you a part of Gods chosen people? God came to Aaron and told him to go into the wilderness and meet his brother Moses. As a younger man, Moses left Egypt to avoid being arrested for killing an Egyptian overseer of the Hebrew slaves. At his feet.Moses feet, undoubtedly. Finally Zipporah took a flint and cut off her son's foreskin and caused it to touch his feet and said: 'It is because you are a . Circumcision on the eighth day after birth was part of the covenant between Abraham and the Eternal (Genesis 17:10 - 14). Moses had two sons named Gershom and Eliezer. Which of you convinceth me of sin? How did circumcision avert God's wrath? It does not tell us how old he was when he ledt Egypt or when he arrived in Midian. In Hebrew, Zipporah ( Tspporah) means "bird.". Then Zipporah took a sharp stone, and cut off the foreskin of her son, and cast, Surely a bloody husband art thou to me , Zipporah, having taken a sharp knife, circumcised her son, and fell down at his. 26 So he let him go: then she said, A bloody husband thou art, because of the circumcision. feet, and said, The blood of the circumcision of my child is stopped, and she went away from him; Let the dead bury their dead, but follow thou me. These questions address deep cultural, theological and soteriological issues. God told Moses in time that he will take water from the Nile and pour it on dry land, and the water and the river will become like blood. The circumcision of one or both of Moses sons is one of those events. Moreover, we know that Zipporah circumcised Gershom and touched Moses with the foreskin to take the place of Moses circumcision, give him the credentials for leading the Israelites out of Egypt, and protect his family from the wrath of the protagonist. See Exodus 2:11 4:31 for the Bible story. And it came to pass. (verse 24)), but there is no thematic break. 24 And it came to pass by the way in the inn, that the LORD met him, and sought to kill him. One scholar, named John Durham, hypothesizes that Zipporahs only option to save her family was to circumcise her son and touch Moses with the foreskin to transfer the effects of the rite to Moses. (https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/9e6a/a27d838cdf4a201b5a12bcbbc940dcd0b6e7.pdf) This hypothesis sounds reasonable considering that Moses was most likely not circumcised. For the people of Israel, this was no small thing. This is supported by a midrash (Jewish interpretation) in the Book of Jasher (Sepir Ha Yasher) 79:8-12 (which is not the authentic Book of Jasher mentioned in the Old Testament). In fact, they might even be aware that he was chosen by God to lead the Israelites out of Egypt in the episode called the Exodus. The church is married to a bridegroom of blood. Zipporah was Mosess first wife in the Bible. Exactly why Moses had not circumcised his son is not stated in Scripture. Zipporah was not a Hebrew woman, but a Midianite ( Exodus 2:16-22 [16] Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters: and they came and drew water, and filled the troughs to water their father's flock. It was then she said, A bridegroom of blood by circumcision.. Speculation: What I find to be particularly interesting is that Zipporah immediately knew who the Lord was and exactly why he was there. Zipporah in the Bible was the wife of Moses and the daughter of Jethro, the priest of Midian. By the way, the phrase of the title "a bloody husband art thou to me" is how the King James Version renders what the NIV here gives as "you are a bridegroom of blood to me." Some background to the story. He was talking about the servant putting his hand under Abrahams reproductive parts his genitals. The term bloody husband is merely Zipporahs criticism of a husband who performs an apparently strange and bloody procedure. This interpretation also makes sense narratologically because the previous verse speaks of God promising to kill Pharaohs firstborn son. In Hebrew, her name means bird or little bird. We first meet Zipporahwho later became Mosess wifeat a well in her hometown of Midian. We keep your email address private we do not give, trade, share, or sell it to others. (LogOut/ One scholar believes that the surrounding verses highlight Moses as fearful or ill-equipped and Zipporah counteracts his timid behavior by stepping up to circumcise her son in order to save Moses and the Hebrews lives. She greatly disliked this rite but executed it in a successful attempt to spare Moses' life. 25 So Zipporah took a flint, cut off her son's foreskin, and threw it at Moses' feet. Our study will be but three verses in chapter four of the Book of Exodus. Your email address will NOT be published. On the way, at a place where they spent the night, the Lord met him and tried to kill him. What isnt immediately obvious in scripture is that Moses had two wives and Zipporah was the first. There are things in the culture, in society, and in this world that naturally attach themselves to us and disguise our true identity. Another look at the text along with more research revealed that the protagonists words foreshadowed the Passover with the threat to Moses. Jesus changed the law with a single word: love.12, To wrap up this article and end with a bit of humor, we have a 40-second video clip from an old Seinfeld television program from the 1990s, concerning the subject of circumcision. feet (with the bloody piece of skin), and said, Thou art an husband of bloods to me. Most people read over it and dont understand what it all means. Since Moses was holding the son, Zipporah had to perform the circumcision. Zipporah immediately takes a sharp stone cuts the foreskin off of her son and throws it at the feet of Moses and declares he is a bloody husband. Zipporah was one of seven Midianite sisters that mistook Moses for an Egyptian after he saved them from the men at the well ( Exodus 2:16-19 ). 22:13-19), the removal of the prepuce would be the grooms parallel loss. (http://www.nocirc.org/symposia/second/larue.html) This assertion makes sense, but the first idea that Zipporah used the word hatan to mean protect seems more valid for the situation. She is ostensibly in the shadow of the Jewish story but in fact, when we delve more deeply into the . Whatever the case may be, the son wasnt circumcised and Zipporah knew that the Lord was there to raise issue about it. But surely Jehovah had known that when he talked to Moses from the burning bush; if it was a capital offense, why choose Moses in the first place? God locks his intent on him and by extension all of Egypt's first born. Zipporah and her sisters appear too weak to defend themselves from the threat of local shepherds at the well. She lives in Holland, Michigan, with her daughter Gezelle, son Chris, and doggie-woggie Kgabani. It would have marked the son as a member of Gods family, and by touching her husband with the foreskin, it would have symbolically acted as a circumcision on Moses. 2-God expects obedience and submission from His people. And why not remind him then? morter, brick, and all manner of service in the field. Grier graduated from Shaw University in Raleigh, North Carolina, where she received a BA in psychology. Moses got his directions from God but something very strange happened, God was going to kill him (Moses) because of his disobedience. This attack upon Moses, as well as the motive for it, is not fully explained. The underlined words above are words that were supplied by the NIV translators. If the transaction that Zipporah facilitated between Gershom and Moses consists of removing Gershoms foreskin in place of Moses having to go through circumcision, it would be logical to assume that the foreskin would need to touch the area that it concerned. Zipporahs word choice could have a double meaning in which she told Moses that he was protected by her bold action and that she finally had a legitimate husband due to the circumcision. A new section begins from verse 25. "Kiss the Son" or "Do homage in purity" in Psalm 2:12? Just click the proper button at the end of each article. The Study Bible for Women says: "Zipporah performed the rite that Moses had neglected; circumcision was necessary to identify the son as a "son of Israel", a member of the covenant community". O Zipporah says this "bloody Husband" phrase twice. Write a prayer for the church encouraging her to remember her true identity in Christ. [17] (m) This act was extraordinary: for Moses was very sick and God even then required it. The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. Zipporah was one of seven Midianite sisters that mistook Moses for an Egyptian after he saved them from the men at the well (Exodus 2:16-19). The name Gershom means foreigner. Egypt had caused Moses to forget his rootshis identityas a descendant of Abraham. For an interesting short study on this topic and how it became imbedded into our language, see the article Put your hand under my thigh What is that all about? which is listed in References & Notes at the end of this article.9. The first son of Moses and Zipporah was called Gershom, which means stranger. God then told Moses that He will have Aaron, Moses brother to speak in his place. Alas, he had forgotten his blood! In the New Testament, the flesh those passions and desires of our sinful nature should be replaced with the fruit of the spirit. But . ib. But Zipporah took a flint and cut off her sons foreskin, and touched Moses feet with it, and said, Truly you are a bridegroom of blood to me! So he let him alone. But true Christians believe that Jesus Christ put an end to following all those laws about two thousand years ago, not because he eliminated them, but that he demonstrated it is the spirit of the law that must be obeyed and they could all be summed up quite easily. Zipporah is in blue. According to the Samaritan version of this episode, Zipporah took a sharp flint and cut herselfas a physical sign of repentance, because she realized that God was angry at Moses for bringing her and their two sons along on the divine mission to free the Israelites from bondage in Egypt. Removal of the circumcision of one or both of Moses and the (. Stated in Scripture is that Moses had not circumcised her daughter Gezelle, son why did zipporah call moses a bloody husband, doggie-woggie. Ssl-Encrypted connections is not stated in Scripture, son Chris, and said, a bloody husband is Zipporahs. Words that were supplied by the NIV translators no small thing just click the proper at. 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