Zipporah: The Shepherd wife of Moses

There are people who cannot stand bullying of any kind. They are quick to react and sometimes punish the bullies for their actions. Moses was one of such. He was a “no nonsense man” and could go as far as killing an Egyptian bully to set a Hebrew slave free. When Moses fled from Egypt, he ran to Midian. Moses was a wandering fugitive and he might have been so scared to return to Egypt. The Prince of Egypt did the unthinkable: he killed his own subject to rescue a slave. But Moses associated with the slaves more than the free people. At Midian, Moses encountered a different set of bullies. An act of Hegemonic masculinity, where men feel privileged to dominate and subordinate females. Exodus 2:16-17 states this: “Now a priest of Midian had seven daughters, and they came to draw water and fill the troughs to water their father’s flock. Some shepherds came along and drove them away, but Moses got up and came to their rescue and watered their flock” (Exodus 2:16‭-‬17). These shepherds were bullies who denied the daughters of the Midianite priest the opportunity to water their flock. Moses, a man of strength, did what he knew how to do: he stood up to the bullies and even watered the flock.

Moses agreed to stay with the man, who gave his daughter Zipporah to Moses in marriage. Zipporah gave birth to a son, and Moses named him Gershom, saying, “I have become a foreigner in a foreign land.” (Exodus 2:21‭-‬22)

“When the girls returned to Reuel their father, he asked them, “Why have you returned so early today?” They answered, “An Egyptian rescued us from the shepherds. He even drew water for us and watered the flock.” “And where is he?” Reuel asked his daughters. “Why did you leave him? Invite him to have something to eat.” (Exodus 2:18‭-‬20). Moses’ rescue mission in Egypt landed him in trouble but in Midian, his act got him a home and a wife. Reuel, impressed by Moses, offered Moses an opportunity to stay with them. “Moses agreed to stay with the man, who gave his daughter Zipporah to Moses in marriage. Zipporah gave birth to a son, and Moses named him Gershom, saying, “I have become a foreigner in a foreign land.” (Exodus 2:21‭-‬22). Zipporah was no ordinary woman even though she is quite obscured in scripture. As a shepherd woman, she might have taught the Prince of Egypt the act of shepherding. She would have been the emotional support system for Moses’ healing from the pain of fleeing from his people. Zipporah also birthed two sons for Moses, Gershom and Eliezer. Moses and Zipporah had two separate religious upbringings. While Moses had both Hebrew and Egyptian religious training. Zipporah was a pagan woman. These two seemingly strange people lived happily together in Midian until Moses had an encounter with God and moved to Egypt. 

Zipporah’s fast thinking saved Moses’ life while the family was on the way to Egypt. Moses was attacked by the Lord. “At a lodging place on the way, the Lord met Moses and was about to kill him. 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. So the Lord let him alone. (At that time she said “bridegroom of blood,” referring to circumcision.)” (Exodus 4:24‭-‬26). Moses, the deliverer, would have died if not for Zipporah’s intervention. How did she know that the lack of circumcision of their son was a covenant breaker? How did she manage to circumcise her son quick enough to avert God’s anger? Did she know the requirements of the Hebrew God? We might not know the answers to all these questions but surely, Zipporah was no ordinary woman. She married a fearful wanderer and turned him into a mighty shepherd who shepherded over a million people from Egypt to the edge of the promised land. 

Moses is considered the greatest person in the deliverance of the Hebrew slaves from Egypt. But, Moses’ life depended on Zipporah whose quick thinking delivered Moses from death. There are many obscured Zipporahs working tirelessly in the background to raise generational leaders. If your efforts do not seem to be appreciated in the public, don’t feel tired and give up. Like Zipporah, you may be obscured, but your hard work will have a good return.