| Easton's Bible Dictionary A female bird. Reuel's daughter, who became the wife of Moses (Exodus 2:21). In consequence of the event recorded in Exodus 4:24-26, she and her two sons, Gershom and Eliezer, when so far on the way with Moses toward Egypt, were sent back by him to her own kinsfolk, the Midianites, with whom they sojourned till Moses afterwards joined them (18:2-6). Int. Standard Bible Encyclopedia ZIPPORAH zi-po'-ra, zip'-o-ra (tsipporah; Sepphora): The Midianite wife of Moses, daughter of Jethro, also called Hobab, and probably grand-daughter of Reuel, a priest of Midian at the time Moses fled from Egypt, later succeeded at his death by Jethro, or Hobab (Exodus 2:21, 22; Exodus 4:25, 26; 18:2-6).
Whether or not Zipporah was the "Cushite woman" (Numbers 12:1) is a much-mooted question. There is little ground for anything more than speculation on the subject. The use of the words, "Cushite woman" in the mouth of Aaron and Miriam may have been merely a description of Zipporah and intended to be opprobrious, or they may have been ethnic in character and intended to denote another woman whom Moses had married, as suggested by Ewald (Gesch. des Volkes Israel, II, 252). The former view seems the more probable. The association of Midian and Cushan by Habakkuk (3:7) more than 700 years afterward may hardly be adduced to prove like close relationship between these peoples in the days of Moses.
M. G. Kyle |  | Multi-Version Concordance Zipporah (3 Occurrences) Exodus 2:21 Moses was content to dwell with the man. He gave Moses Zipporah, his daughter. (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." (WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS NIV) Exodus 18:2 Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, received Zipporah, Moses' wife, after he had sent her away, (WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS NIV) |