Zipporah is known in the Bible as the Wife of Moses. Her famous story (or not so famous if you haven’t heard it already because she was only written in the book of Exodus and not mentioned after) was when she cut her own son’s genitals and threw the skin at the feet of Moses and then calling him “bridegroom of blood” or in other translations “bloody husband” which the Bible explained it meaning circumcision.
But Zipporah took a flint knife, cut off her son’s foreskin and touched Moses’ feet with it. “Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me,” she said.
Exodus 4:25-26
So the Lord let him alone. (At that time she said “bridegroom of blood,” referring to circumcision.)
New International Version (NIV)
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.
Exodus 4:25-26
So he let him go: then she said, A bloody husband thou art, because of the circumcision.
King James Version (KJV)
Basically, our girl Zipporah just knows about the rite of passage for the Israelites by being circumcised after seven days of being born.
(Unless they are sick or have some complications, then the circumcision may be delayed)
It is because of her forefather that started the ritual and the knowledge she had before marrying a descendant of her own root.
Zipporah is a Midianite woman. She was aware of the importance of religious practices. His father, Jethro, was a Midianite priest and they also have their own practices.
The other reason was that Midian was a son of Abraham from a concubine, and it was written in the Scriptures. Thus the clan of Midianites brought forth.
1 Chronicles 1:32
Descendants of Keturah
32 The sons born to Keturah, Abraham’s concubine:
Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak and Shuah.
The sons of Jokshan:
Sheba and Dedan.
Even though the meaning was said in the Bible about the term “bloody husband” being associated with circumcision, there are still questions to ask about this passage. Let me leave it here for you to explore.
- Why did God wanted to decimate him in the first place? (whether the bible was referring the pronoun HIM to Moses or his son)
- Did Zipporah really prevent Moses to circumcise his son? (As many stories claim) If so, why did she cut it herself?
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