As we reflect on Zipporahs witness, let us consider this: The Hebrew word for remember invites us to focus on a thing until it leads us to repentance. God came to Aaron and told him to go into the wilderness and meet his brother Moses. (LogOut/ 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. After this event, Zipporah simply disappears from scripture and we never hear anything about her ever again. Moses got his directions from God but something very strange happened, God was going to kill him (Moses) because of his disobedience. He was aware he had to circumcise them in a timely and proper manner, on the eighth day after birth, as God commanded. Great I Am, light the path before us we pray. We can prove that by tracing their lineages in scripture. Lyndon Stimeling, of Richfield, has been writing about faith and family for many years. . (Genesis 17:9-12a). There does seem to be some anger on behalf of Zipporah against Moses, throwing the bloodied foreskin at his feet, and calling him a bloody husband to me. This Old Testament procedure showed that the flesh must be physically sacrificed, whereas in this current age, the sacrifice of the flesh is spiritual. 22 And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD, Israel is my son, even my firstborn: 23 And I say unto thee, Let my son go, that he may serve me: and if thou refuse to let him go, behold, I will slay thy son, even thy firstborn. And it came to pass by the way in the inn, that the LORD met him, and sought to kill him. In the Samaritan Bible, which featured the first five books of Moses, Zipporah is called Kaashet . 4:25). Yet, we know Moses, his wife, and their son . During the night, Gods hand of death came against Moses and tried to kill him (Exodus 4:24). But . Crucifixion thoughts & How did they get the nails out? Edit them in the Widget section of the, http://www.usnews.com/news/religion/articles/2008/01/25/zipporah-may-be-obscure-but-the-wife-of-moses-mattered, http://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/zipporah-midrash-and-aggadah, https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/9e6a/a27d838cdf4a201b5a12bcbbc940dcd0b6e7.pdf, http://www.egrc.net/articles/Rock/Exodus/BrideGroomOfBlood.html, http://www.nocirc.org/symposia/second/larue.html, https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+17. 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? We keep your email address private we do not give, trade, share, or sell it to others. 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). This interpretation also makes sense narratologically because the previous verse speaks of God promising to kill Pharaohs firstborn son. We can also safely conclude that Zipporah opposed the circumcision of her son. Jerry (Jerry Seinfeld) explains to Elaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) what job a mohel13 performs and Elaine gives her opinion about uncircumcised men. God had just given Moses an assignment to return to Egypt and demand that Pharaoh free the Hebrews from bondage. Zipporah, having circumcised her son, corrected the mistake and saved her husband, whose life was in danger due to non-observance of the commandment. . (Genesis 24:2-3). Source: The New International Encyclopdia, Volume 11 (Dodd, Mead) 1911 A.D. She greatly disliked this rite but executed it in a successful attempt to spare Moses' life. Upon returning to the home of their father, the sisters reported the incident of the Egyptian stranger who had come to their aid. Whats more, God had just revealed himself to Moses and demonstrated great power in and through him. "Son of God" or "Son of the gods" in Daniel 3:25? Source: Anacalypsis (London: : Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, Green, and Longman, Paternoster Row) 1836 A.D. It was then that she said, A bridegroom of blood, because of the circumcision. (http://www.esvbible.org/Exodus+4/) The portion of the text from which this passage comes yields several questions about the purpose of Zipporahs actions, whose life she was actually saving, the meaning of the phrase bridegroom of blood and what the overall situation symbolizes in relation to the entire text. 2. God told Moses that those who sought his life in Egypt, meaning especially Pharoah, had died. Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. 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. Then she said, "You are a . Shiphrah and Puah. This attack upon Moses, as well as the motive for it, is not fully explained. Ask God to reveal these places and/or things. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics". Zipporah was not a Hebrew woman, but a Midianite (Exodus 2:16-22). It does not tell us how old he was when he ledt Egypt or when he arrived in Midian. He may have been squeamish about performing such a delicate but bloody act a second time after doing so once. 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 . Your email address will NOT be published. "Devolvit ipse acuto sibi pondera silice." James 1:17 says, every good and perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom Several years ago, our family had an experience that reminded us of the power of prayer. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience. The Egyptians made the lives of the children of Israel bitter with hard bondage in what three things? Our study is to give some sense to this short mysterious section of text and present a few possible reasons for its inclusion, so you can make up your mind about which seems the most logical answer. Our study will be but three verses in chapter four of the Book of Exodus. And if I say the truth, why do ye not believe me? document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); This is a text widget, which allows you to add text or HTML to your sidebar. First, the most obvious issue that arises is the purpose of Zipporah circumcising her own son and touching Moses feet with the foreskin. Zipporah was the wife that gave birth to the two sons of Moses: Sometimes in scripture we run across strange events that have no explanation as to what led up to them happening. Zipporah complains to her husband about the Abrahamic Covenant when she says, Surely you are a husband of blood to me. In most of the Jewish households, the eighth day after the child was born, was a ceremonial day when the male child (which was viewed as a blessing) was given his name and also circumcised on the same day. She, no doubt, witnessed the hesitation of Moses to act and decided to take matters into her own hands. Him in verse 24 refers to Pharaohs firstborn son. Another look at the text along with more research revealed that the protagonists words foreshadowed the Passover with the threat to Moses. Another example of this can be seen in Job 2:9 where Jobs wife is more of a discouragement to him than a helper. Ask God to help you remember the places and things in your life that you have attached to your identity. Zipporah calls Moses a blood-bridegroom, "because she had been compelled, as it were, to acquire and purchase him anew as a husband by shedding the blood of her son" (Glass). Exodus 4:25 Then Zipporah took a sharp stone, and cut off the foreskin of her son, and cast it at his feet, and said, Surely a bloody husband art thou to me. Answer. Exodus 4:25-26 Then Zipporah took a sharp stone, and cut off the foreskin of her son, and cast it at his feet, and said, Surely a bloody husband art thou to me. Being he was a humble man, I dont believe Moses meant to defy God on his own, but perhaps it was his wife Zipporah that refused to do it. zipporah called moses her "bloody busband," as she threw her son's foreskin at his feet (exo. Zipporah is Moses's patrilineal cousin and his second wife. Amen. After the resurrection, Jesus invited Thomas to touch him in the bloody parts, his hand and his side. 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. Why his feet? We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. John 1:1 Does this Bible verse prove Jesus is God? The standard explanation is that Moses had not circumcised his son, as Jehovah had ordered for all descendants of Abraham. These supplied names seem to make it easier for the reader to follow the narrative. So as soon as the child was circumcised, the LORD relented from killing Moses, "So he let him alone" (v 26). Answer (1 of 3): The verses in question are Exodus 4:24-26, the context is Moses, his wife Zipporah and their son Gershom reaching an inn on their way from Midian to Egypt to announce the plagues to the Pharaoh. Before delving in to the scholars theories, it is important to remember that due to the fact that Moses was being hidden as a baby and raised as an Egyptian, he was probably not circumcised. Just click the proper button at the end of each article. Top Christian Blogs, Quality Content Authenticity Uniqueness Reliability Trustworthy Ease of Use Data Security. Exodus 4:24-26, 24. However, this question cannot be answered without discovering who she was trying to save: Moses or Gershom, her son. These verses, concerning a circumcision,2 are odd and confusing, and some commentators believe they are out of place. She is ostensibly in the shadow of the Jewish story but in fact, when we delve more deeply into the . We do not send any commercial advertising, and you can easily unsubscribe at any time. A bloody husband. He that is of God heareth God's words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God." Thus in verse 25, Zipporah circumcises her son as Moses holds him still. 2. It would also appear that she had successfully persuaded Moses to go along with her in refusing to circumcise the child. then she said, A bloody husband thou art, because of the circumcision. The scripture says Zipporah touched his feet, with the foreskin. God said to Abraham, As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations. In fact, shes only mentioned three times in scripture. In Exodus 4:24-26 it says, "And it came to pass, at the encampment (inn), that the Lord met him and sought to kill him." Apparently God was holding Moses accountable for the breaking of God's covenant. (New American Standard translation) . Answer: While the Bible does not state all of reasons God used to justify wanting to kill Moses, we can take what information is available and derive a fairly good explanation. It is like, as if Moses was forgetting something or he was being bullheaded by not complying with something important. OutlawBibleStudent.org. As Moses and his family arrive back in Egypt he meets up with the Lord who seeks to kill him. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. Thank you for sharing the words of god. They had two sons before Moses. 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. Nedarim, fol. Throughout your generations every male among you shall be circumcised when he is eight days old . When local shepherds drove the sisters away from the well in an act of gender-based violence, Moses rose to their defense and he watered their fathers flocks. On the way, at a place where they spent the night, the LORD met him and tried to kill him. 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.
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