Zipporah - International 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; 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

Bibliography Information
Orr, James, M.A., D.D. General Editor. "Entry for 'ZIPPORAH'". "International Standard Bible Encyclopedia". 1915.