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Writer's pictureAndy McIlvain

Zipporah - The First Wife of Moses.



Zipporah - The First Wife of Moses.

The Untold Story of Zipporah, Wife of Moses

"In the Book of Exodus, we are introduced to Zipporah, the daughter of Jethro, wife of Moses and mother of their two sons, Gershom and Eliezer.

What Does “Zipporah” Mean?

Zipporah literally means “bird,” and just as the blood of a bird purifies a home that is covered in leprosy, Zipporah cleansed her father’s home from idols.1 Alternatively, just as a bird is admired for its beauty, so was Zipporah admired for her loveliness.2

How Moses Met Zipporah

Scripture describes how, after Moses protected Jethro’s daughters from shepherds who did not allow them to access the local well, Jethro “gave his daughter Zipporah to Moses.”3

The Midrash provides a fascinating backstory of how this union came to be. When Moses showed up in Midian and admitted to Jethro that he was fleeing from Pharaoh, Jethro—who was an advisor to Pharaoh at the time—threw him into a pit and left him there to die of starvation..." from the article: The Untold Story of Zipporah, Wife of Moses


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