Zipporah/0

Zipporah's Character – Overview

Biblical Texts

The Torah tells us surprisingly little about Moshe's family and his wife Zipporah. Zipporah appears only three times – in Shemot 2:16-22 when Moshe marries her, in Shemot 4:20-26 when Moshe leaves for Egypt, and in Shemot 18:2-7 when she is returned to Moshe.¹ From this meager data, the commentators attempt to sketch a portrait of Zipporah.

Contrasting Portraits

Positive

• Divrei HaYamim LeMoshe RabbeinuOtzar HaMidrashim (Eisenstein p.359-360)About Divrei HaYamim LeMoshe Rabbeinu and Yalkut Shimoni#168About Yalkut Shimoni describe how Zipporah followed in Hashem's ways and reached the level of the Matriarchs.²
• R. Avraham b. HaRambamShemot 2:20About R. Avraham Maimonides notes that Zipporah was a descendant of Avraham,³ and that this accounts for her family's traits of charity and hospitality. The Tzeror HaMorShemot 2:21About Tzeror HaMor emphasizes that Zipporah herself was unique in her modesty and good deeds.
• Targum Pseudo-JonathanShemot 2:21About Targum Pseudo-Jonathan and Divrei HaYamim LeMoshe RabbeinuOtzar HaMidrashim (Eisenstein p.359-360)About Divrei HaYamim LeMoshe Rabbeinu tell a fantastic story of how Yitro imprisoned Moshe, and left him to starve in a pit for ten years. Moshe survived only because Zipporah secretly fed him.

Negative

• R. Elazar in Talmud Bavli Masekhet Bava BatraBava Batra 109bAbout the Bavli suggests that Moshe's marriage to Zipporah, the daughter of an idolater, resulted in their having a descendant who was an idolatrous priest.⁴
• ShadalShemot 4:23About R. S.D. Luzzatto claims that Zipporah was a bad influence on Moshe. Shadal thus explains that the problems at the inn in Shemot 4:24-26 (see Murder Mystery at the Malon), came about because of Hashem's concerns that Zipporah (and Gershom) would dissuade Moshe from carrying out his mission.⁵

Religious Identity

Before meeting Moshe

• Heathen – See below for those who maintain that Zipporah did not change her practices even after marrying Moshe.
• Monotheist from a family of idolaters – R. Mubashir HaLeviCritique of the Writings of R. Saadia Gaon p. 107About R. Mubashir HaLevi. See Yitro's Religious Identity for additional sources and discussion.
• Monotheist from a family of monotheists – R. SaadiaCritique of the Writings of R. Saadia Gaon p. 107About R. Saadia Gaon. See Yitro's Religious Identity for more.

After meeting Moshe

• Still adhered to idolatrous practices – opinion cited and rejected by Ibn EzraShort Commentary Shemot 4:25About R. Avraham ibn Ezra,⁶ Ramah,⁷ ShadalShemot 4:23About R. S.D. Luzzatto.
• Converted to Judaism – See Midrash Tadshe21About Midrash Tadshe and Yalkut Shimoni Yehoshua 9 that Zipporah converted,⁸ and see the sources above that Zipporah was already a monotheist.

Marriage to Moshe

• How could Moshe marry a heathen woman? See Moshe and Zipporah's Marriage.
• Did she return with Moshe to Egypt? See When Did Zipporah Return to Midyan and Murder Mystery at the Malon.
• Did Moshe divorce her? See אחר שלוחיה.
• Was she present for the revelation at Sinai? See Chronology of Shemot 18.
• Did her marriage to Moshe resume upon her return? See An Ethiopian Wife.

Related Topics

An analysis of Zipporah's personality is related to the following topics:

• Murder Mystery at the Malon
• Zipporah in Midyan
• "אחר שלוחיה" – Who Sent What to Whom?
• An Ethiopian Wife?
• Moshe's Character
• Yitro's Character
• Yitro's Religious Identity

¹ In Bemidbar 12:1 we are also told of Moshe's Ethiopian wife. Regarding the relationship between her and Zipporah and the possibility that they are one and the same person, see An Ethiopian Wife.

² A number of other Rabbinic sources also praise Zipporah's actions, but with greater reserve. See Bavli Moed Katan 16b, Tanchuma Tzav 13, and others.

³ This notion is also found in the much earlier writings of Demetrius the ChronographerCited by Eusebius 29About Demetrius. See the discussion of Demetrius and related sources in Yitro – Names.

⁴ The Bavli is predicated upon the Midrashic identification of the Levite "Yonatan son of Gershom son of Menashe" in Shofetim 18:30 as the grandson of Moshe. In addition, it assumes that Yitro himself was an idolater.

⁵ He adds that Zipporah had already persuaded Moshe to delay circumcising Eliezer until the age of thirteen, as per the Midianite custom. See also Yitro's Religious Identity for Shadal's view that neither Yitro nor his family ever became a part of the Israelite nation.

⁶ In contrast to most Midrashim which attribute Moshe's not circumcising his son to a pact made with Yitro – see Murder Mystery at the Malon, this opinion suggests that the agreement was made with Zipporah. Cf. Ephraem in his Commentary on Exodus 2:8 who similarly posits that Zipporah would not allow Moshe to circumcise their son as "she took pride in her father and brothers, and although she had agreed to be Moses' wife, she did not wish to adopt his religion."

⁷ This is the implication of Ramah's "grandfather clause" position, that Zipporah continued to be permitted to Moshe despite remaining non-Jewish because he had married her before Sinai. Ramah does not answer like RashiSanhedrin 82aAbout R. Shelomo Yitzchaki that Zipporah converted at Mt. Sinai. Rashi's position assumes that Zipporah was present for the revelation at Sinai – see Chronology of Shemot 18.

⁸ See also Divrei HaYamim LeMoshe Rabbeinu and Yalkut Shimoni cited above that Zipporah followed Israelite ways like the Matriarchs.