A phrase that occurs in Exod 4:24–26 related to the circumcision of Moses’ son. STEPHEN A. NEWMAN . 21 And Moses was content to dwell with the man: and he gave Moses Zipporah his daughter. There is no need to ask these difficult questions. Approach the text as if you are reading it for the first time. 26 So the LORD let him alone. Zipporah was the wife that gave birth to the two sons of Moses: Zipporah’s Children. The first nine plagues – blood, frogs, lice, swarms of flies, disease of livestock, boils, hail, locusts, thick darkness. (At that time she said 'bridegroom of blood,' referring to circumcision.)" Why did Zipporah circumcise her son rather than letting Moses do it? QUESTION: Why is Moses saved by Zipporah circumcising his son in Ex 4:24-26? On the trip, at an overnight campsite, it happened that the Lord confronted him and sought to put him to death. Thus in verse 25, Zipporah circumcises her son as Moses holds him still. So he let him alone. 25 But Zipporah took a flint knife, cut off her son's foreskin and touched [Moses'] feet with it. In Hebrew, her name means “bird” or “little bird.” We first meet Zipporah—who later became Moses’s wife—at a well in her hometown of Midian. But Zipporah took a flint knife, cut off her son ’ s foreskin, and touched it to Moses ’ feet “ Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me, ” she said. the genealogy of his sons in 1Chron.23:15ff. This interpretation makes sense grammatically because the nearest antecedent is "firstborn" in verse 23. Apparently Zipporah regarded her act of circumcising her son as what removed God’s hand of judgment from Moses and restored him to life and to her again. It was as though God had given Moses a second chance and he had begun life as her husband over as a bridegroom (cf. Exodus 4:24 through 26 KJV. 25 So Zipporah took a flint, cut off her son’s foreskin, and threw it at Moses’ feet. An incident occurs on Moses trip back to Egypt that is difficult to understand. " • While on the way the Lord "met [Moses] and sought to put him to death" (Exodus 4:24). 1. Allegorically, his wife, the daughter of the Mi-dianite priest, and his uncircumcised son … [8] See b. Yet another is that Moses tries to kill his own son and only after Zipporah cuts the child's foreskin, drawing blood and pain, does his anger subside. One son was named Gershom, for Moses had said, “I have been a foreigner in a foreign land.” 4 The other son was named Eliezer, for Moses had said, “The God of my father was my helper and delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh.”… After being instructed by God to return to Egypt and free the Israelites, in Exodus 4:20 Moses loads his wife and sons (plural) onto a donkey and hits the road. Moses’s marriage to Jethro’s daughter, Zipporah, and the birth of their first son, Gershom, are recorded in Exodus 2:21-22. Then Zipporah took a flint and cut off the foreskin of her son and cast it at his feet, and she said: 'Surely a bridegroom of blood art thou to me.' wives, the story of the Midianite Zipporah, Moses’ wife, affirms that foreign women are beneficial to Israel. He was too young to rule and his stepmother, Queen Hatshepsut, acted as his Regent. 25 Then Zipporah took a flint knife, cut off her son’s foreskin, and touched Moses’ feet {with it}. We know from Exodus 2:21 that Moses married Zipporah, the daughter of the Midianite priest, Jethro (also known as Reuel). Then she said, “You are a bridegroom of blood to me!” 26 So He let him alone. On the way to Egypt, Zipporah circumcised their son and thus saved her husband’s life—Moses had neglected to obey the Lord in this matter, and the Lord would have killed Moses had not Zipporah intervened (Exodus 4:24–26). Zipporah bore for him two sons, Gershom and Eliezer.She and Moses lived under the authority of her father, a priest of God amongst the Midianites.. but he relented on killing Moses when Moses' wife Zipporah took a sharp stone and circumcised the child, even though Moses himself did not circumcise the boy. Zipporah's father was a priest of Midian as well as a shepherd. This interpretation also makes sense narratologically because the previous verse speaks of God promising to kill Pharaoh's firstborn son. Part 1. (WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS NIV) 'Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me,' she said. 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 2:21. So Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, took Zipporah, Moses’ wife, after she had been sent home, The last time we saw Zipporah before Exod 18 was in Exod 4, in which she is travelling with Moses to Egypt and circumcises their child in the story of the bloody bridegroom. Reuel: OT:7467. Zipporah, the wife of Moses, was one of the seven daughters of Reuel, a Midianite priest, who was also called Jethro (Exodus 3:1) and Hobab (Judges 4:11). Moses married Zipporah and settled down there to work for Jethro as a shepherd (verse 21). Many translations (even some KJV editions) begin a new section after verse 23 (often with a new section heading), obscuring the fact that "him" in verse 24 refers to Pharaoh's firstborn son mentioned in verse 23. In verse 23, God makes it clear that he will slay Pharaoh's firstborn son if Pharaoh refuses to let go of Israel. In verse 24, God locks his target on the firstborn son. The precise meaning of the phrase is debated, but it is either related to blood sacrifice, the recognition of bloodguilt being accounted for, or covenant kinship. Moses’s marriage to Jethro’s daughter, Zipporah, and the birth of their first son, Gershom, are recorded in Exodus 2:21-22. Here is a grown boy who. The Visit of Jethro … 2 After Moses had sent back his wife Zipporah, his father-in-law Jethro had received her, 3 along with her two sons. (WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS NIV) Exodus 4:25 Then Zipporah took a flint, and cut off the foreskin of her son, and cast it at his feet; and she said, "Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me." Then she said, “The bridegroom of blood is by circumcision . Apparently Zipporah returned to visit her parents, for, following the Exodus, Zipporah and her two sons accompanied Jethro back to Moses at the wilderness camp. God tries to kill Moses. This is the last overt mention of Moses’ sons in the Torah. The first son was named Gershom, meaning foreigner, just as Moses was a foreigner in Midian. Exodus 4:24-26Now on the way, at a place where they stopped for the night, the LORD met Moses and sought to kill him. So far the story is clear, concise, we can understand, they met, they married, they had children. Exodus 4:24-26 (GW) 24 Along the way they stopped for the night. Their second son was Eliezer, named in remembrance of God helping Moses to escape from Egypt after he had committed murder (Exodus 18:2–4). The answer is that Moses had to hold on to the son so that the son would stay still. The story of Zipporah was divided into three parts: when she met Moses in a well (Exodus 2), the incident in the lodging place on the way back to Egypt (Exodus 4), and their reunion during the Exodus (Exodus 18). Moses and Zipporah had a son whom Moses named Gershom, saying, “I have become a foreigner in a foreign land” (verse 22). 18:2–6, when Jethro brings Zipporah and her two sons to Moses in the wilderness, “after she had been sent home” (v. 2). They had two sons, Gershom and Eliezer. One scholar, named John Durham, hypothesizes that Zipporah’s only option to save her family was to circumcise her son and touch Moses with the foreskin to “transfer the effects of the rite to Moses.” (https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/9e6a/a27d838cdf4a201b5a12bcbbc940dcd0b6e7.pdf) This hypothesis sounds reasonable considering that Moses was most likely not circumcised. Zipporah, Gershom and Eleazer. When Moses and Zipporah reach an inn: the LORD met him, and sought to kill him. The original Hebrew only has pronouns such as "he" and "him" in those places. Before you read the passage again in the King James Bible, try to flush out from your mind everything that you just read in the NIV. These supplied names seem to make it easier for the reader to follow the narrative. Jonah). Who Was Moses Wife Zipporah? God was preparing him for his life’s work: rescuing the Hebrew slaves from Egypt. QUESTION: Why is Moses saved by Zipporah circumcising his son in Ex 4:24-26?. 21 And Moses was content to dwell with the man: and he gave Moses Zipporah his daughter. Together Moses and Zipporah had two sons. But in Numbers 12 we encounter an uncomfortable story: Moses’ siblings, Miriam and Aaron confront their brother – he’s married a Cushite woman, an African, and they’re not pleased. Zipporah (3 Occurrences) Exodus 2:21 Moses was content to dwell with the man. When the passage is read correctly in the King James Bible, the passage becomes easy to understand. Event follows event, crisis follows crisis. Zipporah, Moses' Wife.www.biblegematria.com 21 And Moses was content to dwell with the man: and he gave Moses Zipporah his daughter. 25 But Zipporah took a flint knife, cut off her son's foreskin and touched [Moses'] feet with it. Zipporah was apparently opposed to circumcision, thus Moses’ second son had not been circumcised before Moses began to lead his family back to the land of Egypt. 25 Moses chose able men out of all Israel, and made them heads over the people, rulers of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens. God had the foreknowledge of Pharaoh's refusal to let Israel go, so God was already prepared to seek the death of the firstborn son. It was as though God had given Moses a second chance and he had begun life as her husband over as a bridegroom (cf. Circumcision is finished and Moses is later re-married to a son named Gershom meaning... Lineage of Zipporah circumcising his son in Ex 4:24-26? said 'bridegroom blood! 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