Zipporah (Wife of Moses)
Disclosure: Based on my research, this is my humble, personal perspective, begin a woman. More specifically, a woman of faith.
We’ve all met someone that instantly took our breath away. I don’t mean love at first sight, but something kind of like that. You feel a connection, almost cosmically. A pull towards a person that makes you feel empowered and safe, comfortable and wanting, vulnerable and strong. And they feel that way about you too. In my interpretation of Zipporah, I believe that she and Moses experienced this in the time that they had together.
Moses and Zipporah did not meet early in life. They weren’t elderly by any means, but this wasn’t young love either. Both had lived enough life, that they had probably established a good sense of self-awareness when it came to matters of love and lust. Being that Zipporah was most likely the first-born daughter of several sisters, her father Jethro, allowed her to marry Moses after he heroically rescued her from tyrants at their watering well. Her family was of the Cushite tribe, and it’s highly likely that they were of Ethiopian descent. This would make her and her family a very dark-skinned people. She did not have the same upbringing Moses had, nor did she worship the same God. While she may have heard of Yahweh, her father, being a priest, had the family worship many different deities in their quest to find the one true Creator of the Universe.
Moses became engrained in her community, thankful for the refuge they provided for him after fleeing Egypt. She bore two sons to him, Gershom and Eliezer. At this point, Moses had not yet become the great leader who led the Israelites out of bondage. The Moses that Zipporah met was a man running scared after murdering an Egyptian guard who was abusing a Hebrew slave. She did not fall in love with Moses the Prince, Moses the Prophet, or Moses the Deliverer. She fell in love with a man who rescued her from danger. A man who lived and learned alongside her own father and people with patience and gratitude. A man who was courageous enough to fight, yet humble enough to learn from another culture that was different from him. This was the man she saw day in and day out.
I would imagine he was as enamored with her as she was with him. An exotic beauty to behold, standing up for herself and her sisters that day at the well against the ruffians of the land. Not only strong in mind and soul, but also physically able to handle her father’s flocks as a daily chore in her community. Being the eldest sister, she was no doubt another “little momma” to her siblings. She kept everyone in line, in charge when mom and dad were gone. She was most likely good at delegating tasks, managing sisters’ quarrels, and maintaining the motherly duties of her own two sons. In the scriptures I see Moses and Zipporah’s mutual respect for one another. They had no previous ties to one another, yet somehow, they seemed to be cut from the same cloth. Natural born leaders, the both of them, and a power couple because of it. I see rough and tumble baby boys in their tent and Zipporah saying “No!” and “Stop that!” with the slightest smile on her face as Moses comes in from studying with her father. He scoops them up in a big bear daddy hug and sweetly kisses her on the cheek. No, this is not a tale of puppy love, but of full-grown love. A love born out of respect, acceptance, integrity, and admiration.
Over the years and decades that followed Zipporah and her family would play a major role in the course of Moses life. In fact, without her as an anchor, the Exodus could have been an entirely different story. The family they created in the safe haven of Midian was changed forever when Moses felt a calling from his God, Yahweh, to deliver the Hebrew people from the slavery of the Egyptian Pharoah. Not only did Zipporah have to wrestle with the fact that her husband would commute back to the family who raised him, turn against them, fight for his heritage, and lead his true people from bondage, she also had to come to terms with the fact that he was doing this all in the name of a God she herself did not fully worship. I can just imagine how this conversation would have gone…
Moses treads ever so lightly to lay this heavy bomb down on his wife. “Zipporah, my little bird, the Lord my God has placed on my heart to return to my homeland. No longer will my people be slaves to the Pharoah. With the help of my brother and sister, we will set the people free from bondage. Yahweh wills it.”
“Excuse me? Do what now?" I can just see the blank stare. The cutting of her eyes from across the room. “You do realize we have two children, don’t you? Will you drag them through the wilderness with you? Will you put them in danger? Or will you just leave us? Return to your people and your old ways and forget the life we’ve built here?! We have not even circumcised our sons as your God so commands! What will He think of that, Moses?!” I can feel all the confusion and reservations a devout wife and mother would have at such an announcement! All the worries of keeping your children safe and the thought of possibly losing the man you’ve built your life around. So, what does she decide to do? She gathers her children, packs her bags, and goes with him. Because if he is called, then that means so is she. The trust she placed in him to lead their family would give him the strength to lead a nation of people.
They faced many hardships, throughout the journey that followed. Moses’ God did in fact grow angry with him for not following the covenant of Abraham and having his sons circumcised at birth. Who wound up performing this sacred act for him in order to keep the peace between him and Yahweh? Zipporah did. I can imagine the gut-wrenching pain it caused her to do this to her son on behalf of the husband she so faithfully followed. Hoping and praying all the while that this God Moses worshipped would fulfill all He said he would do for the Hebrew people and keep her family safe in the meantime. What a decisive and difficult act of faith and discernment!
To top it all off, after years of never knowing Moses family, she is finally introduced to his brother Aaron and sister Miriam only to be greeted with discrimination and turned up noses at the fact that she was of a different race, religion, and culture. They questioned Moses being the chosen leader of the three of them. God soon reprimands them by causing Miriam to come down with leprosy and Aaron pleading for her healing. This illustrates the importance of respecting God's chosen leaders and the dangers of envy and having a judgmental nature. Zipporah's mention in this context serves as a catalyst for the events that unfold, reminding us of the complex interpersonal relationships within the biblical narrative. It’s not just here in 2026, when things get complicated. Even then, they were merely human, with human family issues, just like us.
Throughout Moses reign as the leader of the Israelites, he confides closely in Zipporah’s father, Jethro, taking his advice on how to council the people as a just and wise ruler. The relationship between Moses and Jethro is marked by mutual respect and significant contributions to the formation of the Israelite community. Jethro's guidance not only aids Moses in leadership but also emphasizes the importance of wise counsel and community organization. Their story illustrates the interconnectedness of family, faith, and leadership.
Zipporah is the epitome of a faithful wife and loving mother. She exemplifies the sacrifices women must make when staying true to themselves yet embracing a life with a spouse who has a different calling than what they thought they would ever be a part of. She might very well have been one of the first “pastor wives” on record. She proved over and over again that she could have a mind of her own while fully supporting her husband’s dreams and goals. If not for Zipporah’s swift discernment and act of courage Moses could have been subjected to God’s anger long before ever reaching Egypt and freeing his people. How would the story have ended then?
She had no political power, no fame, nor was she an Israelite. She was just a Midianite woman, the wife of a fugitive. Yet, when God required someone to act, she was the one who was ready and willing to do what needed to be done. God doesn’t just choose famous leaders. He works through people with steady faith and obedient hearts, drawing from every background and circumstance. There is something profoundly beautiful about that. There is something profoundly beautiful about being a woman of faith. Zipporah stands as a clear example of what a self-aware and decisive woman can do. The courage and conviction of a wife and mother like her can shape more than a household—it can influence the course of a nation. Yes, Moses did swoop in and save her that day at the well, and in return, she saved him right back.
(Stay tuned as we unravel more bold women from the ancient scriptures. One in particular who has a connection to Zipporah and her family.)
