Who is the Cushite wife of Moses mentioned in Numbers 12:1?
Who is the Cushite wife of Moses mentioned in Numbers 12:1?
The Cushite wife of Moses is none other than Zipporah, daughter of Moses' father-in-law Jethro, mentioned in the book of Exodus.
In Numbers 33, Moses recorded the different stages of the Israelites' journey after they came out of Egypt.
In the third month, after the Israelites set out from Egypt, on the same day, they reached Desert of Sinai and camped in front of the mountain.
Exodus 19
1
In the third month, on the same day of the month that the Israelites had left the land of Egypt, they came to the Wilderness of Sinai.
2
After they had set out from Rephidim, they entered the Wilderness of Sinai, and Israel camped there in front of the mountain.
Numbers 33
15
They set out from Rephidim and camped in the Wilderness of Sinai.
Moses' wife Zipporah and his sons, Gershom and Eliezer, came to him where he was encamped in front of the mountain.
Exodus 18
5
Moses’ father-in-law Jethro, along with Moses’ wife and sons, came to him in the desert, where he was encamped at the mountain of God.
Only Jethro returned to his own land after meeting Moses; this implies that Moses' wife and his sons joined him in the Israelites' journey to the land that God swore on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
Exodus 18
27
Then Moses sent his father-in-law on his way, and Jethro returned to his own land.
From the wilderness of Sinai, the Israelites moved to Kibroth-hattaavah and from there, they came to Hazeroth.
At Hazeroth, Miriam and Aaron criticized Moses because of his Cushite wife; the anger of the LORD burned against them and He said to Moses to confine Miriam outside the camp for seven days because her skin had turned leprous.
Numbers 33
16
They set out from the Wilderness of Sinai and camped at Kibroth-hattaavah.
17
They set out from Kibroth-hattaavah and camped at Hazeroth.
Numbers 11
35
From Kibroth-hattaavah the people moved on to Hazeroth, where they remained for some time.
Numbers 12
1
Then Miriam and Aaron criticized Moses because of the Cushite woman he had married, for he had taken a Cushite wife.
9
So the anger of the LORD burned against them, and He departed.
Numbers 12
15
So Miriam was confined outside the camp for seven days, and the people did not move on until she was brought in again.
In Genesis 37:27,28, the Ishmaelites are also called Midianite traders; the plausible reason being they were descendants of Ishmael who were from the land of Midian.
Genesis 37
27
Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay a hand on him; for he is our brother, our own flesh.” And they agreed.
28
So when the Midianite traders passed by, his brothers pulled Joseph out of the pit and sold him for twenty shekels of silver to the Ishmaelites, who took him to Egypt.
The daughters of Jethro called Moses an Egyptian.
Exodus 3
19
“An Egyptian rescued us from the shepherds,” they replied. “He even drew water for us and watered the flock.”
Moses states that Jacob was an Aramean; Jacob lived in Aram twenty years where he became a father to eleven of his twelve sons.
Deuteronomy 26
5
and you are to declare before the LORD your God, “My father was a wandering Aramean, and he went down to Egypt few in number and lived there and became a great nation, mighty and numerous.
For the same plausible reason, Zipporah is called a Cushite woman because she was a Cushite who came from the land of Midian. According to the book of Chronicles, Moses had only two sons, Gershom and Eliezer, who were born to Zipporah.
1 Chronicles 23
15
The sons of Moses: Gershom and Eliezer.
16
The descendants of Gershom: Shebuel was the first.
17
The descendants of Eliezer: Rehabiah was the first. Eliezer did not have any other sons, but the sons of Rehabiah were very numerous.
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