Women of the Bible – Miriam

Miriam is the first woman in the Bible called a prophet. She lived around 1520-1420 B.C. and was the older sister of Moses and Aaron. Her name means either “MER-eh-um” (loved by Yahweh) or “meer yawm'” (rebellion). Miriam is first mentioned by name in Exodus 15, but tradition holds that she is also the sister of Moses mentioned in Exodus 2, who watched over baby Moses as he floated in the Nile. Tradition also holds that she prophesied that that her parents would give birth to one who brings about redemption for the Jews.

In Exodus 15.20-21, we see Miriam and the women leading the Israelites in praise to Yahweh with dancing, tambourine music and singing. This celebration followed Moses’ Song to Yahweh. Miriam did not just lead a group of women in worship; Miriam led the women in leading the whole nation in worship. She is the first “worship leader” we find in scripture.

We know that Miriam was an important figure in Israel, but we have very few details about her from scripture. While she is described as a prophet, we never hear any of her prophecies. Most people today would describe Moses, and possibly Aaron, as the leaders Yahweh chose to lead His people out of slavery in Egypt. Yahweh includes Miriam in this list as well. Micah prophecies in Micah 6.4:

For I brought you up from the land of Egypt, and redeemed you from the house of slavery; and I sent before you Moses, Aaron, and Miriam.

Once again, we see that Yahweh has no issue lifting up women leaders, spiritual leaders, even in the presence of competent male leadership. We also see the chronicler list Miriam in his genealogy in 1 Chronicles 6.3. It is quite unusual to include women in a genealogy, which further proclaims Miriam’s prominence during the time.

In Numbers 12 we see Miriam confronting Moses about his wife. The Midianites sold Joseph into slavery in Egypt (Genesis 37.36). Later, we see Yahweh commanding His people to kill the Midianites. Yet, Moses’ wife, Zipporah, is a Midianite. Cush was part of Midia. They were idol worshipers and Zipporah’s father was a priest of this pagan religion (Exodus 2.16). So it may seem that Miriam is somewhat justified in confronting Moses about his marriage, but there a couple of other issues to deal with here.

First, Moses’ wife Zipporah was black. So, we have, perhaps, the first interracial marriage protest. Cush is a region south of Ethiopia and people that come from there are known for being black-skinned. Jeremiah 13.23 says:

Can the Ethiopian [same Hebrew word translated Cushite in Numbers 21.1] change his skin or the leopard his spots?

We also see that Miriam is not happy with her secondary leadership role while Moses is the top dog. While Moses is humble, Miriam and Aaron are acting in a prideful and arrogant manner. Consider the text of Numbers 12:1-3:

While they were at Hazeroth, Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had married (for he had indeed married a Cushite woman); and they said, ‘Has the Lord spoken only through Moses? Has he not spoken through us also?’ And the Lord heard it. Now the man Moses was very humble, more so than anyone else on the face of the earth.

John Piper thinks Yahweh’s response to Miriam may be a play on her racism. He says:

In response to Miriam’s criticism, God does not get angry at Moses; he gets angry at Miriam. The criticism has to do with Moses’ marriage and Moses’ authority. The most explicit statement relates to the marriage: "Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had married, for he had married a Cushite woman." Then God strikes Miriam with leprosy. Why? Consider this possibility. In God’s anger at Miriam, Moses’ sister, God says in effect, "You like being light-skinned Miriam? I’ll make you light-skinned." So we read, "When the cloud removed from over the tent, behold, Miriam was leprous, like snow" (Num. 12:10)

Moses is not punished at all and neither is Aaron by the way. Perhaps Miriam’s name coming before Aaron’s in 12.1 indicates that she was the instigator. Another idea here is that Yahweh is preserving Aaron from contamination since he is the high priest and would be unable to perform his priestly duties if he had leprosy.

The story ends when Aaron pleads for Moses’ forgiveness and Moses prays to Yahweh for his sister. After a week, Miriam is restored (Numbers 12.12-15). Miriam, like her two brothers, dies in the desert before the Israelites reach the Promised Land (Numbers 20.1).

We only get a few glimpses into the life of the prophet Miriam. In one, she is leading all of Israel in worship. In another, she is acting with pride (and possibly racism) and Yahweh rebukes her for it. However, this rebuke does nothing to diminish Miriam’s prominence as a spiritual leader appointed by Yahweh. Aaron was also rebuked and Moses has his troubles as well (Numbers 20.12). Miriam's great reputation in scripture as well as in the oral tradition indicate that she did many other amazing things in the name of Yahweh.