Zipporah or Tzipora (Hebrew: צִפּוֹרָה, Standard Ẓippora Tiberian Ṣippôrāh ; 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. “Hebrew” redirects here. ... “Hebrew” redirects here. ... Tiberian Hebrew is an oral tradition of pronunciation for ancient forms of Hebrew, especially the Hebrew of the Tanakh, that was given written form by masoretic scholars in the Jewish community at Tiberias in the early Middle Ages, beginning in the 8th century. ... Arabic ( or just ) is the largest living member of the Semitic language family in terms of speakers. ... It has been suggested that Pharaoh of the Exodus be merged into this article or section. ... Moses with the Tablets, 1659, by Rembrandt This article is about the Biblical figure. ... Jethro (יִתְרוֹ Standard Hebrew Yitro, Tiberian Hebrew Yiṯrô, Shoaib Arabic Quran His excellence/posterity) is a figure from the Hebrew Bible. ... . ... In the Bible, Midian (Hebrew: מִדְיָן, Standard Midyan Tiberian ; Arabic مدين; Strife; judgment) is a son of Abraham and his concubine Keturah (who according to midrash is Hagar). ...

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. Shepherd in Făgăraş Mountains, Romania. ... In the Bible, Gershom (גֵּרְשֹׁם Expulsion, Standard Hebrew Gerəšom, Tiberian Hebrew Gērəšōm) was the firstborn son of Moses and Zipporah (Exodus 2:22). ... Eliezer (אֱלִיעֶזֶר / אֱלִיעָזֶר Help/Court of my God, Standard Hebrew Eliʿézer / Eliʿázer, Tiberian Hebrew ʾĔlîʿézer / ʾĔlîʿāzer) was Moses and Zipporahs second son. ...

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. The tale of Zipporah at the inn, is one of the more unusual, curious, and much-debated, passages of the Torah. ... This article is about male circumcision. ...

A third reference to a wife of Moses occurs in the tale of snow-white Miriam, at Numbers 12:1, where she is described as a Cushite (often understood to mean Ethiopian but could also simply imply "foreign"), 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. It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Miriam. ... Cush (כּוּשׁ Black, Standard Hebrew Kuš, Tiberian Hebrew Kûš) was the eldest son of Ham, brother of Canaan and the father of Nimrod, mentioned in the table of nations in the Book of Genesis (x. ... A fanciful representation of Flavius Josephus, in an engraving in William Whistons translation of his works Josephus (37 – sometime after 100 AD/CE)[1], who became known, in his capacity as a Roman citizen, as Flavius Josephus[2], was a 1st-century Jewish historian and apologist of priestly and... It has been suggested that Targum Jonathan be merged into this article or section. ... Polygamy, literally many marriages in ancient Greek, is a marital practice in which a person has more than one spouse simultaneously (as opposed to monogamy where each person has a maximum of one spouse at any one time). ... Jacob Wrestling with the Angel – Gustave Doré, 1855 Jacob or Yaakov, (Hebrew: יַעֲקֹב, Standard  Tiberian ; Arabic: يعقوب, ; holds the heel), also known as Israel (Hebrew: יִשְׂרָאֵל, Standard  Tiberian ; Arabic: اسرائيل, ; Struggled with God), is the third Biblical patriarch. ...

External links

• Exodus 2:11-23
• Exodus 4:18-31
• Exodus 18
• Numbers 12:1