What follows is based on an article I wrote for a bilingual African magazine out of Senegal, L'INCONNU, THE UNKNOWN, for which I was an English editor. You can find the first part of the article as "Moses 1", posted earlier. Here's how it begins:
We looked earlier at the familiar Bible story of how Moses, child of Hebrew slaves who was brought up by the Egyptian Pharaoh’s family, eventually meets the wise man, Jethro of Midian, and marries his daughter Zipporah – presumably both Hebrews, like Moses. But here the analysis meets a stickingpoint, because on the return journey to Egypt after the burning bush experience, Zipporah clearly shows an unexpected resistance to the Hebrew custom of circumcision…
More mysteries
Why would Zipporah, the daughter of a Hebrew priest, resist the customary circumcising of her son? (Exodus 4:25–26) It makes no sense. A cursory search through Biblical commentaries shows that scholars for centuries have found this incident to be a complete mystery, as also the near-death of Moses during his encounter with God at the inn, on his journey with his family back to Egypt. (Exodus 4:24)
Why would Zipporah, the daughter of a Hebrew priest, resist the customary circumcising of her son? (Exodus 4:25–26) It makes no sense. A cursory search through Biblical commentaries shows that scholars for centuries have found this incident to be a complete mystery, as also the near-death of Moses during his encounter with God at the inn, on his journey with his family back to Egypt. (Exodus 4:24)
Not claiming to be a Biblical scholar, I am free, with a nudge from the wise friend who got me started on this exploration of the Moses literature, to see the obvious. Zipporah’s resistance makes sense if you consider that Zipporah, and her father also, are not Hebrews, but belong to another religious background entirely.
Why would Moses marry a non-Hebrew? For one, he was not brought up as a Hebrew. Raised from babyhood in the traditions of the Pharaohs, he presumably did not feel bound by the obligation of Hebrews to intermarry.
Was Moses in love with Zipporah? Unlike the Biblical story of Jacob serving fourteen years out of love for Rachel, there is no indication in this Biblical story that Moses is in love with Zipporah, nor that Jethro tricks Moses into marrying her. Zipporah is simply part of an arrangement Jethro offers and Moses accepts.
Why Moses, adopted son of the Egyptian royal family, gladly accepts the opportunity to work as a simple unpaid shepherd for Jethro is a bit of a mystery. (Exodus 2:21) The Bible here is a masterpiece of concise writing. What does come through the somewhat terse, understated narrative is that Moses deeply respects Jethro, and that Jethro cares for Moses like a son.
Perhaps Moses has the insight to recognize that Jethro is an extraordinary man who well deserves his titles – that he is indeed a ‘prince’ among men, a truly ‘wise’ man, a teacher of universal spiritual truths who transcends the limitations of religious or cultural identity. It seems at any rate that Moses values Jethro deeply enough that he wants to serve him, to be his spiritual apprentice, to live in his household in order to learn and practice whatever he chooses to teach him.
Is the time Moses spends with Jethro a period of spiritual evolution and transformation? All we know from the Bible is that Moses spends several years with Jethro. But it is surely significant that Moses’ stay with Jethro concludes with Moses’ first publicly known encounter with God – the burning bush experience that unveils Moses’ mission to lead the Hebrews out of slavery.
Mixed marriage
It is reasonable to postulate that Moses’ wife may be a non-Hebrew girl, the mother of his two sons, but the information in Exodus is not sufficient to be certain. After the circumcision episode at the inn (Exodus 4:25–26), the next time Zipporah is mentioned in the Bible is when her father Jethro brings his two grandsons and Zipporah back to Moses, out in the wilderness near Midian where Moses is leading the liberated Hebrew slaves towards the Promised Land (Exodus 18:1–6). And that seems to be the last mention of Zipporah.
It is reasonable to postulate that Moses’ wife may be a non-Hebrew girl, the mother of his two sons, but the information in Exodus is not sufficient to be certain. After the circumcision episode at the inn (Exodus 4:25–26), the next time Zipporah is mentioned in the Bible is when her father Jethro brings his two grandsons and Zipporah back to Moses, out in the wilderness near Midian where Moses is leading the liberated Hebrew slaves towards the Promised Land (Exodus 18:1–6). And that seems to be the last mention of Zipporah.
Two books further on, however, in the middle of Numbers, the fourth book of the Torah, is an isolated but vivid episode about Zipporah that completes the picture of her background. Miriam and Aaron, the sister and brother of Moses, have been criticizing Moses “because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married: for he had married an Ethiopian woman.” (Numbers 12:1)
Is it to make sure we understand that the wife of Moses is Ethiopian, a black woman, that the Bible repeats the information twice? Scholars nevertheless point out that the word for Ethiopian, Cushite, also means ‘beautiful’, throwing doubt, they say, on whether Zipporah is Ethiopian or just a beautiful woman. What the scholars don't explain is why Miriam and Aaron would so harshly criticize Moses for marrying a beautiful Hebrew girl – especially when she has more than complied with traditional family expectations in giving birth to two healthy sons. Sorry, that just doesn't make sense.
In a narrative that overall is succinct and restrained, we suddenly find at this point a lengthy passage – fourteen verses – that spells out the repercussions of Aaron’s and Miriam’s rejection of Zipporah, their stirring up of gossip and their criticism of Moses. The passage describes the spiritually damning effect of their (racist and religious?) prejudice against Zipporah combined with their feeling of spiritual superiority over Moses.
According to this account, God curses Miriam with leprosy as a punishment – presumably for her bigotry. God also punishes Aaron – by removing the cloud of his Spirit from the holy tabernacle in Aaron’s charge, thus in one stroke leaving Aaron's priestly ministrations totally devoid of spirituality, rituals without the essence. (Exodus 12:10)
God tells Aaron and Miriam that they may well be prophets, seeing visions and dreaming dreams, but that Moses is spiritually far beyond what they have attained: "With him will I speak mouth to mouth, openly, and not in obscure speech; and he will see the likeness of the Lord: why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?" (Exodus 12:8)
By God’s order, Miriam is cast out of the Hebrew camp and left to suffer the trauma of advanced leprosy. When Moses begs God to forgive her, she is left for only seven days and is then healed and received back into the camp. She and Aaron appear to have learned their lesson; the Bible does not mention their ever speaking against Zipporah again.
Timeless hero
All this leaves me amazed that Jewish and Christian children are not brought up on this powerful story of Moses calmly marrying a black woman of another religion and standing by her and their sons in the face of racist and fundamentalist reactions and gossip from all who knew him – siblings, Hebrews, Egyptians, and probably Midianites too. We all know about the elevated Prophet Moses and the ten commandments, but what about this extraordinary human side to him? And although Moses overturns religious rules and social expectations to do what he feels is right, completely indifferent to how people may react, we get to see that God stands by him and punishes those who criticize him.
All this leaves me amazed that Jewish and Christian children are not brought up on this powerful story of Moses calmly marrying a black woman of another religion and standing by her and their sons in the face of racist and fundamentalist reactions and gossip from all who knew him – siblings, Hebrews, Egyptians, and probably Midianites too. We all know about the elevated Prophet Moses and the ten commandments, but what about this extraordinary human side to him? And although Moses overturns religious rules and social expectations to do what he feels is right, completely indifferent to how people may react, we get to see that God stands by him and punishes those who criticize him.
What a meaningful story for our times: like so many of us today, Moses is uprooted early on and has to bridge several cultures from infancy onwards – Hebrew, Egyptian, Midianite and Ethiopian. Where these four cultures come together in his marriage and his life with Jethro is also when he awakens spiritually and begins his ‘climbing of the mountain’ to commune with God.
How wonderful that this giant of a man, God’s servant and prophet, is a Hebrew by birth, an idol-worshipping millionaire by upbringing, a penniless shepherd by choice, a loyal husband to a long-suffering wife, and a willing father of two half-black, half-semitic sons: a timeless hero who shows us that equanimity and spiritual communion are possible for all of us to attain, even when we are surrounded by tension, conflict and corruption, and burdened by political turmoil and huge responsibilities. Ya Moussa! Bravo!
original version written for L'INCONNU magazine in Africa
