The Biblical text does not indicate here whether this was a marriage
which had taken place some time previously or whether this was a recent event.
The Hebrew commentary, Soncino, offers one possible explanation that the
Cushite woman was “a woman of Ethiopian origin.” It continues: “Legend tells
that Moses married the queen of Ethiopia . . . ”
The Hebrew writer Josephus gives the following narrative in his work, Antiquities
of the Jews, p. 58, addressing one of Moses’ campaigns as an officer in
Pharaoh’s army, prior to his flight from Egypt (compare Acts 7:22-29;
Hebrews 11:24-27):
“Tharbis was the daughter of the king of the
Ethiopians: she happened to see Moses as he led the army near the walls, and
fought with great courage; and admiring the subtlety of his undertakings, and
believing him to be the author of the Egyptians’ success, when they had before
despaired of recovering their liberty, and to be the occasion of the great
danger that the Ethiopians were in, whence they had before boasted of their
great achievements, she fell deeply in love with him; and upon the prevalency
of that passion, sent to him the most beautiful of all her servants to
discourse with him about their marriage. He thereupon accepted the offer, on
condition she would produce the delivering up of the city; and gave her the
assurance of an oath to take her to his wife; and that when he had once taken
possession of the city, he would not break his oath to her. No sooner was the
agreement made, but it took effect immediately; and when Moses had cut off the
Ethiopians, he gave thanks to God, and consummated his marriage, and led the
Egyptians back to their own land.”
If this narrative is based on truth, and if Miriam and Aaron brought up
Moses’ alleged marriage with Tharbis in Numbers 12:1, then it would be
very clear why the “anger of the Lord was kindled against them” (verse 9)
— after all, Moses would have married the princess before his flight to Midian,
that is, long before his conversion.
There is, however, another possibility as to who the “Ethiopian woman”
might have been. Soncino continues to explain: “[A commentary] identifies the
Cushite woman with Zipporah [whom Moses married while in Midian, after he had
escaped from Egypt, compare Exodus 2:21] who was a native of Midian. The
Midianites, who were tent-dwellers and dark-skinned, were also known as
‘Kushim’.”
The Midianites were descendants of Abraham and Keturah (Genesis
25:1). Abraham took Keturah as his wife (same reference) or concubine (I
Chronicles 1:32) after the death of Sarah.
The Broadman Bible Commentary has this to say about the “Cushite
woman”:
“The identity of the Cushite woman has been widely
debated. The only known name of a wife of Moses was Zipporah (Exodus
2:16-22, 4:25, 18:2). However, there are times here and elsewhere at which
Moses’ wife is referred to without specific name. It may be that the writer is
referring to Zipporah here. . . . For a long time, Zipporah had been left with
her father (along with Moses’ two sons) but Jethro brought them to Moses. While
Zipporah and the sons were absent, Miriam and Aaron had no challenger for
second place; but when they were present there was a constant reminder of the
several suggestions which had come through the Midianites upsetting the status
quo arrangement. Zipporah was a Midianite (Exodus 2:16) or Kenite (Judges
1:16, 4:11). In Habakkuk 3:7, the term ‘Cushan’ and ‘Midian’ are
used in synonymous parallels. So she may have been referred to accurately as a
Cushite woman. The story of Zipporah records the fact that Moses sent her away
(Exodus 18:2). This is the same term as is used elsewhere for divorce.
In the same chapter (Exodus 18:1, 6) we are told that Jethro, still
called the father-in-law of Moses, brought Zipporah to Moses ‘in the wilderness
where he was encamped at the mountain of God’ (Exodus 18:5) along with
her two sons. This account indicates (Exodus 18:27) that later ‘Moses
let his father-in-law depart’ to his own country. No mention is made of
Zipporah and the two sons, Gershom and Eliezer. Thus it may be that the Cushite
woman was Zipporah. The reference in this case would explain a repeated
reference to Cushite to emphasize with some disdain that Miriam and Aaron
considered her a ‘foreigner’.”
This explanation would also shed light on the fact that God’s anger was
kindled against them, and mainly Miriam, the apparent “spokesperson” in the
incident. Numbers 12:2 reports that they murmured against Moses,
saying, “Has the Lord indeed spoken only through Moses [“and” — following the
comments of the Broadman Bible Commentary — “Zipporah, that Cushite
woman, who is influencing Moses”]? Has He not spoken through US ALSO?”
God, however, was not pleased with this criticism. He told Miriam and
Aaron: “I speak with him [Moses] face to face, Even plainly, and not in dark
sayings; And he sees the form of the Lord. Why then were you not afraid To
speak against My servant Moses?” (verse 8).
Although we don’t hear anything further about Zipporah (if she was
indeed the Cushite woman in Numbers 12:1), the Bible may contain a later
possible reference to Moses’ first-born son, Gershom, in the book of Judges. We
read that the Danites engaged in idolatry, setting up for themselves a carved
image, and “Jonathan the son of Gershom, the son of Manasseh [in the margin, an
alternate rendering is given as “Moses”], and his sons were priests to the
tribe of Dan” (Judges 18:30). The Hebrew Tanakh points out that “an
earlier reading [i.e.,] ‘Moses’ instead of Manasseh, is indicated.” The Ryrie
Study Bible comments that the better rendering is “son of Moses. The Danite
priests traced their lineage to Moses.” Most German translations, including
Luther, Zuercher, Menge and Elberfelder, consistently render this phrase as,
“son of Moses.” If the reference in Judges 18:30 to Gershom is indeed a
reference to the son of Moses, then Moses’ and Zipporah’s grandson Jonathan had
begun to be deeply involved in idolatry.
We find an additional reference to Gershom, the son of Moses, in I
Chronicles 23:14-16, 26:24. These passages mention Shebuel, a son of
Gershom, the son of Moses, who had become overseer of the treasuries. This
grandson of Moses seemed to have stayed loyal to God’s way of life. We also
learn, in I Chronicles 23:15, 17, that Moses’ second son, Eliezer, had a
son, named Rehabiah, and that “the sons of Rehabiah were very many.”
In any event, whether the “Cushite woman” in Numbers 12:1 was a
princess of Ethiopia or Zipporah, Miriam and Aaron should have never used
Moses’ marriage as a justification to develop feelings of self importance and
envy, resulting in their murmuring against Moses. They later acknowledged and
repented of their sin, so that God could continue to use them in His great plan
(verse 11).
— by Church of the Eternal God, www.eternalgod.org,
reprinted by permission.
