CJB-At a lodging-place on the way, ADONAI met Moshe and would have killed him, had not Tzipporah taken a flintstone and cut off the foreskin of her son. She threw it at his feet, saying, "What a bloody bridegroom you are for me!" But then, God let Moshe be. She added, "A bloody bridegroom because of the circumcision!"
NAS- Now it came about at the lodging place on the way that the LORD met him and sought to put him to death. Then Zipporah took a flint and cut off her son's foreskin and threw it at Moses' feet, and she said, "You are indeed a bridegroom of blood to me."So He let him alone. At that time she said, "You are a bridegroom of blood "-because of the circumcision.
This small and often overlooked snippet of a story, wedged between Moses/Moshe's commission at the burning bush and his return and reunification with his brother, Aharon, has been one that I've been throwing around in my mind for a while.I'm having a hard time understanding what actually happened here, yet the story captures me and takes me away in my imagination.
Why did the L-rd pursue Moshe to kill him? What did that look like? Did the L-rd appear to Moshe and chase Him? Or did Moshe become ill? And how did Tzipporah/Zipporah know the circumcision of her son was the problem? Or was it the solution of a different problem in that it provided some sort of atonement for Moshe?
In Tikva Frymer-Kensey's book, Reading the Women of the Bible: A New Interpretation of Their Stories, she discusses a lot of these questions. Note: questions- not a lot of definitive explanations for what was going on here. She mentions the significance of the use of the flint. This was long after metal was being used for weaponry, yet a traditional flint would have been used for rituals such as circumcision. Frymer-Kensey notes that although some translations (like NAS which I listed above) specify that she threw the foreskin at Moshe's feet, this isn't necessarily concrete as she could have thrown it at their son's feet, or even G-d's feet, as the antecedent of "his" is unclear. What is also unclear is to whom she was speaking when she proclaims, "you are a bridegroom of blood to me." Could have been Moshe, but also could have been the L-rd. Tzipporah's name means "bird", which is significant because birds are some of the most protective animals when it comes to their young. She also notes the continual weight that blood carries for atonement, which almost goes without saying. I'm glad she said it, though.
Lastly, I will say that Moshe was rescued or delivered by three women before he was called by G-d to be the deliverer of the Israelites. His birth mother, Yocheved, (with the assistance of Miriam, which actually makes four women), his foster mother, the daughter of Pharaoh, and Moshe's wife, Tzipporah. This serves as a foreshadowing ("four"shadowing? nyuk nyuk) as well as a reminder to Moshe and all his readers to respect your women.
While we are on the subject of Israelites, I will leave you with this song, a component of the album I've been camping out on all week. Get it, Patty!
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6 comments:
Patty's got some nice jaw action goin' on.
Friedman's Commentary on the Torah reflects on this section saying that no one knows what took place at the lodging place and that all commentators agree that it is unclear when the pronouns refer to G-d, to Moses or to Moses' son. He then suggests that the text could even say that Moses is asking G-d to take his (Moses') life because he doesn't want to go to Egypt...which is consistent with other prophets (Elijah, Jonah, Jeremiah) who are not excited about their commissioning. interesting...
Did you really throw in a joke amidst bloody circumcision. Wow, Kait, you are astounding.
Thanks for sharing what you're reading. Very interesting. Speculation is so fun!
oh yeah, that woman can sing! I love me some Patty.
I'll show you jaw action you won't forget, D.
Tom, I love your insights. That's interesting that his commentary didn't know who the pronouns refer to...what a mysterious story! I never thought about the possibility of Moses asking for his life to be taken, like many prophets. But I wonder why it wouldn't have just said that in the story, if that were the case?
Yep, Leah. I got jokes and jokes and jokes....
I wouldn't be able to read any of this is it weren't for you guys! Thank you. I'm trying not to read it quickly because I don't want it to be over. :)
DeAnn Blake:
"at least in part means that Moses wasn’t keeping his part of the Abrahamic covenant which said a sign of this covenant was all the males had to be circumcised or cut off from Israel. His sons had not been circumcised-he had lived in the dessert for about 40 years. "
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